Saul was the son of a noble Jew named Kisha, from the tribe of Benjamin. He was tall (among the people he stood a full head taller), and there was none of the Israelites more beautiful than him.

Soon after Saul was anointed king, Samuel called the people together to elect a king. They cast lots. The lot fell on Saul, and he was declared king. The people, delighted with his height and beauty, exclaimed in delight: “Long live the king!”

Election to the kingdom of Saul

When Saul was installed as king, Samuel said to all the people: “If you will fear the Lord and serve Him and listen to His voice, and will not rebel against the commandments of the Lord, both you and your king who will reign over you will walk after the Lord your God. , then the hand of the Lord will not be against you. But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord and begin to resist His commands, then the hand of the Lord will be against you.”

At the first time of his reign, Saul acted according to the will of God, showing himself worthy of his election. With many victories over his enemies, he gained the love of the people. But when he stopped fulfilling the commandments of God, becoming arrogant, the Spirit of God left him and Saul became gloomy and cruel.

Samuel was sad about Saul. The Lord said to him: “How long will you grieve over Saul? Go to the city of Bethlehem, there among the sons of Jesse I have made a king for myself.” Samuel went to Bethlehem and, at the direction of God, anointed him as king David, son of Jesse, from the tribe of Judah.

The Spirit of God came upon David. David was the youngest son of Jesse, he was fair-haired, with beautiful eyes and a pleasant face. He was clever and courageous, had a meek and kind heart and was famous for his good playing of the harp.

David plays the harp in front of King Saul

Saul was attacked by melancholy and despondency from the action of the evil spirit. He was advised to entertain himself with music and was told that in the city of Bethlehem Jesse had a son, David, who played the harp well. David was called to the palace, and when he came and played the harp, then Saul felt more joyful and better, and the evil spirit retreated from him.

The topic of today's conversation is King Saul. The story of the king provides an answer to an important question for every person. The story of Saul is a story about why it happens that God calls a person, God gives a person grace, but the person still perishes. It is known that God chose Saul, He gave him grace, and how did it happen that Saul ends his life in complete apostasy, committing suicide. How so? God made a mistake, did He miscalculate something in Saul?

About the test of reign

The story of King Saul... People usually think that it is neither interesting nor instructive; the man lived an inglorious life, and, in the end, it was not he who became the true king of Israel - so, a political defect.

In fact, the story of King Saul provides an answer to an extremely important question for every person: why does this happen - God calls a person, gives him grace, but the person still dies.

Everyone knows that God chose Saul, He really gave him grace, Saul received the anointing of the Holy Spirit and became not just a saint - he became different from everyone else. This change happened to him when oil was poured on him. When he was returning to his father, he met a group of prophets and suddenly he himself began to prophesy, glorifying God, as the prophets glorify Him. That is, some special spirit descended on Saul, and this manifestation of the spirit was obvious to everyone, even a saying appeared on this subject among the Israeli people.

Is Saul really a prophet, is it really possible that such a completely non-spiritual (normal) person from the point of view of this world could prophesy? This means that something really happened to him. But how did it happen that this same Saul suddenly ends in complete apostasy, which is evidenced by his suicide? He didn’t just die, forgotten by God, he was abandoned by God so obviously that he committed suicide. How did this happen?

God didn't know what would happen to Saul? After all, this is a very important question. And it is very important to hear the correct answer, explaining why the same thing is happening today. An answer that helps to understand what human freedom is.

We think that if a person has received grace, then that’s it - he is saved, nothing bad will ever happen to him. Actually this is not true. In the history of the Church, in the lives of the holy fathers, we know that very often there are such episodes when, for example, a person marked with the gift of miracles, clairvoyance, and prophecy suddenly fell into the depths of evil.

It's not all about what God gives to us - His grace is poured out on everyone; It is important how a person perceives this grace, what he does with the grace given to him. It is important to understand that the grace of God does not destroy a person’s freedom, does not make him saved once and for all, it only calls him to salvation, gives him the strength to accomplish salvation.

The story of Saul shows that the grace of God does not guarantee a person’s salvation - this requires his participation, his faith. Why does a person lose grace? This is obvious from the example of Saul. In the lives of the saints, in the writings of the holy fathers, we encounter the phenomenon of abandonment by God, that is, loss of grace. We know that the grace of Baptism is inalienable, but the grace of the Holy Spirit can be lost - that is why St. Seraphim of Sarov speaks about acquiring grace: you can acquire the grace of God by doing good deeds, but for a word of condemnation, for pride, for unchaste thoughts you can lose grace, then return again and lose again. You can lose so much that you can never rise again. Or you can, having lost grace, find it after many, many years.

