Antiquities — Book 6

Josephus · a new plain-English translation from the Greek

a. Destruction of the Palestinians and their land through the wrath of God, on account of the ark taken captive by them, and how they sent it back to the Hebrews. b. Campaign of the Palestinians against them and victory of the Hebrews under the generalship of the prophet Samuel. c. How Samuel, weakened by old age, handed over the administration of affairs to his sons. d. How, because they governed badly, the people in anger demanded to be ruled by a king. e. Samuel's indignation at this, and the appointment of a king for them, Saul by name, at God's command. f. Saul's campaign against the nation of the Ammonites, and victory, and plunder of the enemy. g. How the Palestinians, having again taken the field against the Hebrews, were defeated. h. Saul's war against the Amalekites, and victory.

i. That when Saul transgressed the prophet's commands, Samuel secretly appointed another king, David by name, by God's commission. j. How the Palestinians again made war on the Hebrews, while Saul was still king. k. The single combat of David then against Goliath, the champion of the Palestinians, and the killing of Goliath, and the defeat of the Palestinians. l. How Saul, admiring David's courage, gave him his daughter in marriage. m. That after this the king, having come to suspect David, was eager to kill him. n. How David, though often in danger of death at Saul's hands, escaped, and though Saul twice fell into his power so that he might have killed him, David did not do so. o. How, when the Palestinians again took the field against the Hebrews, the Hebrews were defeated in the battle, and their king Saul died fighting along with his sons. The book covers a span of thirty-two years.

Having taken the ark of their enemies captive, as we said a little earlier, the Palestinians carried it to the city of Azotus and set it beside their own god - he was called Dagon - like some kind of spoil. The next day, at daybreak, when everyone went into the temple to worship the god, they found him lying before the ark: he had fallen from the pedestal on which he regularly stood. They picked him up and set him upright on it again, distressed at what had happened. But when they kept returning to Dagon and again and again found him lying in the same posture, prostrate before the ark, they fell into terrible perplexity and confusion.

In the end the divine visited destruction and disease upon the city of the Azotians and their land: they were dying of dysentery, a painful affliction bringing on a most excruciating death - worse than a natural release of the soul from the body - for they vomited up their own internal organs, eaten away and utterly ruined by the disease. Meanwhile the countryside was overrun by a plague of mice that came up out of the ground and destroyed both the crops and the fruit trees, sparing nothing.

In the midst of these disasters the people of Azotus, unable to bear their misfortunes any longer, understood that these things had come upon them from the ark, and that its capture and the victory that had brought it had not turned out to be a blessing. So they sent to the people of Ascalon, asking them to receive the ark among themselves.

The Ascalonites did not find the request of the Azotians displeasing, and they granted them the favor; but once they had received the ark, they fell into the same terrible troubles, for the ark brought with it to those who received it from the Azotians the same afflictions the Azotians had suffered. So the Ascalonites in turn sent it on to others. Nor did it remain with them either, for driven by the same afflictions they passed it on to the neighboring cities.

In this way the ark made its way around the five cities of the Palestinians, exacting from each, as it were, a tribute for the visit it paid them - the very sufferings they endured on its account. Worn out by these evils, those who had experienced them, and a lesson to those who merely heard of them, resolved never again to receive the ark among themselves at such a price and such a cost, and from then on they sought some device and means of ridding themselves of it.

The rulers of the five cities - Gath, Ekron, Ascalon, and also Gaza and Azotus - came together to consider what should be done. At first it seemed best to send the ark back to its own people, on the ground that God was championing it and that the disasters had accompanied it and invaded their cities together with it. But there were some who said this should not be done, and that they should not be deceived into blaming the ark for their misfortunes; for it did not possess such power and strength on its own - God would never have allowed it, had he cared for it, to fall into human hands. They urged that the people remain calm and bear what had happened with patience, reckoning the cause of these things to be nothing other than nature itself, which, over the cycles of time, produces such changes in bodies, in the earth, in plants, and in everything composed of these elements.

But the counsel of men who in earlier times had been trusted for their good sense and prudence, and who were regarded as such then above all, prevailed over the opinions just mentioned, as fitting the present circumstances. They said the ark should be neither sent away nor kept, but that five golden statues should be set up, one for each city, as a thank-offering to God, because he had taken thought for their safety and had preserved them in life even while pursuing them with sufferings they could no longer withstand; and that they should also make an equal number of golden mice, matching those that had overrun and ruined the land. Then they should put these into a chest, place it on the ark, and build a new cart for it, yoking to it cows newly delivered of their calves. The calves themselves they should shut up and keep back, so that the cows, not hindered by following after their calves, would move all the more eagerly out of longing for them. Then, having driven the cows off pulling the ark, they should leave them at a crossroads and let them go whichever road they chose. If they went off toward the land of the Hebrews and went up into their country, that would show the ark was the cause of their troubles; but if they turned onto another road, they said, 'we will pursue and recover it,' since they would then know it had no such power at all.

They judged that this had been well proposed, and at once put the plan into effect. Having done as had been said, they drove the cart to the crossroads and, leaving it there, withdrew. The cows went straight ahead as if someone were leading them, and the rulers of the Palestinians followed to learn where they would stop and to whom they would come.

Now there is a village of the tribe of Judah called Bethshemesh; to this the cows came, and when a large, fine plain opened before their path they stopped, going no further, and halted the cart there. It was a sight for the people of the village, and they were filled with joy: for it was summer, harvest time, and everyone was out in the fields gathering in the crops; when they saw the ark they were seized with delight, dropped their work at once, and ran straight to the cart.

Taking down the ark and the chest that held the statues and the mice, they set them on a certain rock that was in the plain, and after offering a splendid sacrifice to God and feasting, they burned the cart and the cows whole as a burnt offering. When the rulers of the Palestinians saw this, they turned back.

But the anger and wrath of God overtook seventy of the people of the village of Bethshemesh, who were not worthy to touch the ark - for they were not priests - and who had approached it; he struck them down and killed them. The villagers mourned this suffering that had befallen their fellows and raised such lamentation as was fitting for a calamity sent by God, each bewailing his own dead. Declaring themselves unworthy to have the ark remain among them, they sent word to the community of the Hebrews, informing them that the ark had been given back by the Palestinians. When the Hebrews learned of this, they carried it off to Kiriath-jearim, a city neighboring the village of Bethshemesh.

There, a certain Levite named Abinadab, a man reputed for his righteousness and piety of life, took the ark into his house, as into a place befitting God, in which a righteous man dwelt. His sons cared for the ark and were in charge of this office for twenty years; for that was how long it remained at Kiriath-jearim, having spent four months among the Palestinians.

During that whole period, while the ark remained in the city of the men of Kiriath-jearim, the entire people turned to prayers and sacrifices to God, showing much devotion and zeal toward him. The prophet Samuel, seeing their eagerness, thought it a fit moment to speak to men in this frame of mind about freedom and the blessings it brings, and he used words which he thought would best win over their minds and persuade them.

'Men,' he said, 'for whom the Palestinian enemy is still a heavy burden, while God is beginning to grow gracious and friendly toward you, you must not only desire freedom, but also do what will bring it to you. It is not enough to wish to be rid of your masters while continuing to act in ways that will keep them in power over you. Instead, become righteous, cast wickedness out of your souls, and having purified them with your whole minds turn to God and continue to honor him; for if you do this, good things will come to you: release from servitude and victory over your enemies - things that cannot be won by weapons, or by bodily strength, or by numbers of allies. For it is not to these that God promises to grant such things, but to those who are good and righteous. I myself stand surety for his promises.'

When he had said this, the people acclaimed him, pleased with his exhortation, and pledged to make themselves acceptable to God. Samuel then gathered them at a certain city called Mizpah - which, in the language of the Hebrews, means 'watchtower' - and there, having drawn water, they poured it out as a libation to God, and after fasting the whole day they turned to prayer.

Their gathering there did not go unnoticed by the Palestinians; on learning of this assembly, they marched against the Hebrews with a large army and force, hoping to fall upon them while they neither expected nor were prepared for it. This news struck the Hebrews with terror and threw them into confusion and fear, and they ran to Samuel, saying that their spirits had sunk with fear and from their previous defeat, and that this was why they had kept quiet, so as not to stir up the enemy's forces; yet even though you led us up to prayers and sacrifices and oaths, the enemy has marched against us while we are unarmed and defenseless. We have no other hope of safety than you alone, and God, entreated by you, to grant us escape from the Palestinians.

Samuel urged them to take courage, and promised that God would come to their aid; and taking a suckling lamb, he sacrificed it on behalf of the people and called on God to stretch out his right hand over them in the battle against the Palestinians, and not to overlook them a second time in misfortune. God heard his prayers, and accepting the sacrifice with a kindly and allied disposition, granted them victory and mastery.

While the sacrifice was still on the altar, and had not yet been entirely consumed by the sacred flame, the enemy's force advanced out of their camp and drew up for battle, hoping for victory, since they supposed the Jews were caught helpless, having neither weapons nor having come there expecting battle. But they met with things that no one, however persuasively he had foretold them, would easily have believed. For first God threw them into confusion with an earthquake, shaking the ground beneath them and making it unstable and treacherous, so that as it heaved, the ground gave way under their footing, and where it split apart they were swallowed into some of the chasms; then, thundering upon them and flashing blinding lightning around them as if to burn up their eyes, and striking the weapons from their hands, he turned them, stripped of arms, to flight.

Samuel then went out with the people, and after slaughtering many, pursued them as far as a place called Corraeus. There he set up a stone as a boundary marker of the victory and of the enemy's flight, calling it 'Strong,' a symbol of the strength given them by God against their enemies. After that blow, they no longer made war on the Israelites but kept quiet, out of fear and the memory of what had happened; and the confidence the Palestinians had long held over the Hebrews now belonged, after this victory, to the Hebrews instead.

Samuel led a campaign against them, killed many, utterly humbled their pride, and took back the territory which they had earlier seized from the Jews when they defeated them in battle - territory that stretched all the way to the city of Ekron from the borders of Gath. At that time what remained of the Canaanites was on friendly terms with the Israelites.

The prophet Samuel, having set the people in order and restored a city to them, ordered that when they came together they should settle their disputes with one another there, while he himself went about the cities year by year, judged their cases, and administered good government for a long time.

Afterward, weighed down by old age and hindered from carrying out his usual duties, he handed over the rule and leadership of the nation to his sons, of whom the elder was called Joel and the younger Abiah. He assigned the one to sit and judge in the city of Bethel, and divided the people who were to obey each between them, appointing the other to Beersheba.

These two became a clear example and proof that some children do not turn out like the character of their parents, but sometimes prove themselves good and moderate though born of wicked ones, and at other times, as happened then, base though born of good ones; for turning aside from their father's practices and going down the opposite path, they let justice go for the sake of shameful gifts and gains, and rendered their judgments not according to truth but according to profit, inclining toward luxury and extravagant living. In this they acted, first, in opposition to God, and second, to the prophet who was their father, a man who had shown great zeal and care that the people should be just. The people, angered at the outrages committed against the former order and constitution by the prophet's sons...

the burden they placed on him, they ran to him — he was living in the city of Ramah — and told him of his sons' lawless conduct, and said that he himself was now old and worn down by time and could no longer stand at the head of affairs in the same way. They begged and pleaded with him to appoint one of themselves as king, who would rule the nation and exact justice from the Philistines, who still owed them a reckoning for their earlier wrongs.

These words distressed Samuel deeply, both because of his innate sense of justice and because of his hatred of kings; he was strongly devoted to aristocracy, believing it made those who lived under it godlike and blessed. Under the weight of anxiety and torment over what had been said, he took no thought for food or sleep, but spent the whole night turning over in his mind the questions these affairs raised.

While he was in this state, God appeared to him and told him not to be troubled that the people had made this demand, since it was not him they meant to slight but themselves, in refusing to have God alone as their king. This, God said, was the very thing they had been scheming ever since the day he brought them out of Egypt; before long they would come to a painful repentance, from which nothing that was destined to happen would fail to occur. They would be shown to have acted with contempt and to have taken counsel that was ungrateful both toward God and toward Samuel's own prophetic office. "I therefore command you to appoint for them whomever I designate as king, but first to warn them plainly what evils they will suffer under kingship, and to bear witness against the change they are so eager for." On hearing this, Samuel agreed to appoint them a king, and at dawn he called the Judeans together and said

that he must first describe to them what would come from kings and how many evils would befall them. "Know that first they will tear your children away from you: some they will make drive chariots, others they will make cavalry and bodyguards, others runners, commanders of a thousand, and commanders of a hundred. They will make some craftsmen, armorers, chariot-builders, and makers of instruments of war, farmers and overseers of their own fields, and diggers in vineyards — and there is nothing they will not compel you to do, as though you were slaves bought with silver. Your daughters they will turn into perfumers, cooks, and bakers, and every task that maidservants perform under compulsion, fearing blows and torment, they will be made to perform. Your property they will seize and give to their eunuchs and bodyguards, and the herds of your flocks they will assign to their own men.

In short, you will be enslaved, with everything that is yours, to the king, alongside his own servants. And when this happens, the memory of these words will come back to you, and suffering these things you will change your minds and beg God to have mercy on you and grant you swift release from your kings — but he will not receive your pleas; instead he will turn you away and let you pay the penalty for your own ill counsel."

Yet even against these predictions of what was to come, the people proved thoughtless, and it was hard to dislodge from their minds a judgment already fixed there by their own reasoning; they paid no heed and took no account of Samuel's words, but pressed on stubbornly, insisting that a king be appointed at once and that no thought be given to the future. It was necessary, they said, to have someone to fight alongside them in taking vengeance on their enemies, and there was nothing strange in their wanting the same form of government as the neighboring peoples who had kings. Seeing that they were not turned aside even by what he had said, but persisted, Samuel said, "For now, each of you go home; I will summon you again when the need arises, once I learn from God whom he gives you as king."

Now there was a man of the tribe of Benjamin, well born and good in character, named Kish. He had a son who was a young man outstanding in appearance, great in stature, and superior in spirit and understanding to all who saw him; they called him Saul. This Kish, when some fine donkeys of his had strayed from pasture — for he took more delight in them than in any other of his possessions — sent his son

together with one servant to search for the animals. When the young man had gone through his own tribal territory and reached the others without success, he had decided to turn back, so as not to leave his father any further cause for worry about him. But when the servant who was following him, as they came near the city of Ramah, said that there was a true prophet in that city and advised going to him — for they would learn from him the outcome of the matter of the donkeys — Saul said that if they went they would have nothing to give the prophet in exchange for his prophecy, since their provisions were now exhausted.

When the servant said he had a quarter-shekel on him and would give it — for in their ignorance they supposed the prophet took payment — they went on and, meeting near the gates some young women going out for water, asked them where the prophet's house was. The women told them, and urged them to hurry before he took his place at dinner, for he was entertaining many guests, who would recline before he did. Samuel had in fact gathered many people to the feast that day for this reason: when he had begged God every day to tell him in advance whom he would make king, God had revealed to him the day before that he would send

a young man from the tribe of Benjamin at just this hour. Samuel himself had been sitting on the rooftop awaiting the appointed time, and when it arrived he came down and set out for the dinner. He met Saul, and God signaled to him that this was the one destined to rule. Saul approached Samuel, greeted him, and asked him to point out the prophet's house, saying that as a stranger he did not know it.

