1S31-2: Why the Armor Bearer Refused to Kill Saul—Even When Asked

“Sha’ul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it. Otherwise, these uncircumcised men will come, run me through, and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer refused, he was too frightened. So Sha’ul took his sword and fell on it.”-1 Samuel 31:4

Saul was fatally wounded and he knew it.

So he turned to his personal armor bearer and said…

“Draw your sword and run me through with it. Otherwise, these uncircumcised men will come, run me through, and make sport of me.”

The original Hebrew for “make sport of me” is VE HIT’ ALLU VI.

It means to “do as they please with me.”

Saul was terrified the Philistine soldiers might get to him before the kings did.

If that happened, who knows what these uncircumcised men might do to him.

They might torture him or disfigure him.

Or do some other horrible thing that just wasn’t done to kings.

The armor bearer’s response was surprising.

He refused.

I say surprising because as the king’s bodyguard, the one thing you are never to do is refuse the king’s order no matter how grisly.

But why did the armor-bearer refuse Saul’s order?

We’re told it was because he was frightened.

But why was he frightened?

Was he afraid he might be punished or executed or something?

No homies.

No armor bearer with any sense of dignity would allow himself to live if the king he served and protected was killed.

We know this is true because after the armor bearer refused to kill the king, Saul took his own life, and the armor bearer did the same.

What’s interesting is that we can see that Saul was capable of ending his own life.

So why did he seek the assistance of his armor bearer?

Usually, such a request is only made when one isn’t physically capable of ending one’s own life.

Anyway, let’s get back to the original question.

Why was the armor-bearer so frightened that he refused Saul’s order to kill him?

The reason he was scared was because HE FEARED GOD.

Just as David feared God and did not touch the king even when he had two chances to kill him.

The bottom line is the armor bearer feared God’s judgment after death.

So he refused to kill the king, even out of mercy.

There’s a huge takeaway here.

How many of us truly fear and respect God enough to align our behavior with His commands?

Or do we live our lives in ignorant pork-eating, Shabbat-breaking, adultery-committing bliss because we think the “blood of Jesus” covers all our sins, so that means we can do whatever the heck we want?

I think you know the answer to these questions.

I leave you with these verses from the Book of Proverbs: