Following their victory in battle, the Philistines seize the remains and armor of the fallen King of Israel. They divide these spoils to achieve a twofold triumph, aiming for both a religious conquest and a highly public display of their success.
To fulfill their religious goals, the Philistines take the king's weapons into the temple of Ashtaroth, a site of idol worship where the statues are crafted in the shape of sheep [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Recognized in historical records as the house of their gods, this temple serves as a central location to dedicate the captured armor.
At the same time, they make a public spectacle of the king by hanging or nailing his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan [מצודת ציון, רד״ק]. Although the primary focus remains on the king himself, the bodies of his sons are also hung alongside him in this grim exhibition [רד״ק]. The choice of Beth-shan is deliberate. Located near the Jezreel Valley, the city had long held an uncertain status within Israelite territory. At the time, it is inhabited by Philistines who take advantage of its geographic closeness to the battlefield to display the defeated ruler [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
A parallel historical account reveals an additional detail: the king's skull is taken to the temple of Dagon. The Philistines carefully divide their trophies to serve distinct purposes. The weapons and the severed head are brought into the temples to honor and glorify their idols, while the headless body is left on the city wall to declare their victory to the common people [רד״ק, מלבי״ם].
The placement of the king's head in the temple of Dagon carries a deep symbolic weight. It serves as an act of historical revenge. Years earlier, when the Ark of God was captured and brought into that same temple, the head of the Dagon idol was severed. In a calculated response, the Philistines now display the severed head of Israel's king in the very same location, creating a dark counterweight to their past humiliation [מלבי״ם].