When Samuel told him that he himself was the man, and led him toward the dinner, telling him also that the donkeys he had been sent to search for were safe and that every good thing had now been decreed for him, Saul, meeting this, said, "But I am unworthy of such a hope, my lord — my tribe is smaller than the others fit to produce kings, and my clan is lowlier than the rest. You are mocking me, making me a laughing-stock, speaking of things too great for my station." But the prophet led him to the feast and seated him, along with his attendant, above the other guests — who numbered seventy in all — and ordered the servants to set before Saul the king's portion. When the hour for sleep came, the others rose and each went off to his own home,

but Saul, with his servant, spent the night at the prophet's house. At daybreak Samuel roused him from his bed and set him on his way; and when they had come outside the city, he told the servant to go on ahead and had Saul remain behind, saying he had something to tell him with no one else present. So Saul sent his attendant off, and the prophet, taking the sacred

oil, poured it over the young man's head, and kissing him said, "Know that you are king, appointed by God, against the Philistines and for the defense of the Hebrews. And this shall be the sign I want you to know beforehand: when you leave here, you will come upon three men on the road going up to Bethel to worship God — the first you will see carrying three loaves,

the second a kid, and the third will follow bearing a skin of wine. They will greet you warmly and give you two of the loaves, and you shall take them. From there you will come to the place called Rachel's Tomb, where you will meet a man bringing you the good news that your donkeys are found. Then, going on from there to Gibeah, you will fall in with a company of prophets, and being seized by the divine spirit you will prophesy along with them, so that

everyone who sees it will be astonished and amazed, and will say, 'Where has this happened that the son of Kish has come to such fortune?' And when these signs have come to pass for you, know that God is with you. Greet your father and your kinsmen. You will come to me again, summoned to Gilgal, so that we may offer thank offerings to God for these things." Having said this and foretold these things, he sent

the young man away, and everything happened to Saul just as Samuel had prophesied. When he came to the house of his kinsman Abner — for he loved him more than his other relatives — and Abner questioned him about his journey and all that had happened to him, he hid nothing else from him, neither that he had gone to Samuel the prophet nor that Samuel had told him

the donkeys were found; but about the kingship and everything connected with it — which he thought, if heard, would arouse only envy and disbelief — he said nothing to him, judging it neither safe nor wise to reveal it even to a man who seemed most devoted to him and was loved by him more than his own blood relatives. I think he reasoned about human nature as it truly is — that no one, not friend nor kinsman, keeps his goodwill firm even in the face of another's brightest gifts from God, but men grow malicious and envious in the presence of another's advancement.

Samuel then called the people together at the city of Mizpah and addressed them, saying he spoke by God's command: that although God had given them freedom and had enslaved their enemies for them, they had forgotten his benefits, and

they were voting God out of the kingship, not realizing how greatly it profits to be governed by the best of all beings — and God is the best of all — choosing instead to have a man as king, who will treat those under him as his own property, acting according to his own will, desire, and every other impulse of passion, indulging his power without restraint, rather than laboring to preserve the human race as his own work and creation, the way God, precisely for that reason, cares for it.

"But since you have resolved on this, and your arrogance toward God has prevailed, take your places by tribes and clans and cast lots." When the Hebrews had done this, the lot fell to the tribe of Benjamin; and when that tribe was cast by lot, it fell to the clan called Matri; and when that clan was cast by lot man by man, it fell to

Saul, son of Kish, to be king. But when the young man learned of this, he made himself scarce beforehand, not wishing, I think, to appear to accept the office willingly; he showed such self-restraint and moderation that, whereas most men cannot contain their joy even at small pieces of good fortune, but rush to make themselves known to everyone, he not only showed nothing of the kind at being declared king

and made lord of nations so many and so great, but even hid himself from the sight of those who were to be ruled by him, and made them search for him and labor over it. While they were at a loss and anxious, since Saul had in fact vanished, the prophet implored God to show where he was and bring the young man into the open. Learning from God

the place where Saul was hiding, he sent men to bring him, and when he arrived Samuel set him in the midst of the assembly. He stood out above them all, and in height was every bit a king. The prophet said, "This is the man God has given you as king; see how he surpasses everyone and is worthy of the office." And when the people acclaimed the king with cries of "Long live the king," the prophet, having

written down what was to come, read it aloud with the king listening, and placed the scroll in the tent of God as a testimony for later generations of what he had foretold. Having completed this, Samuel dismissed the assembly and went himself to the city of Ramah, which was his home. As Saul went off to Gibeah, from which he came, many good men accompanied him,

paying him the honor due a king, but more men of a base sort, who despised him and mocked him before the crowd, neither bringing gifts nor troubling themselves to please Saul in word or deed. A month later, the war against Nahash, king of the Ammonites, began the honor that all would eventually pay him. This man had done much harm to those Judeans settled

across the Jordan, crossing over against them with a large and warlike army; he subdued their cities into slavery, overpowering them for the moment by force and violence, but also weakening them through cunning and calculation so that even if they later revolted they would be unable to escape servitude to him — for of those who came over to him under a pledge of good faith, or were taken

by the law of war, he gouged out their right eyes. He did this so that, with their left eye covered by their shields, they would be entirely useless in battle. Having done this, the king of the Ammonites marched against the people across the Jordan called the Gileadites, and encamping before the chief city of his enemies — Jabesh — sent envoys to them demanding that they surrender at once,

on condition that their right eyes be gouged out, or else he threatened to besiege them and raze their cities; the choice was theirs, whether they wished to give up some small part of the body or to perish altogether. Terrified, the men of Jabesh dared say nothing to either proposal, neither that they would surrender nor that they would fight, but asked for a truce of seven days

so that they might send envoys to their kinsmen and appeal to them for aid; if help came, they would fight, but if their situation proved hopeless, they said they would surrender themselves to suffer whatever he wished. Nahash, holding the multitude of the Gileadites and their answer in contempt, granted them the truce and permitted them to send

to whomever they wished for allies. They at once sent messengers through every city to the Israelites, who reported Nahash's terms and the desperate straits in which they stood. The people, on hearing this, were moved to tears and grief over the plight of the men of Jabesh, and fear allowed them to do nothing more than this. When the messengers had come also to the city of Saul the

king, and had told of the dangers the men of Jabesh faced, the people there suffered the same grief as the rest, for they mourned the calamity of their kinsmen. Saul, coming in from his work in the fields, found his fellow citizens in the city weeping, and asking the reason for their distress and dejection, learned the

When he heard what the messengers reported, Saul was seized by divine inspiration. He sent the men of Jabesh away, promising that he would come to their relief on the third day and would defeat the enemy before sunrise, so that when the sun rose it would find them already victorious and free of their fears; he told a few of them to stay behind to guide the way. Wanting to frighten the people into hastening more eagerly to the war against the Ammonites, he cut the sinews of his own oxen and threatened to do the same to the oxen of anyone who did not come armed to the Jordan by the next day and follow him and Samuel the prophet wherever they should lead. Fearing the punishment he had announced, the people assembled at the appointed time, and he mustered the multitude at the city of Bezek. He found the number, apart from the tribe of Judah, to be seven hundred thousand men gathered together, while that tribe alone numbered seventy thousand.

Crossing the Jordan and covering a distance of ten schoinoi in the course of a single night, he arrived before sunrise, divided his army into three companies, and fell upon the enemy suddenly from every side while they were off their guard. Joining battle, he killed many of the Ammonites, including their king Naas. This was a brilliant achievement for Saul, and it was reported to all the Hebrews, who praised him and admired him greatly for his courage; even those who had earlier despised him now changed their minds, honoring him and judging him the best of all men. Not content with having merely saved the men of Jabesh, he also marched against the territory of the Ammonites, subdued the whole of it, and returned home in triumph with a great quantity of plunder.

The people rejoiced at Saul's successes, glad that they had chosen such a man as king, and they shouted against those who had said he would be of no use to their affairs: "Where are those men now? Let them be punished" — and everything else that a crowd, elated by good fortune, is fond of saying against those who had recently belittled the men responsible for it. Saul welcomed their goodwill and their zeal on his behalf, but he swore that he would allow none of his countrymen to be put to death that day, for it was wrong, he said, to stain a victory given by God with the blood and murder of kinsmen on a day that should be spent in celebration.

