"... With his army routed and his three sons killed, Saul faced the Philistine archers. Rather than suffer disgrace at their hands, he asked his weapon-bearer to kill him—in vain. Saul then took his own life, and his weapon-bearer followed suit. On seeing this, other Israelites in the area dispersed, and the Philistines took over their cities (verses 1–7). The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and stole his weapons. After sending a report to their home territory, they put the weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth and hung Saul’s body on the wall of Bethshan (verse 8–10). The citizens of Jabesh-Gilead, however, retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons, performed the burial rites, and fasted for one week (verses 11–13). This pericope is linked to the incident of the witch of Endor (especially 28:19) and to the earlier account of the Philistines mustering for this battle (29:11). The death of Saul is reported almost in heroic fashion, with touches of final courage and a record of the undying loyalty of the people of Jabesh-Gilead. Neither the higher documentary sources or the Deuteronomist chose to add an evaluation of Saul, though the Chronicler attributes his death to unfaithfulness and to the consulting of a medium (1 Chronicles 10:13–14) ..."