1st Samuel Chapter 31

Saul’s death

31:1 NOW the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and they fell down wounded in mount Gilboa.
31:2 And the Philistines followed  Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”)’s sons.
31:3 And the battle went bad against Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”), and the archers hit him; and he was critically wounded by the archers.
31:4 Then Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) said to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and shove it through me; otherwise these uncircumcised will come and plunge me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not; for he was greatly afraid. So Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) took the sword, and fell upon it.
31:5 And when his armor bearer saw that Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) was dead, he fell on his sword too , and died with him.
31:6 So Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men died together, that same day.
31:7 ¶ And when the men of Israel that were beyond the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) and his sons had died, they abandoned the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
31:8 And it so happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the wounded, that they found Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa.
31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around to proclaim the news in the house of their idols, and among the people.
31:10 And they put his armor in the house of Ashtoreth a Canaanite goddess of fertility, love, and war and the daughter of the god El and the goddess Asherah. — This exchanging of vowels formed the word Ashtoreth. The Greek form of the name is Astarte; Ἀστάρτη, Astartē) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar.: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Saul’s body burned and bone buried

31:11 ¶ And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead Jabesh-Gilead (Hebrew: יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד Yāḇēš Gilʿāḏ), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan.Jabesh means “dry” in Hebrew, a name possibly attributed to the site’s well-draining soil. Gilead means ‘heap [of stones] of testimony’. There is also an alternative theory that it means ‘rocky region’. [Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Gil’e-ad”] heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”);
31:12 All the mighty men rose up, and went all night, and they took the body of Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. ”asked/prayed for”) and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh Jabesh-Gilead (Hebrew: יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד Yāḇēš Gilʿāḏ), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan.Jabesh means “dry” in Hebrew, a name possibly attributed to the site’s well-draining soil. Gilead means ‘heap [of stones] of testimony’. There is also an alternative theory that it means ‘rocky region’. [Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Gil’e-ad”], and burnt them there.
31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh Jabesh-Gilead (Hebrew: יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד Yāḇēš Gilʿāḏ), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan. Jabesh means “dry” in Hebrew, a name possibly attributed to the site’s well-draining soil. Gilead means ‘heap [of stones] of testimony’. There is also an alternative theory that it means ‘rocky region’. [Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Gil’e-ad”], and fasted seven days.