Abiathar, the son of the murdered high-priest, alone escaped to David to tell the tale.

He carried with him the sacred ephod through which the will of Yahveh was made known, and from henceforth the influence of the priesthood was thrown against the king.
Saul had lost his best general, who had gone over to the enemy; he had employed his troops in hunting a possible rival through the Judaean wilds when they ought to have been guarding the frontier against the national foe, and the whole force of Israelitish religion had been turned against him.

There was little cause for wonder, therefore, that the Philistine armies again marched into the Israelitish kingdom, and made their way northward along the coast into the plain of Jezreel.

A battle on the slopes of Jezreel decided the fate of Israel.

The Hebrew army was cut to pieces, and Saul and his sons were slain.