We can sum it up in the words of Christ, who repeats more than once or twice in the Gospel: “Many are called, but few are chosen” - a person was called, but for this calling to become an election, he needs to respond to the call of his will, his faith with some actions ; only then does this calling become an election - chosenness presupposes that a person responded to the calling with his free decision, his faith. In the language of theology, all this is called (in Slavic) collaboration, cooperation of Divine grace and human freedom, in Greek it is called “synergy”: man and God work together, one is impossible without the other.

The received grace of God requires a response from a person, and asks much more from him than from a person who is marked by little or not marked by the grace of God. There are no people who are not marked at all by the grace of God: the light of Christ enlightens everyone, it’s just that the measure of this grace is different for everyone.

God calls everyone, He invites and calls everyone, as Christ says in the Gospel to Nicodemus: “When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to Himself.” And how a person responds to this small degree of grace depends only on him.

No one could say that he had never encountered the grace of God in his life. But some did not notice this, being blinded by something else, while others did not want to notice or respond to this call, although they knew that it was God who was showing them His presence. And there are people who seemed to respond, seemed to go, but when they saw what it required of them, they abandoned their calling, and the grace of God dried up in them.

We can say this: chosenness, in the Christian sense of the word, is conformity to one’s calling, when a person comes into conformity with what he is called to.

Let's talk about the fate of Saul. Saul (from the tribe of Benjamin) has lost his donkeys and goes to look for them throughout Israel. This search leads him to the city where the prophet Samuel was at that time. Samuel appears to Saul and says that he should be king, talks with him, instructs him, and anoints him with blessed oil.

It seems that Saul receives the grace of the Holy Spirit and returns home, and his heart really trembles and burns, because he received grace that he did not seek, did not expect. He returns to his father and does not tell him anything about him being anointed king over Israel and about the grace he has received.

After some time, all the people of Israel gather to choose a king; they cast lots and it falls on Saul. Seeing a special advantage in his excellent physical characteristics, the people joyfully sealed the chosenness of God with their consent. By the way, this mechanism will later be used by the Church: God elects, the Holy Spirit elects a person to be king or priest for Himself, but this election of God must also have evidence from the people. This is how the election of bishops was carried out, for example, in the Ancient Church - the grace of God elected, and the people had to respond approvingly to this. If the people did not accept the chosen one, it was believed that the fullness of the Divine will was clearly not on this person. The Apostle Paul says about the election of a bishop that every bishop or priest must have a good testimony from outsiders - this is also evidence of the grace of God resting on this person.

Of course, not everyone was happy with Saul's election. The judges said that he was not of a noble family, moreover, from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest in Israel, where representatives of the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh, as the most numerous, always claimed the first roles, and they, of course, left dissatisfied.

And then the Providence of God arranged it this way: one of the Israeli cities, Jabez, was besieged by a tribe of Ammonites. The siege was very cruel, very long, the Ammonites offered the city to surrender, but only on the condition that every inhabitant of this city would be blinded in one eye; If the residents do not surrender, everyone will be killed. And then the city residents send envoys for help. And the ambassadors from Jabez-gilead appear just when Saul’s election takes place. Saul, hearing this, immediately ignites the spirit to defend the city at all costs, and throws out a cry; all over Israel, warriors converge, he himself leads them, makes a daring charge and frees Jabez-Gilead.

The Israelis decided that a person who managed to do this, of course, was marked by the grace of God and would be able (which was always important for the Jews) to glorify their kingdom, to ensure that everyone else was in awe of their people, that the inhabitants of Israel would prosper and their wealth would increase due to such neighbors' distress. And everyone accepted Saul, agreed that he was a special king. There were, however, those who began to offer Saul to kill those who were against his election, but he did not punish anyone. In fact, from this moment on, Saul becomes the full-fledged king over Israel.

It is very important that when Saul gave the cry to go save Jabez-gilead, the whole people appeared as one. He was able to gather the entire people under his leadership, no one had ever succeeded in this, and therefore everyone understood that with the help of his hand God could glorify Israel in the face of all the surrounding nations.

What happens next? God honored Saul both with spiritual grace, revealed in prayer, in prophecy, and with grace, revealed in political power, military success, and in the obedience of the people. As the psalm says: “My deliverer, my shield, and I trust in Him; He subjects my people to me,” - if people obey me, then it is from God. Then Saul could do a lot; it was assumed that he could well do what David later did, that is, crush the power of all his neighbors and lead Israel to a peaceful existence and prosperity.

But this is the calling performed by God, that every time a person is led through temptations: are you really ready to trust God, are you ready to follow God to the end, to trust God so much that you will endure everything for the sake of this trust? The grace of God always leads a person through certain temptations, as it is said in teaching books: “If you want to begin to work for God, prepare your soul for temptation.” Saul was not ready for this.

