Saul

Saul (/sɔːl/; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. "asked/prayed for"; Arabic: طالوت, romanized: Ṭālūt) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh century BC, according to the Bible, marked the transition of the Israelites from a scattered tribal society ruled by various judges to organized statehood.

The historicity of Saul and the United Kingdom of Israel is not universally accepted, as what is known of both comes largely from the Hebrew Bible. According to the text, he was anointed as king of the Israelites by Samuel, and reigned from Gibeah. Saul is said to have committed suicide when he fell on his sword during a battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, in which three of his sons were also killed. Saul's son Ish-bosheth succeeded him to the throne, reigning for only two years before being murdered by his own military leaders. Saul's son-in-law David then became king.

The biblical narrative of Saul's rise to kingship and his death contains several textual inconsistencies and plays on words that scholars have discussed. These issues include conflicting accounts of Saul's anointing and death, changes in the portrayal of Saul from positive to negative following David's introduction, and etymological discrepancies in the birth-narrative of Samuel, which some scholars believe originally described Saul's birth.

The biblical accounts of Saul's life are found in the Books of Samuel:

According to the Hebrew text of the Bible, Saul reigned for two years, but Biblical scholars generally agree that the text is faulty and that a reign of 20 or 22 years is more probable. In the New Testament book of Acts 13:21, the Apostle Paul indicates that Saul's reign lasted for forty years.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Saul was the son of Kish, of the family of the Matrites, and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel. It appears that he came from Gibeah.

Saul married Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz, with whom he sired at least five sons (Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua, Ishvi and Ish-bosheth) and two daughters (Merab and Michal).

Saul also had a concubine named Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, who bore him two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth.