Calling Saul of of 3,072 Years Ago !

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

And Saul sent a message to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRvVPg6G1Y 

King Saul was born in about 1050 BCE since we know that King David, his successor, ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE.  So we can say that Saul was a man of 4,200 generations ago being that each year is made up of 4 generations of 25 years each.  That's going back a lot of generations, and we know how different our children's music is from our generation.  We've gone from "In the Mood" to Hip-hop.  How different can you get?  I grew up with the Big Band era of World War II.  I can't even call music of today as music. We are one generation different, well, maybe two. 

David was called in to sooth King Saul's mind.  He played the lyre (small harp) and sang songs to Saul.  Music played its part then, as well. It's thought be some doctors today that Saul was suffering from depression caused by all the stress he was under.    Saul's battle against the Ammonites, as well as his last battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, was fraught with difficulty. It is postulated that Saul experienced epileptic-like fits and assumedly suffered from some kind of 'depression' as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder .

Back in the 11th century BCE, Saul became the 1st king of the Israelites who had been governed by judges from each of the 12 tribes, elders who were the natural leaders of each tribe.  The population saw that other people were being ruled by one King, and they clamored for the same, because at that time they were being threatened militarily from the Philistines and the Ammonites.  So the prophet Samuel, also another judge and in his old age,  was asked to select a king for them.  He chose Saul, and the members of his tribe were all for him as well.    He must have thought up that phrase, Better Call Saul.

Samuel came from a levitical family, meaning from the tribe of Levites that produced Moses and his brother Aaron, people who Moses chose as the Cohens or leaders of the religion.  He lived on Mt. Ephraim and at Ramah in the land of Zuph.  His mother caused him to be taken in and taught by the Nazirite group.  He became a prophet as he foretold the destruction of the House of Eli.  After the death of Eli and his sons and the  defeat of the Israelites by the Philistines at the battle of Aphek, Samuel tried to restore the traditional religious worship. 

 He lived in Ramah and judged the Israelites in the sacred towns of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, preparing the way for national unity.  On his own,, groups of prophets were formed to guide the people.  In his old age, when external pressure grew, he acceded to the demand for a king and picked Saul.  He went to Bethlehem where he anointed David as Saul's successor.  

For roughly two centuries, Israel had existed as a loose confederation of tribes, dependent for their unity upon bonds of religious faith and covenant that were renewed periodically in cultic ceremonies at the central shrine at Shiloh. By Saul’s day, however, the tribal rallies were no match for the superior iron weapons and chariots of the Philistines, who were pressing ever deeper into the central highlands.

Saul was the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  He was a well-to do member of the tribe.  The tribe occupied territory between Ephraim and Judah, which included Jerusalem.  On one occasion,, it was almost exterminated in a war with the other tribes as told in Judges 19-21.  The territory was a bone of contention between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the division of the kingdom after Solomon died, and eventually, was partitioned between the two.  Most of Benjamin's population was swallowed up with Judah after 721 BCE when the Assyrians attacked the northern 10 tribes.  

Kish was a Benjamite of the family of the Matrites (1 Samuel 9:1; 14:51;  1 Samuel 10:21), and there is some question over whether he was the brother or son of Ner (1 Chronicles 8:33 and 9:39; 1 Samuel 14:51). The question may be resolved by reading both Ner and Kish as sons of Abiel.  The Matri (plural: Matrites, Hebrew: מַּטְרִי) were one of several ancient Israelite clans from the Tribe of Benjamin. They were the clan of the family ...

Saul's first move was to at once organized a trained army and attacked their enemy, winning battles.  They had a great victory at Michmash stopped the Philistine danger, and punitive expeditions were undertaken against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans.  According to the Tanakh, (Hebrew Bible), the Battle of Michmash (alternate spelling, Michmas) was fought between Israelites under Jonathan, son of King Saul and a force of Philistines at Michmash, a town east of Bethel and south of Migron in about 1025 BCE.  

