Saul

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According to the Bible , Saul was around 1000 BC. Chr. The first king of the Israelites . That fell into the time of the judges from approx. 1200–1000 BC. BC, in the early Iron Age in Palestine (Iron Age I).

Presumed historical background

There is no extra-biblical evidence of the existence of this tribal prince or king. The precise timing of his reign is difficult and relies on the interpretation of the biblical texts. While the Jewish tradition symbolically assumes reigns of 40 years each for Saul, David and Solomon , historical-critical readers of the Bible suspected a short reign of Saul of only a few years.

The growing tribal kingship of an Israelite king like Saul and his sons in the north could have threatened the trade routes of Egyptians and Philistine cities on the plains and the coastal area, so that there were ongoing military conflicts, which Saul could not win and which ended fatally. The limits of such a strengthened tribal kingship could well have corresponded to the biblical statements of the areas of "Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim and Benjamin". The effects of such threatening advances from the Israelite highlands into the Jezreel plain in the north and the Elah valley in the south can also be interpreted in archaeological finds.

The biblical episodes about David and Saul, which are presumably linked to old heroic sagas, are often seen by critics as pro-Davidic propaganda from a time when David had already inherited the house of Saul from the northern tribes, or as reinterpretations from a later time than the deuteronomistic history was created.

etymology

The name Saul ( Hebrew שָׁאוּל Šāʔûl or Scha'ul ) is derived from the verb root שׁאל š'l , which means "to ask / ask". The name is therefore a passive participle and translates as “the requested”. This is a thank you name for the birth of a child. In the Septuagint the name is given as σαουλ sa-ul , which is where the German pronunciation comes from.

Biblical testimony

This section gives a critical historical interpretation of the Bible that Saul sees as the historical figure and predecessor of David, according to the great empire hypothesis . This is now considered obsolete. needs revision. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

According to biblical tradition, Saul, the son of Kish from Gibeah in the area of ​​the tribe of Benjamin , marked the transition from a loose association of individual tribes of Israel to a firmly established state with his rule . Like the charismatic judges, he appeared before him in a critical situation as a politico-military leader, but, unlike them, did not resign from his mandate afterwards.

The biblical stories about Saul can be found in the 1st book of Samuel ( 1 Sam 8–31  EU ). Afterwards he defeated the Ammonites in an open field battle and freed the besieged city of Jabesch in Gilead . This area seems to have belonged to his tribal area, because the people of Jabesh later buried his body and that of his sons "under a tamarisk tree" ( 1 Sam 31 : 11-13  EU ). In the joy of victory, he was then on the old place of worship Gilgal elected by the people to the king, having previously in 1 Sam 10.1  EU by the Jewish prophet Samuel only prince (Hebrew Nagid was anointed). 1 Sam 8  EU contains an explicit criticism of the Israelite kingship that was established with Saul.

According to the Bible, Saul was in constant conflict with the Philistines , the powerful power of the coastal cities and the fertile plains. Despite numerous fights, he was never able to prevail decisively against this opponent and above all united the tribes of the northern mountainous country ( Ephraim ), the east bank Gilead and at times also the area of ​​the large cities in the Jezreel plain and the Davidic tribal area of ​​Benjamin and Judah .

According to the biblical texts, he resided in his hometown Gibea and began to create state structures, which, however, could only be successfully expanded by his successors. Among other things, he built up a small, standing army of mercenaries and ordered the expulsion of necromancers and fortune tellers . In the cultic-religious area there were several disagreements with the prophet Samuel, who had anointed him as a nagid, but finally rejected him on behalf of God.

Rembrandt: David plays the harp in front of Saul.

Saul was supported by his son Jonathan , and David , the warrior from the southern mountains, soon won the king's approval and became his son-in-law. However, Saul increasingly envied his son-in-law's success and popularity. In his annoyance caused by an evil spirit, he believed he was threatened by Jonathan and David on the one hand, and Samuel on the other. After 1 Sam 16–26  EU, he repeatedly sought David’s life. He himself fell into his hands twice. The later heir to the throne, however, spared Saul's life.

After several skirmishes and battles, his constant adversaries, the Philistines, finally defeated the army of Israel at the Gilboa Mountains. There the king threw himself on his own sword so as not to fall alive into the hands of the enemy. The Philistines hung him and Jonathan on the strong walls of Beth-Sheean ( 1 Sam 31,10  EU ). His son Ischbaal became his heir, but he was murdered by David's men (allegedly against his declared will).

According to 1 Sam 28  EU , Saul sought out the witch of Endor before his last battle, although the law forbade the Israelites to do so . The spirit of the already deceased prophet Samuel, called from Sheol , only confirmed that Saul had already been rejected and announced his death in the upcoming battle. Saul finally went to his death and to Samuel in Sheol.

In Islam

In the Koran there is a reference to the first king of Israel in Sura 2 : 246 ff., But where his name is in Tālūt  /طالوتis redesigned - probably as an adaptation to the name of his opponent Dschālūt, or as an allusion to the root word tāla  /طال / 'To be tall' and thus for his extraordinary height, which is also praised in the Koran. In one episode, the verification of the Israeli troops near a stream representation of the Koranic probably borrows a similar-sounding biblical story of Gideon ( Ri 7.4 to 7  EU ).

Musical reception

Survival in literature

literature

Web links

Commons : Saul  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Christian Frevel: Outline of the History of Israel . In: Erich Zenger (among others) Introduction to the Old Testament , 7th, through. u. exp. Ed., Stuttgart 2008, p. 622.
  2. ^ Hans-Joachim Kraus : Israel. Judges and charismatic heroes. In: Propylaea world history. Volume 2, Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1960, ISBN 3-549-05840-3 , pp. 258-262.
  3. ↑ Finkelstein, Israel: The forgotten kingdom: the archeology and history of Northern Israel . Atlanta, Georgia, ISBN 978-1-58983-911-3 , pp. 52-54 .
  4. ↑ Eugen Drewermann ( The Kingdom of God in our Soul. Sermons on the books of Samuel and Kings . Munich / Zurich 1999, p. 106) describes them as "... the subsequent representational arts of priestly court scribes".
  5. ↑ Reuven Firestone: Talut. In: Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2nd Edition. Volume 10, 2000, p. 168 f.
predecessor Office successor
Samuel (judge) King of the United Israel
1012-1004 BC Chr. 		David
personal data
SURNAME Saul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Šā'ûl, Sha'ul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first king of Israel (about 1012 BC-1004 BC)
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 11th century BC Chr.