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Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh century BCE, according to the Bible, marked the transition of the Israelites from a scattered tribal society ruled by various Biblical judges to organized statehood.
The historicity of Saul and the United Kingdom of Israel is not universally accepted, as what is known of both comes exclusively from the Hebrew Bible. According to the text, he was anointed as king of the Israelites by Samuel, and reigned from Gibeah. Saul is said to have committed suicide when he fell on his sword during a battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, in which three of his sons were also killed. Saul's son Ish-bosheth succeeded him to the throne, reigning for only two years before being murdered by his own military leaders. Saul's son-in-law David then became king.
The biblical narrative of Saul's rise to kingship and his death contains several textual inconsistencies and plays on words that scholars have discussed. These issues include conflicting accounts of Saul's anointing and death, changes in the portrayal of Saul from positive to negative following David's introduction, and etymological discrepancies in the birth-narrative of Samuel, which some scholars believe originally described Saul's birth.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Saul was the son of Kish, of the family of the Matrites, and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel. It appears that he came from Gibeah.
Saul married Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz, with whom he sired at least five sons (Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua, Ishvi and Ish-bosheth) and two daughters (Merab and Michal). lists three sons – Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchi-shua – and the two daughters. But see also and
Saul also had a concubine named Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, who bore him two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth.
Saul died at the Battle of Mount Gilboa,; and was buried in Zelah, in the region of Benjamin. Three of Saul's sons – Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua – died with him at Mount Gilboa.; His surviving son Ish-bosheth became king of Israel, at the age of forty. At David's request Abner had Michal returned to David. Ish-bosheth reigned for two years, but after the death of Abner, was killed by two of his own captains.
During a famine, God told king David that the famine happened because of how Saul treated the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites told David that only the death of seven sons of Saul would compensate them for losing their livelihood after the priests at Nob were killed under Saul's orders.2 Samuel 21:1-6 David then granted the Gibeonites the jurisdiction to individually execute Saul's surviving two sons and five of Saul's grandsons (the sons of Merab and Adriel). The Gibeonites killed all seven, and hung up their bodies at the sanctuary at Gibeah.2 Samuel 21:8-9 For five months their bodies were hung out in the elements, and the grieving Rizpah guarded them from being eaten by the beasts and birds of prey.2 Samuel 21:10 Finally, David had the bodies taken down and buried in the family grave at Zelah with the remains of Saul and their half-brother Jonathan.2 Samuel 21:13-14 Michal was childless.
The only male descendant of Saul to survive was Mephibosheth, Jonathan's lame son, who was five years old at the time of his father's and grandfather's deaths. In time, he came under the protection of David. Mephibosheth had a young son, Micah, who had four sons and descendants named until the ninth generation.
André Lemaire finds the third account probably the most reliable tradition. The Pulpit Commentary distinguishes between a private and a public selection process. Pulpit Commentary on 1 Samuel 10, accessed 1 May 2017.
In the second year of his reign, King Saul, his son Jonathan, and a small force of a few thousand Israelite soldiers defeated a massive Philistine force of 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and more than 30,000 infantry in the pass of Michmash. After the battle, Saul instructs his armies, by a rash oath, to fast. Methodist commentator Joseph Benson suggests that "Saul's intention in putting this oath was undoubtedly to save time, lest the Philistines should gain ground of them in their flight. But the event showed it was a false policy; for the people were so faint and weak for want of food, that they were less able to follow and slay the Philistines than if they had stopped to take a moderate refreshment". Benson Commentary on 1 Samuel 14, accessed 7 May 2017. Jonathan's party were not aware of the oath and ate honey resulting in Jonathan realizing that he had broken an oath of which he was not aware, but was nevertheless liable for its breach, until popular intervention allowed Jonathan to be saved from death on account of his victory over the Philistines.
Several years after Saul's victory against the Philistines at Michmash Pass, Samuel instructs Saul to make war on the and to "utterly destroy" them including all their livestock in fulfilment of a mandate set out:
Saul offered his elder daughter Merab as a wife to the now popular David, after his victory over Goliath, but David demurred. David distinguishes himself in the Philistine wars. Upon David's return from battle, the women praise him in song:
Saul's son Jonathan and David become close friends. Jonathan recognizes David as the rightful king, and "made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul." Jonathan even gives David his military clothes, symbolizing David's position as successor to Saul.