When the Philistines launched a united attack,, Saul was only able to fight defensively and fell with his 3 sons including Jonathan in the battle on Mt. Gilboa.  A surviving son, Ishbosheth, was temporarily acknowledged as his successor over part of the country.  Saul's death led to the temporary domination of the Philistines, but the groundwork he laid for national unity eventually proved effective in establishing a strong and independent Israelite monarchy.  

Besides warring, Saul worked on their Israelite religion that Moses had handed down to them and worked on purifying it, such as getting rid of witchcraft.  He did run into disagreements with Prophet Samuel, though, who ended up selecting David to take over the kingship. 

 Now, Moses  was born in 1391 BCE and Saul was born in about 1050 BCE, which was 341 years before, or 1,364 generations before by our enumerating standards of today.  Judaism was new, and I can see how they would have disagreements back then, in the period of the formation of Judaism.

Kish the Benjaminite was not only the father of Saul, first king of the first Israelite Commonwealth.  He was also a herder who cared about his animals.  Kish sent Saul to find them and, on the way, Saul, a head taller than anyone, attracted the attention of a group of young maidens.  He was a handsome young man and the young ladies kept him talking for a while. All he wanted to achieve was the return home of his father’s donkeys, and while in the area, he wished to meet Samuel the Prophet (pictured).  Although Samuel told him that Kish’s animals had been found, Samuel had other ideas for Kish’s son and crowned him King of Israel.

In those days, it was very important to know who your father was, as it was part of your name; Saul ben Kish (Saul, son of Kish).  Last names hadn't been invented yet.  This way, if Saul was used as a name by many others, they could tell which family this one was from, and that was important, too.  So when writing history, the son of was most always mentioned, especially with common names. 

Jonathan was the oldest son of King Saul.  He was very brave fighting against the Philistines in their wars and this made him  very popular with his own people.  They even saved him from death after he had unwittingly  incurred the death penalty (I Sam.13-14). 

Jonathan's devoted friendship with David, whom he defended against his father's anger, became well known.  When he died in battle with his father, Saul, David was so upset that he wrote his famous lament (II Sam.1:17-27.) 

 Oh precious One of Israel--upon your heights lie the slain! How have the mighty fallen!.....Saul and Jonathan,, beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death not parted.  They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.  Oh daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who would clothe you in scarlet with finery, who would place golden jewelry upon your clothing, how have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle--Jonathan, slain upon your heights?  I am distressed over you, my brother Jonathan, you were so pleasant to me!  Your love was more wondrous to me than the love of women!  How have the mighty fallen and the weapons of war gone to waste?  

So sad that their descendants are still crying out this lament today, I'm sure.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-king-of-Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrites_(family)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652967/

http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222012000100009#:~:text=Saul's%20battle%20against%20the%20Ammonites,%2Dtraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(cf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRvVPg6G1Y  Lyre music being played.  

 

Jerusalem in Judah's Judean Hills of Judea, Plains and It's History

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                  

Judea and Samaria;  the so called West Bank.  The tribe of Judah lived in the southern part of Israel, and broke off from it after King Solomon died as the state of Judah.  Romans called it Judea.  Through Israel and Judah one can see the Judean Hills.  This is the mountainous region of the central part of the land.  They were fertile and held many people in biblical days.  One can understand this, since the higher up one goes, the cooler the temperature is, and Israel is in a hot climate. During the 2nd Temple days, rabbinic studies were pursued in the Academy, another term for the University, a school of higher Jewish learning.  After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, they became the central authority of the Jewish people who remained.
                                                                         

The hills  were neglected and suffered severely from soil erosion after the Jews were taken away forcefully or scattered after 70 CE.  However, the 1st Academy founded after 70 CE was that set up by Johanan ben Zakkai at Jabneh (Jabneel) in Judah south of Jaffa.  It had been used as a barrier against Philistine expansion earlier.  . Zakkai  set the Academy up with a group of scholars and reestablished the  Great Sanhedrin which  sat in Jabneh until the Bar Kokhba revolt.  .  Later, others sprang up under the leadership of great scholars, such as that at Lydda which had been built by the tribe of Benjamin and became part of Judah in 145 BCE,  under Eliezer Ben Hyycanus, and that at Pekiin in Upper Galilee (Baka)  under Joshua Ben Hananiah.

