1 Samuel 31:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Jabeshgilead was located only a few miles to the east side of the Jordan. Bethshan, where Saul’s bodies and the bodies of his sons were nailed, was a similar distance to the west of Jordan in the valley of Jezreel, deep inside Israel’s territory where the Philistine advance has penetrated. The name means house of rest, but this was hardly the rest that Saul would have sought.‘And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; ¹² All the valiant men arose.’ Bethshan was the great fortress town of central Palestine and the Philistines took it and they hung the bodies out for the vultures on the walls of that fortress town of Israel. But the men of Jabesh came and rescued them and burned them so that they were put beyond the reach of any further abuse and harm. Why the men of Jabesh weren't in the battle is anybody's guess. They had kept themselves out of trouble on previous occasions, but now they came and did this honourable service. They were loyal to Saul, and David later commends them for this act of courage: ‘And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul. ⁵ And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. ⁶ And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing’ (2 Samuel 2:4-6). It was Saul who had delivered them in the time specified when they had sent for help after being besieged by the Ammonites who had demanded that they put out their right eyes (1 Samuel 11). They remembered this kindness and buried Saul and his sons with an honourable burial, back in their own city.So the Philistines appeared to have undisputed control of the land. But their triumphalism was short-lived. This brief victory was to be the prelude to a tremendous setback for the Philistines when God’s man, David, came to the throne. Little did they know that God was using these events to place a new king on the throne who would be the scourge of the Philistines. David’s long wait had come to an end, and a new phase in his life was about to begin.