Lexicon :: Strong's H7586 - šā'ûl

After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag two days.

“What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him.

“The troops fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the troops have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword ​— ​for Saul, his son Jonathan, the LORD’s people, and the house of Israel.

David sang the following lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

Mountains of Gilboa,

let no dew or rain be on you,

or fields of offerings,[fn]

for there the shield of the mighty was defiled —

the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

“Therefore, be strong[fn] and valiant, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel; he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.

Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

So they got up and were counted off ​— ​twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from David’s soldiers.

During the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, David was growing stronger and the house of Saul was becoming weaker.

During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner kept acquiring more power in the house of Saul.

“to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beer-sheba.”

David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: You will not see my face unless you first bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up,[fn] and all Israel was dismayed.

Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

“when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was my reward to him for his news!

“Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back. The LORD also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”

As the ark of the LORD was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today! ” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

“But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake? ”

Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth! ”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family.

Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul.

When King David got to Bahurim, a man belonging to the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he was yelling curses as he approached.

“The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you became king, and the LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a man of bloodshed! ”

There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him. Ziba, an attendant from the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants also rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king.

Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

During David’s reign there was a famine for three successive years, so David inquired[fn] of the LORD. The LORD answered, “It is due to Saul and to his bloody family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

The Gibeonites said to him, “We are not asking for silver and gold from Saul or his family, and we cannot put anyone to death in Israel.”

“Whatever you say, I will do for you,” he said.

“let seven of his male descendants be handed over to us so we may hang[fn] them in the presence of the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the LORD’s chosen.”

The king answered, “I will hand them over.”