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Genesis 35:8
But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

2 Samuel 2:4,5
And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying,That the men of Jabeshgileadwere they that buried Saul…

2 Samuel 21:12-14
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: …

fasted seven

Genesis 50:10
And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, whichis beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

and buried them under the tamarisk tree
The tamarisk tree is significant as it was a common tree in the region, often associated with shade and rest. In biblical times, trees were sometimes used as landmarks or memorials. The burial under the tamarisk tree may symbolize a place of remembrance and honor. This act of burial also reflects the cultural and religious importance of proper burial practices in Israel, ensuring that the deceased were treated with dignity.

in Jabesh
Jabesh refers to Jabesh-gilead, a city east of the Jordan River. This location is significant because it was the city Saul had saved from Nahash the Ammonite, creating a bond between Saul and the people of Jabesh-gilead. Their actions in retrieving and burying Saul's bones demonstrate their loyalty and gratitude towards him.

and they fasted seven days
Fasting for seven days indicates a period of mourning and respect for the dead. The number seven often represents completeness or perfection in the Bible, suggesting a full period of mourning. This practice aligns with other biblical instances of mourning, such as the mourning for Jacob inGenesis 50:10. Fasting was a way to express grief, seek God's favor, and reflect on the events that had transpired.

• The men of Jabesh-gilead physically retrieved the remains of Saul and his sons from Beth-shan (1 Samuel 31:11-12;1 Chronicles 10:12).

• Scripture records this as a literal rescue mission—an act of courage that risked life for the sake of honoring the fallen king.

• Bones, the last durable part of a body, symbolized the person himself (Genesis 50:25;2 Kings 23:18). By preserving them, the men affirmed that Saul and his sons still mattered to God and to Israel.

• Burial was a covenant duty, a tangible sign of respect and hope (Genesis 23:19;Deuteronomy 34:6).

• The men did not leave the bones on foreign soil or exposed to further shame; they gave them a place of rest among their own people.

• This act also anticipated the greater resurrection promise later revealed in passages likeIsaiah 26:19 andJohn 5:28-29.

• Tamarisk trees often served as landmarks or covenant markers (Genesis 21:33).

• Saul had once sat under a tamarisk in Gibeah while leading Israel (1 Samuel 22:6). Placing his remains beneath a similar tree ties his end to his earlier rule—closing the narrative circle.

• A shaded tree offered a natural memorial site, inviting future generations to remember the lessons of Saul’s life.

• Jabesh-gilead was the town Saul first delivered from Nahash the Ammonite (1 Samuel 11:1-11).

• Their gratitude endured; decades later they repaid his mercy with mercy of their own (Proverbs 17:13).

• Burying the king in the town he had saved highlighted the biblical principle of faithful remembrance (Hebrews 6:10).

• Fasting expressed deep grief and dependence on God (2 Samuel 1:12;Nehemiah 1:4).

• Seven days signified a complete, wholehearted mourning period (Genesis 50:10;Job 2:13).

• The community’s united fast acknowledged both the tragedy of Saul’s demise and Israel’s need for divine guidance moving forward.

1 Samuel 31:13 records a literal, reverent response to the death of Saul and his sons. By rescuing the bones, granting honorable burial under a tamarisk tree in the grateful town of Jabesh, and fasting seven days, the people upheld covenant loyalty, demonstrated respect for God-given authority, and modeled wholehearted mourning that turns hearts toward the Lord’s faithfulness and future hope.

Evidently King David, at a subsequent period, fetched away these royal remains, and had them reverently interred in the family sepulchre of Kish, the father of Saul, in Zelah of Benjamin (2Samuel 21:12;2Samuel 21:14).

And fasted seven days.--This was the period the sons of Israel mourned for Jacob at the threshing floor of Atad beyond Jordan (Genesis 1:10). The grateful men of Jabesh-Gilead thus paid the last honours to the fallen Saul.

It is probable that the Talmudic rule which enjoins strict mourning for seven days (fasting was mourning of the strictest kind) was originally based on these two historic periods of mourning recorded in the case of the great ancestor of the tribes, Jacob, and of the first King Saul, although the curious tradition preserved in the Babylonian Talmud gives a special reason for the period--seven days. Rav. Chisda said: The soul of the deceased mourns over himthe first seven days;for it is said,Job 14:22, "and his soul shall mourn over him." Rav. Jehudah said: If there are no mourners to condole with, ten men sit down where the death took place. Such a case happened in the neighbourhood of Rav. Jehudah.After the seven days of mourning,the deceased appeared to Rav. Jehudah in a dream, and said"Mayest thou be comforted as thou hast comforted me."--TreatiseShabbath,fol. 152, Colossians 2. . . .

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