On two occasions, Saul threw a spear at David as he played the harp for Saul. David becomes increasingly successful and Saul becomes increasingly resentful. Now Saul actively plots against David. Saul offered his other daughter, Michal in marriage to David. David initially rejects this offer also, claiming he is too poor. Saul offers to accept a bride price of 100 Philistine foreskins, intending that David die in the attempt. Instead, David obtains 200 foreskins and is consequently married to Michal. Jonathan arranges a short-lived reconciliation between Saul and David and for a while David served Saul "as in times past" until "the distressing spirit from the Lord" re-appeared. Saul sends assassins in the night, but Michal helps him escape, tricking them by placing a household idol in his bed. David flees to Jonathan, who arranges a meeting with his father. While dining with Saul, Jonathan explains David's absence, saying he has been called away to his brothers. But Saul sees through the ruse and reprimands Jonathan for protecting David, warning him that his love of David will cost him the kingdom, furiously throwing a spear at him. The next day, Jonathan meets with David and tells him Saul's intent. The two friends say their goodbyes, and David flees into the countryside. Saul later marries Michal to another man.
Saul is later informed by his head shepherd, Doeg the Edomite, that high priest Ahimelech assisted David, giving him the sword of Goliath, which had been kept at the temple at Nob. Doeg kills Ahimelech and eighty-five other priests and Saul orders the death of the entire population of Nob.
David had left Nob by this point and had amassed some 300 dissatisfied men, including some outlaws. With these men David rescues the town of Keilah from a Philistine attack. Saul realizes he could trap David and his men by laying the city to siege. David realizes that the citizens of Keilah will betray him to Saul. He flees to Ziph pursued by Saul. Saul hunts David in the vicinity of Ziph on two occasions:
Saul's death is described by the narrator (and also in 1 Chronicles 10) but a conflicting account is given by a young Amalekite. The defeated Israelites flee from the enemy and Saul asks his armour bearer to kill him, but the armour bearer refuses because he is too scared, and so Saul falls upon his own sword. But the Amalekite tells David he found Saul leaning on his spear after the battle and delivered the coup de grâce then took the Saul's crown and armband. David has the Amalekite put to death, advancing the theme that David will never kill the Lord's anointed king (cf. 1 Samuel 24, 26).
The victorious Philistines recover Saul's body as well as those of his three sons who also died in the battle, decapitate them and display them on the wall of Beth-shan. They display Saul's armour in the temple of Astarte (an Ashkelon temple of the Canaanites). But at night the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead retrieve the bodies for cremation and burial. Later on, David takes the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan and buries them in Zela, in the tomb of his father.G. Darshan, "The Reinterment of Saul and Jonathan's Bones (II Sam 21, 12–14) in Light of Ancient Greek Hero-Cult Stories", ZAW, 125,4 (2013), 640–645. The account in 1 Chronicles summarises by stating that:
The birth-narrative of the prophet Samuel is found at 1 Samuel 1:1–28. It describes how Samuel's mother Hannah requests a son from Yahweh, and dedicates the child to God at the shrine of Shiloh. The passage makes extensive play with the root-elements of Saul's name, and ends with the phrase 'he is dedicated to Yahweh'. Hannah names the resulting son Samuel, giving as her explanation, 'because from God I requested him'. Samuel's name, however, can mean 'name of God', (or 'Heard of God' or 'Told of God') and the etymology and multiple references to the root of the name seems to fit Saul instead. The majority explanation for the discrepancy is that the narrative originally described the birth of Saul, and was given to Samuel to enhance the position of David and Samuel at the former king's expense.The idea was originally advanced in the 19th century, and has most recently been elaborated in Kyle McCarter's influential commentary on I Samuel (P. Kyle McCarter, "I Samuel: A New Translation with Introduction, Notes and Commentary", Anchor Bible Series, 1980)
The Bible's tone with regard to Saul changes over the course of the narrative, especially around the passage where David appears, midway through 1 Samuel. Before, Saul is presented in positive terms, but afterward his mode of ecstatic prophecy is suddenly described as fits of madness, his errors and disobedience to Samuel's instructions are stressed and he becomes a paranoiac. This may indicate that the David story is inserted from a source loyal to the House of David; David's lament over Saul in 2 Samuel 1 then serves an apologetic purpose, clearing David of the blame for Saul's death.
In the narrative of Saul's private anointing in 1 Samuel 9:1–10:16, Saul is not referred to as a king ( melech), but rather as a "leader" or "commander" ( nagid); Bright, John, A History of Israel, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1972, p. 185. Saul is only given the title "king" ( melech) at the public coronation ceremony at Gilgal.
