THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY IN ISRAEL.
More than a century and a half had passed since the Israelites had won
their land in Canaan. The greater part of the tribes, beside the
breeding of cattle, were occupied with the cultivation of vines and
figs, and regular agriculture; the minority had become accustomed to
life in settled cities, and the earliest stages of industry; but the
unity of the nation was lost, and in the place of the religious fervour
which once accompanied the exodus from Egypt, the rites of the Syrian
deities had forced their way in alongside of the worship of Jehovah. The
division and disorganisation of the nation had exposed the Israelites to
the attacks of their neighbours; the attempt of Abimelech to establish a
monarchy in connection with the cities had failed; the anarchy still
continued. Worse dangers still might be expected in the future. The
forces of the Moabites, Midianites, and Ammonites were not superior to
that of the Israelites, the attacks of the tribes of the desert were of
a transitory nature; but what if the cities of the coast, superior in
civilisation, art, and combined power, should find it convenient when
the affairs of Israel were in this position to extend their borders to
the interior, and Israel should be gradually subjugated from the coast?
From the Phenicians there was nothing to fear: navigation and trade
entirely occupied them; from the beginning of the eleventh century
their ships devoted their attention to discoveries in the Atlantic
Ocean, beyond the straits of Gibraltar (p. 83). The case was different
with the warlike cities of the Philistines. If the Philistines were
behind the Israelites in the extent of their territory and dominion,
their forces were held together and well organised by means of the
confederation of the cities. Bounded to the west by the sea, and to the
south by the desert, the only path open to them for extending their
power was in the direction of the Hebrews. For a long time they had been
content to put a limit upon the extension of the tribes of Judah and
Dan, but in the first half of the eleventh century B.C. the condition of
Israel appeared to the federation of the Philistines sufficiently
inviting to induce them to pass from defence to attack. Their blows fell
first on Judah, Simeon, and the part of Dan which had remained in the
south on the borders of the Philistines; tribes which had hitherto been
exempted from attack, whose territory had been protected by the deserts
on the south, and the Dead Sea on the east. But now they were attacked
from the direction of the sea. The struggle with the Philistines was not
a matter of rapine and plunder, but of freedom and independence. The aim
of the five princes of the Philistines (I. 348) was directed towards the
extension of their own borders and their own dominion, and the war
against the Israelites was soon carried on with vigour. The tribes of
Judah and Dan were reduced to submission.[206] If the Israelites did not
succeed in uniting their forces, if they could not repair what was
neglected at the conquest, and had since been attempted in vain, the
suppression of their independence, their religious and national life,
appeared certain. The question was whether the nation of Israel,
accustomed to an independent and defiant life in small communities, and
corrupted by it, possessed sufficient wisdom and devotion to solve the
difficult task now laid upon it.
It was a melancholy time for Israel when the Philistines ruled over the
south of the land. Later generations found some comfort for this
national disgrace in the narratives of the strong and courageous Samson,
the son of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, whose deeds were placed by
tradition in this period. He had done the Philistines much mischief, and
slain many of them; even when his foolish love for a Philistine maiden
finally brought him to ruin, he slew more Philistines at his death than
in his life--"about 3000 men and women."[207] Whatever be the truth
about these deeds, no individual effort could avail to save Israel when
the Philistines seriously set themselves to conquer the northern tribes,
unless the nation roused itself and combined all its forces under one
definite head.
The Philistines invaded the land of Ephraim with a mighty army, and
forced their way beyond it northwards as far as Aphek, two leagues to
the south of Tabor. At Tabor the Israelites assembled and attempted to
check the Philistines, but they failed; 4000 Israelites were slain. Then
the elders of Israel, in order to encourage the people, caused the ark
of Jehovah to be brought from Shiloh into the camp. Eli, the priest at
the sacred tabernacle, was of the age of 98 years. Hophni and Phinehas,
his sons, accompanied the sacred ark, which was welcomed by the army
with shouts of joy. In painful expectation Eli sat at the gate of Shiloh
and awaited the result. Then a man of the tribe of Benjamin came in
haste, with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head, and said, "Israel
is fled before the Philistines, thy sons are dead, and the ark of God is
lost." Eli fell backwards from his seat, broke his neck, and died. About
30,000 men are said to have fallen in the battle (about 1070
B.C.).[208]
At the sacred tabernacle at Shiloh Samuel the son of Elkanah had served
under Eli. Elkanah was an Ephraimite; he dwelt at Ramah (Ramathaim,
and hence among the Greeks Arimathia[209]). Samuel was born to him late
in life, and, in gratitude that at last a son was given to her, his
mother had dedicated him to Jehovah, and given him to Eli to serve in
the sanctuary. Thus even as a boy Samuel waited at the sacrifices in a
linen tunic, and performed the sacred rites. He grew up in the fear of
Jehovah and became a seer, who saw what was hidden, a soothsayer, whom
the people consulted in distress of any kind, and at the same time he
announced the will of Jehovah, for Jehovah had called him, and permitted
him to see visions, "so that he knew how to speak the word of God, which
was rare in those days," and "Jehovah was with him and let none of
Samuel's words fall to the ground."[210] After the crushing defeat at
Aphek it devolved on Samuel to perform the duties of high priest. He
summoned the people to Mizpeh in the tribe of Benjamin and prayed for
Israel. Large libations of water were poured to Jehovah. When the
Philistines advanced Samuel sacrificed a sucking lamb (no doubt as a
sin-offering), and burned it. "Then on that day Jehovah thundered
mightily out of heaven over the Philistines, and confounded them so that
they were defeated."
