* 1 Sam. xxxi. It would seem that there were two narratives
describing this war: in one, the Philistines encamped at
Shunem, and Saul occupied Mount Gilboa (1 Sam. xxviii. 4);
in the other, the Philistines encamped at Aphek, and the
Israelites “by the fountain which is in Jezreel” (1 Sam.
xxix. 1). The first of these accounts is connected with the
episode of the witch of Endor, the second with the sending
away of David by Achish. The final catastrophe is in both
narratives placed on Mount Gilboa and Stade has endeavoured
to reconcile the two accounts by admitting that the battle
was fought between Aphek and “the fountain,” but that the
final scene took place on the slopes of Gilboa. There are
even two versions of the battle, one in 1 Sam. xxxi. and the
other in 2 Sam. i. 6-10, where Saul does not kill himself,
but begs an Amalekite to slay him; many critics reject the
second version.
Drawn by Boudier, from photograph No. 79 of the Palestine
Exploration Fund.
David afterwards disinterred these relics, and laid them in the burying-place of the family of Kish at Zela, in Benjamin. The tragic end of their king made a profound impression on the people. We read that, before entering on his last battle, Saul was given over to gloomy forebodings: he had sought counsel of Jahveh, but God “answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” The aged Samuel had passed away at Ramah, and had apparently never seen the king after the flight of David;* Saul now bethought himself of the prophet in his despair, and sought to recall him from the tomb to obtain his counsel.
* 1 Sam. xxv. 1, repeated 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, with a mention
of the measures taken by Saul against the wizards and
fortune-tellers.
The king had banished from the land all wizards and fortune-tellers, but his servants brought him word that at Endor there still remained a woman who could call up the dead. Saul disguised himself, and, accompanied by two of his retainers, went to find her; he succeeded in overcoming her fear of punishment, and persuaded her to make the evocation. “Whom shall I bring up unto thee?”—“Bring up Samuel.”—And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, saying, “Why hast thou deceived me, for thou art Saul?” And the king said unto her, “Be not afraid, for what sawest thou?”—“I saw gods ascending out of the earth.”—“What form is he of?”—“An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle.” Saul immediately recognised Samuel, and prostrated himself with his face to the ground before him. The prophet, as inflexible after death as in his lifetime, had no words of comfort for the God-forsaken man who had troubled his repose. “The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David, because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord,... and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. The Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” *
* 1 Sam. xxviii. 5-25. There is no reason why this scene
should not be historical; it was natural that Saul, like
many an ancient general in similar circumstances, should
seek to know the future by means of the occult sciences then
in vogue. Some critics think that certain details of the
evocation—as, for instance, the words attributed to Samuel
—are of a later date.
We learn, also, how David, at Ziklag, on hearing the news of the disaster, had broken into weeping, and had composed a lament, full of beauty, known as the “Song of the Bow,” which the people of Judah committed to memory in their childhood. “Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph! Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil! From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not divided.” *
* 2 Sam. i. 17-27 (R.V.). This elegy is described as a
quotation from Jasher, the “Book of the Upright.” Many modern
writers attribute its authorship to David himself; others
reject this view; all agree in regarding it as extremely
ancient. The title, “Song of the Bow,” is based on the
possibly corrupt text of ver. 18.