Saul #54

Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, was the first king of Israel. His story occupies most of 1 Samuel, from his private anointing to his death in battle with the Philistines. He is described as a handsome man, a head taller than anyone else in Israel (1 Samuel 9:1-2), and his reign begins with hope but ends in tragedy. His rise and collapse frame the rise of David.

Biblical Significance

When the elders of Israel asked Samuel for a king like the other nations, Samuel was displeased but was told by the Lord to grant their request (1 Samuel 8:4-9). Saul was searching for lost donkeys when he met Samuel, who anointed him privately as ruler over God’s people (1 Samuel 10:1). At Mizpah the tribes cast lots and Saul was chosen publicly, though he was found hiding among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:17-24). He proved himself when he rallied Israel to rescue the city of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites, and the people confirmed his kingship at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11).

His decline began when he faced the Philistines at Gilgal. Samuel had told him to wait seven days, but as his army began to scatter, Saul offered the burnt offering himself. Samuel arrived and told him that his kingdom would not continue, because he had not kept the Lord’s command (1 Samuel 13:8-14). A second failure came when God sent him to destroy the Amalekites. Saul spared their king Agag and the best of the animals, then claimed the animals were for sacrifice. Samuel answered, “to obey is better than sacrifice,” and announced that God had rejected him as king (1 Samuel 15:17-23).

After this, the Spirit of the Lord left Saul and a tormenting spirit troubled him, and David was brought to play the lyre for him (1 Samuel 16:14-23). Saul’s admiration for David turned to jealousy when the women sang that Saul had slain thousands and David ten thousands (1 Samuel 18:6-9), and he repeatedly tried to kill him. David spared Saul’s life on at least two occasions when he had the chance to kill him (1 Samuel 24; 26). Facing the Philistines at the end, Saul consulted a medium at Endor, which the law forbade (1 Samuel 28), and was wounded in battle on Mount Gilboa. He took his own life rather than be captured, and his sons, including Jonathan, were killed (1 Samuel 31:1-6). David mourned them in a lament (2 Samuel 1:17-27).

Legacy

Saul is often read as a tragic figure, a person given great opportunity who could not sustain obedience under pressure. The biblical narrative shows this through his impatience at Gilgal, his partial obedience against Amalek, and his fear of David. The length of his reign is difficult in the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 13:1, and Paul says in Acts 13:21 that he ruled forty years. His life also shows the tension in Israel’s request for a king: God permitted a human ruler, but the book insists that the king remain under the Lord’s word. The apostle Paul, also of the tribe of Benjamin, carried Saul’s Hebrew name (Acts 13:9).