Gilboa

Mount Gilboa was the site of a battle where Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines (1Sa.28.4; 2Sa.1.21; 21:12).

Mount Gilboa is a mountain range located in northern Israel, southwest of the Sea of Galilee. It is most notably associated with the final battle and death of King Saul and his sons. The Philistines had gathered their forces at Shunem, while Saul and the Israelite army camped on Mount Gilboa (1Sa.28.4). In the ensuing battle, the Philistines fought fiercely against Israel, and Saul and his sons, including Jonathan, were killed on Mount Gilboa (1Sa.31.1-6). After the battle, the Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his sons and fastened them to the wall of Beth-shan (1Sa.31.10). Later, valiant men from Jabesh-gilead retrieved the bodies and buried them (1Sa.31.11-13; 2Sa.21.12). In his lament for Saul and Jonathan, David cursed the mountains of Gilboa, expressing his grief over their deaths (2Sa.1.21). The events at Mount Gilboa marked the end of Saul's reign and paved the way for David to become king over Israel. The mountain range stands as a reminder of the tragic fate of Saul and his sons and the transfer of power to the Davidic dynasty.

Boiling spring, a mountain range, now Jebel Fukua’, memorable as the scene of Saul’s disastrous defeat by the Philistines. Here also his three sons were slain, and he himself died by his own hand (1 Sam. 28:4; 31:1-8; 2 Sam. 1:6-21; 21:12; 1 Chr. 10:1, 8). It was a low barren range of mountains bounding the valley of Esdraelon (Jezreel) on the east, between it and the Jordan valley. When the tidings of this defeat were conveyed to David, he gave utterance to those pathetic words in the “Song of the Bow” (2 Sam. 1:19-27).