Samuel then declared that Saul's kingship must be confirmed a second time by a fresh election, and everyone gathered at the city of Gilgal, for that is where he had told them to come. There, again in the sight of the assembled people, the prophet anointed Saul with the holy oil and proclaimed him king a second time. And so the constitution of the Hebrews changed into a monarchy. Under Moses and his disciple Joshua, who served as commander, they had continued to live under an aristocracy; after Joshua's death, for eighteen years in all, the people fell into anarchy. After that they returned to their former constitution, giving authority to whoever seemed best in war and bravest in judging disputes among the whole people — and for this reason they called that period of their government the age of the judges.

Samuel the prophet then called the Hebrews together in assembly and said: "I swear to you by the greatest God, who brought those brothers into being — I mean Moses and Aaron — and rescued our fathers from the Egyptians and their slavery, granting them nothing out of favor toward myself, holding back nothing out of fear, and yielding to no other feeling that might have kept them silent: tell me, if I have done anything base or unjust, or acted for gain or greed or favor toward others. Prove it, if I have ever taken so much as a calf or a sheep, which men think it no offense to take for food, or if I have ever seized anyone's beast of burden for my own use and wronged him by it — declare any one of these things now, in the presence of your king." They cried out that none of this had been done by him, but that he had presided over the nation with holiness and justice.

When Samuel had received this testimony from all of them, he said: "Since you have granted that you can say nothing improper about me, hear now what I have to say to you with all frankness: you have committed a great impiety against God in asking for a king. You ought to remember that our forefather Jacob came into Egypt because of famine with only seventy of our people, and that after many thousands had been born there, whom the Egyptians reduced to slavery and cruel outrage, God, in answer to our fathers' prayers, delivered the multitude from their distress without a king, sending them Moses and Aaron, brothers, who led you into this land which you now possess. Yet after enjoying all these benefits from God you have betrayed your worship and piety toward him.

"Nevertheless, when you fell into the hands of your enemies, he freed you — first from the Assyrians and their power, making you stronger than they were, and then giving you mastery over the Ammonites, the Moabites, and finally the Philistines. And you accomplished all this not under the leadership of a king, but under the command of Jephthah and Gideon. What madness, then, possessed you, to flee from God and desire to be ruled by a king? I myself have appointed the man God chose. But so that I may make plain to you that God is angry and displeased at your choosing a monarchy, I will ask him to show you this clearly through signs: something none of you has ever before seen happen in this place — winter weather in the height of summer. I will ask God to grant you this now, so that you may know it."

When Samuel had said this to the people, God signaled the truth of everything the prophet had said with thunder, lightning, and a fall of hail, so that they were struck with terror and overwhelmed with fear, confessed that they had sinned, and admitted that they had fallen into this through ignorance; and they begged the prophet, as a kind and gentle father, to make God favorable to them again and to forgive this sin, which they had committed on top of the other outrages and transgressions they had already perpetrated. He promised to entreat God on their behalf and to persuade him to pardon them for this, but he urged them to be just and good and always to remember the troubles that had befallen them for abandoning virtue, and to remember the signs of God and the legislation of Moses, if they desired safety and prosperity together with their king. But if they neglected these things, he told them, a great blow from God would come upon them and upon their king. Having prophesied these things to the Hebrews, Samuel dismissed them to their homes, having confirmed Saul's kingship a second time.

Saul then chose from among the people about three thousand men. Of these he kept two thousand with himself as a bodyguard and stayed in the city of Bethabo, while he gave the rest to his son Jonathan, sending him with them as his bodyguard to Geba. Jonathan besieged a Philistine garrison not far from Geba, for the Philistines, having subdued the Jews, had taken their weapons from them and occupied the strongest positions in the country with garrisons, and had forbidden them outright to carry or use iron. Because of this ban, whenever the farmers needed to repair one of their tools — a plowshare or a mattock or anything else useful for farming — they had to go to the Philistines to have it done. When the Philistines heard that their garrison had been destroyed, they were furious, regarding this contempt as a grave insult, and they marched against the Jews with three hundred thousand infantry, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand cavalry.

When they encamped near the city of Michmash, Saul, king of the Jews, learned of it and went down to the city of Gilgal, and proclaimed throughout the whole country a call to the people to fight for their freedom against the Philistines, belittling their strength and dismissing it as not worth fearing or risking danger over. But when Saul's men saw the size of the Philistine force, they were terrified: some hid themselves in caves and underground passages, while most fled across the Jordan into the territory of Gad and Reuben. Saul sent for the prophet, summoning him to consult together about the war and the situation. Samuel told him to wait there and prepare sacrificial victims, for he would come to him after seven days, so that they might sacrifice on the seventh day and only then join battle with the enemy.

Saul waited as the prophet had instructed, but he did not keep to the command fully; when he saw that the prophet was delayed and that his soldiers were deserting him, he took the victims and performed the sacrifice himself. Just as he finished, he heard that Samuel was approaching and went out to meet him. Samuel told him he had not acted rightly in disregarding his instructions and anticipating his arrival, which was meant to take place according to God's will, in connection with the prayers and sacrifices offered on behalf of the people; Saul, he said, had usurped this by performing the sacrifice improperly and acting rashly. Saul defended himself, saying that he had waited the appointed number of days, but that necessity had driven him to hasten the sacrifice — his soldiers were deserting out of fear, the enemy was encamped at Michmash, and he had heard that they were coming down against him at Gilgal.

Samuel replied, "But if you had been righteous and had not disobeyed me, nor made light of what God instructed me concerning the present situation, acting more hastily than the circumstances warranted, you would have reigned for a very long time, both you and your descendants." And Samuel, grieved at what had happened, withdrew to his own home, while Saul went to the city of Gibeah, taking with him only six hundred men, along with his son Jonathan. Most of these had no weapons, since the country lacked iron and men able to forge weapons — for the Philistines did not allow this, as we have already explained a little earlier. The Philistines divided their army into three divisions and, advancing by as many roads, ravaged the country of the Hebrews, while Saul their king and his son Jonathan looked on, unable to defend the land, since they had only six hundred men with them.

Saul himself, his son, and the high priest Ahijah, a descendant of Eli the high priest, sat on a high hill, watching the land being plundered, in a state of terrible anguish. Saul's son made a plan with his armor-bearer: they would go secretly to the enemy's camp, rush in, and cause confusion and panic among them. When the armor-bearer said he would eagerly follow wherever he led, even if it meant death, Jonathan, taking the young man's cooperation, went down from the hill toward the enemy. The enemy's camp lay on a cliff, surrounded by three peaks tapering to sharp points, a rocky ridge encircling it like a natural rampart repelling any attack. Because of this the camp's guards had grown careless, since the place itself seemed to guarantee its own safety, and everyone thought it impossible not only to climb up but even to approach it.

When they reached the camp, Jonathan encouraged his armor-bearer, saying, "Let us attack the enemy. If they tell us to come up to them when they see us, take that as a sign of victory; but if they say nothing, as though not calling us, let us turn back." As they approached the camp, with daylight already breaking, the Philistines saw them and said to one another that the Hebrews were coming out of their underground hiding places and caves, and they called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up here to us, so that we may punish you as your daring deserves." Saul's son, welcoming these words as a sign of victory for him, at once withdrew from the spot where the enemy had seen them, and passing by it, came to the cliff face, which was left unguarded because of its natural defenses.

Climbing up from there with great effort, they forced their way up the difficult terrain to reach the enemy, and falling upon them while they slept, they killed about twenty men and filled the rest with confusion and panic, so that some fled, throwing away their armor, while most, unable to recognize one another — since the enemy force was made up of many different peoples — suspected each other, imagining that no more than two Hebrews had come up against them, and turned to fighting among themselves. Some of them died by each other's hands, while others, fleeing, were pushed off the cliffs and hurled down the rocks.

