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Death of Saul and Jonathan on Mt Gilboa
31
📚Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 📚And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Melchishua, Saul’s sons 📖. 3 📚And the battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
4 📚Then Saul said to his armour bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, or these uncircumcised 📖 men will come and pierce me through and abuse me”. But his armour bearer would not, for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 📚And when his armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 📚So Saul and his three sons and his armour bearer and all his men 📖 died together that same day.
7 📚And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. And the Philistines came and stayed in them.
8 📚And it came about the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 📚And they cut off his head and stripped off his armour, and sent word into the land of the Philistines all around, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols 📖 and among the people. 10 📚And they put his armour in the temple of Ashtaroth 📖 and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-Shan.
11 📚And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 📚all the valiant men arose and travelled 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. 13 📚And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
31:11-13 They remembered how Saul had delivered them (1 Sam 11:1-13), and showed their gratitude in this way.⚜