Creating Israel: Samuel's Role in Selecting a King

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

The Edomite kings are listed in Genesis 36.  They reined in the land of Edom before a king reigned over the Children of Israel which would have included the Saul we know as Israel's 1st king.

A King Saul was first mentioned in Genesis 36:37:  And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth-nahar reigned after him, And Saul died, and Baal- haman, son of Achbor, reigned after him....This was the ancient's way of using surnames-adding the name of the father to a person.  Even they recognized that first names could become commonly used.                      

Saul, Hebrew Shaʾul, (flourished 11th century bc, Israel), first king of Israel (c. 1021–1000 BCE). According to the biblical account found mainly in I Samuel, Saul was chosen king both by the judge Samuel and by public acclamation.  Saul was the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  The Israelites were under a military threat of the Philistines and Ammonites who surrounded them and were clamoring for a king like other people had, which at the time they only had judges.  

Samuel anointed Saul in an unnamed town in the land of Zuph, woodcut from Die Bibel in Bildern.  What gave Samuel the right to do this?  Well, he was the last judge chosen, and the people wanted a king, not a judge anymore.  It was probably decided by a consensus of the judges that Samuel use his intuition and choose someone.  Saul could have had a good reputation as a shepherd in making wise choices, like younger David had.  Samuel himself was an outstanding person, as you will read and see below.  

Samuel lived in the 11th century BCE and was the last of Israel's judges.  He came from a family of Levites that lived on Mt. Ephraim and at Ramah in the land of Zuph. Land of Zuph (1 Samuel 9:5, 6), a district in which lay Samuel's city, Ramathaim-Zophim.   Levites were the tribe that Moses and Aaron came from, where we get the Cohens (directly from Aaron) and the other Levites-to serve as Levites, with other responsibilities.  They were to live with their cousins, and would not have a share of the land for themselves.  They were the teachers.             

 It was probably so named after Zuph (1 Chronicles 6:26). Zuph and the city of Ramathaim-Zophim are mentioned in the Bible together with Mount Ephraim, suggesting that they shared a similar locality. 

Samuel's mother had  consecrated him before he was even born to the Nazirites. They were religious devotees sworn not to drink any alcohol, never cut their hair, and not to touch dead bodies.  This was a common vow in the ancient days among mothers, lasting into the 2nd Temple period at which it suddenly disappeared. Probably being taken to Babylonia ended this practice.  

 Samuel's destiny was to serve the group's sanctuary at Shiloh in his childhood where he received a Divine Calling.    

Shiloh became the 1st cult-center of the Israelite religion after the conquest of Canaan under Joshua.  Shiloh, Shilo, or Silo (/ˈʃaɪloʊ/; Hebrew: שִׁלוֹ ,שִׁילֹה ,שִׁלֹה, and שִׁילוֹ variably) is mainly known as the name of the biblical city which preceded Jerusalem as the central worship site of the early Israelites. One bible verse, Genesis 49:10, might indicate that it was also used as the personal name of a biblical figure.  Shiloh was only 25 miles north of Jerusalem in the mountains of Ephraim. 

 This is where the Ark and Tabernacle were kept during the era of the Judges and during Eli's era of priesthood. By 1050 BCE the Philistines stole the Ark in a battle.   From the Hellenistic period to the 12th century CE, people lived in Shiloh.  

For reasons of his own, Samuel selected Saul for a king who immediately organized the young men and trained them into an army, started fighting and winning. He was the most outstanding and best looking man of all he had seen.  No wonder he chose Saul.   

"There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, son of Asbiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a distinguished Benjamite--a mighty man of valor.  He had a son named Saul who was exceptional and goodly;  no one in Israel was handsomer than he.  From his shoulders up, he was taller than any of the people".  (I Samuel, 9:2)

War with the Philistines

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.…

Then they won against the Moabites, Ammonites and Arameans.  Everyone surrounding them were attacking.  Saul even managed to do away with using witchcraft. He became very jealous of David, youngest son of Jesse,  his sword-armor bearer who was the best friend of his son, Jonathan.   Even such a perfect leader as Saul had his problems, and Samuel wound up putting David in his place as the 2nd king of Israel. 

