The Philistines Possess the Towns

(1 Samuel 31:7–10)

When all the Israelites in the valley saw that [the army] had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied [their cities].

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The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news [in the temple] of their idols and among their people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

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