What Does 1 Samuel 31:8 Mean in the King James?

And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

1 Samuel 31:8 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew root for stripping also describes a raid, so the invasion reaches even the bodies left behind.

THE MEANING

Violence continues after death: the Philistines come to strip the slain, and Saul and his sons lie exposed on Gilboa. The victors now control what happens to their bodies.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that death ends an enemy’s reach over the body: here the dead are still exposed to the victors’ actions.

THE ROOT

לְפַשֵּׁט

lefashet

GROWS FROM

פשט

To strip off; also to spread into or raid a place.

“strip” in this verse is lefashet. The same root describes stripping and raiding a land, as when the Philistines invade in 1 Samuel 23:27. Here, the invasion continues over the dead bodies, where the victors take away their covering.

ALSO GROWS

vayyaphshitu: They stripped Joseph of his coat (Genesis 37:23).

וַיַּפְשִׁיטוּ

The same root makes the removal of a garment part of the violence done to Joseph.

pāštû: They raided or invaded the land (1 Samuel 23:27).

פָּשְׁטוּ

The root links the Philistines’ incursion across the land with their stripping of the slain.

THE PATTERN

Violence extends beyond the blow when a defeated person is stripped of covering or their defeat is made public.

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

Genesis 37:23 · KJVJoseph’s brothers strip away his garment as their violence against him unfolds.

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

2 Samuel 1:20 · KJVThe public telling of Saul’s defeat would extend the victors’ triumph beyond the battlefield.

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

Luke 10:30 · KJVThe thieves strip a wounded man, making the attack reach both his body and his covering.

THE THREAD

But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

1 Samuel 23:27 · KJV

The same root appears when Saul hears that the Philistines are raiding the land. Here its reach narrows from the invading force to the dead bodies left behind: the raid continues as stripping.

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