And he that brought the tidings answered and said, "Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of G.o.d is taken."

And it came to pa.s.s, when he made mention of the ark of G.o.d, that he fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

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The Great Kings

After the judges came the kings. There were many kings in Israel's history, but the first three were really the greatest. Saul was the founder of the kingdom, a mighty king in spite of his faults. David made the nation great because he was great himself. Solomon by his wisdom and skill raised Israel to such wealth and splendor as it never had before or after.

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SAUL

_The Story of the Farmer Who Became King_.

(Samuel was the last and the best of the Judges of Israel. He conquered the Philistines, and for many years the land had peace. He was a "circuit judge," going from district to district. As he grew old he attempted to put his sons in his place, but they were not like their father. They took bribes and did that which was evil. Then the people demanded a king. How Samuel at first resisted, but at last yielded and anointed Saul as king, is told in the following story.)

THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING TO RULE OVER THEM.

_Samuel Warns Them of the Dangers of a Kingdom_.

After a great victory over the Philistines, Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer (that is, the stone of help), saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."

So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar unto the Lord.

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And it came to pa.s.s, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after money, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah: and they said to him, "Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us."

And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, "Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other G.o.ds, so do they also to thee. Now therefore hearken to their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly to them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."

And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his hors.e.m.e.n; and they shall run before {351} his chariots: and he will appoint them for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your a.s.ses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."

And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken to their voice, and make them a king."

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Go ye every man unto his city."

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THE TALL SON OF KISH IS CHOSEN.

_Saul Is Secretly Anointed by Samuel to Be King_.

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. And the a.s.ses of Kish Saul's father were lost.

And Kish said to Saul his son, "Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the a.s.ses."

And he pa.s.sed through the hill country of Ephraim, but they found them not: and he pa.s.sed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, "Come and let us return; lest my father stop caring for the a.s.ses, and be anxious for us."

And he said to him, "Behold now, there is in this city a man of G.o.d, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he saith cometh surely to pa.s.s: now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go."

Then said Saul to his servant, "But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of G.o.d: what have we?" And the servant answered Saul again, and said, "Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of G.o.d, to tell us our way."

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Then said Saul to his servant, "Well said; come, let us go."

So they went unto the city where the man of G.o.d was. As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, "Is the seer here?"

And they answered them and said, "He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he is come to-day into the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place: as soon as ye are come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards those eat who are bidden. Now therefore get you up; for at this time ye shall find him."

And they went up to the city; and as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them to go up to the high place.

Now the Lord had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, "To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be prince over my people Israel, and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me."

And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, "Behold the man of whom I spoke to thee! this same shall have authority over my people."

Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said. "Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is."

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And Samuel answered Saul, and said, "I am the seer; go up before me unto the high place, for ye shall eat with me to-day: and in the morning I will let thee go, and will tell all that is in thine heart.

And as for thine a.s.ses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for thee, and for all thy father's house?"

And Saul answered and said, "Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou to me after this manner?"

And Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the guest chamber, and made them sit in the chiefest place among those who were bidden, who were about thirty persons. And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said to thee, 'Set it by thee.'"

And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, "Behold that which hath been reserved! set it before thee and eat; because to the appointed time hath it been kept for thee, for I said, 'I have invited the people.'"

So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. And when they were come down from the high place into the city, he communed with Saul upon the housetop.

And they arose early: and it came to pa.s.s about the dawning of the day, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, "Up, that I may send thee away."

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