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Saul, Son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, was the first king of Israel (1029–1005 BCE). His life was full of drama and tribulations, and ended tragically. The books of Samuel and Chronicles are the main sources of information about Saul. The biblical prophetic books and Psalms barely mention him, and sometimes even ignore him as they do in Pss 78:59–72; 89:20–39. Saul’s life is related mainly in 1 Samuel 9–15; the text is neither homogeneous nor cohesive, and evidently derived from earlier sources. These sources tend to describe Saul’s reign as an introduction to the career of David, and a source that modifies the part played by Samuel. According to the Talmud, Samuel wrote the book that bears his name, and he wrote Judges and Ruth as well. The Talmud asks: “But it is written in it, Now Samuel was dead?—It was completed by Gad the seer and Nathan the Prophet.”1 The two books of Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew canon. They have been divided in Hebrew manuscripts and printed editions since 1448. The death of Saul is a logical ending to First Samuel. Second Samuel continues with the story of David; but David’s story extends into the first two chapters of 1 Kings.

In modern scholarship, 1 Samuel is part of the so-called Deuteronomistic History. This includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, and 1–2 Kings. These books tell the history of Israel from the time of Moses to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE. They are believed to comprise a single work because they share the elements of structure, writing style, and theological outlook. The books examine the history of Israel according to the laws set forth in Deuteronomy. The main doctrines of Deuteronomy are: centralized worship in Jerusalem, obedience to the Deuteronomistic law, and abstinence from apostasy. Victory and defeat accordingly result from obedience or disobedience to the law. Hence it is more theological history than pure history. However, examination of the book of Samuel reveals a limited influence of the Deuteronomistic redaction. According to McCarter, the most striking aspect of the Deuteronomistic redaction of the books of Samuel is its sparseness.2 The strict Deuteronomistic structure that is found in the books of Judges and Kings is not evident in Samuel.

The book of Samuel is a blend of historiography, literary poetics, and ethical and theological perceptions. There is little agreement among scholars about the original formation of the material in Samuel.3 Analysis of the book points to the presence of three major blocks. The first block (chapters 1–7) tells the story of the prophet Samuel, who is the dominant figure. Chapter 8 is transitional and introduces the monarchy. The second block (chapters 9–15) tells the “Story of Saul” where Saul is the protagonist. The third block (chapters 16–31) contains the “Story of Saul and David,” and describes the feuds between the two rivals. We will show that an author sympathetic to David at the time, probably wrote the third block when David needed to justify his claim to the throne in response to claims of Saul’s family.

The book of Samuel portrays Saul as a colorful personality with excesses—the classical hero of a tragedy. Moreover, Saul’s excellent virtues qualified him for the monarchy. He had courage and military power, and he was chosen to reign.4 His prowess was evident in his first battle against the Ammonites. He went with his sons to his last battle against the Philistines, even when he knew the outcome of the war. He fell on his sword, and died on the battlefield as befits a classical hero. Saul was also modest and shy and it is not surprising that he rebuked Samuel for making him king. Later, when people were looking for him he was not found, since he was hiding among the equipment.

The first detail we learn about Saul is that he was unusually handsome.5 We also read that he was shy and modest implying that he tried to humble himself. Evidently, there is a contradiction between his physical description and his behavior, which points to his irreconcilable character. Only later, after the spirit of God seizes him, will he appear to the people with resolved enthusiasm and with boldness.

The rabbis emphasized Saul’s modesty, according to Midrash Tanhuma the casting of lots was initiated because Saul doubted whether he was worthy to be elected.6 The Midrash puts words in Saul’s mouth: “I am not worthy of kingship.” They identified the man of Benjamin who came to Shiloh from the battlefield (1 Sam 4:12) with Saul: “R. Levi said: sixty miles Saul marched on the same day. He was in the battle line, and (there he) heard that the tablets (of the law) were carried off. He went and snatched them from Goliath’s hand, and (then) he came (to Shilo).”7 This points to Saul’s bravery and to the fact that he fought for God long before he was chosen to be king. The Midrash also stresses Saul’s obedience to Jewish Law (halakha) since he ordered that sacrificial commandments and laws be kept (1 Sam 14:32–35).8