                                                 

"David, king of Israel, lives and endures." (Hebrew: דוד מלך ישראל, חי, חי וקיים), transliterated to: David Melekh Yisra'el; Ḥai, Ḥai, Ve'qayam.  David melekh Yisrael, hai, hai, ve quay am.  (hai-means to live)

The text comes from the Talmud, where Rabbi Judah the Prince instructs Reb Chiyah to use the phrase as a watchword indicating that the new moon has appeared. The Talmudic Rabbis often used the image of the waxing and waning moon as a metaphor for the power of the Davidic line, which would renew itself with the coming of the Messiah."  I learned the song in my Hebrew class in Haifa in 1980."  

     A consensus of agreement about the law by Jewish sages who love to bring up differing points with each other....no one here is a yes-man.  Those caps they wear on their head are their "thinking caps", their kippas.  

Halakha (Jewish Law) has a rich tradition on the laws about the Nazirite. These laws were first recorded in the Mishnah (coded by Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi 135-220 CE of Palestinian Jewry, and Talmud (in tractate Nazir), Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds after 200 CE. They were later codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah (Hafla'ah, Nazir). From the perspective of Orthodox Judaism these laws are not an historical footnote but can be practiced even today. However, since there is no Temple of Jerusalem to complete the vow, and any vow would be permanent, modern rabbinical authorities strongly discourage the practice to the point where it is almost unheard of today.  Samson was also a Nazirite and one of the judges.  Evidently people had more faith that Nazirites would be honest judges.  

Resource;

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tankah,, The Stone Edition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuph#:~:text=Land%20of%20Zuph%20(1%20Samuel,they%20shared%20a%20similar%20locality.https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/13-1.htm

Before Jerusalem We Had Shiloh

Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

                                                       

  
After Joshua led the Israelites of the Exodus to the Promised Land after Moses died at the border, he had to lead these former slaves  into taking the land.
The first CENTER for them was Shiloh, which was 25 miles North of Jerusalem in the mountains of Ephraim. This was their first capital.  
                                                    

                                                            

The Tabernacle or mishkan was the portable sanctuary set up by Moses  in the wilderness according to Divine instructions as found in Exodus 26-7.  Moses had help from his chief architects, Bealel and Oholiah.  For the frame they used acacia wood overlaid with gold.  Many layers of curtains and animal skins made it look like a tent which is why it was called another name;  an ohel moed, or TENT OF MEETING.  It stood there for 369 years!  The USA is only 242 years old!  It's the same as if it were placed there in 1776 until 2145 when we could be invaded by outer-space aliens!  

The most important part of the tent was the HOLY OR HOLIES,  a very sacred part that was separated from the rest by a curtain.  It contained THE ARK, THE SEVEN-BRANCHED MENORAH, THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD, AND THE GOLDEN ALTAR FOR INCENSE.  
                                                       

The Ark of the Covenant was the chest where the 2 tablets of the Law were kept.  It was made of acacia wood, both inlaid and covered with goldl.  A molding of gold surrounded it and 4 gold-overlaid wooden staves were placed through 4 rings on its sides.
                                                       

  Then over it was a cover of gold, 2 golden cherubim with wings that screened the ark cover.  

Shewbread were the 12 loaves of fine white flour which were laid in 2 rows on the golden table in the inner shrine of the temple.  
                                                     

They were put on chalices filled with spices and remained there from one Sabbath to the next when they were divided among the priests. (Lev 24:1-9).  

Before the people had a king, they had Judges that made decisions between people of right and wrong.  They were chosen by G-d and must have been well versed in the lessons from Moses of our 613 laws of what to do and not to do.  

The Benjaminites attacked Jabesh-Gilead at Shiloh and took 400 virgin women as captives for their own wives.  Jabesh Gilead was an ancient city in the Gilead region of Transjordania.  The native people of this area had refused to join the Israelite tribes in the war with Benjamin.  These natives were all put to the sword with the exception of the 400 virgins who were given to the remnants of the Benjamites in order to perpetuate the tribe.  They lived in land between Ephraim and Judah which included Jerusalem.  Saul, son of Kish and the first king of Israel who lived in the 11th century BCE , was a Benjaminite.  Eventually, his land was partitioned between Ephraim and Judah.  
                                                         

During this period, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle were kept in Shiloh.  They served as the central national shrine and were objects of pilgrimage, especially during the long priesthood of Eli.  He was one of the last Judges of the 11th century BCE, and was the mentor of Samuel.  He was elevated to the high priesthood at age 58 and died 40 years later as a result of falling from his chair after hearing of the Philistine capture of the Ark (I Sam. 4:13).  His family heirs was kept out of the priesthood because of the immoral conduct of his sons, Heophni and Phinehas.  
                                                        

Remains of ancient synagogue in Shiloh

Shiloh and the Tabernacle were destroyed by the Philistines after the battle of Aphek in about 1050 BCE when the Ark was captured.  It had stood here in Shiloh for 369 years.  Aphek could have been where Afula is today.  In about 1000 BCE, the AIsraelites suffered from this crushing defeat by the Philistines.  The Philistine camp was near Petah Tikvah and they had captured the Ark from the Israelites.   This means that Moses received the directions on making it in 1419 BCE.  They traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land for 40 years, so that could have started in about 1450 BCE.  
                                                          

Shiloh just sunk into history.  It was settled from the Hellenistic Period when Alexander the Great was the conquerer and brought the Greek civilization to the Middle East at the end of the 4th century BCE  to the 12th century CE.  Judah had been surrounded by a ring of hellenized cities.  Jews were moving out into the Diaspora of Egypt, Cyrenaica, Syria and Asia Minor, all Greek places.  The site was excavated by a Danish expedition in 1926 and is regoing more searches with today's archaeologists who are still turning up important things.  
                                                        

Today  "Dr Scott Stripling, the director of the excavation (sponsored by Associates for Biblical Research) is leading the dig.  He explained that "Jews would come up from all over Israel and bring their sacrifices at the Tabernacle. The pottery that was used to eat the sacrifices with were then broken into pieces. That is why everywhere you walk on the site, you find pottery shards from that period."

With over 20 years of experience, "Dr. Stripling and his team of about one hundred volunteers excavate over 2,000 pieces of pottery. Approximately 10% of that is kept for further study."  They have found coins with RETURN TO ZION, (with Zion meaning Jerusalem) etched on them from Aluf Bar Kokhba in 132CE who made a 3 year stand against the Romans, but lost against their higher technology warfare and numbers of soldiers.   It was the longest battle the Romans had to fight which angered them so much that they decided to name the land for the very long-time enemies of the Jews, the Philistines.  Thus, we have the new name from Herodotus, the Greeks called Eretz Yisrael after the Philistines, Syria Palaestina.  Under Hadrian the Roman, the Romans gave the name officially to the former land land of Judah as Syria Palaestina.  Americans before 1948 called it Palestine.  

Resource:  The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.theheartofisrael.org/about/  email about Shiloh

Census Time of the 12 Tribes of Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                       

Moses was born in 1391 BCE and died in 1271 BCE as best as has been figured.  He led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land which was Canaan .  When he started he was 80 years old  So it was in the year 1311 BCE that this exodus started.  He didn't make it as he took 40 years to get there, so died at age 120 outside of the land and Joshua had to take over his position of entering the land.  They found that it was important to take a count, a census of the tribes and this is recorded in the Torah twice under NUMBERS, one of the 5 books of Moses.

