1 Chronicles 10:12-14
10:12 all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons
1 and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains
2 under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days.
10:13 So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. 3
10:14 He did not seek the Lord’s guidance, so the Lord 4 killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.
1 tn Heb “arose and carried away the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons.”
2 tn Heb “their bones.”
3 tn Heb “and Saul died because of his unfaithfulness by which he acted unfaithfully against the Lord, concerning the word of the Lord which he did not keep, also to Saul, a ritual pit to seek.” The text alludes to the incident recorded in 1 Sam 28. The Hebrew term אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. A. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew áo‚b,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.