87.
63. McCarter, I Samuel, 196.
64. Daube, New Testament, 19
65. Note the story of Athtar in the Baal myth, where we read: “sits on Mighty Ba‘lu’s seat. (But) his feet do not reach the footstool; his head does not reach the top (of the seat).” Thus, because he was short, he was rejected as king. See Pardee, “The Ba‘lu Myth,” 269.
66. R. P. Gordon, 1& 2 Samuel, 121.
67. 1 Kgs 5:1; 2 Kgs 3:4; 17:3–4.
68. Bright, History of Israel, 182–83; Jagersma, History of Israel, 88–89.
69. McKenzie, King David, 29.
70. Mettinger, King and Messiah, 83–84.
71. Edelman follows Halpern, who pointed to a three-part designation; the search for a candidate, his anointing that showed divine approval, and public acclamation, expressed by the phrase “Long live the king.” She believes that those three stages were followed by a testing stage. However, the rescue of Jabesh-gilead could not have been the catalyst triggering the foundation of the monarchy. See Edelman, “Saul,” 993; Edelman, “Saul’s Rescue,” 195; Halpern, Constitution, 127, 130, 134.
72. BDB, 293–94; HALOT, 1:294.
73. Elat, Samuel, 124.
74. Interestingly, the author of 1 Chr 29:22 uses the word šēnît meaning again and not leh.addēš to describe Solomon’s second coronation.
75. Another place we read that Saul rejoiced is after the victory against Goliath. But this is indirectly described by Jonathan (19:5).
76. Klein, 1 Samuel, 109.
77. Alt, “Formation,” 195.
2
Saul’s Wars
In the book of Judges, God gave up the Israelites to their enemies on all sides, and they could no longer hold their own against their enemies (Judg 2:14). Consequently, God sent judges to deliver the Israelites from their enemies. Not a single Judge delivered the Israelites from all their enemies. Instead, God sent different Judges to fight against Israel’s enemies. Yet in the book of Samuel, a new picture emerges: “After Saul had secured his kingship over Israel, he waged war on every side against all his enemies: against the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, the Philistines, and the kings of Zobah; and wherever he turned he worsted [them]. He was triumphant, defeating the Amalekites and saving Israel from those who plundered it” (1 Sam 14:47–48).
In addition, Saul fought three major wars: the war against the Ammon-ites (chapter 11); the war against the Philistines that includes three major battles (chapters 13–14; 17; 28–31); and battles with the Philistines on a smaller scale (18:27, 30; 19:8; 23:1, 27). The third major battle was the war against the Amalekites described in chapter 15. It was no coincidence that Saul fought against all the enemies from all sides. Saul was the first king of Israel; his kingship signifies a transition from the period of the Judges to the monarchical era. Unlike a Judge who fought a single battle, Saul, as king of Israel, fought many battles against the enemies of Israel. This was one of the distinctions between a King and a Judge. The first part of this chapter will examine Saul’s wars with the Philistines and the Amalekites. The second part will look into his wars in the Trans-Jordan. This chapter will analyze Saul’s war from a literary and historical perspective, attempting to distinguish between the fictional embellishment and the historical truth that is behind Saul’s wars. In addition, we will try to find out why Saul fought against those particular enemies and what he tried to achieve in those battles.
The Rebellion against the Philistines
Geba
Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison in Geba which was an act of rebellion, initiating the war between the Philistines and Israelites that would last throughout Saul’s life. The intention was to remove the Philistine presence from the hill country, and thus unite the Israelites. Surprisingly, the reader is not told who Jonathan is. There is no hint that he was the king’s son, and this information is revealed only in the last verse of chapter 13. Here the narrator used the technique of delay. It is possible that the narrator did not provide the reader with Jonathan’s background because he was famous.1 However, it is more likely that the narrator omitted the information in light of the relationship between Saul and his son, Jonathan. It appears as if the narrator wanted, at an early stage of the story, to disassociate Jonathan from his father Saul. In addition, Jonathan’s surprise attack was attributed not to Jonathan but to Saul (v. 4). Saul was praised instead of Jonathan, but this was due to his being the king. Likewise, the conquest of Hebron was attributed to Joshua, in spite of the fact that it was Caleb who conquered the city (Josh 11:21; 14:14).
Following Jonathan’s successful attack against the Philistine prefect, Saul sounded the trumpet throughout the land with the message: “Let the Hebrews pay attention.” It is quite strange that an Israelite would use such a designation for his fellow Israelites. Scholars have pointed out the connection between the term Hebrew and ῾apiru. Some believe that the term ῾apiru refers to mercenaries. Gottwald suggested that Saul was appealing to a “third force” to listen, they were the ῾apiru warriors who served in the Philistine army. Saul summoned the ῾apiru to come and to fight alongside the Israelites.2 Evidently, they were a band of armed Israelites who gave their services to the Philistines, but returned to the Israelite side when the battle turned against the Philistines.
Upon receiving the news about the assassination of their prefect, the Philistines reacted quickly by gathering their huge army—including three thousand chariots and six thousand cavalry—compared to Sisera who had only nine hundred chariots (Judg 4:3). It deserves mention that the terrain in the surrounding area of Michmas was not fit for a large force of chariots. The large number of the Philistine battalion is indicated by the phrase “troops as numerous as sand” (Josh 11:4; Judg 7:12; 2 Sam 17:11). Meanwhile, we read that the Israelites were terrified, some of them were hiding. This was perhaps due to the fact that the troops with Saul and Jonathan did not have enough weapons to fight, thus: “no sword or spear was to be found in possession of any of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and Jonathan had them” (1 Sam 13:22). At the same time, the Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the territory of Gad and Gilead.3 Afterward, in 14:21 we read that the Hebrews came to the aid of Saul. Thus one wonders if the Hebrews mentioned in 13:3, 7 and 14:21 are the same people. The first group of Hebrews deserted the Philistine camp and escaped to the territory of Gad and Gilead. Subsequent to the Philistines losing the battle, a second group of Hebrews deserted the Philistine camp and joined Saul in his battle against the Philistines.
Following the feud between Saul and Samuel (see chapter 4), Saul returned from Gilgal to Geba of Benjamin. Meanwhile, the Philistines camped at Michmas, reversing their positions from the beginning of the campaign. Three squadrons emerged from the Philistine