1 Chronicles 10:12

took away i.e. from the walls of Beth-shan (so Pesh.).

to Jabesh Samuel adds "and burned them there." The Chronicler omits this statement perhaps because the bones were not destroyedby this burning; cp. 2 Samuel 21:12-14 (the bones of Saul and Jonathan brought from Jabesh in David's reign and re-interred in the family sepulchre). Burning was not a usual funeral rite among the Jews (cp. 2 Chronicles 16:14, note), and probably the perfunctory burning carried out by the men of Jabesh was merely a ruse to give the Philistines the impression that Saul's remains were destroyed and that therefore it was useless to disturb his grave.

under the oak R.V. mg., under the terebinth. Large trees, being rare in Palestine, frequently serve as landmarks; cp. Judges 4:5; 1 Samuel 22:6 ("tamarisk tree" R.V.).

fasted seven days Fasting involved abstinence from food during daylight. David fasted "till the evening" in mourning for Saul (2 Samuel 1:12) and for Abner (ib.2 Samuel 3:35). The fast of Jabesh was a sevenfold fast.

13, 14 (peculiar to Chron.). The Moral of the Overthrow of the House of Saul

Such reflexions as these are characteristic of the Chronicler; cp. 2 Chronicles 12:2 (note); 1Ch 22:7; 1 Chronicles 24:24; 1 Chronicles 25:27. They are not so frequent in Sam. and Kings.