(^)  A  tree  in  Jabesh.— A  tree,  that  is  "the  well,
known  "  tamarisk  (eshel).  For  Saul*s  love  for  trees  see
as  an  instance  chap.  xxii.  6.  The  men  of  Jabesh-Gilead
weU  remembered  this  peculiar  fancy  of  their  dead  king,
I  and  under  the  waving  oranches  of  their  own  beautiful
and  famous  tamarisk  they  tenderly  laid  the  remains  of
their  dead  hero  and  his  princely  sons.
Evidently  King  David,  at  a  subsequent  period,
fetched  away  these  royal  remains,  and  had  them
reverently  interred  in  the  ^u^T  sepulchre  of  Kish,
the  father  of  Saul,  in  Zelah  of  fienjamin  (2  Sam.  zxi.
12, 14).
And  fasted  seven  days.— This  was  the  period
the  sons  of  Israel  mourned  for  Jacob  at  the  threshing
floor  of  Atad  beyond  Jordan  (Gen.  1. 10).  The  gratefcu
men  of  Jabesh-Gilead  thus  paid  the  last  honours  to  the
fallen  Saul.
