1 Samuel 31:12

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

Hebrew Names Version
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Sha'ul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beit-Shan; and they came to Yavesh, and burnt them there.

King James Version
All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Lexham English Bible
all of the valiant men set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

English Standard Version
all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

New Century Version
the brave men of Jabesh marched all night and came to Beth Shan. They removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and brought them to Jabesh. There they burned the bodies.

New English Translation
all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul's corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

Amplified Bible
all the brave men stood and walked all night, and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and cremated them there.

New American Standard Bible
all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then they arose (as many as were strong men) and went all night, and tooke the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sonnes, from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Iabesh, and burnt them there,

Legacy Standard Bible
so all the valiant men arose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

Contemporary English Version
So one night, some brave men from Jabesh went to Beth-Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons, then brought them back to Jabesh and burned them.

Complete Jewish Bible
all their warriors set out, traveling all night. They took the body of Sha'ul and the bodies of his sons off the wall of Beit-Sh'an, returned to Yavesh and burned them there.

Darby Translation
all the valiant men arose and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there.

Easy-to-Read Version
So all the soldiers of Jabesh went to Beth Shan. They marched all night, went to the wall of Beth Shan, and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons. Then they carried them to Jabesh. There the people of Jabesh burned the bodies of Saul and his three sons.

George Lamsa Translation
All the valiant men arose and marched all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-jashan, and brought them to Jabesh and burnt them there.

Good News Translation
the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there.

Literal Translation
then all the mighty men rose up, and they went all the night; and they took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-shan. And they came to Jabesh, and burned them there.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
they gat them vp, as many as were men of armes, and wente all the nighte, and toke ye body of Saul, and the bodies of his sonnes from ye wall of Bethsan, broughte the to Iabes, and brent them there,

American Standard Version
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Bible in Basic English
All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They arose, as many as were strong men, and went all night, & toke the bodie of Saul, & the bodies of his sonnes, from the wall of Bethsan, and came to Iabes, and burnt them there.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

King James Version (1611)
All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and tooke the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sonnes from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Iabesh, and burnt them there.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they rose up, even every man of might, and marched all night, and took the body of Saul and the body of Jonathan his son from the wall of Baethsam; and they bring them to Jabis, and burn them there.

English Revised Version
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth–shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Berean Standard Bible
all their valiant warriors set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
alle the strongeste men risiden, and yeden in al that nyyt, and token the deed bodi of Saul, and the deed bodies of hise sones fro the wal of Bethsan; and the men of Jabes of Galaad camen, and brenten tho deed bodies bi fier.

Young's Literal Translation
and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there,

Update Bible Version
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Webster's Bible Translation
All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

World English Bible
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

New King James Version
all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

New Living Translation
all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.

New Life Bible
all the men with strength of heart went and walked all night. They took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh. There they burned them.

New Revised Standard
all the valiant men set out, traveled all night long, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. They came to Jabesh and burned them there.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
then arose all the men of valour, and journeyed all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-shan, - and came to Jabesh, and burned them there;

Douay-Rheims Bible
All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there.

Revised Standard Version
all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and burnt them there.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

Contextual Overview

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people. They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan. ¹¹The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. Their valiant men sprang into action. They traveled all night, took the corpses of Saul and his three sons from the wall at Beth Shan, and carried them back to Jabesh and burned off the flesh. They then buried the bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted in mourning for seven days.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

burnt them there: 2 Chronicles 16:14, Jeremiah 34:5, Amos 6:10

Reciprocal: Joshua 17:11 - Manasseh 2 Samuel 2:7 - let your 1 Kings 4:12 - Bethshean

Cross-References

Genesis 31:43
Laban defended himself: "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock—everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they've had? So let's settle things between us, make a covenant—God will be the witness between us."

Exodus 3:7
God said, "I've taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I've heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Exodus 3:9
"The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians. It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."

Leviticus 19:13
"Don't exploit your friend or rob him. "Don't hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.

Psalms 12:5
Into the hovels of the poor, Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks: "I've had enough; I'm on my way To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched."

Ecclesiastes 5:8
Don't be too upset when you see the poor kicked around, and justice and right violated all over the place. Exploitation filters down from one petty official to another. There's no end to it, and nothing can be done about it. But the good earth doesn't cheat anyone—even a bad king is honestly served by a field.

Ephesians 6:9
Masters, it's the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All the valiant men arose,.... Of the city of Jabeshgilead, fired with indignation at the Philistines' ill usage of Saul and the bodies of his sons:

and went all night; not only for secrecy, but for haste:

and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh; brought them with them thither, the Philistines either having no knowledge of it, or not daring to oppose them:

and burnt them there: that is, the flesh of them, for the bones they buried, as in 1 Samuel 31:13; and this they did, contrary to the common usage of the country, which was not to burn; but this they did, that if the Philistines should come to recover them, they would not be able to do it: though the Targum is,

"they burnt over them, as they burn over their kings there;''

they made a burning for them of spices over them; or of their beds, and other household goods, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, though they prefer the other sense; see 2 Chronicles 16:14 perhaps the true reason might be, because they were putrid and infectious.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

burnt them - Burning was not the usual mode of sepulture among the Hebrews. But in this case from a pious desire to disguise the mutilation of the headless corpses, and exempt them from any possible future insult, the men of Jabesh burned the bodies, yet so as to preserve the bones 1Sa 31:13; 2 Samuel 21:12.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 31:12. And burnt them there. — It has been denied that the Hebrews burnt the bodies of the dead, but that they buried them in the earth, or embalmed them, and often burnt spices around them, c. These no doubt were the common forms of sepulture, but neither of these could be conveniently practiced in the present case. They could not have buried them about Beth-shan without being discovered and as to embalming, that was most likely out of all question, as doubtless the bodies were now too putrid to bear it. They therefore burnt them, because there was no other way of disposing of them at that time so as to do them honour; and the bones and ashes they collected, and buried under a tree or in a grove at Jabesh.