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Burial of Saul. 11 (A)When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their warriors set out and traveled through the night; they removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and, returning to Jabesh, burned them.[a] 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

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Footnotes

  1. 31:12 Burned them: cremation was not an Israelite custom. The people of Jabesh-gilead repay Saul’s victory over the Ammonites on their behalf (chap. 11) by providing burial and funeral rites for him and his sons. Probably the damaged state of the corpus necessitated cremation.

11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead(A) heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men(B) marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned(C) them. 13 Then they took their bones(D) and buried them under a tamarisk(E) tree at Jabesh, and they fasted(F) seven days.(G)

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