The war with the Philistines begins, and the prophet Samuel must appear to make a sacrifice, call upon God’s blessing for feats of arms and bless Saul for this war. We got together. Saul is waiting, but Samuel is not. He waits for a day, two, three, a week... The troops begin to scatter - they came here to fight, and he is waiting for some prophet: ordinary people do not understand this - they came to fight. And he, while still having the grace of God, understands that he must wait for Samuel: this is what God wants. And so he is put through temptation: what will he honor more - the opinion of the people or trust in God, whether he will wait for God to bless him.

His faith cannot withstand this temptation, and in order to prevent the people from scattering, he himself makes the sacrifice. And as soon as he finished making the sacrifice, Samuel appears and says: “What have you done? You didn’t wait for me.” The point is not that Samuel, by his presence or some special rituals, is able to do something that Saul cannot do. Saul showed that he did not really fully believe in God. He knew, as a man endowed with the grace of God, as a man who talked with Samuel, he could not help but know that victories in wars are not won by numbers. He knew this from the history of his own people, when the Jews were still walking in the desert, he knew how the Egyptian army with chariots died, although the Jews then had no army at all - God fought. He knew about Gideon, who deliberately reduced his army to 300 people in order to achieve victory with their help, so that the victory would be attributed not to the courage and strength of the soldiers, but to God, who grants victory. Saul knew this.

It would not be long before his son Jonathan, who had much deeper faith than his father, could, with the help of just an armor bearer, be able, through his determination and zeal, to begin to turn back the whole army of the Philistines. There were only two of them with a squire, but God was with them. Saul should have known this (and certainly did), but his heart, mind, mind, spirit could not withstand the temptation, and the visible overpowered the invisible. The awareness of one’s gradual weakening outweighed faith in the power of God, in His power and Providence, by whose grace everything is accomplished in this world.

Witches and sorcerers, as is known, in addition to their usual activities, also practice saimancy, or necromancy, that is, they master the art of summoning the robes, or souls of the dead. The Bible tells about one such thing - the sorceress of Endor...

The Israeli king Saul was greatly saddened. He hasn't had any luck lately on the battlefields. And now the countless army of the Philistines in Sanam stands before him. He saw their camp and was horrified, his heart trembled. Who should I turn to for advice?

The Lord was very angry with him for his obscenities and committed abominations. And then Saul said to his servants: “Find me a woman sorceress, I will ask her for advice.”

The sent ones searched for a long time and finally found it. “There is a sorceress hiding in Ein Dor (Endor).” Then Saul took off his royal clothes, dressed up as an inconspicuous wanderer, went to the witch and said: “Bring out to me the one I’m talking about!”

She summoned the spirit of the prophet Samuel to him, and, recognizing him, Saul fell face down to the ground and bowed.

The words of the prophet plunged him into even greater, hopeless sadness: “And the Lord will take the kingdom out of your hands and give it to your neighbor David.”

The prophet reminded him of the formidable words of the Lord: “You must not have a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, a sorcerer, a sorcerer, a charmer, a conjurer of spirits, a magician, or a questioner of the dead, who leads his son or daughter through the fire, for anyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord.”

Saul was terribly frightened when he heard the gloomy prophecies of Samuel, became numb and fell to the ground.

A fierce battle began, the Philistines pressed and pushed the Israelites to Mount Gilbul, where the bloody slaughter continued. One after another, three sons of Saul - Jonathan, Aminodab and Malchistra - fall to the ground, struck down with swords. Saul himself was all wounded and exhausted. Feels that his end is near.

The First Book of Kings states that the hometown of Saul of the tribe of Benjamin was Gibeah, which he made his capital. He was chosen and anointed to the kingdom by the prophet Samuel, later came into conflict with him, and the prophet secretly anointed young David to the kingdom. Subsequently, David was with the king, married his daughter and dispersed Saul’s melancholy by singing and playing the harp. Saul then tried to kill him, and David fled. Seriously wounded and losing the battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, Saul committed suicide. In later literature he appears as the owner of a restless, restless soul, obsessed with melancholy and fits of anger, which can be calmed by beautiful music.

Biography according to the First Book of Samuel

The only source from which the story of Saul is known is the Old Testament (Tanakh), mainly 1st and 2nd Books of Kings; as well as various later texts dependent on it. Other sources that usually help to restore the facts of the reign of monarchs (for example, coins, texts of decrees, messages from the chronicles of neighboring states) have not been preserved. Thus, all available information, already legendary, inevitably passed through the evaluation filters of the Jewish compilers of the canonical text, as well as authors who sought to describe the rise of his rival and successor David.