Every Jew was counted individually as they passed in front of Moses and Aaron at the beginning of their trek away from Egypt and presented proof of his tribal descent. This happened on the 1st of the 2nd month, in the 2nd year after their exodus from Egypt.    They received their blessing and guidance.  Once counted the tribes were arrayed around the Tabernacle, demonstrating that the presence of G-d was the starting point.  It was the central focus of the nation then and for always.  "Jews are a nation by virtue of the Torah."  It is their reason for being a nation,  their raison d'etre.  By accepting this they became a people and by following the Torah they remain a people.  They camped around the Tabernacle which held the Tablets of the Law and marched with it wherever G-d led them.  Our saying is, "More than the Jews have preserved the Sabbath, the Sabbath has preserved the Jews."  The Jews follow their law in that the Sabbath starts on sundown Friday night and ends on Saturday night with the showing of 3 stars in the sky.

The biblical commentator, Rashi, noted that at the beginning of NUMBERS it was G-d who counted the nation at every significant turn.  They were counted as individuals which shows the worth of every person counted.  It would have been easier to count them in masses but sheer numbers wasn't the point of the census.  Each person was to feel that they mattered and that they had a personal responsibility to grow and contribute.  Each tribe had their own uniqueness and each individual was precious in his own right.

Our 5 books of Moses in Numbers tells how the nation slid and an entire generation had to die through the 40 years of walking, but their children came out of it strong and courageous.  They were ready to claim their destiny as the heirs to the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they gathered around the Tabernacle ready to follow Moses.

The 2nd census was taken after the plague.This was a plague that killed 24,000 people who were part of the exodus.  The people  had settled in Shittim and  started seeing the women of Shittim who came over to them and were being very suggestive.  The foreign women invited the Israelite men to their feasts of their gods and they complied and started to praise their god, Baal-peor. Now,  sexual morality is the foundation of Jewish holiness and we are not to be immoral.  Balaam, a great magician,  counseled Balak, king of Moab,  to entice Jewish men to break their law and they did for the offer of sex. Balaam had told Balak that the only way to harm the people of Israel was to seduce them into sin. For only then would G-d punish His people.  One man was so brazen as to bring his paramour right to Moses and sinned in public view.  You can imagine what he was doing.  He was killed for doing this-the punishment of the period.    This evidently was the plague that hit the Israelite  men.   Then  G-d spoke to Moses and to Elazar, son of Aaron the Kohen and told them to take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel, from 21 years of age and up, according to their fathers' houses, all who go out to the legion in Israel.

What we learn from this is that the 600,000 some people on the exodus did not march continually every day, but they did take a break once in a while and here that break led to the death of many for fornicating and starting to worship other gods.  It was not an easy task to change their habits. Here the Moabites were guilty of enticing them to sin in the hopes that G-d would then destroy them.  What has happened to the Moabites now days?  Do you think they are hiding out in some canyon someplace?  I'm afraid not.  They have long disappeared. They may be showing up in DNA tests as a few segments of genes, but as a people, known on this planet-no.  If there are descendants, they are not known as the Moabites anymore.   But Am Yisrael Chai.  The Jewish people are still here.  There are now 6 million Jews  in Israel according to the latest census.

TRIBE                                                        POPULATION      POPULATION      POPULATION
                                                              NUMBERS CH. 1      NUMBERS CH 26      CHANGE

1. Reuben                                             46,500                          43,730                          -2,770
2. Simeon                                             59,300                          22,200                        -37,100
3. Judah                                              74,600                          76,500                         + 1,900 
4. Issachar                                           54,400                          64,300                          + 9,900
5. Zebulun                                           57,400                           60,500                         + 3,100
6. Dan                                                 62,700                           64,400                         + 1,700
7. Naphtali                                          53,400                           45,400                          - 8,000
8. Gad                                                45,650                           40,500                          - 5,150
9. Asher                                             41,500                            53,400                        +11,900
10. Ephraim                                       40,500                            32,500                          - 8,000
11. Manasseh                                    32,200                            52,700                        +20,500
12. Benjamin                                     35,400                            45,600                        +10,200
TOTALS                                        603,550                          601,730                          -1,820

Resource: Tanach, The Stone Edition, ArtScroll Series, Mesorh Heritage Foundation
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246644/jewish/Balaam-and-Balak.htm