There were several reasons for the choice of Saul as king. He had
distinguished himself as a military hero in the unfortunate engagement
of the Philistines with Israel under the leadership of the sons of Eli.
Goliath captured the tables of the law. When Saul heard of this in
Shiloh, he marched sixty miles to the camp, wrested the tables from the
giant, and returned to Shiloh on the same day, bringing Eli the report
of the Israelitish misfortune. (48) Besides, Saul possessed unusual
beauty, (49) which explains why the maidens whom he asked about the
seer in their city sought to engage him in a lengthy conversation. (50)
At the same time he was exceedingly modest. When he and his servant
failed to find the asses they were looking for, he said, "My father
will take thought of us," putting his servants on a level with himself,
(51) and when he was anointed king, he refused to accept the royal
dignity until the Urim and Thummin were consulted. (52) His chief
virtue, however, was his innocence. He was as free from sin as "a one
year old child." (53) No wonder, then, he was held worthy of the
prophetic gift. The prophecies he uttered concerned themselves with the
war of Gog and Magog, the meting out of reward and punishment at the
last judgment. (54) Finally, his choice as king was due also to the
merits of his ancestors, especially his grandfather Abiel, a man
interested in the public welfare, who would have the streets lighted so
that people might go to the houses of study after dark. (55)
Saul's first act as king was his successful attack upon Nahash, king of
the Ammonites, who had ordered the Gileadites to remove the injunction
from the Torah barring the Ammonites from the congregation of Israel.
(56) In his next undertaking, the campaign against the Philistines, he
displayed his piety. His son Jonathan had fallen under the severe ban
pronounced by Saul against all who tasted food on a certain day, and
Saul did not hesitate to deliver him up to death. Jonathan's trespass
was made know by the stones in the breastplate of the high priest. All
the stones were bright, only the one bearing the name Benjamin had lost
its brilliancy. By lot it was determined that its dimmed lustre was due
to the Benjamite Jonathan. Saul desisted from his purpose of executing
Jonathan only when it appeared that he had transgressed his father's
command by mistake. A burnt offering and his weight in gold paid to the
sanctuary were considered an atonement for him. (57) In the same war
Saul had occasion to show his zeal for the scrupulous observance of the
sacrificial ordinances. He reproached his warriors with eating the meat
of the sacrifices before the blood was sprinkled on the altar, (58) and
he made it his task to see to it that the slaughtering knife was kept
in the prescribed condition. As recompense, an angel brought him a
sword, there being none beside Saul in the whole army to bear one. (59)
Saul manifested a different spirit in the next campaign, the war with
the Amalekites, whom, at the bidding of God, he was to exterminate.
When the message of God's displeasure was conveyed to Saul by the
prophet Samuel, he said: "If the Torah ordains that a heifer of the
herd shall be beheaded in the valley as an atonement for the death of a
single man, how great must be the atonement required for the slaughter
of so many men? And granted they are sinners, what wrong have their
cattle done to deserve annihilation? And granted that the adults are
worthy of their fate, what have the children done?" Then a voice
proclaimed from heaven, "Be not overjust." Later on, when Saul
commissioned Doeg to cut down the priests at Nob, the same voice was
heard to say, "Be not overwicked." (60) It was this very Doeg, destined
to play so baleful a part in his life, who induced Saul to spare Agag,
the king of Amalekites. His argument was the law prohibits the slaying
of an animal and its young on the same day. How much less permissible
is it to destroy at one time old and young, men and children. (61) As
Saul had undertaken the war of extermination against Amalek only
because forced into it, he was easily persuaded to let the people keep
a part of the cattle alive. As far as he himself was concerned, he
could have had no personal interest in the booty, for he was so
affluent that he took a census of the army by giving a sheep to every
one of his soldiers, distributing not less than two hundred thousand
sheep. (62)
Compared with David's sins, Saul's were not sufficiently grievous to
account for the withdrawal of the royal dignity from him and his
family. The real reason was Saul's too great mildness, a drawback in a
ruler. Moreover, his family was of such immaculate nobility that his
descendants might have become too haughty. (63) When Saul disregarded
the Divine command about the Amalekites, Samuel announced to him that
his office would be bestowed upon another. The name of his successor
was not mentioned on that occasion, but Samuel gave him a sign by which
to recognize the future king: he who would cut off the corner of Saul's
mantle, would reign in his stead. Later on, when David met Saul in the
cave and cut off a piece of the king's skirt, Saul knew him for a
certainty to be his destined successor. (64)
So Saul lost his crown on account of Agag, and yet did not accomplish
his purpose of saving the life of the Amalekite king, for Samuel
inflicted a most cruel death upon Agag, and that not in accordance with
Jewish, but with heathen, forms of justice. No witnesses of Agag's
crime could be summoned before the court, nor could it be proved that
Agag, as the law requires, had been warned when about to commit the
crime. (65) Though due punishment was meted out to Agag, in a sense it
came too late. Had he been killed by Saul in the course of the battle,
the Jews would have been spared the persecution devised by Haman, for,
in the short span of time that elapsed between war and his execution,
Agag became the ancestor of Haman. (66)
The Amalekite war was the last of Saul's notable achievements. Shortly
afterward he was seized by the evil spirit, and the rest of his days
were passed mainly in persecuting David and his followers. Saul would
have died immediately after the Amalekite war, if Samuel had not
interceded for him. The prophet prayed to God that the life of the
disobedient king be spared, at least so long as his own years had not
come to their destined close: "Thou regardest me equal to Moses and
Aaron. (67) As Moses and Aaron did not have their handiwork destroyed
before their eyes during their life, so may my handiwork not cease
during my life." God said: "What shall I do? Samuel will not let me put
an end to Saul's days, and if I let Samuel die in his prime, people
will speak ill of him (68) Meanwhile David's time is approaching, and
one reign may not overlap the time assigned to another by his
hairbreadth." God determined to let Samuel age suddenly, and when he
died at fifty-two, (69) the people were under the impression the days
of an old man had come to an end. So long as he lived, Saul was secure.