Appearance and character

Origin

Saul was from Gibeah (modern Tol-el-ful), the only son of a noble man named Kish (Kish) from the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Matriev (Mattri). His mother's name is unknown. Abner (Avner ben Ner), his cousin (and, according to the instructions of the midrash, the son of the sorceress of Endor), later became his military leader. Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were the sons of Abiel the son of Zero, the son of Behorath, the son of Aphi, the son of a certain Benjamite. Being a Beneamite, Saul belonged to the most warlike tribe of the Israelites, but at the same time the “youngest” and smallest of its tribes.

Election of Saul

The gloomy picture he painted did not frighten the people, who still wanted to be led by a military leader:

Reign of Saul

Saul's second military operation, following the victory over the Ammonites, was the liberation of his hometown of Gibeah from the Philistine garrison stationed there, which was carried out by his son Jonathan. At first, at Saul’s place of residence, he made the city of Mikhmash his center of control, from where he began to undertake military campaigns for the final liberation of the country. After the loss of Gibeah, the Philistines sent 30,000 chariots and 6,000 cavalry, but this army was defeated by the Jews (at Gilgal).

Saul’s next military operation was a war with the Amalekites, and the prophet Samuel, before his speech, ordered their complete extermination in revenge for the attack they made on the Israelites after they crossed the Red Sea under Moses. He defeated them at Carmel. Then another battle took place with the Philistines, notable for the fact that before it, David killed Goliath in single combat. Finally, in the next battle with them, Saul will die.

Saul's kingdom included the inheritances of Judah and Ephraim (Ephraim), Galilee and the region in Transjordan. The symbol of Saul's royal power was, apparently, his spear (later legends would connect it with the famous Spear of Destiny), and also, possibly, a crown and bracelet. In total, Saul reigned for about 20 years, probably 19; the exact time of his reign is not given, see section below.

Saul and Samuel

Although after this the king ruled for several more years, but, feeling the curse of Samuel, he believed that God had abandoned him, and from that time “lost spirit and became a slave of jealousy, wickedness and malice”; he was possessed by an evil spirit (sometimes this is even interpreted as some kind of mental illness), and the royal honors no longer consoled him.

Saul and David

As the Bible tells about further events, Samuel was sad about Saul and that he had made a mistake in choosing him as king. God, who appears in the Bible as a full-fledged interlocutor with other characters, also agreed with Samuel on this issue:

My soul languishes and yearns, -
Oh, sing to me, my lad, your song:
Let her sounds heal my sorrow, -
I love your holy songs so much!

The embrace of an evil spirit oppresses me,
I was once again overcome by despondency,
And the terrible ones spew curses again
My lips instead of a holy prayer.

I languish, burning with anger, and suffer;
The flesh is tormented by illness,
And there is anger in my soul... I thirst for blood,
And efforts to overcome evil are in vain.

More than once, wounded by the sting of that weakness,
I could have killed you in my mad delirium.
Oh, sing! Perhaps healed by you,
Sobbing, I will fall on your chest!..

K.R. (Konstantin Romanov)

Young David, secretly anointed as king, was “fair-haired, with beautiful eyes and a pleasant face,” dexterous and courageous, had a meek and kind heart and was famous for his singing and good playing of the harp. Since the time of the quarrel with Samuel, Saul began to be often attacked by melancholy and despondency, he became gloomy and cruel. He was advised to entertain himself with music and was told that there was an excellent musician in the city of Bethlehem. David was called to the palace, and when he came and played music, Saul felt better, and the “evil spirit” retreated from him.

Until the death of the king, David continued to hide. Saul gave his wife, his daughter, to another and continued to pursue him, however, to no avail. At the same time, David more than once demonstrated his good will and reluctance to raise a hand against his father-in-law, for example, once finding Saul in a cave (where he went to relieve himself - hence the outdated figurative expression “to leave according to the need of King Saul”), he quietly cut off the edge of his cloak , who then showed Saul with the words that he could well have killed him, but did not. He also spared the king, once sneaking into the camp and seeing him sleeping by the fire without guards.

Death of Saul

Against the backdrop of constant persecution of the hiding David and the death of the prophet Samuel, the king continued to wage war with the Philistines. When enemy forces gathered in the Jezreel Valley, he marched against them and pitched his camp at the foot of Mount Gilboa, apparently near Ein Harod.

Offspring

Saul is the only king of the united Jewish kingdom who was not a polygamist (unlike David and Solomon). A list of Saul's sons is given in 1 Samuel (14:49) and 1 Chronicles (8:33; 9:39).

1. Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz, wife of Saul. Their children:
   1. Jonathan (Yonatan). His son:
      1. Mephibosheth (Meribbaal; Merib) - the only surviving descendant of Saul, was 5 years old at the time of his death. He had lameness on both legs, so he could not be an active rival figure during the reign of David.
         1. He had a son named Micah, who left offspring that did not play a prominent role in the history of Israel.
   2. Aminadab
   3. Melchisua (Malki-Shua) - three sons died along with their father
   4. Ishbosheth (Eshbaal) - the fourth son, became the next king of Israel, ruled for two years, was killed by his own military leader, who ran over to David.
   5. Jesus - the Holy Scriptures do not provide details about him.
   6. Merova (Merab) - married to Adriel, son of Barzillay from Mehola, had 5 sons, all killed
   7. Michal (Michal) - married to David, after his flight given to Phalti, son of Laish from Gallima, after the death of Saul returned to her husband. Childless, after the capture of Jerusalem she was sent away by them
2. Rizpah, daughter of Ai, was Saul's concubine. Their sons:
   1. Armon
   2. Mephibosheth - both killed along with the five sons of Merov

Saul in other books of the Bible

2 Samuel

David, who after the death of Saul became king of Judah and then of all Israel, repeatedly emphasized his respect for his predecessor and his household:

Psalter

Although the story of the confrontation between David and Saul is plotted in the text of the Psalms (the authorship of most of the psalms of which is associated with David), the name of Saul is never actually mentioned in the text of the psalms, although it appears in the titles of a number of psalms, which are believed to have been titled later than the creation of the lyrical texts themselves.

In addition to the already mentioned Psalm 17, the following psalms are associated with various circumstances of the conflict between Saul and David:

• Psalm 51 - “the teaching of David, after Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and told him that David had come to the house of Ahimelech.”
• Psalm 53 - “the teaching of David, when Ziph came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?”” and thematically continuing it, Psalm 54
• Psalm 57 - although it does not contain a corresponding inscription, its content goes back to Saul’s persecution of David
• Psalm 58 - “the writing of David, when Saul sent to keep his house to kill him.”

Hosea

Other texts

A later midrash relates that when the men of the tribe of Benjamin went to kidnap the maidens from Shiloh (because there were not enough brides in their tribe) (Shoftim 21:29-23), Saul was too timid to seize one of the girls dancing in the vineyards, and she herself ran after him. This episode is associated with the reproach that Saul will throw at Jonathan - “the son of a daring woman.” Jewish sages, commenting on this episode, write that young Saul, despite his courage, was distinguished by extreme shyness.

Jewish historian of the 1st century. n. e. Josephus Flavius ​​in Book VI of Jewish Antiquities, retelling the biblical story, makes a number of additions and expansions of the text. Thus, he draws attention to the fact that starting with Saul, “the country of the Jews finally adopted a monarchical structure.” Josephus also regularly provides even larger data on the number of troops than in the Bible, indicating that the Philistines opposed the Jews with an army of 300 thousand infantry, 30 thousand chariots and 6 thousand cavalry, and in the battle when Jonathan distinguished himself , 60 thousand enemies were killed; and in the campaign against the Amalekites, Saul gathered 430 thousand fighters (including 30 thousand from the tribe of Judah); Ahimelech's relatives consisted of 305 people (instead of 85 in the Bible). He adds that not all Jews initially took Saul seriously after his election: some treated him with contempt, mocked him and did not bring proper gifts, but after his victory over the Ammanites he gained universal respect. Citing the story of the sorceress of Endor, Joseph praises the courage of Saul, who was ready to go into battle, knowing its unsuccessful outcome for himself.

The Talmud says that the Bible includes only a small part of the conversation between the ghost of Samuel, summoned by the sorceress of Endor, and King Saul, who also asked the prophet: “Will I be saved if I flee?” Samuel replied: “Yes, if you run away from the battlefield, you will be safe. But if you agree with the Lord’s verdict, then tomorrow you will find yourself in heaven next to me.” Thus, the king’s preparations for an obviously losing battle turn out to be a heroic feat. Midrash Levitkus Rabbah praises him for this:

Age and reign of Saul

The reign of Saul in the annals of the history of the Jewish people is unique from the point of view that he is the only king for whom the authors of the Bible do not know the time of his reign (they give dates even for usurpers who seized the throne for a few days). This is especially surprising in the case of the first king of the country and the founder of the state.

