Son of Cis, 1Sa 9:1-2; I find him with Samuel, 1Sa 9: 3-27; anointed by Samuel, 1Sa 10:1-8; -also Saul among the prophets? 1Sa 10:9-13; 1Sa 19:19-24; chosen as king at Mizpah, 1Sa 10:20-24; defeats the Ammonites, 1Sa 11:5-11; made king at Gilgal, 1Sa 11:12-15; rebuked for offering sacrifices, 1Sa 13:8-14; build an altar, 1Sa 14:35; rejected as king, 1Sa 15:10-30; relieved when David plays the harp, 1Sa 16:14-23; jealous of David, 1Sa 18:6-30; seeks to kill David, 1Sa 19:1-17; kills the priests of Nob, 1Sa 22:6-19; forgiven by David, 1Sa 24:1-7; 26:1-25
Saul (Heb. Shâ’ûl, “asked”, “borrowed” or “longing”; cun. Sauli; gr. Saóul and Saulos). This name appears in cuneiform texts from Ebla from the patriarchal era; on an ancient Hebrew seal; and also in Phoenician, Palmyrian and Aramaic inscriptions, with various spellings. 1. King of Edom, originally from Rehoboth along the Euphrates (Gen 36:37, 38; 1Ch 1:48, 49). 2. Son of Simeon and a Canaanite woman (Gen 46:10; Exo 6:15; 1Ch 4:24), and founder of a tribe, the Saulites* (Num 26:12, 13). 3. First Hebrew king. He was the son of a Benjamite named Cis who lived in the city of Gibeah, today called Tell el-Fûl, between 6 and 7 km north of Jerusalem (1Sa_9). For centuries Israel had practiced a theocratic form of government, under the direction of judges called by God. The last of them, Samuel, had grown old, and his sons did not meet the leadership qualifications of his godly father. The people, lacking any prospect of continuing the strong leadership of the prophet, thought that the monarchy would provide them with a form of government capable of solving their political and international problems. Samuel received this popular demand with great displeasure, but the Lord ordered him to accede to his wish, but at the same time to make them fully aware of all the disadvantages and concerns that this decision would bring them (1Sa_8). A. Saul assumes the kingdom. Shortly after the people asked for a king, Saul, a tall and handsome young man, was 1061 with a servant looking for some of his father’s donkeys. After 3 days without results, the servant suggested that they consult the “seer”, referring to Samuel. Although Saul may have heard of him, he did not know him personally (1Sa 9:18), and he was afraid to visit him without a gift (v 7). Meanwhile, the prophet had received instructions from God that a Benjamite would come whom he was to anoint as king. When Saul arrived, he definitely received word that the visitor was the man who would rule over God’s people. Samuel met him at the city gate, assured him that the donkeys had already been found, and invited him to stay that night to partake of a ritual dinner. Saul spent the night with Samuel as the prophet’s guest, and the next morning the prophet secretly anointed him and prophesied certain incidents that would befall him on his way home, which happened just as they had been foretold. Furthermore, he instructed him that he should go to Gilgal and wait for him there 7 days, at the end of which he would receive further instructions. Nothing else is told about this meeting at Gilgal, and Saul told no one that he had been anointed king (1Sa 9:1-10:16). As soon as Samuel learned who the new king was to be, he summoned the entire nation to meet at Mizpah, perhaps modern Tell en-Natsbeh, where lots were publicly cast to confirm Saul as sovereign. When this one – who had been hidden, but whose hiding place was discovered – was finally presented to the people as God’s chosen one, most were satisfied. Perhaps the fact that he belonged to the smallest of the tribes has facilitated that acceptance. But there were those who expressed disagreement. The young king did not immediately assume the throne, but went home (1Sa 10:17-27), probably awaiting an opportune occasion when his services and rule would be needed for the country. It is also possible that he thought it prudent to see if opposition to him and his tribe could be peacefully overcome before actively beginning his rule. The opportunity soon arose to manifest his leadership qualities. According to the LXX, it was in about a month (1Sa 11:1). The Israelite city of Jabesh Gilead was besieged by Nahash, king of the Ammonites, and messengers from Jabez came to Gibeah to report the humiliating conditions of surrender that he had imposed on them. His plea for speedy help shook Saul’s soul. Again he felt the Spirit descending “mightily” upon him, and moved by compassion for the Gileadites, he issued a national proclamation for the people to rally behind “Saul and Samuel” for Jabez’s release. As a result, 330,000 armed men crossed the Jordan with Saul and defeated the Ammonites. By so clearly demonstrating his fitness for the throne, Saul was unanimously proclaimed king and solemnly enthroned at Gilgal (1Sa_11). B. Reign of Saul. Paul assigns a total of 40 years to Saul’s reign (Acts 13:21), as does Josephus. However, it is not known how old Saul was when he began to reign, because the OT verse that originally provided that information (1Sa 13:1) is now incomplete (see comment in DHH). We also do not know how much time elapsed between his accession to the throne and his fight against the Philistines recorded in 1Sa_13 If this