When Saul's scouts reported to the king that the Philistine camp was in turmoil, Saul asked whether any of his own men were missing. Learning that his son and his armor-bearer were absent, he ordered the high priest to take the priestly vestments and prophesy to him about what was to come. When the high priest declared that there would be victory and mastery over the enemy, Saul marched out against the Philistines, who were now in confusion, attacked them, and they began killing one another. Those who had earlier fled into the underground passages and caves now streamed to join him when they heard that Saul was winning, and when the Hebrews numbered about ten thousand, he pursued the enemy, now scattered across the whole countryside.

Whether it was because of the joy of so unexpected a victory — for it commonly happens that men overcome by such good fortune lose control of their judgment — or because of ignorance, Saul now fell into a grave error, one that brought him much blame: wanting to avenge himself and exact full punishment from the Philistines, he laid a curse on the Hebrews, that if anyone, instead of continuing to kill the enemy, stopped to eat before nightfall put an end to the slaughter and the pursuit of their enemies, that man would be accursed.

When Saul had pronounced this, they came into a deep forest, full of bees, in the territory allotted to Ephraim, and Saul's son, who had not heard his father's curse or the people's assent to it, pressed out a bit of honeycomb and ate it. Only afterward did he learn that his father had forbidden, under a terrible curse, anyone to taste food before the sun

He stopped eating, but said that his father had not acted rightly. If the men had taken food while pursuing, they would have caught and killed far more of the enemy, with greater strength and greater eagerness. And indeed, after cutting down many tens of thousands of the Philistines, toward evening the army turned to plunder the Philistine camp, and having seized much booty and livestock they slaughtered it and ate the meat with the blood still in it.

This was reported to the king by the scribes: that the people were sinning against God, sacrificing and eating before the blood had been properly drained and the flesh made clean. So Saul ordered a great stone rolled into the middle of the camp and proclaimed that the people should slaughter their offerings upon it and not consume the meat together with the blood, for this was not pleasing to God. When everyone had done as the king commanded, Saul set up an altar there and offered a whole burnt offering to God upon it—the first altar he built.

Wishing to lead the army at once against the enemy's camp to plunder what was in it before daybreak, and finding the soldiers in no way reluctant but showing great eagerness to do whatever he ordered, the king summoned the high priest Ahitob and bade him inquire whether God granted and permitted them to march against the enemy's camp and destroy those in it. But when the priest said that God was not answering, and not without cause, Saul said, "When we inquire, God gives us no reply—he who before this revealed everything to us of his own accord, even without our asking, and was quick to speak. There must be some hidden sin among us that is the cause of his silence. And I swear by him: even if it should be my own son Jonathan who has committed this sin, I will put him to death and thereby appease God, exactly as I would if the guilty man belonged to another and had nothing to do with me, and I were exacting justice on his account."

When the people cried out that this should be done, he at once made everyone stand in one place, and he himself with his son stood apart, and he sought by lot to learn who was guilty. The lot fell, it seemed, on Jonathan. Questioned by his father as to what wrong he had done and what in his conduct he was conscious of having performed neither rightly nor piously, he said, "Nothing else, father, except that yesterday, unaware of your curse and your oath, I tasted some honeycomb while pursuing the enemy." Saul swore to kill him, and he honored the oath above the ties of birth and natural affection. But Jonathan was not dismayed by the threat of death; bearing himself nobly and with high spirit he said, "I will not beg you to spare me, father. Death is sweetest to me when it comes for the sake of your piety and after so brilliant a victory, for it is the greatest consolation to leave the Hebrews masters of the Philistines."

At this the whole people grieved and shared his suffering, and swore that they would not stand by and let Jonathan, the author of the victory, be put to death. So they snatched him from his father's curse, and themselves offered prayers to God on the young man's behalf, that he might release him from his sin. Saul then returned to his own city, having destroyed about sixty thousand of the enemy.

He reigned prosperously, and by making war on the neighboring nations he subdued the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Philistines, the Idumeans, the Amalekites, and the king of Sobah. He had three sons—Jonathan, Jesus, and Melchisos—and two daughters, Merobe and Michal. His general was the son of his uncle, Abenner; that uncle was called Ner, and Ner and Kish, Saul's father, were brothers, sons of Abiel. Saul also had a great number of chariots and horsemen, and whomever he fought he departed from victorious. He raised the Hebrews to prosperity and greatness of good fortune and made them more powerful than the other nations, and from among the young men he made his bodyguard of those distinguished for stature and beauty.

Samuel then came to Saul and said he had been sent to him by God, to remind him that God had preferred him above all others and appointed him king, and that for this reason he must obey and be submissive to him—since Saul held command over the nations, but God held command over him and over all things. He said God spoke as follows: "Since the Amalekites did the Hebrews much harm in the wilderness, when they had come out of Egypt and were making their way to the land now theirs, I command you to punish the Amalekites in war, and having overpowered them, to leave none of them alive, but to go through every age, beginning with the women and infants, killing them, and to exact from them this vengeance for what they did to your forefathers; and to spare neither the beasts of burden nor the other livestock for your own use and possession, but to dedicate everything to God and, in obedience to the commands of Moses, to blot out the very name of Amalek."

Saul agreed to do what was commanded, and reckoning that obedience to God consisted not merely in undertaking the campaign against the Amalekites, but showed it still more by his readiness and speed, with no delay at all, he gathered his whole force and, numbering it at Gilgal, found the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah to be about four hundred thousand; for that tribe alone furnished thirty thousand soldiers. Saul then invaded the territory of the Amalekites and set many ambushes and traps around the ravine, so that he might not only strike them down when they fought in the open but also fall upon them unexpectedly along the roads and destroy them by encirclement. Joining battle with them, he routed the enemy and destroyed them all as they fled, pursuing them.

When this campaign had proceeded according to God's prophecy, he attacked the cities of the Amalekites and took them, some by siege engines, some by tunneling mines and by building counter-walls outside, others by famine and thirst, and others by still other means, capturing them by force; and he proceeded to the slaughter of the women and infants, judging that in doing this he was committing nothing cruel or harsher than human nature allows—first, because he was doing it to enemies, and second, because it was by God's command, disobedience to which carried danger. He also took captive the king of the enemy, Agag, and, marveling at the beauty and stature of his body, judged him worthy of being spared—no longer acting in accordance with God's will, but overcome by his own feeling and yielding out of pity, unseasonably, in a matter over which he had no safe authority.

For God so hated the nation of the Amalekites that he commanded that not even the infants be spared, toward whom pity is most naturally felt by nature; yet Saul spared their king, the leader responsible for the wrongs done to the Hebrews, from the fate God had decreed for the memory of what he had commanded, setting the enemy's beauty above it. The people shared in his wrongdoing as well; for they too spared the beasts of burden and the livestock and carried them off as plunder, not keeping them for destruction as God had commanded, and they carried away the other goods and wealth, destroying only what was not worth the trouble of keeping.

Having conquered, Saul destroyed all the enemies from Pelusium in Egypt as far as the Red Sea, sparing only the nation of the Sikimites; for these dwelt in the midst of the land of Midian. Before the battle he had sent word ordering them to withdraw, so that they might not share in the Amalekites' disaster, for being kin of Raguel, the father-in-law of Moses, they had reason to be spared. Saul, then, as though he had disobeyed none of what the prophet had enjoined upon him when he was about to wage war against the Amalekites, but had carefully observed all of it and, having conquered the enemy, returned home rejoicing in his success.

But God was displeased both at the sparing of the king of the Amalekites and at the plundering of the livestock by the people, since these things had been done without his consent; for he considered it a grave matter that, while it was by his power that they were winning and prevailing over their enemies, he himself should be despised and disobeyed as though he were not even a human king. He therefore said he repented having appointed Saul king, since Saul did none of what he commanded but acted according to his own will. Hearing this, Samuel was greatly troubled, and throughout the whole night he began to entreat God to be reconciled with Saul and not remain angry with him.

