Illustration created for this project.
Saul
Israel's first king, of the tribe of Benjamin; tall and gifted but disobedient, he was rejected and died on Mount Gilboa.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2
Archaeology — physical evidence · 1
Origin & birthplace
Life, role & deeds
Matson Collection — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyAt Gibeah (Tell el-Ful) excavators uncovered a plain fortress of the right period — very likely the stronghold of Saul.
Fortress ('Fortress I') at Tell el-Ful, excavated by W.F. Albright, AASOR 4 (1922-24) and re-examined by Paul & Nancy Lapp (N.L. Lapp ed., 'The Third Campaign at Tell el-Ful: Excavations of 1964', AASOR 45, 1981); identification with Saul's Gibeah is inferential.
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Gibeah
Death & legacy
Where in scripture
1 SamuelThen Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t Yahweh anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?
1 Samuel 10:1 — Anointed by Samuel
Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me!” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.
1 Samuel 31:4 — Dies on Mount Gilboa
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 61 recorded sayings
“And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, Come, let us go back, or my father may give up caring about the asses and be troubled about us.” — 1 Samuel 9:5
“Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what are we to take the man? all our bread is gone, and we have no offering to take to the man of God: what are we to do?” — 1 Samuel 9:7
“Then Saul said to his servant, You have said well; come, let us go. So they went to the town where the man of God was.” — 1 Samuel 9:10
“Then Saul came up to Samuel in the doorway of the town and said, Give me directions, if you will be so good, to the house of the seer.” — 1 Samuel 9:18
“And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me?” — 1 Samuel 9:21
“And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel.” — 1 Samuel 10:14
“And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom.” — 1 Samuel 10:16
“Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said.” — 1 Samuel 11:5
…and 53 more recorded sayings.
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
Places in their life
Photo: Hagai Agmon-Snir حچاي اچمون-سنير חגי אגמון-שניר — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
