The final rites performed for a fallen king bring a deep historical cycle to a close, weaving together gratitude, heavy mourning, and exact divine justice. The men of Jabesh retrieve the remains of Saul and his sons, bringing them back to their own city for burial. They lay the bones to rest under a prominent tree. While the original term used for this resting place serves as a general word for trees, parallel historical accounts identify it specifically as an oak or terebinth tree [מלבי״ם, מצודת ציון, רד״ק].
Following the burial, the people observe a seven-day fast, abstaining from food and drink during the day and eating only at night. This period of mourning stems from their intense sorrow over the death and public humiliation of the king who had once been their savior [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The choice to fast for exactly seven days is not a coincidence. It serves as a tribute to a critical seven-day period in their past, when an Ammonite enemy gave their city a strict ultimatum to surrender. Saul's swift intervention during that timeframe saved them from ruin. In return, the people of Jabesh honor his memory for the precise duration of time he originally stood by them [רד״ק, אברבנאל].
Beyond the human tragedy and the grief of the citizens, the specific circumstances of the king's death reveal a precise measure of divine justice. Although the kingdom was taken from Saul due to his earlier failure in the war against Amalek, the tragic manner of his end is a separate punishment. The reality that he, his sons, and his servants all die by the sword, and that their bodies are subsequently hung in public disgrace, operates as a direct, measure for measure consequence. This serves as retribution for the time Saul ordered the priests of God in the city of Nob, along with the Gibeonites who served them, to be killed by the sword. Just as he struck them down, it was decreed by God that the king and his descendants would die by the human sword and suffer the shame of being hung [אברבנאל].