This victory remained without lasting results. On the contrary, the
slavery of the Israelites to the Philistines became more extensive and
more severe. In order to bring the northern tribes into the same
subjection as the tribes of Dan, Judah, and Simeon, the Philistines
established fortified camps at Michmash and Geba (Gibeah) in the tribe
of Benjamin, as a centre from which to hold this and the northern tribes
in check. The men of the tribes of Judah and Simeon had to take the
field against their own countrymen. These arrangements soon obtained
their object. All Israel on this side of the Jordan was reduced to
subjection. In order to make a rebellion impossible, the Israelites were
deprived of their arms; indeed, the Philistines were not content that
they should give up the arms in their possession, they even removed the
smiths from the land, that no one might provide a sword or javelin for
the Hebrews. The oppression of this dominion pressed so heavily and with
such shame on the Israelites that the books of Samuel themselves tell
us, if the plough-shares, bills, and mattocks became dull, or the forks
were bent, the children of Israel had to go down into the cities of the
Philistines in order to have their implements mended and sharpened.[211]
At this period Samuel's activity must have been limited to leading back
the hearts of the Israelites to the God who brought them out of Egypt;
he must have striven to fill them with the faith with which he was
himself penetrated, and the distress of the time would contribute to
gain acceptance for his teaching and his prescripts. The people sought
his word and decision; he is said to have given judgment at Bethel,
Gilgal, and Mizpeh. He gathered scholars and disciples round him, who
praised Jehovah to the sound of harp and lute, flute and drum, who in
violent agitation and divine excitement awaited his visions, and "were
changed into other men."[212] From the position which tradition allots
to Samuel, there can be no doubt that he brought the belief in and
worship of the old god into renewed life, and caused them to sink deeper
into the hearts of the Israelites. The oppression of his people by the
Philistines he could not turn away, though he cherished a lively hope in
the help of Jehovah.
The tribes on the east of the Jordan remained free from the dominion of
the Philistines; yet for them also servitude and destruction was near at
hand. The Ammonites were not inclined to let slip so favourable an
opportunity. As the land on the west of the Jordan was subject to the
Philistines, the tribes on the east would prove an easy prey. The
Ammonites encamped before Jabesh in Gilead, and the inhabitants were
ready to submit. But Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, as we are told,
would only accept their submission on condition that every man in Jabesh
put out his right eye. Then the elders of Jabesh sent messengers across
the Jordan and earnestly besought their countrymen for help.
The tribe of Benjamin had to feel most heavily, no doubt, the oppression
of the Philistines. In their territory lay the fortified camps of the
enemy. Here, at Gibeah, dwelt a man of the race of Matri, Saul the son
of Kish, the grandson of Abiel. Kish was a man of substance and
influence; his son Saul was a courageous man, of remarkable stature,
"higher by a head than the rest of the nation." He was in the full
strength of his years, and surrounded by valiant sons: Jonathan,
Melchishua, Abinadab, and Ishbosheth. One day, "just as he was returning
home from the field behind his oxen," he heard the announcement which
the messengers of Jabesh brought. Himself under the enemy's yoke, he
felt the more deeply what threatened them. His heart was fired at the
shame and ruin of his people. Regardless of the Philistines, he formed a
bold resolution; assistance must be given to those most in need. He cut
two oxen in pieces, sent the pieces round the tribes,[213] and raised
the cry, "Whoso comes not after Saul, so shall it be done to his oxen."
