Seeking Saul! An analysis of 1 Samuel 9-(12)14

Abstract

Seeking Saul may be a key to understand the emergence of the people who later will be called Israel. Biblical narratives in Samuel Books hide ancient traditions that may refer to saulide kingdom. To rescue these traditions is the purpose of this paper. The text under consideration is 1 Samuel 9-(12)14. In it are three stories that are part of memory which refers to the beginning of saulide kingdom: the story of the lost donkeys, the war against the Ammonites and the battle against the Philistines. These memories have been obscured by subsequent redactions. Three layers are visible in the narrative: a pre-Deuteronomistic (Dtr), a Deuteronomistic, VII B.C.E., and an exilic and post-exilic. Although archeology has not found evidence of literary activity in Israel before VIII Century B.C.., this paper proposes that the first draft took place during the reign of the omridas in Samaria (884-842). Old memories are related to town’s names: Shalishah, Shaalim and Suf, which only appear in the text in question, and whose exact location has been lost, Bethel and Michmash. Besides these, Gibeah of Saul, Gibeah of Benjamin, Gibeah of Elohim, Geba and Gibeon. All are in the territory of Benjamin and all have the same root gb '(mountain), which is a sign to identify the saulide kingdom.