SAUL (Hebr. Šā'ūl “obtained through prayer”). — First king of Israel (ca. 1040–1000 B.C.). With his father Cis (Qīš), of the tribe of Benjamin, he lived in Gabaa. He went to consult Samuel (v.) in order to find the lost she-asses; the seer recognized in this man of exceptional stature the king chosen by God. As he accompanied him on his return, he communicated to him his vocation as the first king of Israel.
Israel had once again fallen under Philistine domination (I Sam. 10, 5; 13, 3); S. was chosen by God as liberator and was secretly anointed by Samuel, now old, as the leader (nāghīdh) of Israel (ibid. 9, 16 ff.). Then, having summoned the tribes to Maspha, Samuel chose S. as king by casting lots, and all acclaimed him, with the exception of a few whom S. pretended not to notice. He modestly returned to his fields, waiting until circumstances forced him to assume command of the men of Israel (ibid. 9, 1–10, 16). From his wife Achinoam S. had the sons Jonathan (v.), Abinadab, Iessui, Melchisua, Isboseth (v.), as well as the daughters Merob and Michol ([v.] ibid. 14, 49; 31, 2; I Par. 8, 33). From the concubine Respha he Miphiboseth (v.). ABENESRA (v.), son of Ner, the brother of Cis, was a valiant military commander.
When the inhabitants of Iabes sent to ask for help at Gabaa against the Ammonites, S. called the people to arms and organized the troops at Bezec in Ephraim; the enemy, attacked by surprise before dawn, was routed.
Samuel took advantage of the popular enthusiasm to enthrone the king at Galgal and to transmit his authority to him (I Sam. 11–12). According to Act. 13, 21, S.’s reign lasted 40 years. S. organized and equipped a standing army (I Sam. 13, 2. 19–22), one third of which he entrusted to his young son Jonathan. A sortie by Jonathan provoked the Philistines to retaliate; the Israelites feared the imminent Philistine offensive, waiting for Samuel at Galgal for the offering of a sacrifice before the battle; but after 7 days of vain waiting, S. ordered that the sacrifice be performed; when he arrived, Samuel reproached him for his lack of faith and foretold, as punishment, the exclusion of his sons from the throne (ibid. 13, 3–14). Through Jonathan’s heroism he defeated the Philistines near Machmas, but through his imprudence he failed to exploit the victory fully; the Philistines regained strength, especially in the valley of Socho, where David slew Goliath (ibid. 13, 15–14, 46; 17, 1–18, 4). The struggle against the Philistines did not cease. S. also fought Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Soba (ibid. 14, 47. 52). Among other things, S. received from Samuel the order to annihilate the Amalecites (v.), who were devoted to the ban (v. HEBEM), persons and possessions alike; but after Agag (v.) and the best animals of their herds. As punishment for this second offense,
S. was rejected by God from the throne of Israel (ibid. 15, 1–15). Obedient to the divine command, Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint, unbeknownst to S., David (v.) as king.
After the rejection resulting from his two offenses, S. fell from one error into another. Undermined by neurasthenia and seized by furious attacks, he summoned David to his court, where David calmed him by playing the harp. He made him his armor-bearer and his son-in-law (ibid. 16, 14–23; 18, 17–30). But, blinded by morbid envy of the acclaim David received, S. twice attempted to pierce him with his spear and forced him to flee and hide; finally he sent him to wage war at the head of a thousand men, hoping in this way to rid himself of him, but David was victorious everywhere; while S. pursued him in order to kill him, David twice surprised him asleep, but magnanimously spared him; at last S. was reconciled with him (ibid. 19, 1–27, 12). As a decisive attack by the Philistines in the plain of Iezreel was imminent, and having been unable to obtain an answer from God, S. consulted a necromancer at Endor, who evoked the shade of Samuel, which foretold defeat (ibid. 28, 8–23). The following day Israel was routed by the Philistines at Aphec on Gelboe, and 3 of S.’s sons (Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchisua) fell along with many others; S. threw himself upon his spear (ibid. 29, 1; 31, 1–13). David mourned him greatly (II Sam. 1, 1–27). Another son of S., Isboseth (v.), supported by Abner, would then reign for two years over Israel.
The name S. was also borne by a king of Edom (Gen. 36, 37), by an ancestor of Samuel, from the Levitical family of Caath (I Par. 6, 24; this S. is probably identical with Iohel of I Par. 6, 36), and finally by s. Paul (Act. 7, 57–13, 9), a Benjaminite like King S. — See plate CXXX.