The troop which gathered round him out of compassion for the besieged in
Jabesh, and in obedience to his summons, Saul divided into three
companies. With these he succeeded in surprising the camp of the
Ammonites about the morning watch; he dispersed the hostile army and set
Jabesh free.
Whatever violence and cruelty had been exercised since the settlement of
the Israelites in Canaan, however many the feuds and severe the
vengeance taken, however great the distress and the oppression, the
nation, amid all the anarchy and freedom so helpless against an enemy,
still preserved a healthy and simple feeling and vigorous power. And at
this crisis the Israelites were not found wanting; Saul's bold
resolution, the success in setting free the city in her sore distress,
the victory thus won, the first joy and hope after so long a period of
shame, gave the people the expectation of having found in him the man
who was able to set them free from the dominion of the Philistines also,
and restore independence, and law, and peace. When the thank-offering
for the unexpected victory, for the liberation of the land of Gilgal,
was offered at Gilgal on the Jordan, as far as possible from the camp of
the Philistines, "all the people went to Gilgal, and there made Saul
king before Jehovah, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced
greatly" (1055 B.C.).
The heavy misfortunes which the land had experienced for a long time,
the severe oppression of the dominion of the Philistines, had at length
taught the majority that rescue could only come by a close connection
and union of the powers of the tribes, and an established authority
supreme over all. To check anarchy from within and oppression from
without required a vigorous hand, a ruling will, and a recognised power.
What the people could do to put an end to the disorganisation was now
done, they had placed a man at the head whom they might expect to be a
brave leader and resolute guide. The Israelites had used their
sovereignty to give themselves a master, and might hope with confidence
that by this step they had laid the foundations of a happier future
which they might certainly greet with joy.[214]
Immediately after his election on the Jordan, Saul was firmly resolved
to take up arms against the Philistines for the liberation of the land.
He turned upon their camp in the district of his own tribe. While he lay
opposite the fortifications at Michmash, and thus held the garrison
fast, his son Jonathan succeeded in conquering the detachment of the
Philistines stationed at Geba. But the princes of the Philistines had no
mind to look on at the union of Israel. They assembled, as we are told,
an army of 3000 chariots, 6000 cavalry, and foot soldiers beyond number;
with these the tribes of Judah and Simeon were compelled to take the
field against their brethren.[215] Whether the numbers are correct or
incorrect, the armament of the Philistines was sufficient to cause the
courage of the Israelites to sink. Saul summoned the Israelites to the
Jordan, to Gilgal, where he had been raised to be their chief. But in
vain he caused the trumpets to be blown and the people to be summoned.
The Israelites crept into the caves and clefts of the rock, and
thorn-bushes, into the towers and the cisterns, and fled beyond Jordan
to find refuge in the land of Gilead. Only the king and his brave son
Jonathan did not quail before the numbers or gallantry of the enemies,
though only a small troop--it is said about 600 men--gathered round
Saul. The great army of the Philistines had first marched to the
fortified camp at Michmash, and from this point, after leaving a
garrison behind, in which were the Israelites of Judah and Simeon, it
separated into three divisions, in order to march through Israel in all
directions and hold the country in subjection. One column marched to the
west in the direction of Beth-horon, the second to the north towards
Ophra, the third to the east towards the valley of Zeboim.[216] This
division made it possible for Saul to attack. He turned upon that part
of the army which was weakest and most insecure, the garrison at
Michmash, and made an unexpected attack on the fortification. Jonathan
ascended an eminence in the rear, while Saul attacked in the van. In the
tumult of the attack the Hebrews in the camp of the Philistines joined
the side of their countrymen, and Saul gained the fortification. The
Philistines fled. The king knew what was at stake and strove to push the
victory thus gained to the utmost.[217] Without resting, he urged his
men to the pursuit of the fugitives. That none of his troop might halt
or stray in order to take food, he said, "Cursed is the man who eats
bread till the evening, till I have taken vengeance on mine enemies."
Jonathan had not heard the command of his father, and as the pursuers
passed through a wood in which wild honey lay scattered he ate a little
of the honeycomb. For this he should have been put to death, because he
was dedicated to Jehovah (I. 499). But the warriors were milder than
their customs. "Shall Jonathan die," cried the soldiers, "who has won
this great victory in Israel? that be far from us: as Jehovah liveth,
not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has wrought with
God this day;" "and the people rescued Jonathan that he died not."[218]
This success encouraged the Israelites to come forth from their
hiding-places and gather round their king. But only a part of the
hostile army was defeated, and the Philistines were not so easily to be
deprived of the sovereignty over Israel. "And the strife was hot against
the Philistines so long as Saul lived," and "king Saul was brave and
delivered Israel from the hand of the robbers," is the older of the two
statements preserved in the Books of Samuel.
