וּפְלִשְׁתִּים נִלְחָמִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיָּנֻסוּ אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִפְּנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיִּפְּלוּ חֲלָלִים בְּהַר הַגִּלְבֹּעַ

While David was departing from Akhish and battling Amalek, the Philistines were making war against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell as corpses on Mount Gilboa. Perhaps the battle was initially waged in a single spot, but the fighting then spread to a large area near Gilboa, and the bodies of the slain lay strewn there.

וַיַּדְבְּקוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים אֶת שָׁאוּל וְאֶת בָּנָיו וַיַּכּוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים אֶת יְהוֹנָתָן וְאֶת אֲבִינָדָב וְאֶת מַלְכִּי שׁוּעַ בְּנֵי שָׁאוּל

The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, they attacked and caught them; and the Philistines smote Yehonatan and Avinadav and Malki Shua, Saul’s sons.

וַתִּכְבַּד הַמִּלְחָמָה אֶל שָׁאוּל וַיִּמְצָאֻהוּ הַמּוֹרִים אֲנָשִׁים בַּקָּשֶׁת וַיָּחֶל מְאֹד מֵהַמּוֹרִים

The battle was intense against Saul. The enemy continued to attack until Saul had no strength left to defend himself. It is likely that a group of fighters remained around the king and fought valiantly to protect him, but they were outnumbered by the Philistines, who killed them one by one. And the archers, the men with bows, located him, and he feared greatly because of the archers. Perhaps he thought that he could continue fighting with his sword, but when he saw the Philistine archers approaching, he realized that his end was near, as he could not defend himself against their arrows.

וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל לְנֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו שְׁלֹף חַרְבְּךָ וְדָקְרֵנִי בָהּ פֶּן יָבוֹאוּ הָעֲרֵלִים הָאֵלֶּה וּדְקָרֻנִי וְהִתְעַלְּלוּ בִי וְלֹא אָבָה נֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו כִּי יָרֵא מְאֹד וַיִּקַּח שָׁאוּל אֶת הַחֶרֶב וַיִּפֹּל עָלֶיהָ

Saul said to his armor-bearer: Draw your sword and stab me with it, lest these uncircumcised ones come and stab me and abuse me. It is better that you kill me in a dignified manner, without suffering. But his armor-bearer was unwilling, as he was very afraid of harming God’s anointed one. Despite his loyalty to Saul, the armor-bearer, who was probably young and frightened, was unable to kill the king, even though Saul himself had issued a direct command. Therefore Saul took his sword, placed it at an angle, and fell upon it. This is not a comfortable or quick way to die, but he felt he had no other choice.

וַיַּרְא נֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו כִּי מֵת שָׁאוּל וַיִּפֹּל גַּם הוּא עַל חַרְבּוֹ וַיָּמָת עִמּוֹ

His armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, and he too fell upon his sword, and he died with him, as Saul meant everything to him, and he could not bear living without him.

וַיָּמָת שָׁאוּל וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת בָּנָיו וְנֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו גַּם כָּל אֲנָשָׁיו בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יַחְדָּו

Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer, as well as all his men who were closest to him died together on that day. It later becomes clear that several notable individuals had been able to escape.

וַיִּרְאוּ אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר בּעֵבֶר הָעֵמֶק וַאֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן כִּי נָסוּ אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכִי מֵתוּ שָׁאוּל וּבָנָיו וַיַּעַזְבוּ אֶת הֶעָרִים וַיָּנֻסוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בָּהֶן

The men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, the Yizre’el Valley, and who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, and they abandoned the cities and fled, and Philistines came and settled in them. The Israelites thought that the entire kingdom had fallen. It is later clarified that one of Saul’s sons was still alive, but initially not all the details were reported accurately. With the army having suffered such a decisive defeat in this important war, the Israelites in that area were left unprotected, and they therefore fled.