But God would not grant the prophet's request for pardon on Saul's behalf, reckoning it unjust to forgive sins through mere entreaty; for nothing gives rise to wrongdoing more than the leniency shown toward wrongdoers, since in seeking a reputation for fairness and kindness men fail to notice that they are thereby breeding it. So, since God refused the prophet's plea and was clearly resolved not to relent, at daybreak Samuel came to Saul at Gilgal.

Seeing him, the king ran to meet him, and embracing him said, "I thank God for giving me the victory; everything he commanded has indeed been carried out." But Samuel replied, "Then where does this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle in the camp come from?" He answered that the people had kept these for sacrifices, but that the whole race of the Amalekites had been wiped out according to the command, with no one else left, and that he had brought back only their king alive, about whom he said they would deliberate together as to what should be done. The prophet said that the divine is not pleased by sacrifices, but by good and just men—those who follow his will and his commands and consider nothing else to be done rightly by themselves except what they do at God's bidding.

For God is despised not when one fails to sacrifice to him, but when one appears disobedient. From those who do not submit to him, nor practice the true worship alone pleasing to God, he accepts nothing gladly even if they slaughter many fat victims or offer a wealth of dedications made of silver and gold, but turns away and regards these as tokens of wickedness, not piety. But those who keep in mind this one thing alone—whatever God utters and commands—and who choose to die rather than transgress any of it, in these he delights; and he seeks no sacrifice from them, and from those who do sacrifice, even if their offering is meager, he receives the honor of poverty more gladly than that of the very wealthy.

"You, then, know that you are the object of God's anger, for you have despised and neglected what he commanded. How then do you suppose he would look upon a sacrifice offered from what he condemned to destruction? Unless you think that offering these things to God is no different from destroying them. Expect, then, to be stripped of the kingship and the authority, since, though you owe your position to the God who gave it to you, you have shown him such neglect." Saul admitted he had done wrong and did not deny his sin—that he had transgressed the prophet's commands—but said it was out of fear and dread of the soldiers that he had not prevented them from plundering the spoil or restrained them. "But forgive me, and be gentle; for I will guard against sinning in this way in the future," and he begged the prophet to turn back and offer a thank-offering to God.

But Samuel, since he did not see that God was reconciled, was leaving to go on his own way. Saul, wishing to hold him back, seized his cloak, and as Samuel pulled away with force to depart, the garment was torn. The prophet declared that in just this way his kingship would be torn from him, and that another—good and just—would receive it; for God abides by his judgments concerning a man, since it is a human failing, not a mark of divine power, to change and alter one's mind. Saul said he admitted he had acted impiously, but that what had been done could not be made undone; still, he asked to be honored, in the sight of the people, by having Samuel come with him and worship God together with him.

Samuel granted him this, and going with him worshipped God. Then the king of the Amalekites, Agag, was brought before him; and when he asked how bitter death could be, Samuel said, "Just as you made many Hebrew mothers grieve and mourn over their children, so you will cause your own mother to grieve over your destruction." And he ordered him put to death at once, at Gilgal. Samuel himself then departed for the city of Armathon.

King Saul, perceiving what evils he had brought upon himself by making God his enemy, went up to his royal residence at Gaba—the name means "hill" when translated—and after that day he no longer came before the prophet. And to Samuel, who was grieving over him, God commanded that he cease his concern, and instead take the holy oil and go to the city of Bethlehem, to Jesse the son of Obed, and anoint whichever of his sons God himself should point out as the one destined to become king.

Samuel said he was afraid that Saul, learning of this, might kill him, whether by ambush or openly. But God instructed him and gave him a safe way to proceed, and he came to the city just named. Everyone there greeted him and asked the reason for his coming, and he said he had come to sacrifice to God. Having performed the sacrifice, he called Jesse together with his children to the sacred rites, and seeing his eldest son, who was tall and handsome, he judged from his fine appearance that this must be the one destined to be king. But he was mistaken about God's providence; for when he asked God whether he should anoint with the oil this young man whom he himself admired and judged worthy of the kingship, God said that men and God do not see the same things. "You, looking at the young man's beauty, think him worthy to be king; but I do not make bodily comeliness the prize of kingship, but the virtue of souls, and I seek one who is perfectly fitted for this, in piety and righteousness…"

courage, and persuasiveness—the qualities that make up the beauty of the soul. When God had said this, Samuel ordered Jesse to bring forward all his sons before him. Jesse had five others come: the eldest was Taliabos, the second Aminadabos, the third Samalos, the fourth Nathanael, the fifth was called Raelos, and the sixth Asamos. The prophet, seeing that these too were no less handsome in form than the eldest, asked God which of them he chose as king. When God said none of them, Samuel asked Jesse whether he had any other sons besides these. Jesse answered that there was one named David, who tended the flocks and looked after their safekeeping, and Samuel ordered him summoned at once, for it was not possible for them to sit down to the feast until he was present.

When David arrived, sent for by his father, he proved to be a boy fair-skinned, bright-eyed, and handsome besides. Samuel, saying quietly to himself that this was the one who had pleased God to be king, reclined at table himself, and set the young man to recline beside him, along with Jesse and the rest of the sons.

Then, while David watched, he took the oil and anointed him, and spoke softly into his ear, signifying that God had chosen him to be king. He urged him to be just and obedient to God's commands, for in that way his kingdom would remain his for a long time and his house would become splendid and celebrated; he would also overthrow the Philistines,

and against whatever nations he made war he would win and, surviving the battle, would gain a glory sung for ages, both in his lifetime and to leave to those after him. Having given this counsel, Samuel departed, and the divine spirit passed over from Saul to David. David began to prophesy as the divine spirit made its home in him, while Saul was beset by certain afflictions and demonic torments that brought him chokings

and stranglings, so that the physicians could think of no other treatment for him except that, if there were anyone able to sing charms and play the lyre, they should seek him out, and whenever the demons came upon Saul and threw him into confusion, this man should stand over his head, play, and sing hymns. Saul did not neglect this, but ordered that such a man be sought. Someone among those present said

that he had seen in the city of Bethlehem a son of Jesse, still a boy in age, but handsome and fair, worthy of note in other respects as well, and moreover skilled at playing the lyre and singing hymns, and an outstanding warrior. Saul sent to Jesse and ordered him to send David to him, taking him away from the flocks, for he wished to see him, having heard of his good looks and

his courage. Jesse sent his son, giving him gifts to bring to Saul. When David arrived Saul was delighted with him, made him his armor-bearer, and held him in every honor, for he was charmed by him, and whenever the disturbance from the demons came upon him, David alone was his physician, singing hymns and playing the lyre, and

making Saul himself again. Saul then sent to the boy's father Jesse, asking him to let David remain with him, for he took pleasure in seeing him and having him near. Jesse did not refuse Saul but consented to let him keep David. Not long afterward the Philistines again gathered together, mustered a great force, and advanced against the Israelites, and encamping between Socho and Azekah

they pitched camp. Saul led out his army against them and, encamping on a certain mountain, forced the Philistines to abandon their first camp and instead pitch camp on another mountain opposite the one Saul had occupied. A valley lay between the two mountains, separating the camps from each other. Then a man came down from the Philistine camp named Goliath,

from the city of Gath, a man of enormous size, for he was four cubits and a span tall, wearing armor to match the size of his body: he wore a breastplate weighing five thousand shekels, and a bronze helmet and greaves such as befitted a man of such extraordinary stature. His spear was no light burden for a right hand to carry, but he bore it lifted up on his shoulders,

and he also had a javelin weighing six hundred shekels. Many followed him carrying his weapons. This Goliath, standing between the battle lines, let out a great shout and said to Saul and the Hebrews: "I free you from battle and its dangers—why should our armies clash and suffer? Give me one of your men to fight me,

and let the outcome of the war be decided by the one who wins: those on the losing side will be slaves to the other, whoever proves victorious. It is far better and wiser to gain what you want by the risk of one man than by that of all." Having said this he withdrew to his own camp. The next day he came again and made the same speech, and for forty days he did not stop

challenging the enemy with the same words, until Saul himself and his army were struck with dread. They drew up in order as if for battle, but did not come to close quarters. While this war between the Hebrews and the Philistines was underway, Saul sent David back to his father Jesse, being content with Jesse's three sons whom he had sent to serve in the war and share its dangers.

