Contradictions in the Bible: Who killed Saul...Bible says several different things in re: to that?

Question

First Saul kills himself, second...someone else(I'm not sure who it is) kills Saul....then the Philistines kill Saul....then God kills Saul.

Which is it?

Saul killed himself. 1 Sam.31:4; 1 Chr. 10:4, 5.

Someone killed Saul. 2 Sam.1:5-10.

The Philistines killed Saul. 2 Sam.21:12.

God killed Saul. 1 Chr.10:13,14.

1 Samuel 31:4
Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

2 Sam:10
So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

2 Samuel 21:12
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

1 Chr 10: 13-14
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

Answer 1

Here are the passages you wrote. It does seem a little confusing but not that much. God allowed him to die, it was foretold he would die, to him even. So was it God that killed him or did it mean he allowed Saul to be killed?

Also does Saul fall on his sword, his guard thought he was completely dead and killed himself, then the young man saw him, half dead, then he finished the job. Somewhat confusing but not totally.
1 Chronicles 10:4-5
4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me."
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died.

1 sam 31:4, "4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me."
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

2 Samuel 21:12 (New International Version)
12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)

1 Chronicles 10:13-14
13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.


2 Samuel 1:5-10
5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

6 "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa," the young man said, "and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?'

8 "He asked me, 'Who are you?'
" 'An Amalekite,' I answered.

9 "Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.'

10 "So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."

Answer 2

At Mount Gilboa. Israel suffers a disastrous defeat, and the Philistines get control of strategic areas of the land. Jonathan and other sons of Saul are slain, and the mortally wounded Saul kills himself with his own sword, a suicide. The victorious Philistines hang the bodies of Saul and his three sons on the walls of the city of Beth-shan, but they are removed from this disgraceful position by the men of Jabesh-gilead. The calamitous reign of Israel’s first king has reached its disastrous end.

With the Philistines pressing the attack in the battle of Mount Gilboa. Three of Saul’s sons, including Jonathan, are struck down. Then Saul is wounded. Not wishing to be taken by the enemy, he urges his armor-bearer: “Draw your sword and run me through with it, that these uncircumcised men may not come and certainly deal abusively with me.” When his armor-bearer refuses, Saul kills himself. Thus Saul dies for acting “faithlessly against Jehovah concerning the word of Jehovah that he had not kept and also for asking of a spirit medium to make inquiry. And he did not inquire of God.”

Saul fell upon his own sword. (1Sa 31:1-7) About three days later a young Amalekite came to David, boasting that he had put the wounded king to death. This was evidently a lie, designed to gain David’s favor. David, however, commanded that the man be executed on the basis of the claim, because Saul had been Jehovah’s anointed one. 2Sa 1:1-15.

Answer 3

You guys never read the whole book do you.
Saul killed himself. A man trying to get glory from David said he killed Saul. The third verse talks about the battle with the Philistines that killed Saul. God allowed Saul to be killed.
I have seen better attemps to find contradictions in the Bible.

Answer 4

Saul fell on his own sword. A man trying to win praise and honor lied to David and said he had done it. Saul would not had died if He hadn't fought the philistines. Also God rejected Saul as King and allowed him to be killed in battle.

Answer 5

Ok, this may sound offensive if you are a sensitive Christian, but the thing is both the Bible and Christianity itself has gone through many revisions through the time that the bible was supposedly written to now. Christianity has had to hide in the shadows during the Roman Empire, Bathe in the glory of the late Roman Empire, Rule Europe in the Dark ages, Take a backseat to Science during the Renaissance, and now is being replaced in courts and governments with (in my opinion) much better, and fairer, secularism. Each of these "periods" brought new changes to the Christianity that have made it an underground cult of sorts, into a leading political power. Now to save space I will not go into the revisions made to Christianity during that time, you can do plenty of research by yourself if you are interested. The bible side on the other hand, is more cut and dry why Christians don't follow it. It's a collections of texts which are almost exclusively regarded as "symbolic" or "infallible". The symbolic approach is easy to say why people don't follow it. Why follow a bunch of symbols meant to "show god's love". The infallible instead, is almost unfathomably stupid. The bible contains over 400 known and recorded contradictions (probably many more but nobody has put the mall together yet), and is full of rules like don't covet. In this modern climate regarding a 2000+ year old book that can't be changed (although it has), and applies 100% to our modern life is crazy. But when you are in one of those mindsets anything can seem completely rational. Saying one thing while the bible says another is not uncommon, in fact it is the only way that "modern" Christianity can exist. Most Avidly religious people have not read the entire bible (some studies put it as high as 90%) so picking and choosing good verses are easy. Of course it is easy to catch them in a loop hole because they haven't read about Paul, but they did read the commandments. So don't be surprised when Reverend Joe says that Jesus loves and will rescue everyone. He could either be lying, or simply misinformed. You can judge him by your perception of his mental state.

Answer 6

No it doesn't - the story goes that the Philistines mortally wounded Saul, he went back to his tent and asked one of his servants to kill him and the guy wouldn't do it so he ran himself through with a sword.

Answer 7

saul lost faith in jehovah and turned to a spirit medium so jehovah allowed sauls enemies to defeat him in a bloody battle
saul was mortally wounded so asked his attendant to finish him off. but saul had to commit suicide himself so there is no contradiction here

Answer 8

The thing is you have to read the original bible. Paul is Saul and was a killer of Christians and The Christian Essenes totally reject his teachings. Read the Gospel of the Nazirenes (the original new Testament before King Constantine took so much out and misconstrued everything) go to thegospelofthenazirenes. for the complete truth.

Answer 9

Saul fell onto his own sword.

Answer 10

Shut up, you desperate ho! And get some damned pants on, before your mama get too proud!