Saul had rendered the service which was expected by the Israelites when
they elevated him: he had saved his nation from the deepest distress,
from the brink of the most certain destruction. Without him the tribes
beyond the Jordan would have succumbed to the Ammonites and Moabites,
and those on this side of the river would at length have become obedient
subjects of the Philistines. He found on his accession a disarmed,
discouraged nation. By his own example he knew how to restore to them
courage and self-confidence, and educate them into a nation familiar
with war and skilled in it. The old military virtues of the tribe of
Benjamin (p. 96) found in Saul their full expression and had a most
beneficial result for Israel. The close community in which from old time
the small tribe of Benjamin had been with the large tribe of Ephraim, by
the side of which it had settled, was an advantage to Saul.[219] The
strong position which he gained by the recognition of these two tribes
could not but have an effect on the others, and contribute with the
importance of his achievements and the splendour of their results to
gain firmness and respect for the young monarchy, and win obedience for
his commands. In the ceaseless battles which he had to carry on he was
mainly supported by his eldest son Jonathan, who stood beside him as a
faithful brother in arms, and his cousin Abner, the son of Ner his
father's brother, whom he made his chief captain. "And wherever Saul saw
a mighty man and a brave he took him to himself."[220] Thus he formed
around him a school of brave warriors. He appears to have kept 3000
warriors under arms in the district of Benjamin, and this formed the
centre for the levy of the people.[221]
But the Israelites had not merely to thank the king they had set up for
the recovery and vigorous defence of their independence and their
territory; he was also a zealous servant of Jehovah. He offered
sacrifice to Him, built altars, and inquired of Him by His priests, who
accompanied him even on his campaigns.[222] He observed strictly the
sacred customs; even after the battle the exhausted soldiers were not
allowed to eat meat with blood in it. He was prepared to allow even his
dearest son, whose life he had unconsciously devoted, to be put to
death. He removed all magicians and wizards out of the land with great
severity.[223] How earnestly he took up the national and religious
opposition to the Canaanites is clear from his conduct to the Hivites of
Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, who had once made a
league with Joshua, and in consequence had been allowed to remain among
the Israelites (I. 494). "Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for
Israel," and the Gibeonites afterwards maintained that Saul had sought
to annihilate them, and his purpose was that they should be destroyed
and exist no more in all the land of Israel.[224] The ark of the
covenant, which had fallen into the hands of the Philistines at the
battle of Aphek, was brought back to Israel in his reign. The possession
of it, so the Hebrews said, had brought no good to the Philistines. They
had set it up as a trophy of victory in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod.
But the image of the god had fallen to pieces, and only the fish-tail
was left standing (I. 272); the people of Ashdod had been attacked with
boils, and their crops destroyed by mice. The same occurred at Gath,
when the ark was brought there, and, in consequence, the city of Ekron
had refused to accept it. Then the Philistines had placed the ark upon a
wagon, and allowed the cows before it to draw it whither they would.
They drew it to Beth-shemesh in the tribe of Judah. But when the people
of Beth-shemesh looked on the ark a grievous mortality began among them,
till the men of Kirjath-jearim (not far from Beth-shemesh) took away the
ark, and Abinadab set it up in a house on a hill in his field, and
established his own son Eleazar as guardian and priest (about 1045
B.C.[225]). The Books of the Chronicles mention the gifts which Saul
dedicated to the national sanctuary.[226]
As king of Israel, Saul remained true to the simplicity of his earlier
life. Of splendour, courts, ceremonial, dignitaries, and harem we hear
nothing. If not in the field he remained on his farm at Gibeah, with his
wife Ahinoam,[227] his four sons, and his two daughters. Abner and other
approved comrades in arms ate at his table. His elder daughter Merab he
married to Adriel the son of Barzillai. Michal, the younger, he gave to
a youthful warrior, David the son of Jesse, who had distinguished
himself in the war against the Philistines, whom he had made his
armour-bearer and companion of his table, entrusting him at the same
time with the command of 1000 men of the standing army.[228] "What am I,
what is the life and the house of my father in Israel, that I should
become the son-in-law of the king? I am but a poor and lowly man." So
David said, but Saul remained firm in his purpose.
