Reasons for Saul's Hiding After Anointing as King
After Samuel privately anointed Saul as king, Saul hid himself among the baggage when the time came for him to be publicly presented to the people [3, 4]. This event, recorded in 1 Samuel 10, has led to various interpretations regarding Saul's motivations for hiding.
One perspective suggests that Saul's hiding stemmed from a sense of humility or unreadiness for the immense responsibility of kingship. Despite being chosen by God and privately anointed by Samuel, Saul may have felt overwhelmed by the prospect of leading Israel [10]. The people were "at a loss, and solicitous, because Saul disappeared," and Samuel had to beseech God to reveal his location [3]. When found, Saul was presented to the multitude, and Samuel declared, "God gives you this man to be your king: see how he is higher than any of the people, and worthy of this dominion" [3].
Another view considers Saul's actions as a manifestation of his character, which was later marked by a "fierce, wayward, fitful nature" and even a "taint of madness" [2]. While this particular instance of hiding might not directly indicate madness, it could be seen as an early sign of his complex and sometimes unpredictable personality. His later reign was characterized by disobedience, leading to God's regret that he had made Saul king [1, 5, 6]. God eventually rejected Saul as king due to his failure to perform divine commandments [1, 5, 8, 11]. Samuel himself mourned for Saul, struggling to reconcile with God's decision to reject him [9].
The narrative of Saul's hiding contrasts with his later actions, where he demonstrated a desire to maintain his kingship even after God had turned away from him [7, 11]. His behavior, such as tearing off his clothes and lying naked, was later interpreted as unwittingly acting out his spiritual condition of being stripped of the kingship [8]. This early act of hiding, therefore, can be seen as an initial moment of hesitation or perhaps a foreshadowing of the internal struggles that would define his reign.
Sources
- King James Version “[KJV] 1 Kings 15:11 — It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Saul — (desired), more accurately Shaul. + One of the early kings of Edom, and successor of Samlah. (Genesis 36:37,38; 1 Chronicles 1:48) (B.C. after 1450.) + The first king of Israel, the son of Kish, and of the tribe of Benjamin. (B.C, 1095-1055.) His character is in part illustrated by the fierce, wayward, fitful nature of the tribe and in part accounted for by the struggle between the old and new systems in which he found himself involved. To this we must add a taint of madness. which broke out in violent frenzy at times leaving him with long lucid intervals. He w”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 4, section 5: So when the people were at a loss, and solicitous, because Saul disappeared, the prophet besought God to show where the young man was, and to produce him before them. So when they had learned of God the place where Saul was hidden, they sent men to bring him; and when he was come, they set him in the midst of the multitude. Now he was taller than any of them, and his stature was very majestic. 6. Then said the prophet, "God gives you this man to be your king: see how he is higher than any of the people, and worthy of this dominio”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, "asked for"), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of the Jewish nation. The singular providential circumstances connected with his election as king are recorded in 1 Sam. 8-10. His father's she-asses had strayed, and Saul was sent with a servant to seek for them. Leaving his home at Gibeah (10:5, "the hill of God," A.V.; lit., as in R.V. marg., "Gibeah of God"), Saul and his servant went toward the north-west ov”
- I Samuel “I Samuel 15:11 (KJV) — It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.”
- King James Version “[KJV] 1 Kings 15:35 — And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.”
- 1 Chronicles (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Chronicles 12:1: 12:1-22 Support for making David king did not begin with Saul’s demise. When Saul was king and David was a fugitive, warriors went to David and eventually became a vast camp of various tribes, representing all of Israel. Even relatives of Saul deserted to David and supported him as king (12:2). Of course, David was prudent about such deserters (12:17), making sure they were not traitors who would betray him to Saul. Before David’s actual anointing took place at Hebron, the will of the people reflected the will of God that David should become king.”
- 1 Samuel (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Samuel 19:24: 19:24 When Saul tore off his clothes and lay naked, he unwittingly acted out his true spiritual condition of having been stripped of the kingship (13:14; 15:10-11, 23; see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note). • Is even Saul a prophet? In 1 Sam 10:9-13, Saul was rising as God’s chosen king; here, he is descending under the weight of God’s rejection.”
- 1 Samuel (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 16:1: Anointing of David. - Sa1 16:1. The words in which God summoned Samuel to proceed to the anointing of another king, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected, that he may not be king over Israel?" show that the prophet had not yet been able to reconcile himself to the hidden ways of the Lord; that he was still afraid that the people and kingdom of God would suffer from the rejection of Saul; and that he continued to mourn for Saul, not merely from his own personal attachment to the fallen king, but also, or perhaps still more, from anxiety for ”
- 1 Samuel (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 9:1: When the Lord had instructed Samuel to appoint a king over the nation, in accordance with its own desire, He very speedily proceeded to show him the man whom He had chosen. Saul the Benjaminite came to Samuel, to consult him as a seer about his father's she-asses, which had been lost, and for which he had been seeking in all directions in vain (Sa1 9:1-14). And the Lord had already revealed to the prophet the day before, that He would send him the man who had been set apart by Him as the king of Israel; and when Samuel met with Saul, He pointed him out as the ”
- 1 Samuel (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Samuel 18:12: 18:12 the Lord . . . had turned away from Saul as king as punishment for his disobedience. Saul’s kingship would fail, and David’s would succeed (18:14).”