(8) They found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa.--It is expressly stated that the Philistines only found the royal corpses on the morrow of the great fight. So desperate had been the valour with which the King and his gallant sons had defended their last positions on the hill, that night had fallen ere the din of battle ceased. Nor were the enemy aware of the completeness of their success until the morning dawn revealed to the soldiers as they went over the scene, the great ones who were numbered among the slain. In the mean time the Amalekite had found and carried off the crown and royal bracelet. Only the bodies of Saul and the princes, and the armourbearer, are spoken of here. The crown royal, which would have formed so splendid a trophy, was already taken.

"O Saul,

How ghastly didst thou look, on thine own sword

Expiring: in Gilboa, from that hour

Ne'er visited with rain from heaven, nor dew."

DANTE: Pura. 12

The curse of barrenness alluded to by the great Italian poet was called down on the hill where the first anointed of the Lord fell, and where the body was stripped and dismembered by the triumphant foe (2Samuel 1:21). Quickly the tidings were told, we learn, in the capital of Gath, and proclaimed through the streets of Askelon.

The historian with extreme brevity records the savage treatment of the royal remains, which, after all, was but a reprisal. The same generation had witnessed similar barbarous procedure in the case of Goliath, the great Philistine champion!

Verse 8. - It came to pass on the morrow. The previous verse gave us the results of the victory as they were in course of time developed. We now return to the narrative of the battle and its immediate consequences. As the spoiling was deferred till the morrow, the struggle must have been obstinately contested, and decided only just before nightfall.

31:8-13 The Scripture makes no mention what became of the souls of Saul and his sons, after they were dead; but of their bodies only: secret things belong not to us. It is of little consequence by what means we die, or what is done with our dead bodies. If our souls are saved, our bodies will be raised incorruptible and glorious; but not to fear His wrath, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, is the extreme of folly and wickedness. How useless is the respect of fellow-creatures to those who are suffering the wrath of God! While pompous funerals, grand monuments, and he praises of men, honour the memory of the deceased, the soul may be suffering in the regions of darkness and despair! Let us seek that honour which cometh from God only.And it came to pass on the morrow,.... The day after the battle, which perhaps was fought till night came on:

when the Philistines came to strip the slain; of their clothes, and take from them whatever was valuable, as their booty:

that they found Saul and his sons fallen in Mount Gilboa; to which they had betaken themselves, when the battle went against them in the valley; of which see 1 Samuel 28:4.