Saul's character is in part illustrated by the fierce, wayward, fitful nature of the tribe [see Benjajiin], and in part accounted for by the struggle between the old and new s^'stems in which he found himself involved. To this we must add a taint of madness, which broke out in violent frenzy at times, leaving him witli long lucid intervals. His aftectioiis were strong, as appears in his love both for David and his son .Jonathan, but they were unequal to the wilil accesses of religious zeal or insanity which ultimately led to his ruin. He was, like the earlier Judges, of whom in one sense he may be counted as the successor, remarkable for his strength and activity (2 Sam. i, 23) ; and he was, like the Ho- meric heroes, of gigantic stature, taller by head and shoulders than the rest of the people, and of that kind of beauty denoted by the Hebrew word " good" (1 Sam. ix, 2), and which caused hira to be compared to the ga- zelle— " the gazelle of Israel." It was probably these ex- ternal qualities which led to the epithet which is fre- ([uently attached to his name, " chosen"- — " whom the Lord did choose" — "<Spe ye (i. e. Look at) him whom the Lord hath chosen!" (I Sam. ix, 17; x, 24; 2 Sam. xxi, G).
V. Literature. — See the treatises referred to in Dar- ling, Cyclop. Bihllorjraph. col. 290-302 ; Stanley, Jewish Ch. ii, lect. xxi; Ewald, Hist, of Israel, ii, 15 sq. ; Nie- meyer, Charak. v, 75 sq. ; Hasse, KOnig Saul (Gries. 1854); Richardson, Saul, King of Israel (Edinb. 1858); Miller, Saul, First King of Israel (2d ed.. Loud. 1866) ; Brooks, King Saul ([a tragedy], N. Y. 1871); and the monographs on his interview with the witch cited by Ftirst, Bihliotheca Judaica, iii, 236. See King.
3. The Jewish name of Paul (q. v.). This was the most distinguished name in the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin, to which the apostle felt some pride in belonging (Kom. xi, 1 ; Phil, iii, 5). He himself leads us to associate his name with that of the Jewish king by the marked way in which he mentions Saul in his address at the Pisidian Antioch : " God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin" (Acts xiii, 21). These indications are in harmony with the intensely Jewish spirit of wliich the life of the apostle exhibits so many signs. The early ecclesias- tical writers did not fail to notice the prominence thus given by Paul to his tribe. Tertullian (.If/c. Marc, v, 1) applies to him the dying words of Jacob on Benja- min. And Jerome, in his Epitaphinm Pauhe (§ 8), al- luding to the preservation of the six hundred men of Benjamin after the affair of Gibeah (Judg. xx, 49), speaks of them as " trecentos [sic] viros p;(*/;/e?' Apos- tolum resercatos." See Benjamin.
Nothing certain is known about the change of the apostle's name from Saul to Paul (Acts xiii, 9). Two chief conjectures prevail concerning the change. (1) That of Jerome and Augustine, that the name was de- rived from Sergius Paulus, the first of his (Jentile con- verts. (2) That which appears due to Lightfoot, that Paulus was the apostle's Roman name as a citizen of Tarsus, naturally adopted into common use by his biog- rapher when his labors among the heathen commenced. The former of these is adopted by Olshausen and Meyer. It is also the view of Ewald (G'csc/f. vi, 419, 420), who seems to consider it self-evident, and looks on the ab- sence of anj^ explanation of the change as a proof that it was so understood bj' all the readers of the Acts. However tliis may be, after Saul has taken his place definitively as the apostle to the (ieniile world, his Jew- ish name is entirely dropped. Two divisions of ids life are well marked bj- the use of the two names. — Smith.
Saunders, Wilmam T., a minister of the Meth- odist E[)isc(ipal Church, was born, of Roman Catholic parents, in Dul>lin, Aug. 16, 1836. In his sixteenth year he emigrated to America, landing at New Orleans, April
13, 1852. In Sept., 1853, he was converted at a camp- meeting, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. He spent one term at MeadviDe College, but for five years after led an unsettled life. In 1859 he was ad- mitted on trial in the South-eastern Indiana Conference and appointed to Vernon Circuit. He also served at New Washington ; Patriot Circuit ; Belleview; as chap- lain of the Eighty-third Indiana Volunteers ; Roberts and Trinity churches, Madison ; Vevay ; and Rising Sun. He continued to fill his pulpit until within four weeks of his death, which took place July 29, 1871. Mr. Saunders was a man of diligent study, carefid prepara- tion for the pulpit, faithful as a pastor, while his piety was of the healthy, fruit-bearing kind. — Minutes of An- nual Conferences, 1871, p. 184.
Sauqua Behkr {Socquaheh-),'m Norse mythology, was the sf?-eam of death, a place where Saga dwelt, and which Odin visited each day in order to become drunk on the precious mead w^hich she possessed, and to en- joy her love. — Vollmer, Wdrte)b. d. Mythol. s,v.