Modern researchers give the following dates: 1067-1055. (i.e. 12 years); OK. 1029-1005 BC e. (that is, 24 years old)

Jewish scholars, based on the biblical text and Rashi's commentaries, are trying to calculate Saul's age in this way:

• Saul was born in the 12th year of Samson's reign (2823 from the creation of the world)
• Saul was 8 years old when Eli became a judge (2831), making Saul 9 years older than Samuel.
• Saul was 31 years old when David was born (2854).
• Saul was 48 years old and David 17 when Samuel became a judge (2871).
• Saul was 59 years old and David was 28 years old when Saul became king (2882).
• Samuel died at the age of 52, 4 months before the death of Saul (2884).

Thus, contrary to the biblical text, it turns out that Saul was king for 3 years, which corresponds to the biblical phrase that Samuel was asked to appoint a king “when he was old.” That is, Samuel could hardly have lived another 40 years of Saul’s reign, and he died in the same year as the king. There are other calculation options.

In the Koran

Saul, who appears in Islam under the name Talut, is mentioned in Surah 2 Al-Baqarah (The Cow; 2:247-251), in a fragment telling how Allah gives power to rulers:

Historical analysis

Text analysis

According to one opinion, the account of Saul is considered one of the earliest biblical texts. Its author does not coincide with the author of either the book of Joshua or the books of Kings (3-4 books of Kings). The original version of the book of Samuel could have been created in the second half of the reign of King David, his successor (10th century BC). Its author was an unknown editor (sometimes it is assumed that he was the priest Evyatar or someone from his circle), who collected different stories about historical and legendary events and compiled a book from them, including sometimes different versions of the story about the same event ( for example, the murder of a Philistine giant by a certain Jewish youth is described four times). The combination of versions is seen as either a mechanical compilation or a desire to provide the audience with all available data (which is compared to the method of Herodotus).

According to the concept of G. Helscher, adopted by J. Weinberg and I. R. Tantlevsky, the collection of “Early Prophets” that has come down to us (from the book of Yehoshua / Joshua to the 2 Book of Kings / 4 Kings) is “a separate, unified and integral work”, created on the basis of earlier sources either at the end of the 7th or in the middle of the 6th century BC. e.. Weinberg calls its author a Deuteronomist on the grounds that the nature of the text is close to the narrative layer of Deuteronomy (according to Helscher, the story of Saul is a continuation of the Yahwist layer in the Pentateuch).

The biblical account of Saul's anointing is supposed to be a compilation of several different versions:

1. The king himself made sacrifices without waiting for the prophet to arrive, and Samuel, apparently, saw this as an attack on the prerogatives of the priests.
2. The king did not carry out Samuel's order to completely exterminate the Amalekite tribe.

Some researchers believe that these are also two variants of the same reason for the quarrel, with the first, with the sacrifice, being considered a later addition, since it is not connected with previous events.

The text also gives two different explanations for the origin of the saying “shall Saul be among the prophets”:

1. Return of Saul from Samuel after his anointing
2. Samuel's pursuit of David

The motif of turning to the spirits of the dead, which appears in the episode with the sorceress of Endor, is quite common in the folklore of various nations (for example, in the ancient Greek myth, Orpheus, through an oracle, turns to the spirit of his mourned wife Eurydice). However, for the Bible such a plot associated with otherworldly forces is unique.

The account of Saul's death also represents a compilation of two versions:

1. he committed suicide by throwing himself on his sword.
2. An Amalekite who happened to be nearby killed Saul at his request.

Board analysis

Saul's main achievement was the unification of a number of Israelite groups from Gilead to Judah, creating the first political unity, which was urgently needed for the constant military threat (Philistines in the west, Haraanites in the north, Amalekites in the south) that controlled large parts of Palestine. Saul tried to unite all of Israel under his rule (since the Jews clearly knew which land should belong to them, according to the promise given by the Lord under Joshua). In order to protect the Trans-Jordanian tribes of Israel, he wages war with the king of Moab; opposes the Aramaic kingdom of Soba to protect the northern Israelite tribes, and fights the Amalekites to strengthen influence in southern Palestine. He also establishes relations with the Calebite and Kenite tribes and annexes the Canaanite cities, which retained their independence, to Israel. The unity of the nation, however, was still very shaky, and his entire reign was marked by continuous wars, with varying success. The beginning of statehood, however, had already been laid.

Saul's policies were largely aimed at consolidating the monarchy. Apparently, during his reign he did not try to extend his power beyond the territories inhabited by the Israelis. He also did not try to replace the traditional tribal leadership with a centralized administrative apparatus subordinate to the king, remaining essentially a militarized head of the militia with a core of regular troops (which was first created under him and numbered 3 thousand soldiers). It can be concluded that during his reign, an orderly administrative system had not yet developed. Apparently, the bulk of the nascent administration was made up of members of his family (his son Jonathan was at the head of one of the contingents of the standing army; Abner, a relative of Saul, was the head of the king's army; most of the military leaders were members of his tribe of Benjamin). The tribal organization still continued to exist - Saul was considered not just a king, but the head of the tribes of Israel. The monarchical institutions traditional for the Ancient East had not yet been formed.

