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The importance of this chapter is that it explains why Yahweh and the prophet Samuel rejected Saul. It is a frequent human error to think that God will overlook and forgive all one’s sins so long as one is careful to attend church. Several OT prophets had to attack this false reasoning; Amos

Israel now had a king, and one who had already proved himself a capable soldier. So, they had a strong sense of well-being. However, Samuel’s speech analyzed the present situation and explored the past, in order to provide guidance for the future. The speech makes it clear that the future did

How will Samuel go about finding and making a king? Naturally every reader must have known that Saul had been Israel’s first king, so the introduction of his name causes no surprise. The story goes on to explain the circumstances in which Samuel and Saul met.

The first king was Saul, and he naturally plays a prominent part in the story. But the biblical author never lets us forget Samuel; indeed, in the biblical writer’s view Samuel remained the real leader of Israel, even when he had handed over military and political affairs to the new king.

The scene now shifts westwards, from the hills towards the coastal plain, which the Philistines had conquered a century earlier. This small but powerful nation had begun to dominate parts of Israel in the time of Samson, and their well-trained army now posed a new threat. It is not surprising,