{"id":71226,"date":"2020-03-04T16:31:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T14:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71226"},"modified":"2023-01-16T15:17:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T13:17:31","slug":"sauls-slight-sins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/sauls-slight-sins\/","title":{"rendered":"Saul\u2019s Slight Sins?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[362,885,400],"acf":{"old_id":"71226","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":69185,"related_cahpter":"247","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"He sanctioned spoils, and side-stepped smoting. Why was he made to suffer so?\r\n\r\n","content":"

Samuel conveys God\u2019s decree that Saul exterminate the people of Amalek for attacking Israel when they left Egypt (Exod. 17:8-16): \u201cNow go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!\u201d (15:3). Saul carries out Samuel\u2019s words meticulously, with just a couple of small exceptions: sparing the best of the flock to offer as sacrifices, and leaving the Amalekite king Agag alive. The narrative records God\u2019s immediate disapproval, as relayed by Samuel to Saul. According to Samuel, Saul\u2019s choice to spare Agag constitutes a rejection of God that justifies God\u2019s rejection of him as king. Samuel then summons Agag and slays him personally with his sword.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is among the most troubling and morally challenging stories in the Bible. Has Saul done anything wrong, really, and if he has, is it not on a minuscule scale? Is he not being judged far more harshly than his actions and intentions merit? Is Samuel\u2019s brutality to be rewarded?<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscrutable nature of Saul\u2019s transgressions that cause his downfall is, in a way, the point. Had Saul clearly deserved his fate, then his punishment would have reflected solely upon himself and nothing larger. Instead, Saul\u2019s rejection and suffering are paradigmatic of the role he has been made to embody. God is pronouncing God\u2019s judgment upon kings, and Saul has the misfortune to be the first one toppled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew poet Sha\u2019ul Tchernichowsky (1875-1943) deeply identified with his namesake and wrote several poems about him. In \u201cAt Ein Dor,\u201d Tchernichowsky envisions Saul as challenging Samuel to justify God\u2019s capricious, cruel treatment of him:<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh man of God! What would God answer me?<\/span>
\n<\/span>When He departs from me, what should I do? Answer me!<\/span>
\n<\/span>Why, oh why, have you anointed me king?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Why me, from behind the flocks, did you bring?<\/span><\/p>\n

Surely, in comparison to Israel\u2019s most prominent kings to follow, Saul appears considerably more worthy and obedient to God. David will commit adultery and murder; Solomon will marry one thousand wives and adopt their idols. Saul\u2019s transgressions not merely pale; they seem incidental to his zeal to obey God. For example, when Saul\u2019s famished men defeat the Philistines, they slaughter the enemy\u2019s cattle and eat the meat with the blood, which kosher law forbids. Furious, Saul forces his men to slaughter their meat properly at an altar he erects to God (14:31-35). He charges them, \u201cYou must not sin against the Lord and eat with the blood\u201d\u2014hardly the speech of a rebel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story of Saul may have been meant to send shivers down the spines of all his monarchical followers. Indeed, David goes on to study Saul and learns his lesson well. David remains ever mindful of God\u2019s dominance and the fragility of the power invested in kings. He is always treading lightly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpted from <\/span>The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility <\/span><\/em>by Elliott Rabin by permission of the Jewish Publication Society. \u00a92020 by Elliott Rabin.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69430,"id":69430,"title":"BiblicalHero","filename":"BiblicalHero.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-gap-between-god-and-humankind\/biblicalhero\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"biblicalhero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69219,"date":"2020-02-02 17:04:11","modified":"2020-11-23 12:14:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":3200,"height":2372,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-768x569.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":569,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1024x759.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1518,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1200x890.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":890,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-567x420.jpg","home_baner-width":567,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Saul\u2019s Slight Sins?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"He sanctioned spoils, and side-stepped smoting. 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