Of the occasion of the establishment of the kingdom we have two accounts in 1 Samuel (Driver, LOT^ p. 175 ff.). According to the earlier account (1 S 9'-10»« 11'-""), .J" chooses a king (Saul) who is to save His people from the Philis- tines, and commands Samuel to anoint him (9"*'). The language used reminds us of Ex 3' (God charges Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt). Samuel promises Saul 'all that is desirable' in Israel (9-" RV), and encourages him to act as king, as occasion offers, in the assurance of divine sup- port (10'). The occasion for action comes in the invasion of Nahash the Ammonite, and on Saul'i success the people make him king with rejoicings.
According to the later account (1 S 8. 10""-*' 12) * F = Fragmentary reconstructed accoimte.
ISRAEL. HISTORY OF
ISRAEL, HISTORY OF
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tne Isiaelites, dis^nisted with the corrupt admini- stration of justice by Samuel's sons, ask Samuel to make them 'a king to judge [them] like all the nations' (8'). Samuel (as divinely instructed) treats this demand as a rejection of J" as kiiiK, and, while granting the request, tells the people that they will have reason to repent of it, for their king will take from them all that is desiruhle in his eyes (8"-"). Samuel describes Saul to the people after his election (12'^) as ' tlie king whom ye have chosen,' and tells them (v.") that their wickedness was great in asking for a king. (There may be a trace of a third account in 12'^ where, somewhat inconsistently with 8'"', the invasion of the Aniuionites is given as the immediate occasion of the demand for a king).
The lirst and earliest account accords best with the known facts. Saul established his throne in the midst of a great Philistine Oppres.sion (1 S 13"- '"), when the I'hil. had a garrison C'.yt}) in the heart of IJeiijamite territory {ib. 14"'-), and some of the ' Hebrews ' were serving by constraint in the I'hilistine ranks (ib. v.-'). Saul's reign (tlie dui ation of which is quite uncertain) was an almost continuous struggle against his western neighbours (1 S 13' 14"- 17' 18^ 23'- -■' 28' 31') ; he taught Israel to face the Philistines.
The Rise of David.— Saul was the fighting chief of an infant nation, David the founder and organ- izer of a |)owerful state. Saul was the Lascaris,* but David tlie Vataces of Israel. The government gained vastly in intellectual power by the acces- sion of David. Saul perhaps could not write (1 S 11') ; David wrote the lirst letter mentioned in the Bible (2 S ll'-" !), was ' prudent in speech '(IS 16'* RV), a poet of considerable power (2 S l""-). if not also a Psalmist (2 S 22"''-, a passage belonging to the Appendix to 2 Samuel), and a man who re- dected (23'''). The w hole history of the suppres- sion of Alisalom's rebellion stamiis David as a man of the highest mental power. The king who could command and apply in the uioiiieiit of his greatest need the wrathtul family faithfulness of .loab and Abishai, tlio salt-truth of Ittai the Philistine, the friendliness of the priests Zadok ami Abiathar, the allegiance of the aged counsellor ilushai, and the heljifulness of Shobi the Ammonite and Darzillai the tiileadite (2 S IT-'"), must have been a man of intellectual power far above the ordinary.
David's reign was marked by three events — (a) the choice of .lerusalem as capital ; (b) the rise of the tribe of Judah; and (c) the foundation of an fsraelite empire.
(«) Jerusalem before David's day probably con- sisted of a half-Israelite town grouped round the Jebusite citadel, which stood on a hill S. E. of the present (laram hill, but probably separated from it by a dejiression now lilled up. Such a town was unsuitable for the Israelite capital so long as it was doininated by the Jebusite fort. David's capture of tliis fort gave him a site from whicli hec'onld build towanls the North and West, taking in other liills; he thus formed a capital of ample size and of great natural strength.
(/;) Tlie rise of the tribe of Judah under David is a remarkable fact. In Judges this tribe plays hardly any part save at the Conquest (ch. 1), in which it is almost overshadowed by Calebiies, Kenizzites, and Kenites. It is not mentioned in the [iresent text of the Song of Deborah (Jg 5). The earlier leaders of Israel, Moses, Aaron, .loshua, Samuel, and Saul, all belonged to other tribes, and oojudge wasa Juda'an. Under these circumstnnces
• Cf. (libtwn, Declinf and Fall, ch. IxiL lx*^lnninir : ' In hi» Int I'fTorta the fut;itivo LoscArin cominaiulMl only 3 citira ai)*l ifKlO soldicre ; his rcitrn was the season of frcncrous and active Jettpair : in every military operation he staked his llfo and jrnwn ; and his eiu'iiiies . . . were surprised by hit celerity and nibdued t y liis t>oldnes8.'
it has been supposed (Stade, GVI i. 132) that Judah entered Canaan from the south before the rest of the tribes entered from the east, and that in ancient times Judah stood in no union with the rest of Israel. lie this as it may, from the time of David Judah played a great part in Israel's history.