Of Saul's later battles against the Philistines tradition has preserved
only a few fragments, from which it is clear that the war was carried on
upon the borders by plundering incursions, which were interrupted from
time to time by greater campaigns.[229] But the preponderance of the
Philistine power was broken. And Saul had not only to fight against
these. "He fought on all sides," we are told, "against all the enemies
of Israel, against Moab, and against the sons of Ammon, and against
Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and whithersoever he turned he
was victorious."[230] When the Amalekites from their deserts on the
peninsula of Sinai invaded the south of Israel, and forced their way as
far as Hebron, he defeated them there at Maon-Carmel,[231] and pursued
them over the borders of Israel into their own land as far as the desert
of Sur, "which lies before Egypt," and took Agag their king prisoner. It
was a severe defeat which he inflicted on them.[232] "Saul's sword came
not back empty," and "the daughters of Israel clothed themselves in
purple," and "adorned their garments with gold" from the spoil of his
victories.[233] The Israelites felt what they owed to the monarchy and
to Saul.[234]
FOOTNOTES:
[206] Judges xiii. 1; xiv. 4; xv. 11; 1 Sam. iv. 9.
[207] In Samson, who overcomes the lion, and sends out the foxes with
firebrands, who overthrows the pillars of the temple, and buries himself
under it, Steinthal ("Zeitschrift fuer Voelkerpsychologie," 2, 21)
recognises the sun-god of the Syrians. The name Samson means as a fact
"the sunny one." The long hair in which Samson's strength lay may
symbolise the growth of nature in the summer, and the cutting off of it
the decay of creative power in the winter: so too the binding of Samson
may signify the imprisoned power of the sun in winter. As Melkarth in
the winter went to rest at his pillars in the far west, at the end of
his wanderings, so Samson goes to his rest between the two pillars in
the city on the shore of the western sea. If, finally, Samson becomes
the servant of a mistress Dalilah--_i.e._ "the tender"--this also is a
trait which belongs to the myth of Melkarth; cf. I. 371. It is not to be
denied that traits of this myth have forced their way into the form and
legend of Samson, although the long hair belongs not to Samson only, but
to Samuel and all the Nazarites; yet we must not from these traits draw
the conclusion that the son of Manoah is no more than a mythical figure,
and even those traits must have gone through many stages among the
Israelites before they could assume a form of such vigorous liveliness,
such broad reality, as we find pourtrayed in the narrative of Samson.
[208] The simplest method of obtaining a fixed starting-point for the
date of the foundation of the monarchy in Israel is to reckon backwards
from the capture of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple by
Nebuchadnezzar. According to the canon of Ptolemy, Nebuchadnezzar's
reign began in the year 604 B.C., the temple and Jerusalem were burned
down in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxv. 8; Jer.
lii. 12), _i.e._ in the year 586 B.C. From this year the Hebrews
reckoned 430 years to the commencement of the building of the temple
(430 = 37 years of Solomon since the beginning of the building + 261
years from the death of Solomon to the taking of Samaria + 132 years
from the taking of Samaria to the destruction of the temple). Hence the
building of the temple was commenced in the year 1015 B.C. Since the
commencement of the building is placed in the fourth year of Solomon,
his accession would fall in the year 1018 B.C.; and as 40 years are
allotted to David, his accession at Hebron falls in 1058 B.C., and
Saul's election about 1080 B.C. In the present text only the number two
is left of the amount of the years of his reign (1 Sam. xiii. 1), the
years of his life also are lost; we may perhaps assume 22 years for his
reign, since Eupolemus gives him 21 years (Alex. Polyh. Frag. 18, ed.
Mueller), and Josephus 20 ("Antiq." 6, 14, 9, 10, 8, 4). His
contemporary, Nahash of Ammon, is on the throne before the election of
Saul, and continues beyond the death of Saul and Ishbosheth, and even 10
years into the reign of David. Nahash must have had an uncommonly long
reign if Saul reigned more than 22 years. It makes against the dates
1080 B.C. for Saul, 1058 B.C. for David, 1018 B.C. for Solomon, that
they rest upon the succession of kings of Judah, from the division of
the kingdom down to the fall of Samaria, which is reckoned at 261 years,
while the succession of kings of Israel during the same period only
fills 241 years. Movers ("Phoeniz." 2, 1, 140 ff.) has attempted to
remove this difficulty by assuming as a starting-point the statements of
Menander of Ephesus, on the succession of kings in Tyre, preserved in
Josephus ("c. Apion," 1, 18). Josephus says that from the building of
the temple, which took place in the twelfth year of Hiram king of Tyre,
down to the founding of Carthage, which took place in the seventh year
of Pygmalion king of Tyre, 143 years 8 months elapsed. From the date
given by Justin (18, 7) for the founding of Carthage (72 years before
the founding of Rome; 72 + 754), _i.e._ from 826 B.C., Movers reckons
back 143 years, and so fixes the building of the temple at the year 969
B.C., on which reckoning Solomon's accession would fall in the year 972
B.C., David's in the year 1012 B.C., and Saul's election in 1034 B.C.
