The Morgan Crusader Bible of Louis IX or Maciejowski Bible or The Bible of Shah Abbas

Upper register
Folio 35 verso


The Final Indignity:
The Philistines have strung Saul's decapitated body to a war engine and suspended the corpse above the city walls of Beth Shan. Three men pull down on the counterpoise, raising the gruesome trophy, while a fourth guides the swinging joist with his spear. (1 Samuel 31:10)

A Doleful Task:
Having learned how the Philistines disgraced the king's corpse, valiant men of Jabesh Gilead journey through the night in secret to retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons. As one soldier pushes the war engine's counterpoise upwards with his spear, his fellows, wearing mournful expressions, hold down the joist and cut loose the king's body. (1 Samuel 31:11–12)

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