What are the 5 suicides in the bible?

Answer 1

There are five people, in The Bible, who committed suicide. In 1 Samuel 31, Saul and his armourbearer fell on their swords. In 2 Samuel 17, Ahithophel hanged himself. In 1 Kings 16, Zimri burned himself to death. And in Matthew 27, Judas hanged himself. Also, there are two others who might be considered suicide. In Judges 9:54, Abimelech commanded his armourbearer to kill him. And in Judges 16, Samson died along with the Phillistines he killed.

Answer 2

There are more than five; seven are actually accepted, but there are eight. I'll list the seven, then give a strict literary explication of the eighth:

1. Judges 9:54 - Abimelech commands his armor-bearer to run him through with a sword. When the boy refuses, an unnamed woman does.
2. Judges 16:30 - Samson brings the building down on the Philistines killing himself in the process.
3. 1 Samuel 31:4 - King Saul falls on his own sword.
4. 1 Samuel 31:5 - Saul's armor-bearer does the same when he finds the king.
5. 2 Samuel 17:23 - Ahithopel hangs himself at home when he recognizes that his advice is not followed.
6. 1 Kings 16:18 - Zimri burns down the king's house when he sees that his city is overrun, dying in the fire.
7. Matthew 27:5 - Judas throws down the silver he has taken to betray Christ and hangs himself.

And, explication of the one that will be hotly contested:
Chronologically it is the seventh, but here it is for the sake of argument.

Matthew 26:53 - Upon being confronted in the Garden, Judas betrays Christ. Peter responds by cutting off the ear of one of the soldiers. Christ takes command and gives one of his greatest lines: "Put your sword back in its place...for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Peter does as he is told and Christ restores the soldier's ear. He closes with the clincher: "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" With this sort of power at his fingertips, Christ could have ordered the destruction of creation, the entire universe. But, he doesn't. Why? Well, he tells us: "...how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

The whole premise of Christ's life, ministry, and death was that he would become a sacrifice, the last sacrifice for the payment or propitiation of sin. Under the New Covenant, anyone, Jew or Gentile, could find salvation, and the only way that could happen was by Christ's death, his sacrifice.

So, by not calling upon the angels to rescue him, Christ allowed himself to be killed. He allowed himself to die by not intervening. This is the definition of suicide.Remember his earlier words: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. / Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12 & 13 KJV)

In a different vernacular: He took the hit so we didn't have to.