Mount Gilboa is a mountain range in northern Israel, on the eastern edge of the Jezreel Valley, near Beth Shan.
In the Bible, this mountain is remembered not for conquests but for a defeat. There the reign of Saul, the first king of Israel, came to an end.
After years of pursuing David and drifting away from God, Saul faced the Philistines in a decisive battle on this mountain. The Israelite army was defeated, and Saul watched his sons, among them Jonathan, die before him.
Wounded by the archers and with no hope of escape, Saul fell on his own sword. His reign ended as it had been going for some time: without consulting the Lord, but a medium instead, on the eve of the battle.
When the news reached David, he did not celebrate the fall of the one who had pursued him. He composed a lament and asked that neither dew nor rain fall on the mountains of Gilboa, words that to this day recall the weight of a reign that ended far from the will of God.