But since the more trustworthy dates for the year of the founding of
Carthage, 846, 826, and 816, have an equal claim to acceptance, we are
equally justified in reckoning back from 846 and 816 to Saul's
accession.
According to the canon of the Assyrians, the epochs in which were fixed
by the observation of the solar eclipse of July 15 in the year 763 B.C.,
Samaria was taken in the year 722 B.C. If from this we reckon backwards
261 years for Judah, Solomon's death would fall in the year 983 B.C.,
his accession in 1023 B.C., David's accession in 1063 B.C., Saul's
election in 1085 B.C. If we keep to the amount given for Israel (241
years + 722), Solomon's death falls in 963, his accession in 1003, the
building of the temple in 1000 B.C., David's accession in 1043 B.C.,
Saul's accession in 1065 B.C. But neither by retaining the whole sum of
430 years, according to which the building of the temple begins 1015
B.C. (430 + 586), and Solomon dies in 978 B.C., nor by putting the death
of Solomon in the year 983 or 963 B.C., do we bring the Assyrian
monuments into agreement with the chronological statements of the
Hebrews. If we place the date of the division of the kingdom at the year
978 B.C., Ahab's reign, according to the numbers given by the Hebrews
for the kingdom of Israel, extends from 916 to 894 B.C.; if we place the
division at 963 B.C., it extends, according to the same calculation,
from 901 to 879 B.C. On the other hand, the Assyrian monuments prove
that Ahab fought at Karkar against Shalmanesar II. in the year 854 B.C.
(below, chap. 10). Since Ahab after this carried on a war against
Damascus, in which war he died, he must in any case have been alive in
853 B.C. Hence even the lower date taken for Ahab's reign from the
Hebrew statements (901-879 B.C.) would have to be brought down 26 years,
and as a necessary consequence the death of Solomon would fall, not in
the year 963 B.C., but in the year 937 B.C.
If we could conclude from this statement in the Assyrian monuments that
the reigns of the kings of Israel were extended by the Hebrews beyond
the truth, it follows from another monument, the inscription of Mesha,
that abbreviations also took place. According to the Second Book of
Kings (iii. 5), Mesha of Moab revolted from Israel when Ahab died. The
stone of Mesha says: "Omri took Medaba, and Israel dwelt therein in his
and his son's days for 40 years; in my days Camus restored it;" Noeldeke,
"Inschrift des Mesa." Hence Omri, the father of Ahab, took Medaba 40
years before the death of Ahab. Ahab, according to the Hebrews, reigned
22 years, Omri 12. According to the stone of Mesha the two reigns must
have together amounted to more than 40 years. Since Omri obtained the
throne by force, and had at first to carry on a long civil war, and
establish himself on the throne (1 Kings xvi. 21, 22), he could not make
war upon the Moabites at the very beginning of his reign. Here,
therefore, there is an abbreviation of the reign of Omri and Ahab by at
least 10 years.
Hence the contradiction between the monuments of the Assyrians and the
numbers of the Hebrews is not to be removed by merely bringing down the
division of the kingdom to the year 937 B.C. In order to obtain a
chronological arrangement at all, we are placed in the awkward necessity
of making an attempt to bring the canon of the Assyrians into agreement
with the statements of the Hebrews by assumptions more or less
arbitrary. Jehu slew Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah at the
same time. From this date upwards to the death of Solomon the Hebrew
Scriptures reckon 98 years for Israel, and 95 for Judah. Jehu ascended
the throne of Israel in the year 843 B.C. at the latest, since,
according to the Assyrian monuments, he paid tribute to Shalmanesar II.
