Bible Strands
2 Samuel 21:12
he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David acts immediately after being informed of Rizpah’s protective vigil over the exposed corpses (2 Samuel 21:11). He travels to the men of Jabesh-gilead to retrieve the remains.
The words — וַיֵּלֶךְ (va-yēlekh, "and he went") and עַצְמוֹת ('atsmōt, "bones") drive the narrative forward. David physically moves to seize the skeletal remains of Saul and his son Jonathan.
The thread — This retrieval directly addresses the Philistine desecration recorded in 1 Samuel 31:10 and the earlier military encampment at Gilboa (1 Samuel 28:4). The location Beth-shan is previously noted as a Manassite and Issachrite territory in Joshua 17:11.
Why it lands — The text records David’s physical recovery of dishonored remains from a stolen location. It requires the reader to observe how a new leader formally addresses the exposure of defeated royalty and the subsequent handling of the dead.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh–gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth–shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
Cross-references
- Joshua 17:11 Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
- 1 Samuel 31:10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
- 1 Samuel 28:4 The Philistines gathered together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.
- 1 Samuel 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 2 Samuel 1:6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.
- 2 Samuel 1:21 O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
- 2 Samuel 2:5 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.
- 1 Chronicles 10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 1 Chronicles 10:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.