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Adapted from the History of Christianity series by The Irreverent Historian. This is from “Part 1: Sacred Origins” covering the early era of the nation of Israel, the originators of Judaism, published in Gospel Light, vol. 13, June 2009. Read previous.
There are three different accounts of how King Saul was chosen, all with the same result. Samuel, the last Judge of Israel, with God’s blessings, anointed Saul as the first king of Israel.
Most of King Saul’s battles were fought against the Philistines, a seafaring people who lived in the present-day Gaza Strip. The Philistines had a technological advantage: they were the only ones in the area who knew how to forge iron into weapons and armor.
Early on, Saul lost divine favor after he disobeyed and showed mercy to the Amalekites. This favor later went to young David, a shepherd boy who had a good singing voice and was quite gutsy as well.
In a famous battle, David killed the Philistine champion Goliath (who, depending on the source text, was between 6½ and 9¾ feet tall). Saul initially liked David, but became envious when David became more popular than him.
David had a close, and (I daresay) possibly kinky relationship (depending on how you interpret 1 Samuel 20) with Jonathan, Saul’s eldest son. David was also married to Michal, one of Saul’s daughters.
This royal link was not enough to save David from Saul’s paranoia– Saul was convinced David would take over his throne. He chased after David, trying to kill him. David was forced to run, and lived the exciting life of a rebel.
Other than his obsession with killing David, Saul was not an evil king. He protected his people from Philistine incursions, after all. But Saul’s pursuit scared David so much that he left Israel and stayed in the land of the Philistines. He would remain a guest for many years.
In the meantime, Saul and his sons died heroically in battle, fighting to protect the country from the Philistines. With the death of Israel’s first king, hope of liberation from Philistine domination seem to die out.
Still, the kingdom needed ruling ,even if it had to kowtow to the uncircumcised seafarers. So, Ishbosheth, the last surviving son of Saul, was crowned king of Israel.
With Saul dead, David felt safe enough to return. He entered the southern city of Hebron, and was crowned king of the tribe of Judah. The tribe seceded from the country of Israel, and the country plunged into civil war.
The war ended when Ishbosheth was assassinated in his sleep. With all of Saul’s sons dead, David became the king of United Israel at the age of 30.
Read next.
[:zh]There are three different accounts of how King was chosen, all with the same result. Samuel,thelastJudgeofIsrael,with God’sblessings,anointedSaulasthe firstkingofIsrael. MostofKingSaul’sbattleswere fought against the Philistines, a seafaring people who lived in the present-day Gaza Strip. The Philistines had a technological advantage: they were the only ones in the area who knewhowtoforgeironintoweapons andarmor.
Early on, Saul lost divine favor after he disobeyed and showed mercy to the Amalekites. This favor later went to young David, a shepherd boy who had a good singing voiceandwasquitegutsyaswell. In a famous battle, David killed the Philistine champion (who, depending on the source text, was between 6½ and 9¾ feet tall). Saul initially liked David, but becameenviouswhenDavidbecame morepopularthanhim. David had a close, and (I daresay) possibly kinky relationship (depending on how you interpret ) with Jonathan, Saul’s eldest son. David was also married toMichal,oneofSaul’sdaughters. This royal link was not enough tosaveDavidfromSaul’sparanoia– Saul was convinced David would take over his throne. He chased afterDavid,tryingtokillhim. David was forced to run, and lived the excitinglifeofarebel.
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