David at first went back to the flocks and the pastures where the animals grazed, but not long after he came to the camp of the Hebrews, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers and to learn how they were faring. When Goliath came forward again, issuing his challenge and taunting them that there was no man among them brave enough to

come down and fight him, David, who happened to be talking with his brothers about the errand his father had sent him on, heard the Philistine blaspheming and reviling the army, and grew indignant. He said to his brothers that he was ready to fight the enemy in single combat. At this the eldest of the brothers, Eliab, rebuked him for being bolder than his age allowed and ignorant of what was fitting, and ordered him to go back to

the flocks and to their father. Ashamed before his brother, David withdrew, but he spoke privately to some of the soldiers, saying that he wished to fight the challenger. When they immediately reported the young man's intention to Saul, the king sent for him, and when he asked what he meant to say, David answered: "Let your spirit not be humbled or timid, O king; for I will bring down the arrogance of this enemy

by going out to meet him in battle and throwing down this tall, huge man beneath me. He himself will thereby become a laughingstock, but your army will gain glory, if he should die not at the hand of a man already capable of war and trusted with battle lines and combat, but at the hand of one who still seems a boy and is of this age." Saul, marveling at his boldness and courage,

but not confident in him because of his youth, said that on account of his age he would be too weak to fight a man skilled in war. David replied: "I make this promise trusting in God, who is with me, for I have already tested his help. Once, when a lion attacked my flocks and seized a lamb, I pursued and caught it, snatched the lamb from the mouth

of the beast, and when it turned and charged at me, I seized it by the tail, dashed it to the ground, and killed it. I have done the same defending against a bear as well. Let this enemy too be counted among those beasts, since for so long he has been taunting our army and blaspheming our God, who will deliver him into my hands." Saul, then, praying that an outcome to match the boy's eagerness and daring

might come from God, said, "Go," and sent him out to the battle. He put his own breastplate on him, girded him with his sword, and fitted a helmet on him, and sent him out. But David, weighed down by the armor—for he had not trained or learned to bear arms—said, "O king, let this equipment remain yours, for one who is able to carry it; allow me, as your servant, to

fight as I wish." So he set the armor aside, took up his staff, and, having gathered five stones from the stream and put them in his shepherd's pouch, carrying his sling in his right hand, he advanced against Goliath. The enemy, seeing him coming, despised him for this and mocked him, since he was carrying, not the weapons proper against a man, but rather

those with which they drive off dogs and defend themselves. "Does he think I am a dog rather than a man?" David answered that he considered him not merely such, but worse than a dog. This provoked Goliath to anger, and he called curses down on David in the name of his god, and threatened to give his flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to tear apart. David answered him in turn:

"You come against me with sword, spear, and breastplate, but I advance against you armed with God, who will destroy you and your whole army by our hands. For I will cut off your head today and throw the rest of your body to the dogs of your own people, and all will learn that the divine stands as champion of the Hebrews, and that our weapons

and our strength lie in his care for us, while all other preparation and power are useless without God's presence." The Philistine, hindered in his speed and stride by the weight of his armor, advanced on foot toward David, contemptuous and confident that he would kill without effort one who was both unarmed and still a boy in age. The young man went to meet him with an ally the enemy could not see—

and that was God. Taking from his pouch one of the stones he had gathered from the stream, and fitting it to his sling, he cast it at Goliath's forehead, and the stone struck and passed through to his brain, so that Goliath, instantly stunned, fell forward on his face. David ran up and stood over the fallen enemy, and, having no sword of his own, took Goliath's own sword

and cut off his head with it. With Goliath's fall, defeat and flight overtook the Philistines: seeing their champion cast down and fearing for everything, they resolved no longer to hold their ground, but gave themselves over to shameful, disorderly flight and tried to save themselves from the danger. Saul and the whole army of the Hebrews raised a shout and dashed after them, killing

many as they pursued them all the way to the borders of Gath and the gates of Ashkelon. About thirty thousand of the Philistines died, and twice that number were wounded. Saul, turning back to their camp, plundered and burned their fortifications; David carried Goliath's head to his own tent and dedicated the sword to God. But envy and hatred

toward David were stirred up in Saul by the women, for as they went out to meet the victorious army with cymbals and tambourines and every kind of rejoicing, the women sang that Saul had destroyed many thousands of the Philistines, but the young girls sang that David had destroyed tens of thousands. Hearing this, the king reckoned that he himself had received the lesser share of praise, while the greater number, in the tens of thousands, had been credited

to the young man, and, concluding that nothing was left for him to lose after such brilliant acclaim except the kingship itself, he began to fear and suspect David. Since it seemed dangerous to have him so near and so close—for he had made him his armor-bearer—Saul removed him from his first post and appointed him instead a commander of a thousand, giving him a position that seemed better but was, as Saul reckoned, safer for himself; for he wished to

send him out against the enemy and into battles, so that he might be killed amid the dangers. But David, bringing God with him wherever he went, prospered and showed himself successful, so that through the excess of his courage he won the love of the people and of Saul's daughter, who was still a virgin; and as his passion overpowered her, it became evident and was reported to her father. Saul,

taking this as an opportunity for his plot against David, was glad to hear it and said he would gladly give the girl to him, telling those who reported her love that this would prove the cause of David's ruin and danger for the one who obtained her: "I promise him," he said, "my daughter's hand in marriage, if he brings me six hundred heads of our enemies." David, with so splendid a prize now offered, and wishing

to win glory by a bold and scarcely credible feat, would set out on the undertaking, Saul reasoned, and would be destroyed by the Philistines, and his affairs would turn out well for him this way; for he would be rid of David through others rather than by killing him himself. So he ordered his servants to sound out David's mind, to see how he felt about marrying the girl. They began to speak

to him, saying that King Saul and the whole people loved him, and that Saul wished to make him his son-in-law. David said, "Does it seem a small thing to you to become the king's son-in-law? To me it does not seem so, especially since I am a man of low station, without glory or honor." When the servants reported David's answer to Saul, he said,

"Tell him it is not money I ask of him, nor a bride-price—for in that way one would be selling one's daughter rather than giving her in marriage—but that, since my son-in-law must have courage and every other kind of excellence, which I see he possesses, I wish to receive from him, in place of a bride-price for my daughter's hand, not gold or silver, nor anything else brought from his father's house, but rather vengeance

on the Philistines and six hundred of their heads. For nothing could be a more welcome, more splendid, or more honorable gift to me than this, and for my daughter it is far more enviable than the customary bride-price to live with a man of such quality, one attested by the defeat of our enemies." When these words were brought to David, he was pleased, believing that Saul was eager for the

David, delighted that these terms had been reported to him, believing Saul was in earnest about becoming his kinsman, did not wait to deliberate, nor did he stop to weigh in his mind whether the task set before him was possible or difficult. He set out at once with his companions against the enemy, and — for it was God who made everything easy and possible for David — he carried out the exploit promised for the marriage: killing many and cutting off the heads of six hundred, he came to the king and displayed them, demanding the marriage in return.

Saul, having no way to escape what he had promised — for he thought it shameful either to appear to have lied, or to have promised the marriage as a plot meant to get David killed by attempting the impossible — gave him his daughter, named Michal, in marriage. But Saul was not going to abide long by what had been done. Seeing that David was held in high regard both by God and by the people, he grew afraid, and unable to hide his fear over matters so great — his throne and his life, the loss of either being a terrible calamity — he resolved to kill David, and ordered his execution to his son Jonathan and his most trusted servants.

