Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Asked for. ) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. ) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of the Jewish nation. The singular providential circumstances connected with his election as king are recorded in 1 Sam. 8-10. His father’s she-asses had strayed, and Saul was sent with a servant to seek for them. V.
, “Gibeah of God”), Saul and his servant went toward the north-west over Mount Ephraim, and then turning north-east they came to “the land of Shalisha,” and thence eastward to the land of Shalim, and at length came to the district of Zuph, near Samuel’s home at Ramah (9:5-10). , the “height”, where sacrifice was to be offered; and in answer to Saul’s question, “Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is,” Samuel made himself known to him. Samuel had been divinely prepared for his coming (9:15-17), and received Saul as his guest.
He took him with him to the sacrifice, and then after the feast “communed with Saul upon the top of the house” of all that was in his heart. On the morrow Samuel “took a vial of oil and poured it on his head,” and anointed Saul as king over Israel (9:25-10:8), giving him three signs in confirmation of his call to be king. ” (Comp. ) The intercourse between Saul and Samuel was as yet unknown to the people. The “anointing” had been in secret. But now the time had come when the transaction must be confirmed by the nation.
Samuel accordingly summoned the people to a solemn assembly “before the Lord” at Mizpeh. ” On reaching his home he dismissed them, and resumed the quiet toils of his former life. ), an army out of all the tribes of Israel rallied at his summons to the trysting-place at Bezek, and he led them forth a great army to battle, gaining a complete victory over the Ammonite invaders at Jabesh (11:1-11). Amid the universal joy occasioned by this victory he was now fully recognized as the king of Israel. ” Samuel now officially anointed him as king (11:15).
Although Samuel never ceased to be a judge in Israel, yet now his work in that capacity practically came to an end. Saul now undertook the great and difficult enterprise of freeing the land from its hereditary enemies the Philistines, and for this end he gathered together an army of 3,000 men (1 Sam. 13:1, 2). The Philistines were encamped at Geba. Saul, with 2,000 men, occupied Michmash and Mount Bethel; while his son Jonathan, with 1,000 men, occupied Gibeah, to the south of Geba, and seemingly without any direction from his father “smote” the Philistines in Geba.
Thus roused, the Philistines, who gathered an army of 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and “people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude,” encamped in Michmash, which Saul had evacuated for Gilgal. Saul now tarried for seven days in Gilgal before making any movement, as Samuel had appointed (10:8); but becoming impatient on the seventh day, as it was drawing to a close, when he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared and warned him of the fatal consequences of his act of disobedience, for he had not waited long enough (13:13, 14).
), he had his head-quarters under a pomegrante tree at Migron, over against Michmash, the Wady esSuweinit alone intervening. Here at Gibeah-Geba Saul and his army rested, uncertain what to do.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(desired), more accurately Shaul.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
SAUL (desired). A king of Edom. Gen 36:37-38; called Shaul in 1 Chr 1:48-49. The first king of Israel, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. His personal appearance was so remarkably fine and noble as to be particularly mentioned by the sacred historian. His search for his father's asses was the occasion of his visit to Samuel, whom he consulted as a "seer," on the advice of his servant. Samuel, having been divinely admonished of the approach of Saul and instructed what to do, invited him to his house and treated him with marked distinction.
The next day Samuel made known to him privately that he was to have the rule over Israel, and while they were in the way he took a vial of oil, and, pouring it on his head, anointed him for the regal office. To convince Saul that this thing was of the Lord, Samuel predicted three signs, the last Saul's power to "prophesy," which would be fulfilled on his home-journey. The events happened as Samuel had foretold and Saul prophesied. By prophecy we are to here understand excited proclaiming or singing, and not a foretelling of the future. 1 Sam 9; 1 Sam 10:1-16.
At this point we are obliged to depart from the order in First Samuel. The brutal insult of Nahash was avenged by Israel under the leadership of Saul, who from his home at Gibeah, whither he had gone after his secret anointing, sends an urgent order upon every man in the nation to follow him. Some 330,000 assembled under his leadership, and a great victory was gained. 1 Sam 11. Thus the Lord prepared the way for Saul's acceptance by the people as their king. 1 Sam 10:17-25. At first, Saul lived unpretendingly, almost as a private citizen - indeed, his sway seems to have been limited.
But after a little while (comp. 1 Sam 10:26-27, 1 Sam 13:2) he lived in more regal fashion. It is impossible to say how old he was at this time, but perhaps about forty years. He was emphatically a military king, and so successful was he that the borders of Israel must have been considerably enlarged and the fear of Israel very widespread. His reign opened favorably. But he soon proved he was no ideal prince.
So impatient was he that he could not wait at Gilgal for Samuel to come, as he had appointed, and so he offered sacrifice; for doing which he was reproved by the old prophet, 1 Sam 13:14, yet the divine favor was not withdrawn. Very strange, if not the result of madness, was his insisting that Jonathan should die, though the army interfered in time. The declaration of Samuel that the Lord would not establish his house preyed upon his mind, and he was a changed man from this time forth.
He treated God's command carelessly, 1 Sam 15, and was again severely rebuked by Samuel; nor did he show any real repentance. He looked upon his attendants with suspicion. He played the coward before the Philistines. Music relieved him, but his malady was no ordinary lunacy. His treatment of David, his first love for him, his failure to remember him, the return of his affection, and then the complete turn against him, indicated the state of his mind. He pursued David, though twice he was momentarily softened by David's words and deeds. 1 Sam 24:16; 1 Sam 26:21.
We can understand how jealousy, nourished, became madness at last. Then, too, we see the hand of God. Saul breaks down completely. On the eve of a battle, which his unsettled mind forebodes will be decisive, he seeks a witch, and of her demands an interview with Samuel. The woman performs her incantations, but, to her horror, she herself sees an apparition and hears the voice of the dead.
Samuel charged Saul with his disobedience to the divine command in the matter of Amalek, assured him that all his efforts to obtain aid elsewhere were vain if God had become his enemy, and admonished him that defeat and ruin were at hand, and that he and his sons should the next day be inhabitants of the world of spirits. 1 Sam 28. The last flicker of the old fire of courage sufficed to enable Saul to man himself for the conflict, notwithstanding this crushing intelligence. He gave the Philistines battle, but was routed with dreadful slaughter. Among the killed were Saul's three sons.
Saul, finding himself wounded and likely to fall into the hands of the enemy, threw himself upon the point of his own sword. When the Philistines found the body of Saul they severed the head from it and fastened the body on the city wail, from which it was afterward taken in the night by some of his friends from a distance, and carried to Jabesh-gilead and buried. 1 Sam 31.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
demanded; lent; ditch; death
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
SAUL. OF TAR'SUS. See Paul.