Schmuel Retires As Judge
The Second Dispute Between Saul And Schmuel
The news traveled quickly; it was not long before Schmuel learnt of the sinful liberty taken by Saul and his men with regard to the herem. This was a further spiritual offence on the part of the king of Yisrael, and Schmuel was grieved and angry, and all night long he cried out to YAHWEH. This king had been anointed by YAHWEH; his every action therefore should have shown him clearly as YAHWEH's servant, but he played fast and loose with the set apart traditions of Yahwism and the directives of the inspired prophets.
Early in the morning Schmuel set out to restore order and, as we have seen, he did not fear to use harsh measures. He reached Gilgal, where Saul and his men had assembled to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Saul had always been afraid of the prophet, and he was careful to meet him with words of welcome: 'Blessed may you be by YAHWEH! I have carried out YAHWEH's orders.' Schmuel treated this as impudence: 'Then what is the meaning of this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen I hear?' They were in fact the cries of the animals that had been surreptitiously withdrawn from the herem. ...With some difficulty Saul tried to throw the blame on his soldiers; he explained that they had not yet fully completed the herem; they had in fact spared the best animals captured in the Amalekite camps, but this was only a partial postponement, for these were to be sacrificed to YAHWEH on that day.
The strict Yahwistic principles of Schmuel could no longer accept the spectacle of these pitiful excuses from a king who put the blame for spiritual wrongdoing upon the community. His reply was crushing: 'Small as you may be in your own eyes, are you not head of the tribes of Yisrael? YAHWEH has anointed you king over Yisrael.' The defense made by the accused was pitiful. It was met by the most terrifying sentence from the man who had himself consecrated Saul: 'Since you have rejected the word of YAHWEH, he has rejected you as king.'
Saul was appalled and confessed that he had sinned: 'I have sinned, for I have transgressed the order of YAHWEH and your directions, being afraid of the people and doing what they said.' It was still the same excuse; the head laid the blame on his subordinates. Schmuel, disgusted by such cowardice, made a move to leave. Saul tried to restrain him by holding on to the hem of his garment and tore it. It was an ill omen, a disturbing symbol, and Schmuel was quick to make use of it: 'Today YAHWEH has torn the kingdom of Yisrael from you and given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.' (The prediction referred to David who was as yet unknown to those who heard it.)
Saul begged Schmuel not to destroy his prestige in the sight of the soldiers and elders, as would be the case if he did not take part in the sacrifice then being prepared. Schmuel gave his consent but with the proviso that Agag the king of the Amalekites, so far spared from the herem, should be brought out and killed on the spot by Saul. In this way, to some extent reparation was made for the ritual offence. Men's minds were crude, and primitive Yahwist religion was undoubtedly merciless. But it did mean that the Law of YAHWEH - even though most imperfectly understood - had to be obeyed.
After the set apart meal Schmuel left for Ramah. He was very sorry for Saul. But neither of them was to meet again.
Saul Retains His Kingship
After this encounter, it might logically be supposed that the king of Yisrael would be deprived of his throne, but nothing of the sort happened. Schmuel left Gilgal after taking part in the sacrifice; the army and the elders seem to have scarcely bothered about the disagreement between their military chieftain and their spiritual leader. In any case, to consider matters objectively why should there be any essential change in the way things were then organized? Saul seemed to have succeeded completely in all his undertakings. From such evidence as the historian can gather it is clear that the people were satisfied with the positive results achieved by the monarchy. We may consider, for example, the unexpected victory over the Philistines, who though certainly not destroyed, had been hurled back to their territory along the coast; the steady subjugation of the small outlying areas of Canaanite resistance that still remained; the resounding victories over external enemies which had previously constituted an ever present threat; the advance in co-operation between the Hebrew tribes, who had never before so deeply felt the need of a fraternal alliance for the preservation of the Yahwist confederation.
All this was due to a prudent king, whose private life remained essentially simple. The monarchist party could therefore consider with some satisfaction the institution of kingship which, as we have seen, it had urged Schmuel to establish.
In reality, however, the future of Yisrael and of the monarchy was very uncertain. First, there was the Canaanite danger. It was not so serious as in the time of Yahshua Ben Nun. But the Amorites, who formed the core of the original population of Canaan, still held a number of towns, villages and strong places (Yerusalem, for example), and this was a serious hindrance to the territorial unity of the Hebrews.
Then there was the danger from the Philistines. Saul had indeed inflicted a serious defeat upon them, but through a tactical error he had missed the chance to crush them once for all. They had withdrawn their forces from the battlefield and were ready, when the next opportunity occurred, to take up the fight again. And though they had been driven from the heights of Ephraim, they immediately began to penetrate into the heights of Yahudah, in the south. In fact, they constituted an enduring threat.
In addition to all this, Saul's tactlessness revived the ancient rivalries between the Twelve Tribes. He himself belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and rather too obviously promoted the welfare of its members. The officers of the army (commanders of a hundred or a thousand men) were all Benjaminites; and as a reward for their achievements, Saul gave them fields and vineyards.
Moreover, Saul's sullen and suspicious disposition became increasingly unbearable to those near him. Sometimes he was straightforward, just and sociable; at other times he gave way to fierce anger, senseless passion and fearful cruelty. He was in fact showing the first signs of that unbalanced mental state into which he was soon to fall. Even so, he remained a great king to the very end.
Schmuel's terrible prophecy hastened the collapse of Saul's mind. He believed that he had sinned against YAHWEH, who no longer wished him to be king and had already chosen his successor. But he hardened his heart and set himself to continue his work, even though he was inwardly convinced that his efforts, being merely human, were in vain. Therein lies the tragedy of the man. He could not imagine that he could really frustrate the divine decree, and he was always expecting the arrival of the new king who would demand the crown in YAHWEH's name. Hence his fits of madness, his outbursts of rage and despair.
It may be asked why this man, chosen, elected and appointed by YAHWEH as the savior of Yisrael, should have so largely failed in his mission. But we should not forget that YAHWEH always works through people without taking their free will from them. A choice between good and evil is always possible, and, too often, Saul chose evil.
He still continued to conduct victorious campaigns, to molest the enemy, to secure Yisrael's political life. But increasingly he seemed to be weighed down by his responsibilities. And in fact he achieved no lasting results in any sphere.
This was the time when a young shepherd of the tribe of Yahudah first appeared. His name was David.
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