 Pekiin was where Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai and his son Eleazar hid from the Romans in a cave for 13 years.  According to local tradition, the Jews of Pekiin never left their village and continued to live there from the times of the 2nd Temple; unbroken residence certain from the 16th century.  Population in 1990 was 3,400 mostly Druze and some Arab Christian and only one Jewish family left.  After Bar Kokhba's rebellion in 132-135 CE and the catastrophic decline in the population of Judea, the center of Jewish learning had moved north, to the Galilee. Again, they may have enjoyed the cool breezes there as the elevation was higher.

 The central school of authority was moved to Usha, where the pupils of Rabbi Akiva were the majority. It was near Haifa.  A synod was held here where far-reaching legislation was enacted.  It was also for a time the seat of the Sanhedrin.  It's Academy was led by distinguished scholars including Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yose ha-Gelili.  A modern settlement was founded in 1937 by Zionist youth.  By 1990 the population was 393.   Later it moved to Shepharam,  in Lower Galilee where Druze and Christian Arabs live today.  In the 2nd century CE it was the seat of the Sanhedrin under Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi.
                                                               

The Crusaders fortified the town with a fortress, and later it was Saladin's base in his siege of Acre. Then the Sanhedrin moved to Bet Shearim which was a spiritual center in 170 CE when Judah Ha-Nasi transferred his academy and Sanhedrin there from Shepharam.  He was buried there which was a central burial -place for Jews from the Diaspora as well as from Palestine. The new building there is 3 miles from the ancient site now in the western valley of Jeezreel, founded in 1936 with a population in 1990 of 383,  and finally moved to Sepphoris in the Galilee, capital in late 2nd Temple times.  Sepphoris's population favored peace with the Romans and surrendered in 67 CE.  It was the seat of the patriarchate from Ha-Nasi until its removal to Tiberias in the 3rd century.    It was here that Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi compiled  the Mishnah.  After he died, the center moved to Tiberias which remained the chief school of Jewish learning for centuries.  It was here that the Jerusalem Talmud and later, the Masorah were compiled.  It was renamed Diocaesarea from the 2nd century but remained a Jewish city in Byzantine times, and was the center of revolt in 315.Finally, Jews were expelled after the 6th century.  Population in 1990 was 329.

Jews returned 2000 years later starting in 1892 and brought in 25,000 to 35,000 Jews.  In 1894  the First Aliyah of Jewish returnees from Yemen and then 7 months later, Eastern Europe   made up the foundation group of Motza.  This was a rural settlement near Jerusalem.  "While all throughout history Jews immigrated to Israel (such as the Vilna Gaon's group), these were generally smaller groups with more religious motives, and did not have a purely secular political goal in mind."  

These Europeans, a lot from Russia, were escaping political persecution being anti-Semitism.  "Russian persecution of Jews was also a factor. In 1881, the czar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated, and the ruling bodies blamed the Jews for the assassination.  They were being raided by Cossacks on horses periodically and attacked and injured or killed.  My own grandmother in Poland suffered from such an ordeal as a young girl and had both legs broken.  Golda Meier suffered from a pogrom like this and she came to the USA first.  "Anti-Semitic attacks affected Jewish societies in the Pale of Settlement, Galicia, and Romania."

Motza was a biblical town near Jerusalem and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.  It still existed in 2nd Temple times.  After the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Vespasian ordered 800 Roman legionaires to settle at Motza, which was now known in Latin as Colonia Amasa.  The modern settlement was erected nearby.  In 1990, the population was 708.

The first king of Israel was from the tribe of Benjamin and was Saul, the son of Kish. The tribe of Benjamin occupied territory between Ephraim and Judah which included Jerusalem.     They were being threatened militarily by the Philistines and the Ammonites.  It was the prophet, Samuel (11th cent. BCE), a Levite, from the tribe of Levi, the same as Moses and Aaron, who selected Saul as king.   Saul immediately organized a trained army and started to defeat the enemy.   They also had to fight against the Moabites, Ammonites and Arameans.  Saul also worked on their religion brought to them by Moses.  He eliminated witchcraft.  Friction occurred and Samuel replaced Saul with David.

