1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
5When his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.
6So Saul, his three sons, his armour-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.
1 Samuel 31:1-6
10Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years.
The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
2 Samuel 2:10-11
11The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
1 Kings 2:11
From Shuwardata king of Gath to Pharaoh Akhenaten reporting the king having smote down the uprising of the Habiru. [Ibrim = Hebrews]
Amarna Letter EA 366
7When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people. 10They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
11When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan.
When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
1 Samuel 31:7-13
David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan
17Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, 18and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:a
19“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights.
How the mighty have fallen!
20Tell it not in Gath;
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
21O mountains of Gilboa,
may you have no dew or rain,
O fields not rising to contribute.b[alluding to Saul’s betrayal by his own people]
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
22From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not retreat,
and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life,
were not divided in death.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
24O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and luxury,
who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.
25How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother.
You were delightful to me;
your love to me was extraordinary,
surpassing the love of women.
27How the mighty have fallen
and the weapons of war have perished!”