1 Chronicles 10:14

And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it

And inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. And inquired not of the Lord.

Inquired not of the Lord. Object. Saul inquired of the Lord, . Answ. He did so, but not in a right manner, not humbly and penitently, not diligently and importunately, not patiently and perseveringly; but when God would not answer him speedily, he gives it over, and goes from God to the devil. Compare ,19. Such an inconsiderable and trifling inquiry as Saul made, is justly accounted to be no inquiry at all; as they are said not to eat the Lord’ s supper, , who did eat it in a sinful and irregular manner.

1 Chronicles 10:14 And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.Ver. 14. And inquired not of the Lord.] He did, and yet he did not. Therefore he slew him.] He killed him with death, as Revelation 2:23. And turned the kingdom unto David.] Though it were long first, and after many trials and tribulations. Sic petitur caelum; heaven is not to be had, but after much pains and patience. “ Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis ”

(14) And enquired not of the Lord.—Saul had, in fact, enquired of Jehovah before resorting to the witch of En-dor, “but the Lord answered him not, neither by the dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by the prophets” (1 Samuel 28:6). We shall not be reading a meaning of our own into the text if we say that Saul’s natural impatience (1 Samuel 13:13) on this occasion betrayed him again; he at once despaired of help from his God, instead of seeking it with self-humiliation and penitence. His character is consistently drawn throughout the history. The sin that ruined the first king was essentially that which led to the final ruin of the nation, viz., unfaithfulness to the covenant-God. The same word characterises both. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 10:13 with 1 Chronicles 5:25; 1 Chronicles 9:1.) Therefore he slew him.—God acts through the instrumentality of His creatures. In this case He employed the Philistines, and the suicidal hand of Saul himself; just as He employed the Assyrian conquerors of a later age to be the scourge of guilty peoples (Isaiah 10:5-15), and raised up Cyrus to be His servant, who should fulfil all His pleasure (Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1-13). Turned the kingdom unto David.—By means of the warriors of Israel (1 Chronicles 12:23). This sentence shows that 1 Chronicles 10 is transitional to the history of David as king.

Verse 14. Inquired not of the Lord] On these two last verses the Targum speaks thus: "And Saul died for the transgression by which he transgressed against the WORD of the Lord, and because he did not keep the commandment of the Lord when he warred against the house of Amalek; and because he consulted Pythons, and sought oracular answers from them. Neither did he ask counsel from before the Lord by Urim and Thummim, for he had slain the priests that were in Nob; therefore the Lord slew him, and transferred the kingdom to David the son of Jesse." A LITERARY friend furnishes the following remarks:- "The sacred writer, in the first book of Samuel, 1 Samuel 31:11-13, and 1 Chronicles 10:11-12, after relating the defeat and death of Saul, and the ignominious treatment of his remains, thus concludes:- "'And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul, 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; and they took the bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.' "Often has this account been read with admiration of the bravery and devotedness of the men of Jabesh-gilead, but without considering that these men had any greater cause than others for honouring the remains of their sovereign; but, on reflection, it will be perceived that the strong impulse of gratitude prompted them to this honourable exertion. They remembered their preservation from destruction, and, which to brave men is more galling, from bearing marks of having been defeated, and being deprived of the honourable hope of wiping off disgrace, or defending their country at future seasons. "Reading these verses in conjunction with the attack of Nahash, we perceive the natural feelings of humanity, of honourable respect, prompting the men of Jabesh to act as they did in rescuing the bones of Saul and his family. "The father of Grecian poetry relates in how great a degree the warriors of ancient days honoured the remains of their leaders; how severe were the contests for the body of the fallen chief, more determined oftentimes than the struggle for victory: this point of military honour was possibly excited or heightened by the religious idea so prevalent in his age, and after times, respecting the fate of the spirits of those who were unburied. "Homer wrote of events passing at no distant period from those recorded in the first volume of Samuel; and these accounts mutually corroborate each other, being in unison, not only with the feelings of humanity, but with the customs of ancient nations. These may be farther illustrated by comparing the conduct of the Philistines with regard to Saul and his sons, with that of the hero of the Iliad towards Hector, the most finished character of the poem.

14. and inquired not of the Lord] Cp. 1 Chronicles 13:3. The Chronicler does not count inquiries made too late; cp. 1 Samuel 28:6 (Saul inquires of the Lord, but receives no answer).

14. Inquired not of the Lord — 1 Samuel 28:6 clearly implies that he did inquire of the Lord, but received no answer.