They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
- BSB Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
- NKJV Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
- NASB And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
- NLT Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They bury Saul's bones under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh and fast seven days. The book of 1 Samuel closes in mourning.
Overview
The burial and seven-day fast give Saul a measure of dignity at the end and express genuine grief over Israel's loss. The somber close leaves the nation leaderless and humbled, waiting for the king God has prepared. David will later honor these men for their kindness, and the story opens toward the establishment of his God-given reign, ultimately pointing to the everlasting kingdom of Christ, the true and faithful King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Sam 21:12–14So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
- Gen 50:10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.
- 1 Sam 22:6Saul heard that David was discovered, with the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.
- 2 Sam 1:12They mourned, wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel; because they had fallen by the sword.
- 2 Sam 2:4–5The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.”
- Gen 35:8Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 31:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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