Various authors have attempted to harmonize the two narratives regarding Saul's death. Josephus writes that Saul's attempted suicide was stalled because he was not able to run the sword through himself, and that he therefore asked the Amalekite to finish it. Later biblical criticism has posited that the story of Saul's death was redacted from various sources, although this view in turn has been criticized because it does not explain why the contradiction was left in by the redactors. But since 2 Samuel records only the Amalekite's report, and not the report of any other eyewitness, some scholars theorize that the Amalekite may have been lying to try to gain favor with David. In this view, 1 Samuel records what actually happened, while 2 Samuel records what the Amalekite claimed happened.Life Application Study Bible: Note on 2 Samuel 1:13
The second view of Saul makes him appear in the most favourable light as man, as hero, and as king. In this view, it was on account of his modesty that he did not reveal the fact that he had been anointed king;; Megillah 13b and he was extraordinarily upright as well as perfectly just. Nor was there any one more pious than he;Moed Kattan 16b; Exodus Rabbah 30:12 for when he ascended the throne he was as pure as a child, and had never committed sin.Yoma 22b He was marvelously handsome; and the maidens who told him concerning Samuel talked so long with him to observe his beauty for longer.Berachot 48b In war he was able to march 120 miles without rest. When commanded to smite Amalek, Saul said: "For one found slain the Torah requires a sin offering; and here so many shall be slain. If the old have sinned, why should the young suffer; and if men have been guilty, why should the cattle be destroyed?" It was this humaneness which cost him his crown. And while Saul was merciful to his enemies, he was strict with his own people; when he found out that Ahimelech, a kohen, had assisted David with finding food, Saul, in retaliation, killed the remaining 85 kohanim of Ahimelech's family and the rest of his hometown, Nob. Yoma 22b; Numbers Rabbah 1:10 The fact that he was merciful even to his enemies, being indulgent to rebels themselves, and frequently waiving the homage due to him, was incredible as well as deceiving. But if his mercy toward a foe was a sin, it was his only one; it was his misfortune that it was reckoned against him, while David (who had committed many sins) was so favored that it was not remembered to his injury.Yoma 22b; Moed Kattan 16b, and Rashi ad loc. In some respects Saul was superior to David, e.g., in having only one concubine (Rizpah), while David had many. Saul expended his own substance for the war, and although he knew that he and his sons would fall in battle, he nevertheless went forward, while David heeded the wish of his soldiers not to go to war in person.; Leviticus Rabbah 26:7; Yalkut Shimoni, Samuel 138
According to the Rabbis, Saul followed the rules of ritual impurity prescribed for the sacrifice,Yalkut Shimoni, Samuel 138 and taught the people how they should slaughter cattle.cf As a reward for this, God himself gave Saul a sword on the day of battle, since no other sword suitable for him was found. Saul's attitude toward David was excused by arguing that his courtiers were all tale-bearers, and slandered David to him;Deuteronomy Rabbah 5:10 and in like manner he was incited by Doeg against the priests of Nob; Yalkut Shimoni, Samuel 131—this act was forgiven him, however, and a heavenly voice ( bat kol) was heard, proclaiming: "Saul is the chosen one of God".Berachot 12b His anger at the Gibeonites was not personal hatred, but was induced by zeal for the welfare of Israel.Numbers Rabbah 8:4 The fact that he made his daughter remarry finds its explanation in his (Saul's) view that her betrothal to David had been gained by false pretenses, and was therefore invalid.Sanhedrin 19b During the lifetime of Saul there was no idolatry in Israel. The famine in the reign of David, seemingly blamed on Saul, was in fact the people's fault, for not according Saul the proper honours at his burial. In Sheol, Samuel reveals to Saul that in the next world, Saul would dwell with Samuel, which is a proof that all has been forgiven him by God.Eruvin 53b
The Qur'anic account differs from the Biblical account (if Saul is assumed to be Talut) in that in the Bible the sacred Ark was returned to Israel before Saul's accession, and the test by drinking water is made in the Hebrew Bible not by Saul but by Gideon.Judges vii. 5–7
In the Jewish Study Bible (2014), Oded Lipschits states the concept of the United Monarchy should be abandoned, while Aren Maeir highlights the lack of evidence about the United Monarchy. (2025). 9780199978465, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199978465 However, in his books Beyond the Texts (2018) and Has Archeology Buried the Bible? (2020) William G. Dever has defended the historicity of the United Monarchy, maintaining that the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon are "reasonably well attested". Similar arguments were advanced by Amihai Mazar in a 2013 essay, which points toward recent archaeological evidence emerging from excavation sites in Jerusalem by Eilat Mazar and in Khirbet Qeiyafa by Yosef Garfinkel. In their book, The Bible's First Kings (2025), Avraham Faust and Zev Farber have also defended the existence of the United Monarchy, arguing that archaeological evidence and early biblical traditions attest to its emergence in the 11th-10th centuries BCE. Archeology seems to confirm that until about 1000 BCE, the end of Iron Age I, Israelite society was essentially a society of farmers and stockbreeders, without any truly centralized organization and administration.
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