in the year 842 B.C. If we reckon the 98 years for Israel upwards from
843 B.C., we arrive at 941 B.C. for the division of the kingdom; and if
to this we add, as the time which has doubtlessly fallen out in the
reigns of Omri and Ahab, 12 years, 953 B.C. would be the year of the
death of Solomon, the year in which the ten tribes separated from the
house of David. If we keep the year 953 for the division, the year 993
comes out for the accession of Solomon, the year 990 for the beginning
of the building of the temple, the year 1033 for the accession of David
at Hebron, and the year 1055 for the election of Saul. Fifteen years may
be taken for the continuance of the heavy oppression before Saul. For
the changes which we must in consequence of this assumption establish in
the data of the reigns from Jeroboam and Rehoboam down to Athaliah and
Jehu, _i.e._ in the period from 953 B.C. to 843 B.C., see below. Omri's
reign occupies the period from 899-875 B.C. (24 years instead of 12),
_i.e._ a period which agrees with the importance of this reign among
the Moabites and the Assyrians; Ahab reigned from 875-853 B.C. According
to 1 Kings xvi. 31, Ahab took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king
of the Sidonians to wife. If this Ethbaal of Sidon is identical with the
Ithobal of Tyre in Josephus, the chronology deduced from our assumptions
would not be impossible. Granted the assertion of Josephus that the
twelfth year of Hiram king of Tyre is the fourth year of Solomon (990
B.C.), Hiram's accession would fall in the year 1001 B.C.; according to
Josephus, Ithobal ascended the throne of Tyre 85 years after Hiram's
accession, when he had slain Pheles. He lived according to the same
authority 68 years and reigned 32 years, _i.e._ from 916-884 B.C. Ahab,
either before or after the year of his accession (875), might very well
have taken the daughter of this prince to wife. And if we assume that
the statement of Appian, that Carthage was in existence 700 years before
her destruction by the Romans, _i.e._ was founded in the year 846 B.C.,
the 143-2/3 or 144 years of Josephus between the building of the temple
and the foundation of Carthage, reckoned backwards from 846 B.C., lead
us to the year 990 B.C. for the building of the temple.
[209] Now Beit-Rima, north-east of the later Lydda.
[210] 1 Sam. iii. 1, 19.
[211] 1 Sam. xiii. 19-23, from the older account.
[212] 1 Sam. x. 5, 6; xix. 20-24.
[213] Compare the division of the corpse by the Levite, above, p. 96.
[214] Owing to the later conceptions that the king needed to be
consecrated by the prophets, that Jehovah is himself the King of Israel,
an almost inexplicable confusion has come into the narrative of Saul's
elevation. Not only have we an older and later account existing side by
side in the books of Samuel, not only has there been even a third hand
at work, but the attempts to bring the contradictory accounts into
harmony have increased the evil. In 1 Sam. viii. we are told: The elders
of Israel and the people required from Samuel a king at Ramah, because
he was old and his sons walked not in his ways. Jehovah says to Samuel:
They have not rejected thee, but me; yet Samuel accedes to the request
of the Israelites. Samuel gives the elders a terrifying description of
the oppression which the monarchy would exercise upon them, a
description which evidently predates the experiences made under David,
Solomon, and later kings, whereas at the time spoken of the nation had
suffered only too long from wild anarchy. The reasons, moreover, given
by the elders, why they desired a king, do not agree with the situation,
but rather with the time of Eli, who also had foolish sons. In spite of
Samuel's warning the people persist in their wish to have a king.
Further we are told in chap. ix. 1-x. 16, how Saul at his father's
bidding sets out in quest of lost she-asses, and goes to inquire of
Samuel, for the fourth part of a silver shekel, whither they had
strayed. At Jehovah's command Samuel anoints the son of Kish to be king,
when he comes to him; he tells him where he will find his asses, and
imparts to him two other prophecies on the way. Then we are told in
chap. x. 17-27 that Samuel summons an assembly of the people to Mizpeh,
repeats his warning against the monarchy, but then causes lots to be
cast who shall be king over the tribes, and families, and individuals.
The lot falls upon Saul, who makes no mention to any one of the
anointing, but has hidden himself among the stuff. Finally, in chap. xi.