interval was short, Saul must have been 35 years old when he began to reign, because at the time of that battle his son Jonathan was already in charge of a division of the Hebrew army and was a military notable. But if that war broke out several years after he took office, he may have been younger. Since this problem remains unresolved, we do not know how long he reigned under Samuel. On the occasion of his 1st encounter with the Philistines, Saul had a stable army of 2,000 soldiers who were under his personal command, garrisoned at Micmas, in the area of the Bethel hills, and 1,000 more men stationed in Gibeah, the capital (fig. 230, where the place of Saul’s capital appears), under the orders of Jonathan, the crown prince. Saul had defeated a Philistine garrison near Gibeah, but knowing that his enemies would retaliate, Saul called the nation to arms and designated Gilgal as the rallying point, because Samuel had promised to meet them. over there. He waited 7 days, but Samuel did not arrive, because perhaps he delayed his trip in order to test the obedience to God and the faith in him, not only of Saul but also of the people. When the king verified that desertions were taking place in increasing numbers, and that fear was taking hold of those who remained, he assumed on his own the responsibility of offering sacrifices, a task that was incumbent only on the priests. Samuel arrived almost immediately afterwards and rebuked him for this hasty act, telling him that because of his 1062 disobedience and lack of trust in God, his descendants would not occupy the throne (1Sa 13: 2- 14). The battle, which was fought after this incident, ended in victory for Israel. Jonathan, thanks to an act of courage, put a group of Philistines to flight; this filled the bulk of the enemy army with terror. Saul took advantage of this situation and expelled the Philistines from Israelite territory. The king evidently favored strict discipline, for when Jonathan unknowingly disobeyed his order, he was willing to take his life. The young man was saved only because the army prevented him (1Sa 13:15-14:46). Saul led other military campaigns with brilliant results (1Sa 14:47, 48). During one of them he committed an act of disobedience that sealed the divine decision to reject him as king. He had been ordered to destroy the Amalekites and their possessions to fulfill a curse pronounced by God against them for having fought against Israel in the desert of Rephidim (Exo 17: 8-16). Saul complied with the order, but preserved some of the cattle to offer sacrifices at Gilgal, according to what he said, and also to his king, Agag. For this disobedience to an express command, Samuel affirmed that God no longer considered him as the legitimate ruler of his people (1Sa_15). Shortly thereafter Samuel anointed David, the shepherd boy, to be the future king of the nation (16:1-13). Bib.: FJ-AJ vi. 14.9; CBA 2:507, 508. C. Final years of Saul. The Spirit of God departed from Saul when he was rejected as king, and an evil spirit periodically took possession of him. In an effort to remove him from his bouts of melancholy, his servants introduced him to young David, whom they had chosen to play the harp before the king (1Sa 16: 14-23). At first Saul took a liking to him, but this sentiment soon turned to envy and fear when David – who had slain Goliath, thereby achieving a victory for the Israelites over the Philistines – was hailed by the maidens of Israel as the greatest national hero (17:1-18:9). His jealousy prompted him to attempt against the young man’s life. He first tried to kill him with his spear, and then tried to kill him in skirmishes with the Philistines (18:10-30). When it became clear that Saul would stop at nothing in his efforts to destroy him, David fled, leaving his wife Michal, and spent years as a fugitive in different parts of the country, while the king wasted his time and energy trying to catch up with him. put him to death (chs 19-27). Saul’s senseless enmity against David deprived Israel of his best army commander and many worthy soldiers who went into exile, causing the kingdom’s defense to be neglected. As a result, the nation was weakened and there was a new invasion by the Philistines, who this time camped at Shunem, near the Jezreel Valley. Saul pitched his camp on the slopes of Mount Gilboa (28:1, 4). The frightened and melancholy king was full of bad forebodings, and he went to Endor at night to consult a spirit medium. Some time before, by divine order, he had expelled from the country those who practiced such arts, since they were instruments of evil spirits (28: 3; cf Lev 20:27; Deu 18: 10-14). But now, since God had abandoned him and he was possessed by one of them, he felt that he should seek the help of those agents of the devil. He asked the medium for Samuel, who had passed away some time before and had not communicated with him in the last years of his life, to come and advise him. The medium said she saw an old man coming up from the earth, and Saul assumed that he was the prophet. The spirit predicted that he would die the next day (1Sa 28: 5-25). The battle that was fought then was adverse to the Israelites: 3 sons of Saul died and he himself was…