The second king, King David, was king from about 1,000 BCE to 960 BCE and was the youngest son of Jesse, who was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz., born in Bethlehem.  He had married Saul's daughter,  Michal.  He chose Hebron as his first capital as the king of Judah.  He later captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it his capital.  It was there that he moved the Ark of the Covenant.

The territory belonging to the tribe of Benjamin was a bone of contention between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the division of the kingdom when King Solomon died.Eventually, it was partitioned between the two tribes.
                                                                         

1898 Kindergarten in 1st Aliyah 
These 5 year-olds would have been 50 years old on May 14, 1948 if they all lived. They were from Rishon LeZion on the Judean coastal plain.  

 Rosh Pinna in the upper Galilee as the 1st Jewish agricultural settlement in the modern period, Zikhron Ya'akov on Mt. Carmel (with height of 1,742, not a part of the Judean hills) but great for grapes for wine, and Gedera in the southern Judean plain etc were started in the 1st Aliyah as farming sites.  

From 1948 to 1967, only a small area of the Judean Hills, otherwise called the Jerusalem Corridor, and some of the foothills was incorporated into Israel at the time of its rebirth on May 14, 1948.  The rest of the hills were in the kingdom of Jordan.  This is because Israel lost 80% of their promised land that had been thee ancient  site of Israel to King Abdullah who was a king in need of a kingdom, and the Brits with the mandate went ahead and allowed him to take this from the Jews.
                                                                       

Jerusalem's Wall at night

After the 1967 Six Day War when Israel was attacked by her many neighbors  pulled a miracle and won the war,  the entire area has been under Israeli rule.  This happens when one wins a war that one does not start or want.  It turned out that she got her original land back, however.

This mountain range is crucial because this is where Jerusalem lies.   Jerusalem is situated roughly in the center of the Judean Mountains.  The original city was slightly east of the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea.  The New City of Jerusalem has spread across the watershed into a series of ridges and valleys facing west.   The hills reach 1,000 meters or 3,280 feet high.  Jerusalem can have snow in the winter.  Safed is about as high as Jerusalem.
                                                                 

"An Israel Railways line runs from Beit Shemesh along the Brook of Sorek and Valley of Rephaim into Jerusalem Malha Train Station."  The old joke was telling people not to put their arm outside the window or it would be in Jordan.  Truly, 9 miles width for Israel is not much at that point.  There's truth to this joke.  

Judea's history is the most integral part of the history of the Jews.  From Israel's southern end  to Judah,   the burning of Jerusalem in 70 CE and onward, the history has extended to today.   

Resource:  The New Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1120086&fid=3081&c=israel
https://www.google.com/search?q=Judean+Hills,+pictures&biw=984&bih=636&tbm=isch&imgil=SpPr4Rlo0JNpiM%253A%253BeTEsdYpoA-vdxM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.flickr.com%25252Fphotos%25252Fder_rosenkavalier%25252F3049937411%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=SpPr4Rlo0JNpiM%253A%252CeTEsdYpoA-vdxM%252C_&usg=__P5B6rTzvgokeZwpmPN4CTLpVUcQ%3D&dpr=1&ved=0CDEQyjc&ei=04QyVYPxLc71oASixYCICw#imgrc=SpPr4Rlo0JNpiM%253A%3BeTEsdYpoA-vdxM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fc2.staticflickr.com%252F4%252F3248%252F3049937411_a38a2f0fb2.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.flickr.com%252Fphotos%252Fder_rosenkavalier%252F3049937411%252F%3B500%3B333  pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaean_Mountains
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aliyah

How Afghana Came From the Benjamin Tribe and King Saul Part II

Nadene Goldfoot
Abiel, b 12th century BCE was the son of Zeror of the tribe of Benjamin.  He was the father of Kish and also the father of King Saul and of Ner, father of Abner.  He was also called Jehiel.  He lived in Gibeon and his wife was Maachah.

