(11) And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; (12) All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. (13) And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
The Holy Ghost hath been pleased to record the bravery of the men of Jabesh-gilead, not, perhaps, out of regard to Saul's memory, but to testify the proper conduct of those men. Saul had been blessed of God, as an instrument in rescuing Jabesh-gilead from Nahash, the king of the Ammorites, and therefore, gratitude made them alive to rescue their deliverer's body, and those of his sons, from such an ignominious exposure. And this the men of Jabesh could very easily accomplish, because Beth-shan was only separated by a branch of Jordan from Jabesh-gilead. And thus the history of Saul terminates in the finishing of the first Book, as it is called, of Samuel, containing a period of about eighty years. Alas! what is the sum and substance of everything short of Jesus, but vanity and vexation of spirit. At the dose of every relation, and of every man's history, we may write this down, and exclaim with the prophet: Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever? But, blessed Jesus, amidst all the scenes of departing men; amidst the dying, and the dead, Oh! what a relief is that sweet thought to the soul of thy people; Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Zechariah 1:5; Hebrews 1:12.