cook reserve a boiled shoulder, from which Saul, as the chief guest, was bidden to tear off the first morsel (Se|)t. 1 Sam. ix, 22-24). They then descended to the city, and a bed was prepared for Saul on the housetoji. At day- break Samuel roused him. They descended again to the skirts of the town, and there (the servant having left them) Samuel poured over Saul's head the conse- crated oil, and with a kiss of salutation announced to him that he was to be the ruler and (Sept.) deliverer cf the nation (ix, 2o-x, 1). From that moment, as he turned on Samuel the huge shoulder which towered above all the rest (Sept. x, 9), a new life dawned upon him. He returned by a route which, like that of his search, it is impossible to make out distinctly ; and at every step homeward it was confirmed by the incidents which, according to Samuel's prediction, awaited him (x, 9, 10). At liachel's sepulchre he met two men, who announced to him the recovery of the asses — his lower cares were to cease. At the oak of Tabor [see Plain; Tabor] he met three men carrying gifts of kids and bread and a skin of wine, as an offering to Bethel. Two of the loaves were offere<l to him as if to indicate his new dignity. At '• the hill of God" (whatever may be meant thereby, possibly his own city, Gibeah) he met a baud of prophets descending with musical instru- ments, and he caught the inspiration from them as a sign of his new life (Ewald, iii, 28-30).
This is what may be called the private, inner view of his call. The outer call, which is related indepen- dently of the other, was as follows. An assembh' was convened by Samuel at Mizpeh, and lots (so often prac- tised at that time, see Aristot. J'olif. vi, 1 1 ; Yirgil, ^Eti. ii) were cast to find the tribe and the familj' which was
SAUL
374
SAIJL
to produce the king. Saul was named, and, by a di- vine intimation, found hidden in the circle of baggage which surrounded the encampment (1 Sam. x, 17-24). His stature at once conciliated the public feeling, and for the tirst time the shout was raised, afterwards so often repeated in modern times, "Long live the king!" (ver. 23, 24) and he returned to his native Gibeah; ac- companied by the fighting part (^^nri) of the people, of whom he was now to be the especial head. The murmurs of the worthless part of the community who refused to salute him with the accustomed presents were soon dispelled by an occasion arising to justify the selection of Saul. The words which close 1 Sam. X, 27 are, in the Hebrew text, " he was as though he were deaf;" in Josephus, Ant. vi, 5, 1, and the Sept. (fol- lowed b}' Ewald), "and it came to pass after a month that . . ."'
The corrupt administration of justice by Samuel's sons furnished an occasion to the Hebrews for rejecting that theocracy of which they neither appreciated the value, nor, through their unfaithfulness to it, enjoyed the full advantages (1 Sam. viii). The prospect of the event related below seems also to have conspired with the cause just mentioned and with a love of novelty in prompting the demand for a king (xii, 12) — an officer evidently alien to the genius of the theocracy, though contemplated as a historical certainty, and provided for by the Jewish lawgiver (ver. 17-20; Deut. xvii, 14-20 ; on which see Grotius's note ; also De Jure Belli, etc. i, 4, 6, with the remarks of Gronovius, who [as Puf- fendorf also does] controverts the views of Grotius). An explanation of the nature of this request, as not only an instance of ingratitude to Samuel, but of rebell- ion against Jehovah, and the delineation of the man- ner in which their kings— notwithstanding the restric- tions prescribed in the law — might be expected to con- duct themselves (~5'3i^ I3&p^, Sept. ^i/caiw/ta rov ficKTiXtojQ ; 1 Sam. viii, 11; x, 25), failed to move the people from their resolution. See Samuel. Both pre- viously to that election (ver. IG), and subsequently, when insulted by the worthless portion of the Israelites, he showed that modesty, humilitj', and forbearance which seem to have characterized him till corrupted by the possession of power. The person thus set apart to discharge the royal function possessed, at least, those corporal advantages which most ancient nations desid- erated in their sovereigns — what Euripides calls the worthy form of royalty. His person was tall and com- manding, and he soon showed that his courage was not inferior to his strength (ix, 1; x, 23). His belonging to Benjamin also, the smallest of the tribes, though of distinguished braver}', prevented the mutual jealousy with which either of the two great tribes, Judah and E[)liraim, would have regarded a king chosen from the other.
2. Confirmation of SaitVs Appointment. — -He was (having, apparently, returned to his private life) on his way home, driving his herd of oxen, when he heard one of those wild lamentations in the city of Gibeah, such as mark in Eastern towns the arrival of a great calamity. It was the tidings of the threat issued by Nahash, king of Ammon, against Jabcsh-gilead. See A.MJION. Eor, in the meantime, the Ammonites, whose invasion had hastened the appointment of a king, hav- ing besieged Jabesh in Gilead, and Nahash their king having proposed insulting conditions to them, the el- ders of that town, apparently not aware of Saul's elec- tion (I Sara, xi, 3), sent messengers through the land imploring help. Tlie inhabitants of .Jabesh were con- nected with Benjamin by the old adventure recorded in Judg. xxi. It was as if this one s|)ark was needed to awaken the dormant spirit of the king. " The Spir- it of the Lord came u\Mn him," as on the ancient judges. The shy, retiring nature which we have ob- served vanished never to return. In this emergencj', he had recourse to the expedient of the earlier days