(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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1 Samuel 31:8–13, “And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; 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 Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”
After a battle the victors would return to the battle site the next day and take all the weapons and clothing from their dead enemies. This was called “stripping the slain” and could yield a large amount of booty for the winners. The Philistines came back to Gilboa on the day after the battle to take booty and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons. When a famous enemy was killed the winners would take that man’s head to prove that he was really dead. Saul’s armour was also famous because Saul was a very tall man. The Philistines who had been fighting Saul took his head and his armour to let all the other Philistines know that Saul was dead. They put the trophies they took from his dead body in the temple of their god, Ashtaroth, to honour their god because they believed she had given them the victory. Saul’s body and those of his sons were hung from the wall of a city called Bethshan. This city was as the Jordan river end of the valley of Jezreel near the site of the battle. They did this to give a warning to the Israelis so that they wouldn’t come and fight the Philistines again. When the people of Jabeshgilead heard about Saul’s body the went and took the bodies and burned them then buried the bones with respect. The men of Jabeshgilead owed a special debt to Saul because, soon after Saul became king, Nahash the Ammonite threatened to take the right eye from all their men. Saul had brought and army with him and saved them from this tyrant. (1 Samuel 11:1–11)
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