@tikala,
tikala wrote:Why? Did he commit suicide?
The Philistines launched a major invasion against Israel and it was a huge success. King Saul and his army were badly defeated. Saul's heir and David's best friend, Prince Jonathan, was killed, as were two other sons of Saul.
Hard pressed by Philistine soldiers, Saul was wounded, even though his army killed over 3000 Philistines. Unable to escape, and afraid of being captured and tortured by the enemy, Saul urged his armor-bearer to kill him. Afraid, he refused. So Saul fell on his own sword and died. Seeing this, his armor-bearer did the same. This double suicide was one of only five suicide events recorded in the Bible.
Seeing the battle lost and their king dead, the Israelites in the region abandoned their homes, which the Philistines then occupied.
The Philistine soldiers found Saul's body. In spite of Saul's failures and sins, he had done much to protect Israel, and his body was a great trophy to his enemies. They cut off his head and strung his body outside the city wall for all to see.
This was too much for the men of Jabesh, whom Saul had rescued many years ago from a horrible fate. They journeyed through the night and removed the headless bodies of Saul and his sons from the city wall. If they had been caught, they would certainly have been killed. They escaped to Jabesh, however, cremated and buried them, and hosted a proper funeral.
