"Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?" Signs: two men at Rachel's tomb will say the donkeys are found; three men going up to Bethel will give him bread; at the hill of God a band of prophets will meet him, and "the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man."
"God gave him another heart." Saul prophesies among the prophets, and people ask, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" "Who is their father?" At home he tells his uncle about the donkeys, "but of the matter of the kingdom… he told him not."
At Mizpah Samuel rebukes the people again: "ye have this day rejected your God… ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us." Lots fall on Benjamin, the family of Matri, and Saul, but he cannot be found: "Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff." He stands head and shoulders above the people. "God save the king." Samuel writes "the manner of the kingdom" in a book. Valiant men follow Saul home; "but the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us?… But he held his peace."
Anointing with oil
Oil was poured on kings, priests and objects to set them apart. Amarna letters mention a king of Nuhashe anointed by the Egyptian pharaoh, and Hittite and Egyptian texts mention anointing officials. The Hebrew word for anointed, mashiaḥ, gives "Messiah."
One king, several accounts
Saul becomes king through a private anointing (9–10), a public lot (10), victory and "renewal" of the kingdom at Gilgal (11). Readers see successive stages of one process, or separate traditions combined. Both readings are presented; neither is proven.
The end of chapter 10 and a Qumran paragraph
The last words of 10:27 in the Masoretic Text, "he was as one who held his peace," differ by one letter from "about a month later," which is what the library's Greek and the Vulgate have at the start of 11:1. 4QSam-a has a whole paragraph here about Nahash's earlier cruelty. See the passage page.
The Case for the Biblical Account
Scripture's account
Saul anointed and chosen by lot (1 Samuel 10).
What evidence would we expect?
Royal anointing in the region; ecstatic prophetic groups; sacred lots.
The discoveries
Anointing in Amarna and Hittite texts; group prophecy in Mari letters; lots in Israelite and neighboring practice.
Testing the discoveries
The customs are documented; Saul's selection is known only from Samuel.
The strongest reconstruction
Combined traditions of Saul's rise.
What remains possible
The original ending of 10:27.
What the evidence shows
- Anointing of kings is attested outside Israel.
- Saul's rise combines more than one tradition.
- "God gave him another heart."
Continue the journey
Journey of a Passage1 Samuel 10:27–11:1: Nahash: the paragraph found only at Qumran4QSam-a has a paragraph between 10:27 and 11:1 not found in any other biblical manuscript: Nahash king of Ammon had been gouging out the right eyes of the Gadites and Reubenites, and seven thousand had escaped to Jabesh.More from this lesson
Echoes Across Civilizations
Optional: how other ancient peoples told similar stories. Open one to compare, then come back to the lesson.
Seers, prophets and curses for hireTransjordan · Mari · Egypt · Assyria
Did kings in Israel's world hire seers and prophets, and curse their enemies?
- Transjordan: The Deir Alla plaster inscription ("the book of Balaam son of Beor") Possible historical contact
- Mari: The prophetic letters of Mari Shared literary world
- Egypt: The Execration Texts Resemblance only
- Assyria: Neo-Assyrian prophecies to Esarhaddon Possible historical contact
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- "Is Saul also among the prophets?" again.
- The Spirit rests on the seventy elders.
- "The lot is cast into the lap."