The sages, who were intrigued by his personality, changed their interpretation concerning his sin in the war against Amalek so that the sin is portrayed favorably. Therefore, Saul refused to see the women, children, and cattle as sinners who deserved death. Thus, “A bat kol (Heavenly voice) emanated and said to him: ‘Do not be overly righteous.’”9 Moreover, the sages thought so highly of Saul that they listed him among their eight princes: Jesse (the father of king David); Saul himself; the prophets Samuel, Elijah, Amos, and Zephaniah; the righteous King Zedekiah; and the Messiah.10

In contrast to the positive portrayal of Saul in the Bible and the midrashim, there are passages which portray him differently: a man who chases demons, a man obsessed with pursuit of David, and a man who is paranoid. Thus he struggles constantly with his own family members as well as his circle of friends. He feuds with the prophet Samuel. He is ruthless and merciless. He kills the priests of Nob and massacres the Gibeonites. From the battle at Michmas till the last day of his life, fear is his constant companion—fear of the people, fear of his son Jonathan, fear of David, fear of the Benjaminites, and fear of the Philistines, the people of Nob, and the Gibeonites. Even on the eve of his last battle against the Philistines, “When Saul saw the Philistine force, his heart trembled with fear” (1 Sam 28:5). When Samuel rose from the grave and delivered his message to him, Saul was terrified (v. 20). Evidently these fears were not baseless but reflective of actual threats. Fear also caused him to indulge in self-pity: “May you be blessed of the Lord for the compassion you have shown me!” (1 Sam 23:21). This self-pity was so obvious that in his pursuit of David he was transformed from pursuer to pursued.

The ambivalent attitude towards Saul is also found among the sages, who, as mentioned above, praised Saul on one hand, but criticized him harshly on the other. In reference to Ps 7:1: “Shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord, concerning Cush, a Benjaminite,” they said that Saul was unusual in the aspect of his deeds.11 The sages believed that power changes people and affects their attitude: “Because when Samuel came to anoint Saul as a king, Saul ran away (from the kingship). But once he had ascended (the throne) and Samuel told him to step down from it in favor of David, (Saul) tried to kill David.”12

Many important works have appeared in recent years concerning Saul and the establishment of the Israelite monarchy, including: Birch, The Rise of the Israelite Monarchy: The Growth and Development of I Samuel 7–15; Edelman, King Saul and the Historiography of Judah; Edelman, Saulide Israel: A Literary and Historical Investigation; Garsiel, The First Book of Samuel: A Literary Study of Comparative Structures, Analogies and Parallels; Brooks, Saul and the Monarchy: A New Look; and Ehrlich and White, eds., Saul in Story and Tradition. In addition, there are two important commentaries on the book of Samuel by Hertzberg, I & II Samuel and McCarter, I Samuel and II Samuel. All of them are limited to particular aspects of this topic. By contrast, we shall attempt to look at the subject from additional perspectives including those of the Talmud and Midrashim and the Jewish medieval commentators. The Babylonian Talmud contains a vast amount of aggadot—stories. The Midrash includes anthologies and compilations of homilies including biblical exegesis and public sermons. The various sects and currents in Judaism left their mark on it; and almost everything that Jews thought during a period of more than a thousand years can be found there. Though the interpretative methods of the medieval commentators vary, we still find that they compromise between the literal and the Midrashic interpretation of the biblical text. In addition, they pursue philological-contextual interpretation with a view to reason and science.

In this book, our main goal is to rediscover Saul, to have a better understanding of his achievements and failures as the first king of Israel. In chapter 1, we examine the establishment of the Israelite monarchy and we look for the reasons behind its formation. Did fear of the Philistines require a political change? Or were other reasons more important, reasons such as social and political motives for the demand. Why did Samuel reject the idea of monarchy, and why do we read that Saul was anointed as king three times: the first time in secrecy, the second time in Mizpah before all the people, and the third time in Gilgal?