(70) Scarcely was he dead, when the Philistines began to menace the
Israelites and their king. Soon it appeared how well justified had been
the mourning services for the departed prophet in all the Israelitish
towns. (71) It was not remarkable that the mourning for Samuel should
have been universal. During his active administration as judge, he had
been in the habit of journeying through every part of the country, and
so he was known personally to all the people. This practice of his
testifies not only to the zeal with which he devoted himself to his
office, but also to his wealth, for the expenses entailed by these
journeys were defrayed from his own purse. Only one person in all the
land took no part in the demonstrations of grief. During the very week
of mourning Nabal held feasts. "What!" God exclaimed, "all weep and
lament over the death of the pious, and this reprobate engages in
revelry!" Punishment was not withheld. Three days after the week of
mourning for Samuel Nabal dies. (72)
There was none that felt the death of Samuel more keenly than Saul.
Left alone and isolated, he did not shrink from extreme measures to
enter into communication with the departed prophet. With his two
adjutants, (73) Abner and Amasa, he betook himself to Abner's mother,
the witch of En-dor. (74) The king did not reveal his identity, but the
witch had no difficulty in recognizing her visitor. In necromancy the
peculiar rule holds good that, unless it is summoned by a king, a
spirit raised from the dead appears head downward and feet in the air.
(75) Accordingly, when the figure of Samuel stood upright before them,
the witch knew that the king was with her. Though the witch saw Samuel,
she could not hear what he said, while Saul heard his words, but could
not see his person another peculiar phenomenon in necromancy: the
conjuror sees the spirit, and he for whom the spirit had been raised
only hears it. Any other person present neither sees nor hears it.
The witch's excitement grew when she perceived a number of spirits
arise by the side of Samuel. The dead prophet, when he was summoned
back to earth, thought that the judgement day had arrived. He requested
Moses to accompany him and testify to his always having executed the
ordinances of the Torah as Moses had established them. With these two
great leaders a number of the pious arose, all believing that the day
of judgment was at hand. Samuel was apparelled in the "upper garment"
his mother had made for him when she surrendered him to the sanctuary.
This he had worn throughout his life, and in it he was buried. At the
resurrection all the dead wear their grave clothes, and so it came
about that Samuel stood before Saul in his well-known "upper garment."
Only fragments of the conversation between Samuel and Saul have been
preserved in the Scriptures. Samuel reproached Saul with having
disturbed him. "Was it not enough," he said, "for thee to enkindle the
wrath of thy Creator by calling up the spirits of the dead, must thou
need change me into an idol? For is it not said that like unto the
worshippers so shall the worshipped be punished?" Samuel then consented
to tell the king God's decree, that he had resolved to rend the kingdom
out of his hand, and invest David with the royal dignity. Whereupon
Saul: "These are not the words thou spakest to me before." (76) "When
we dwelt together," rejoined Samuel, "I was in the world of lies. Now I
abide in the world of truth, and thou heardest lying words from me, for
I feared thy wrath and thy revenge. Now I abide in the world of truth,
and thou hearest words of truth from me. As to the thing the Lord hath
done unto thee, thou hast deserved it, for thou didst not obey the
voice of the Lord, nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek." Saul
asked: "Can I still save myself by flight?" "Yes," replied Samuel, "if
thou fleest, thou art safe. But if thou acceptest God's judgment, by
to-morrow thou wilt be united with me in Paradise."
When Abner and Amasa questioned Saul about his interview with Samuel,
he replied: "Samuel told me I should go into battle to-morrow, and come
forth victorious. More than that, my sons will be given exalted
positions in return for their military prowess." The next day his three
sons went with him to the war, and all were stricken down. God summoned
the angels and said to them: "Behold the being I have created in my
world. A father as a rule refrains from taking his sons even to a
banquet, lest he expose them to the evil eye. Saul goes to war knowing
that he will lose his life, yet he takes his sons with him, and
cheerfully accepts the punishment I ordain." (77)
So perished the first Jewish king, as a hero and a saint. His latter
days were occupied with regrets on account of the execution of the
priest of Nob, (78) and his remorse secured pardon for him. (79)
Indeed, in all respects his piety was so great that not even David was
his equal: David had many wives and concubines; Saul had but on wife.
David remained behind, fearing to lose his life in battle with his son
Absalom; Saul went into the combat knowing he should not return alive.
Mild and generous, Saul led the life of a saint in his own house,
observing even the priestly laws of purity. Therefore God reproached
David with having pronounced a curse upon Saul in his prayer. (80)
Also, David in his old age was punished for having cut off the corner
of Saul's mantle, for no amount of clothing would keep him warm. (81)
Finally, when a great famine fell upon the land during the reign of
David, God told him it had been inflicted upon him because Saul's
remains had not been buried with the honor due to him, and at that
moment a heavenly voice resounded calling Saul "the elect of God." (82)