וַיְהִי מִמָּחֳרָת וַיָּבֹאוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים לְפַשֵּׁט אֶת הַחֲלָלִים וַיִּמְצְאוּ אֶת שָׁאוּל וְאֶת שְׁלֹשֶׁת בָּנָיו נֹפְלִים בְּהַר הַגִּלְבֹּעַ

It was the next day, after the war had ended, the Philistines came to strip the corpses, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. As was customary in wars of the past, men were sent to the battlefield to take any items of value they could find from the corpses, such as precious stones, jewelry, and weapons. It is possible that on the day of the battle itself the Philistines were unaware that Saul had been killed. Presumably, after the protective circle around the king had collapsed and Saul had died, only dead bodies were left, and these were not immediately identified by the Philistines. Since the battle was not waged in a single location, they left the corpses and continued fighting. Therefore, it was only on the following day that they realized that Saul and his sons had been killed.

וַיִּכְרְתוּ אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ וַיַּפְשִׁיטוּ אֶת כֵּלָיו וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ בְאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים סָבִיב לְבַשֵּׂר בֵּית עֲצַבֵּיהֶם וְאֶת הָעָם

They severed his, Saul’s, head, and they stripped off his gear, and they sent throughout the land of the Philistines all around to carry the tidings to the house of their idols and the people. They placed Saul’s head and armor on display as a sign of their great victory.

וַיָּשִׂמוּ אֶת כֵּלָיו בֵּית עַשְׁתָּרוֹת וְאֶת גְּוִיָּתוֹ תָּקְעוּ בְּחוֹמַת בֵּית שָׁן

They placed his, Saul’s, gear in the house of the god named Ashtarot, and they hung his body on the wall of the city of Beit Shan, which was not far from the Yizre’el Valley. For many generations the valley and city of Beit Shan formed a kind of enclave of uncertain status. Apparently, at that time, the Philistines lived in Beit Shan, and due to the geographical proximity of the city to the battle site, they exhibited Saul’s body there.

וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֵלָיו יֹשְׁבֵי יָבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים לְשָׁאוּל

The inhabitants of Yavesh Gilad heard in his regard [elav], this incident, that which the Philistines had done to Saul. The inhabitants of Yavesh Gilad maintained family ties with Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, and they also owed a debt of gratitude to the king for having saved them from the Amonites. Consequently, they had more than one reason to mourn over his death. Perhaps the use of the term elav, literally “to him,” instead of the more common alav, literally “about him,” alludes to the special affinity they felt for Saul.

וַיָּקוּמוּ כָּל אִישׁ חַיִל וַיֵּלְכוּ כָל הַלַּיְלָה וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת גְּוִיַּת שָׁאוּל וְאֵת גְּוִיֹּת בָּנָיו מֵחוֹמַת בֵּית שָׁן וַיָּבֹאוּ יָבֵשָׁה וַיִּשְׂרְפוּ אֹתָם שָׁם

Every valiant man of Yavesh Gilad rose, and they went all night from east of the Jordan to the battle area, and they took Saul’s body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beit Shan. They came back to Yavesh and they burned them there. They felt confident enough to undertake this mission without fear of repercussion from the Philistines due to the great distance of their city from the battle. They probably did not actually burn the bodies, as can be inferred from the subsequent verse, but rather they lit a great bonfire in honor of the dead, a customary rite upon the death of kings. However, some explain that they did scorch the flesh with pungent spices, or burnt the corpses because they had become maggot-infested.

וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת עַצְמֹתֵיהֶם וַיִּקְבְּרוּ תַחַת הָאֶשֶׁל בְּיָבֵשָׁה וַיָּצֻמוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים

They took their bones and they buried them beneath the tamarisk tree in the city of Yavesh, and they fasted seven days. Presumably, they ate during the nights between those days. The men of Yavesh Gilad heavily mourned the death and disgraceful treatment of the king, who had been their savior when they had been in mortal danger for seven days.