Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SAUL

(Heb. šāʾûl)

A Benjaminite, the son of Kish from the town of Gibeah, who became the first king of Israel. His story begins with his anointing by the prophet Samuel in 1 Sam. 9 and ends with his death by his own hand in 2 Sam. 1.

The story of Saul as it now stands incorporates traditions with varying viewpoints on Saul and on kingship itself. The Deuteronomistic historian, working at the time of the Babylonian Exile, sets Saul’s accession to kingship in a framework that sees kingship as a sinful rejection of God (1 Sam. 8:1-22; 12:1-25). Saul himself is introduced in a folktale manner, as a young man who is searching for his father’s lost asses, but instead encounters the prophet Samuel who anoints him as Israel’s future king (1 Sam. 9:1–10:16). In general this tale is quite positive toward Saul. He receives God’s spirit after the anointing, and his task is to be the deliverance of Israel from the oppressive power of the Philistines. This account and the two stories of Saul’s rejection by Samuel are from circles concerned to emphasize the role of prophets in anointing kings and holding them accountable to God.

A second story detailing how Saul became king (1 Sam. 10:17-27) opens with Samuel’s reminder to the people at Mizpah that kingship itself is a sinful request by the people, but the account goes on to speak of Saul as God’s choice for king, designated through a ceremony of casting lots. Saul is found hiding in the baggage and is brought out to be acclaimed king by the people and to hear Samuel read a document on the duties of kingship.

In a final narrative describing Saul’s accession (1 Sam. 11:1-15), Saul is described as a military deliverer in a style reminiscent of the judges in the book of Judges. Word arrives that the people of Jabesh-gilead are under siege by Nahash, the king of Ammon. Saul is seized by God’s spirit and leads a force of Israelites to victory over the Ammonites. Following this triumph, the people make Saul king at Gilgal. An editorial hand has tried to harmonize by calling this ceremony a “renewal” of kingship (1 Sam. 11:14). Many believe Saul’s role as an effective military commander, as reflected in this account, is the probable historical basis of Saul’s kingship. In the beginning Saul was probably little more than a local chieftain, but his military successes in the crisis with the Philistines led toward the development of a monarchy in Israel. A significant victory over Philistine forces in the territory of Benjamin is attributed to Saul and his son Jonathan in 1 Sam. 14:1-46. A notice in 1 Sam. 14:47-48 attributes victories to Saul over Moab, Ammonites, Edom, kings of Zobah, Philistines, and Amalekites. Saul’s life ends in the context of a lost battle with the Philistines.

The customary accession formula for kings in the Deuteronomistic history signals the beginning of Saul’s reign in 1 Sam. 13:1, but Saul almost immediately runs into conflict with the prophet Samuel over issues of obedience to God’s word. There are two stories of Samuel’s rejection of Saul. Both emphasize the role of prophet as mediator of the divine will to kings, and both reflect the conflicts which arise between older and emerging offices of authority in Israel. In 1 Sam. 13:7-14 Saul proceeds with a sacrifice before battle that was to be conducted by Samuel. When Samuel discovers this, he pronounces a judgment that denies the possibility of dynasty to Saul’s descendants. In 1 Sam. 15:1-35 Saul disobeys the command of the Lord through Samuel to exterminate an Amalekite enemy according to the practices of holy war. Saul brings back livestock for his own provisions and the Amalekite king as prisoner. This time Samuel’s judgment against Saul for disobedience to the word of the Lord is a rejection of Saul himself as God’s legitimate king on the throne of Israel. In both of these rejection stories there is an allusion to David as the future of Israel rather than Saul.

The accounts of Saul’s reign after this rejection are part of a narrative detailing David’s rise to power and kingship (1 Sam. 16–31). In these stories Saul appears primarily as a rejected king, increasingly driven by his own jealousy and anger toward David, who is portrayed as God’s chosen king. Saul takes David into his own court, as a musician (1 Sam. 16:14-23) and as a warrior (17:1-58), but he is plagued by an “evil spirit from God” (16:14; 18:10) and consumed by jealousy of David’s success (18:1-9). He gives his daughter Michal to David in marriage, but even this is a plot to kill David by asking the bride-price of a hundred Philistine foreskins (1 Sam. 18:20-29). Saul’s son, Jonathan, and daughter, Michal, both love David (1 Sam. 18:1-3, 20) and aid him against their father when Saul determines to kill David (19:1-17; 20:1-42). Much of the energy of Saul’s final days as king is spent in pursuit of David in the wilderness areas of Judah (1 Sam. 22–24, 26). Saul seems obsessed and driven in this period of his life. He turns on those who have supported him (1 Sam. 22:6-10) and even slaughters 85 priests at Nob for their supposed aid to David (vv. 11-23). After David twice spares Saul’s life, Saul seems resigned to the eventual transfer of power to David and breaks off his pursuit of him (1 Sam. 24, 26).

In a pathos-filled scene, Saul calls up the ghost of Samuel on the eve of battle with a large Philistine army (1 Sam. 28). He seeks solace and a hopeful word, but even from the grave, the prophet Samuel condemns him and foretells Saul’s death, along with his sons, on the following day. Saul watches from Mt. Gilboa on the next day and sees his army defeated and his sons go down in battle. In despair he falls upon his own sword (1 Sam. 31:1-13; 2 Sam. 1:1-10). Although David eloquently laments the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:17-27), the way is now open for his assumption of the kingship in Israel.

Saul’s kingdom probably never extended effective control beyond the territory of Benjamin and adjacent territory in the central highlands of Israel. He did establish a court in Gibeah and the beginnings of a royal bureaucracy and a standing army for Israel (1 Sam. 14:49-52). In this sense he did lay the foundations for a more fully developed monarchy under David. Without Saul’s military successes and the existence of his fledgling kingdom, Israel’s distinct identity might well have been swallowed up in the Philistine occupation of the land. Although portrayed as a failed king in later tradition, his kingship made David’s successes possible.

Bruce C. Birch

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SAUL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)