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| 1 And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa. |
Mount Gilboa – In the vicinity of the Hill of Megiddo, or Armageddon. OV268:1
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| 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. |
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| 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers. |
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| 4 Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. |
Fell upon it – "He ate of the fruit of his own way and was filled with his own devices." (Prov. 1:31) R3240:5
Saul committed suicide, lest falling alive into the hands of his enemies they would have tortured him. R3240:6
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| 5 And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him. |
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| 6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together. |
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| 7 And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and they that were on this side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. |
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| 8 And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa. |
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| 9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent them into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people. |
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| 10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. |
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| 11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, |
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| 12 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 burned them there. |
Took the body – Thus they attested their recognition of the king's kindness to them. R4234:5
Burnt them there – Probably to prevent their further desecration. R3241:1
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| 13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. |
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