we find the account given in the text, to which, in order to bring it
into harmony with what has been already related, these words are
prefixed in ver. 14: "And Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to
Gilgal to renew the kingdom;" but in xi. 15 we find: "Then went all the
people to Gilgal, and made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal." The
contradictions are striking. The elders require a king from Samuel, whom
they could choose themselves (2 Sam. ii. 4; v. 3; 1 Kings xii. 1, 20; 2
Kings xiv. 21), and whom, according to 1 Sam. xi. 15, the people
actually choose. Jehovah will not have a king, but then permits it. Nor
is this permission all; he himself points out to Samuel the man whom he
is to anoint. Anointed to be king, Saul goes, as if nothing had taken
place, to his home. He comes to the assembly at Mizpeh, and again says
nothing to any one of his new dignity. Already king by anointment, he is
now again made king by the casting of lots. He returns home to till his
field, when the messengers from Jabesh were sent not to the king of
Israel, but to the people of Israel, to ask for help. In Gibeah also
they do not apply to the king; not till he sees the people weeping in
Gibeah, does Saul learn the message. Yet he does not summon the people
to follow him as king; he requests the following just as in earlier
times individuals in extraordinary cases sought to rouse the people to
take up arms. It is impossible that a king should be chosen by lot at a
time when the bravest warrior was needed at the head, and simple boys,
who hid themselves among the stuff, were not suited to lead the army at
such a dangerous time. At the time of Saul's very first achievements his
son Jonathan stands at his side as a warrior; at his death his youngest
son Ishbosheth was 40 years of age (2 Sam. ii. 10). Saul must therefore
have been between 40 and 50 years old when he became king. The request
of the elders for a king, and Samuel's resistance, belong on the other
hand to the prophetic narrator of the books of Samuel, in whose account
it was followed by the assembly at Mizpeh and the casting of lots. The
same narrator attempts to bring the achievement at Jabesh, and the
recognition of Saul as ruler and king which followed it, into harmony
with his narrative by the addition of the restoration of the kingdom and
some other interpolations. The Philistines would hardly have permitted
minute preparations and prescribed assemblies for the election of king.
The simple elevation and recognition of Saul as king after his first
successful exploit in war corresponds to the situation of affairs (cf. I
xii. 12). And I am the more decided in holding this account to be
historically correct, because it does not presuppose the other accounts,
and because the men of Jabesh, according to the older account, fetched
the bodies of Saul and his sons to Jabesh from Beth-shan and burned them
there, 1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13. The older account in the books of Samuel
knows nothing of the request of the elders for a king. After the defeat
which caused Eli's death, it narrates the carrying back of the ark by
the Philistines, and the setting up of it at Beth-shemesh and
Kirjath-jearim. Then follows Saul's anointing by Samuel (ix. 1-10, 16);
then the lost statement about the age of Saul when he became king, and
the length of the reign; then the great exploits of Saul against the
Philistines (xiii. 1-14, 46); xiii. 8-13 stands in precise relation to
x. 8. That the achievement of Jabesh cannot have been wanting in the
older account follows from the express reference to it at the death of
Saul.
[215] 1 Sam. xiii. 3-7; xiv. 22.
[216] 1 Sam. xiii. 16-18.
[217] 1 Sam. xiv. 1-23.
[218] So the older account, 1 Sam. xiv. 24-45.
[219] Numbers ii. 18-24; Joshua xviii. 12-20; Judges v. 14. That Ephraim
remained true to Saul follows from the recognition of Ishbosheth after
Saul's death, 2 Sam. ii. 9, 10.
[220] 1 Sam. xiv. 52.
[221] 1 Sam. xiii. 2.
[222] 1 Sam. xiv. 3, 18, 37; xxviii. 6.
[223] 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 9.
[224] 2 Sam. xxi. 2, 5.
[225] The ark was brought by David from Kirjath-jearim to Zion. That
could not take place before the year 1025 B.C. Saul's death falls, as
was assumed above, in the year 1033 B.C. But the ark is said to have
been at Kirjath-jearim 20 years (1 Sam. vii. 2; vi. 21), it must
therefore have been carried thither 1045 B.C., or a few years later. The
stay among the Philistines must have been more than seven months, as
stated in 1 Sam. vi. 61; the stay at Beth-shemesh was apparently only a
short one. The battle at Tabor and Eli's death cannot, as shown above,
be placed much later than 1070 B.C. According to 1 Sam. xiv. 3; xviii.
19, the ark was in Saul's army at the battle of Michmash, and Ahijah
(Ahimelech), the great-grandson of Eli, was its keeper.
[226] 1 Chron. xxvi. 28.
[227] Only one concubine is mentioned, by whom Saul had two sons.
[228] 1 Sam. xviii. 3, 17-20, 28; xxii. 4.
[229] 1 Sam. xvii., xviii., xxiii. 28.
[230] 1 Sam. xiv. 47, 48.
[231] 1 Sam. xv. 12. The place near Hebron still bears the name Carmel.
[232] Noeldeke, "Die Amalekiter," s. 14, 15.
[233] 2 Sam. i. 21-24.
[234] This follows from the fact that the monarchy remains even after
Saul's death, from the lamentation of the Israelites for Saul, and their
allegiance to his son Ishbosheth.