1 Samuel 28:4

Shunem. Now Solem, about 3 mi. northeast of Jezreel, at the southern base of the Hill of Moreh across the valley from Mt. Gilboa. This valley, called Jezreel or Esdraelon, was a fertile, well-watered plain easily accessible from the coastal plains through the pass at Megiddo. The valley extended southeastward, cutting the central mountains and descending eastward to the Jordan valley at Beth-shan. The Hill of Moreh and Mt. Gilboa stand at the eastern end of the broad plain of Esdraelon proper, and form a watershed for that part of Palestine. All the water east of this drains into the Jordan; all west flows into the Kishon River, and thence to the Mediterranean Sea. The large valley lying between these two mountains, and forming a somewhat lower extension of Esdraelon, is the Valley of Jezreel, drained by the river Jalud, which flows past Beth-shan on its way to the Jordan.

Although there is no definite statement to that effect, the fact that the Philistines could pass clear through the valley to Shunem indicates that while Saul had been so intent on finding David, he had been most remiss in protecting his frontiers, and the Philistines had taken advantage of this laxity. Saul’s mad passion to rid the land of David, had involuntarily opened the whole country to the invasions of the Philistines. The invaders had probably overrun much of the territory belonging to Issachar, Zebulun, and Asher. From the top of Mt. Gilboa, Saul could get a commanding view of the Valley of Jezreel and the opposing army nestled at the base of Moreh some 4 or 5 mi. distant. Perhaps Israelite scouts had intensified Saul’s desperation by warning him concerning David’s presence with the Philistine host, and he feared lest David now seek revenge.