and didn't inquire of Yahweh: therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
"The Philistines had long been confined to the southwest angle of the promised land, and in the earlier part of Saul's reign had suffered many and severe losses; yet it appears by this chapter that, alone or in conjunction with allies, they had been able to penetrate nearly to the banks of the Jordan, to fight the battle on Mount Gilboa. This could only have been effected by a march through great part of the kingdom of Israel.