Soviet historian V.I. Avdiev writes: “Saul’s kingdom still bore traces of old tribal relations. The patriarchal life of this time is perfectly described in the biblical tale [this work in another paragraph by Avdiev, a Stalin Prize laureate, delicately calls a “heroic epic”] about Saul, who lived and ruled in his hometown. Once a month, on the new moon, he gathered his squad at his home and held a military council under the sacred tamarisk (synod. translation - oak). He distributed the fields and vineyards captured from the enemy to his soldiers.”

Historian P. Johnson notes that Saul, as a representative of the tribe of Benjamin, was a southerner and, not possessing a diplomatic gift, could not come to an agreement with the northerners, whose full support he never enjoyed (three kings later, the united kingdom of Israel would finally be divided into Judah and Israel) . It is important that Saul ruled in his native Gibeah without founding the capital of the country: “only David gave this knot of emotions [Jerusalem] to Israel. This is one of the reasons that Saul did not become the founder of the state, the father of the dynasty."

Historians point out that Saul's organization of a regular army and the kind of guerrilla warfare he launched against the Philistines undermined their dominion over the Hebrews, allowing his successor David to finally defeat them: "Saul's surprise attacks on the forces of the Philistine invaders drove them out of the tribe."

Saul was truly a good warrior and tactician. An interesting example from modern history: Major Vivian Gilbert, in her memoirs of the First World War entitled “The Romance of the Last Crusade,” writes: “the commander of Allenby’s detachment, located in Palestine, one day, by candlelight, looked for a name in the Bible. His detachment was ordered to take the village, which was located on a rocky hill on the far side of a deep valley. The village was called Mikhmas, and this name seemed somewhat familiar to the commander.” He found a fragment in the 13th chapter of the 1st Book of Samuel, which told how Saul and Jonathan drove the Philistines out of this village: “there was a sharp rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other; the name of one is Botsets, and the name of the other is Sene,” they climbed onto it and took the enemies by surprise. The English officer thought that this passage in the mountains could still be preserved, he sent scouts, they reported on the find, the commander changed the plan of attack and decided not to attack Mikhmas with the whole detachment, but sent only one company through the gorge under the cover of darkness. The soldiers silently killed the Turks and occupied the high ground. “So,” Gilbert concludes, “thousands of years later, the British army successfully applied the tactics of Saul and Jonathan.” He highly appreciates the tactics of Saul and Moshe Dayan (“Living with the Bible”), who fought in the same territories.

Relationship with Samuel

Analyzing the biblical text, scholars conclude that Saul’s nomination to the throne was caused by the inability of the traditional tribal leadership (“judges”) to withstand the growing military pressure from neighboring peoples, primarily the Philistines.

Historian P. Johnson points out that Samuel was at first willing to anoint Saul as a charismatic leader ("nagid"), pouring oil on his head, but hesitated whether to make him a "melek" - a hereditary monarch (this implied his right to be called up for military service). service of tribal representatives).

At the beginning of his reign, Saul remained a protege of Samuel, in fact, the previous leader of the people (who ruled only in a different format). James Frazer writes about Samuel, perhaps in some ways portraying Saul as too weak:

Personality of Saul

According to Weinberg, the portrayal of Saul in the biblical narrative ("physically handsome, courageous and active, cheerful and genial at the beginning of life, gloomy and suspicious, suspicious and apathetic at the end") supports the view of the author's (the Deuteronomic historian's) ability to delineate and develop character their heroes; this description itself presupposes an individual author. According to his characterization, the three-part construction of the narrative (exaltation - adherence to responsibilities - disintegration of personality and fall) reveals the tragedy of a person’s inadequacy to his purpose. An assessment of Saul's personality, since it can only be done on the basis of a single source, is inevitably colored through the filters of his relationship with the God of Israel.