Afghana , born around 1,000 BCE, was the grandson of King Saul (Talut) of the 11th century BCE.  .  His father was Saul’s son Irmia (Jeremiah).   King Saul’s father was Kish of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin’s father was Jacob and his mother was Rachel, Jacob’s first love.   The prophet Samuel had selected Saul to be king.  At the time there was a  military threat from the Philistines and Ammonites.  Saul organized a trained army at once and defeated the enemy in battles.  The lineage about Afghana is according to Pashtun records.  I have not found him in Jewish records nor the son “Irmia (Jeremiah). Here we have King Saul referred to in Pashto as Talut.

However, once the tribes had been exiled and removed out of the country, children would have been born and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin would have been cut off from learning about them.  There is also a difference in languages spoken.  For instance, we refer to Hadassah as Queen Esther.  King Ahashueros of Persia that is written in Esther’s book was known there by another name.  There must be a “strong imprint of this occurrence in the cultural memory.  Something must have happened to give rise to the story.”  “It’s kernel might represent something that happened in reality.”  So much of our Jewish genealogy is written in our Torah.  It even lists the genealogy of Esau’s family.  from Abraham and down to the descendants.

Following the tribe of Benjamin from Jewish records were 11 sons.  Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.  This is listed in the Tanakh, the Stone Edition.

According to Jewish records, Saul’s sons were Jonathan and Ishbosheth, Abinadab, Milchishua and a daughter, Merab.  He had 12 children though usually 3 were spoken about.  Eshbaal was another son of Saul who Abner sided with and crowned king at Mahanaim   It was when the Philistines launched a united attack that Saul was only able to fight defensively and fell with his 3 sons including Jonathan in the battle on Mt. Gilboa.  Ishbosheth survived and became his successor over part of the country.

They had a terrific victory at Michmash which stopped the Philistine danger.  Then they went after the Moabites, Ammonites and Arameans.  He purified Judaism by eliminating witchcraft.  Somehow, he made Samuel the prophet angry and Samuel appointed David as the successor. David had been Saul’s armor-bearer and was a friend of his son, Jonathan.  He became the husband of Saul’s daughter, Michal.  Saul became very jealous of David, so David went to live with Achish, king of Gath.  He then returned to Israel after Saul and 3 of his sons had been defeated and killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa.  He settled in Hebron and declared himself king of Judah.

Not only the Pathans, but also the Afghan Royal family has a very well-known tradition placing its origin as coming from the tribe of Benjamin.  This was first found in a book called Mahsan-I-Afghani first published in 1635.  According to this tradition, King Saul had a son called Jeremiah who had a son called Afghana.  Jeremiah died at about the time of King Saul’s death and Afghana was raised by King David and remained in the royal court during King Solomon’s reign.  So the Afghan Royal Family says they came from Benjamin's tribe of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Another important person whose ancestor was the tribe of Benjamin was Mordechai, son of Jair, the uncle of Queen Esther (Hadassah) of Persia.

The Tribes of Joseph

The tribes of Joseph are the tribes of his 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.  They are also considered to be part of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.  They call themselves Bani-Israel, meaning “children of Israel.”  Their tradition is that they were carried away from their ancient homeland.  Formerly they were shepherds in search of pasture but they gave up their nomadic life and settled into village communities.

Resource:  http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_the_names_of_King_Saul's_children
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Pashtun_descent_from_Israelites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai
http://books.google.com/books?id=ULLDDnK0MsQC&pg=PA401&lpg=PA401&dq=kish+and+his+descendants&source=bl&ots=0oHcHLuhyZ&sig=SBIlnY-Kt68VI3DySFcODGuv9M0&hl=en#v=onepage&q=kish%20and%20his%20descendants&f=false
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/bible/library/hushim.shtml
Arif
Asher
Tanakh, Stone Edition
Update 11/1/14 http://www.shavei.org/category/communities/other_communities/asia/afghanistan/?lang=en