1 NOW the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
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 burnt them there.
13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

1Nowe the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell downe slaine in mount Gilboa.

2And the Philistines followed hard vpon Saul, and vpon his sonnes, and the Philistines slewe Ionathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Sauls sonnes.

3And the battell went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of the archers.

4Then said Saul vnto his armour bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these vncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse mee. But his armour bearer would not, for he was sore afraid: therfore Saul tooke a sword, & fell vpon it.

5And when his armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise vpon his sword, and died with him.

6So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour bearer, and all his men that same day together.

7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Iordane, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sonnes were dead, they forsooke the cities and fled, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

8And it came to passe on the morrow when the Philistines came to strip the slaine, that they found Saul, and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

9And 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 idoles, and among the people.

10And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

11 And when the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul:

12All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and tooke the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sonnes from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Iabesh, and burnt them there.

13And they tooke their bones, and buried them vnder a tree at Iabesh, and fasted seuen dayes.

I == 1st Sam 28:4 ; 1st Chr 10:1-12

II == 1st Sam 14:49 ; 1st Chr 8:33

 

III == 2nd Sam 1:6

 

IV == Judg 9:54 ; 1st Sam 14:6 ; 17:26 ; 2nd Sam 1:10 , 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == 2nd Sam 1:20

 

 

 

 

 

X == Josh 17:11 ; Judg 1:27 ; Judg 2:13 ; 1st Sam 21:9 ; 2nd Sam 21:12

XI == 1st Sam 11:3 , 9 , 11

XII == 1st Sam 11:1-11 ; 2nd Sam 2:4-7 ; 2nd Chr 16:14 ; Jer 34:5 ; Amos 6:10

XIII == Gen 50:10 ; 2nd Sam 2:4-5 ; 21:12-14

 

1 As they pressed their attack on Israel, with the Israelites fleeing before them and falling mortally wounded on Mount Gilboa,

2 the Philistines pursued Saul and his sons closely, and slew Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

3 The battle raged around Saul, and the archers hit him; he was pierced through the abdomen.

4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, lest these uncircumcised come and make sport of me." But his armor-bearer, badly frightened, refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.

5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell upon his sword and died with him.

6 Thus Saul, his three sons, and his armor-bearer died together on that same day.

7 When the Israelites on the slope of the valley and those along the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they too abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and lived in those cities.

8 The day after the battle the Philistines came to strip the slain, and found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off Saul's head and stripped him of his armor, and then sent the good news throughout the land of the Philistines to their idols and to the people.

10 They put his armor in the temple of Astarte, but impaled his body on the wall of Bethshan.

11 When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 all their warriors set out, and after marching throughout the night, removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and brought them to Jabesh, where they cremated them.

13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for sd’s lack of training compared to Goliath, but David assures him that God would deliver him from this heathen Philistine just as he had from the lion and the bear. Then Saul gave his permission.

v 1-3. The Philistine overcame Israel in the battle at Mount Gilboa and many fled in wounded condition.  Saul’s three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua died, and he was severely wounded. They didn’t die in flight, but were overrun, 2 Sam. 2:22, probably trying to stem the tide and rally those around them who were fleeing.

v 4-6. To avoid capture and certain torture by the Philistines, Saul asked his armor bearer to kill him with his sword. His armor bearer feared to do that, so Saul fell upon his own sword in an attempt to commit suicide. Then the armor bearer committed suicide by falling on his sword. This is not in conflict with the report of the Amalekite in 2 Samuel 1:10. Saul had mortally wounded himself but was not yet dead, so the Amalekite finished him off in what he thought was a mercy killing. He possibly thought also that David might reward him, as he also brought Saul’s crown and bracelet. (Some think the Amalekite was lying, that Saul was already dead.)

v 7-10. Hearing of the death of their leaders, the Israelites abandoned their cities to the Philistines and fled to the wilderness. When stripping the slain, the Philistines beheaded Saul, took his armor and sent word of the victory to all the surrounding countryside, and to the house of their idol, to whom they gave credit for the victory. In respect to their god, Ashtaroth, they also put Saul’s armor there. They hung Saul’s body on the wall of Bethshan or Bethshean, Josh. 17:11. Since they could not torture Saul alive, they would shame him after death and discourage his followers.

v 11-13. The men of Jabesh-gilead remembered how Saul had come to their aid at the beginning of his reign. It was against Jewish belief to leave a body hanging all night, Deut. 21:22,23, so out of respect for their king,  they risked their lives by fording the Jordan at night and retrieving the bodies of Saul and his sons. The condition of the bodies by now was such that they burned them (customarily with spices to perfume them), then they buried the bones under a tree for a marker. There was no general mourning for Saul throughout Israel, but here they fasted till evening for each of seven days. They probably also lamented the sad state of Israel at this time. 
1 Chr. 10:13,14 stipulate the reason for Saul’s death. He disobeyed God’s word and asked advice from a medium, so God gave the kingdom to David.