In the first half of his reign, Saul emerges as a charismatic leader, a man led by the Spirit of the Lord. It is the Spirit of God that pours strength into him and makes the peaceful peasant a military leader. The Spirit of God (Ruach Yahweh) descends upon him after being anointed by Samuel (this is manifested, for example, in his attack of prophecy). But then “the charisma that Yahweh had bestowed on Saul and made him a leader was now separated from him. It was now that Saul's melancholy began. When he openly renounced God, that is, violated his order, and God rejected him, internal changes immediately began in Saul: the Ruach of Yahweh was transformed into evil possession; he turned into an evil demon" (Evil Spirit of Yahweh/Elohim: Ruach Yahweh ra'a, Ruach elohim ra'a):

When the ritual of anointing turned Saul's soul over, as a result of this he acquired the ability of prophecy, which he retained later, but he did not become a prophet. Distracting from the sacred interpretation of events, scientists are trying to evaluate them from a psychiatric point of view: “probably, the appearance of the prophetic gift as a result of anointing was the beginning of a pathological process that ultimately led a normal healthy young man to a loss of mental balance.” Already Maimonides (13th century), in his commentary on the Mishnah, writes the following about Saul’s illness: “The term “evil spirit” is used to designate all diseases that in Arabic are called melancholy.”

“Where does this split personality come from,” asks Rabbi Steinsaltz, “on the one hand, a brave, sensible leader who did everything for the good of the people, and on the other, a man overcome by fears and doubts and persecuting his faithful comrade-in-arms in such a wild way that it could be explained only by a state close to insanity? Was Shaul a pitiful creature, tormented by uncontrollable attacks of paranoia? (...) First of all, Shaul was a man in whom feelings prevailed over reason. (...) Impulsive emotionality and lack of ability to think adequately and soberly evaluate one’s actions characterized Shaul’s personality and determined his behavior.”

But with all his shortcomings, oddities and attacks, Saul remained a man who was characterized by nobility and genuine sincerity, a man who preserved straightforwardness and simplicity to the end. He was a whole person and did not suffer from complex complexes (unlike many other neuropaths).

The Haggadah (Tosef) directly writes: “Why was Saul awarded the kingship? For your meek disposition." When his father's donkeys disappeared, he took one of the servants and went in search. Having walked around several districts, he said to the servant, “Let’s go back so that father, having abandoned the thought of donkeys, does not worry about us.” The Haggadah writes: “He put the servant on the same level as himself. And in order to evade the royal power, for which he was indicated to Samuel by God, he hid in the baggage train.” Rabbi Judah, from the words of Rav, explained: “Why did Saul suffer punishment? Because he did not defend his dignity. As the Scripture says: “The worthless people said: “Should he save us?” And they despised him and did not give him gifts. But he didn’t seem to notice it.”

Emma asks
Answered by Viktor Belousov, 01/21/2013

Peace to you, Emma!

There are several opinions on this issue, which largely depend on the dating of the periods of life of Saul and David. Below I will quote from Wikipedia.

The reign of Saul in the annals of the history of the Jewish people is unique from the point of view that he is the only king for whom the authors of the Bible do not know the time of his reign (they give dates even for usurpers who seized the throne for a few days). This is especially surprising in the case of the first king of the country and the founder of the state.

Modern researchers give the following dates: 1067-1055. (i.e. 12 years); OK. 1029-1005 BC e. (that is, 24 years old)

Jewish scholars, based on the biblical text and Rashi's commentaries, are trying to calculate Saul's age in this way:

• Saul was born in the 12th year of Samson's reign (2823 from the creation of the world)
• Saul was 8 years old when Eli became a judge (2831), making Saul 9 years older than Samuel.
• Saul was 31 years old when David was born (2854).
• Saul was 48 years old and David 17 when Samuel became a judge (2871).
• Saul was 59 years old and David was 28 years old when Saul became king (2882).
• Samuel died at the age of 52, 4 months before the death of Saul (2884).

Thus, contrary to the biblical text, it turns out that Saul was king for 3 years, which corresponds to the biblical phrase that Samuel was asked to appoint a king “when he was old.” That is, Samuel could hardly have lived another 40 years of Saul’s reign, and he died in the same year as the king. There are other calculation options.

The duration of his reign is also called 40 years (based on the calculation that his son Ishbosheth, who inherited the throne of Saul, was 40 years old when he became king - 1 Samuel 2:10; and at the beginning of Saul’s reign he is not mentioned in the list of sons - 1 Samuel 14 :49). This number is also indicated by the Apostle Paul (Acts 13:21), but not in the affirmative form (“forty years”), but in the subjunctive (“so forty years passed”), apparently, without relying on ancient texts, he also could not say more precisely. Considering that Paul was a Pharisee in his youth and studied under the famous teacher of the law Gamaliel, this point of view can be considered widespread among the Jewish scribes of the 1st century.

Josephus says that Saul reigned for 18 years during the lifetime of Samuel and 22 years - after his death, which contradicts the sequence of events in the Bible, according to which it is believed that Saul went to the Witch of Endor shortly after the death of Samuel.

These are the different versions of the years of life of the biblical heroes and, accordingly, the years of David’s persecution. It is very difficult to say for sure.

God's blessings,

Victor

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