In chapter 2 we scrutinize Saul’s wars. According to the biblical narrative, Saul waged war against the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, the Philistines, and the kings of Zobah (1 Sam 14:47–48). In addition, Saul fought three major wars which are described in detail: the war against the Ammonites (chapter 11), the war against the Philistines where three major battles are described (chapters 13–14; 17; 28–31), as well as battles with the Philistines on a smaller scale (chapters 18:27, 30; 19:8; 23:1, 27). The third major battle was the war against the Amalekites portrayed in chapter 15. In this chapter, we analyze Saul’s wars from a literary and historical perspective. We will try to find the historical truth behind Saul’s wars. Thus, we discuss the questions why Saul fought those particular enemies, and what exactly he wanted to achieve.

In chapter 3 we contrast the two major heroes in the book of Samuel—Saul and David. We examine the images that the narrator creates for our heroes. We review them as they are described in the book of Samuel, and we evaluate the reasons for this description. We compare the coronations of Saul and David. We examine the stories dealing with Saul’s hostility towards David. Saul tried to kill David on several occasions. We look at the narrator’s depiction of David. Was he totally different from Saul? We trust that our comparison will provide a basis for understanding why the kingship was taken from Saul and transferred to David.

In chapter 4 we will monitor the feuds in the king’s court. Saul is portrayed as fighting and distrusting the people in his inner circle. Even among his own family, there is constant tension, and suspicion between Saul, his son Jonathan, and his daughters, who side with David against their father. In addition, we describe Saul’s relations with his courtiers and warriors, and we evaluate the reasons for their support of David. We also look at the relations between Saul and the prophet Samuel, who rejected Saul as the king of Israel, but nevertheless grieved over him in the end. This study will provide a deeper understanding of Saul’s character. It will shed a different light on his personality and ultimately help us to understand his seemingly bizarre behavior.

In chapter 5 we survey Saul’s achievements. Since Saul was the first king of Israel, the inevitable question is, what changes did he introduce? Did Saul create a new administrative system? Kings in the ancient world relied on their army to rule. Did Saul establish a standing army? Did he impose taxes in order to govern? Kings in the ancient world were known for grandiose building projects—capital cities, religious centers, and fortresses. Did Saul have any part in this? These questions will help us discover if the new king achieved his goal to change Israel from a loose federation of tribes into a unified monarchy.

In chapter 6 we look at the story of Saul and the witch of Endor. In his distress, Saul seeks a medium to bring up the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel, because the Lord has failed to answer him, whether by dreams, by the Urim ve–Tummim, or through prophets. What did Saul see and what rites did the medium employ to raise Samuel? The Midrash reports that “she did what she did, and she said what she said, and raised him.” Why was Samuel angry with Saul: “Why have you disturbed me (hirgaztani) and brought me up?” (1 Sam 28:15). Finally how did Saul and the witch react to Samuel’s message?

Chapter 7 deals with the downfall of the house of Saul. There are three different versions of Saul’s death on Mount Gilboa during his last battle. What is the reason for the inclusion of these accounts? How do they differ from each other, and what message are they trying to convey? Saul’s death did not end the long feud between the House of Saul and the House of David. With Saul’s death we find that Abner crowned Ish-bosheth as Saul’s successor, while the men of Judah anointed David over the House of Judah. The war between the House of Saul and the House of David continued. What lay behind these wars? Ish-bosheth and Abner were both murdered. Was David responsible, and also behind the death of Saul, as some suggest? According to the biblical narrative, David handed Saul’s seven descendants to the Gibeonites because of alleged bloodguilt. Was this bloodguilt the main reason for his action, or were there some other hidden motives for David’s act? Finally, what prompted David to restore lands to Mephibosheth and offer him a seat at the royal table? We consider these and other questions at length.

We trust that this study will afford a provocative and useful insight into the character of Saul, the first king of Israel.

1. B. Bat. 15a.

2. McCarter, I Samuel, 15. For a similar conclusion see: Weiser, Old Testament, 168; Haran, Biblical Collection, 285–87.

3. For a summary on the different views of the composition of the book of Samuel see Garsiel, “Book of Samuel, ” 1–42.

4. Mid. Sam. 11:78–79.

5. 1 Sam 9:2; Ber. 48b

6. Tanh. B Lev. 2b:4

7. Midr. Sam. 11:1; Midr. Pss 7:2

8. Midr. Sam. 7:2; b. Zebah. 120a

9. Yoma 23b.

10. Succah 52b.

11. Moed Katan 16b.

12. Menachot 109b.