Jonathan, astonished that his father's feelings toward David had shifted, not to some moderate coolness out of excessive goodwill but all the way to a death sentence, and loving the young man and revering his courage, told him his father's secret plan. He advised him, however, to keep out of sight and stay safe the next day; he himself would greet his father and, when the moment arose, speak with him about it, learn the reason, and belittle it, arguing that it was not right to kill, on this account, a man who had done such great good for the people and had been his own benefactor — for which he might reasonably obtain pardon even for the gravest offenses. "I will make known to you my father's mind," he said. David, persuaded by this good advice, kept himself out of the king's sight.

The next day Jonathan went to Saul, and finding him cheerful and glad, began to raise the subject of David with him: "What fault, small or great, have you found in him, father, that you have ordered a man put to death who has been of such great service to your own safety, and greater still for punishing the Philistines — who freed the Hebrew people from the insult and mockery they endured for forty days, when he alone dared to face the enemy's challenge, and afterward brought back as many heads of the enemy as he was ordered to, and received for this, as his reward, my sister in marriage — so that his death would grieve us not only for his courage but also for our kinship. For his death would wrong your own daughter as well, since she would be made a widow before she has come to enjoy the benefit of married life. Consider all this, and turn to a gentler course, and do no harm to a man who, first, did you a great service by saving you — when he cast out the evil spirit and the demons that had settled upon you and gave your soul peace from them — and second, avenged you on your enemies; it would be shameful to forget these things."

Saul was won over by these words and swore to his son that he would do David no harm — for a just argument prevails over anger and fear. Jonathan then sent for David, told him the good and welcome news from his father, and brought him to him, and David remained with the king as before. At this time the Philistines again took the field against the Hebrews, and Saul sent David with an army to fight them; David engaged them, killed many, and returned victorious to the king. But Saul did not receive him as he had hoped after his success — instead, pained by David's good fortune, he felt himself made the more insecure by David's very achievements.

When the evil spirit again came upon him and troubled and disturbed him, he called David into the chamber where he lay, holding his spear, and ordered him to sing to the harp and to hymns. While David was doing as he was told, Saul drew back his arm and hurled the spear; David, seeing it coming, dodged aside, then fled to his own house and stayed there the whole day. That night the king sent men and ordered David watched until dawn, so that he should not entirely slip away and vanish, in order that he might be brought before the court, condemned, and put to death.

But Michal, David's wife and the king's daughter, learning her father's intention, stood by her husband, fearful for his prospects and anxious for her own life as well — for she could not bear to go on living if she lost him. "Do not let the sun find you here," she said, "for it will not see you again. Flee while this present night can still give you the chance — and may God make it longer for you. Know that if your father finds you, you are a dead man." She let him down through a window and got him to safety. Then she arranged the bed as though for a sick man, placing a goat's liver under the coverlets, and when at daybreak her father sent for David, she said he had been unwell during the night, showing the covered bed and, by the liver's throbbing beneath the covers, giving the impression that the figure lying there was David breathing hard.

When those who had been sent reported that he had grown weaker during the night, Saul ordered him brought just as he was, for he meant to kill him. But when they came and uncovered the bed and discovered the woman's trick, they reported it to the king. When her father reproached her for having saved his enemy and outwitted him, she offered a plausible defense: she said he had threatened to kill her, and that out of fear she had helped him escape — for which, she said, it was only right that she be forgiven, since she had acted under compulsion and not by choice. "For I do not think," she said, "that you wanted your enemy dead so much as you wanted me kept safe." And Saul forgave the girl.

David, having escaped the danger, went to the prophet Samuel at Ramah and told him of the king's plot against him, and how he had nearly been killed by the spear Saul threw at him, though he had done nothing wrong toward him and had shown no cowardice in the wars against the enemy, but in everything had acted with spirit and success. This was the cause of Saul's hatred for David. When the prophet learned of the king's injustice, he left the city of Ramah and, taking David to a place called Galboath, stayed there with him.

When it was reported to Saul that David was with the prophet, he sent soldiers and ordered them to seize him and bring him back. But when they came to Samuel and found an assembly of prophets there, they were seized by the divine spirit and began to prophesy. When Saul heard this, he sent others, and when the same thing happened to them as to the first, he sent still others; and when a third group also began to prophesy, he finally grew angry and set out himself. When he was now close by, Samuel, before Saul could even see him, made him prophesy too. Saul, coming to him, was driven out of his senses by the overwhelming spirit, and stripping off his clothes, fell down and lay there a whole day and night, with Samuel and David looking on.

When David came to him from there and lamented his father's plot against him, saying that although he had done no wrong and committed no offense, his father was eager to have him murdered, Jonathan, Saul's son, urged him neither to believe this of his own suspicion nor to trust those who slandered him, if indeed there were such people doing this, but to trust him and take heart; his father intended nothing of the kind against him, for he would have told him about it and taken him into his confidence, as he did in everything else. But David swore that this was indeed so, and asked that, believing him, Jonathan look out for him rather than dismiss his true words as false — only to accept them as true when he either saw him dead or heard of it. He said his father told him nothing of these things, knowing his friendship and disposition toward him.

Grieved that, though he had put Saul's intentions to the test, he had not been able to persuade Jonathan, Jonathan asked David what he wanted from him. "I know," David said, "that you are willing to grant and provide me everything. Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am accustomed to dine seated with the king; if you think it best, I will go out of the city and stay hidden in the plain, and when he asks for me, tell him I have gone to my home town of Bethlehem, since my tribe is keeping a festival there, adding that you gave me leave. If he says what one would expect and usually says of friends away from home — that he has gone off on some good errand — know that there is nothing treacherous or hostile in him. But if he answers in some other way, that will be proof of what has been plotted against me. You will reveal to me my father's mind, showing me this favor out of the pity and friendship for which you have asked pledges from me, and have yourself, as my lord, given them to me. And if you find anything wicked in me, kill me yourself, and get to it before my father does."

Displeased at this last remark, Jonathan promised to do as David asked, and that if his father gave any grim answer revealing his hostility, he would let him know. And so that David might trust him the more, he took him out into the open air under the clear sky and swore that he would spare nothing for David's safety: "For I call to witness this God," he said, "whom you see everywhere present and poured out over all things, who even before I put my thoughts into words already knew this intention of mine, as witness to our covenant with you, that I will not stop testing my father's intentions again and again, until I learn exactly what they are and gain access to the secrets of his soul. And once I have learned them, I will not conceal them, but will disclose them to you, whether he proves gentle or ill-disposed. This God knows how I pray always that he be with you; for he is with you now and will not leave you, and he will make you stronger than your enemies, whether it is my father or I. Only remember this: if it should happen that I die, save my children, and repay to them the kindness I now show you." Having sworn this, he sent David off to a certain place in the plain he described, where David used to go to train.

For, knowing that word would come to him from his father, he said he would bring only a boy with him there. "And when I have shot three javelins at the target, I will order the boy to bring me the javelins," he said, "for they will lie in front of him. And if you hear this, know that nothing bad is intended by my father; but if you hear me say the opposite, expect the opposite from the king as well. In any case you will have safety from me, and nothing untoward will happen to you. But see that you remember these things in your time of good fortune, and be of use to my sons." So David, having received these pledges from Jonathan, went off to the agreed place.

The next day, which was the new moon, the king, having purified himself as was his custom, came to the feast, and when his son Jonathan sat at his right and Abner the commander-in-chief on the other side, he saw David's seat empty and kept quiet, supposing that David was absent because he had not purified himself after some contact. But when David was absent on the second day of the new moon as well, he asked his son Jonathan why the son of Jesse had been missing from dinner and the feast both the previous day and this one. Jonathan said that David had gone, as agreed, to his own home town, since his tribe was keeping a festival, with his own permission — and that David had asked Jonathan too to come to the sacrifice, if it were permitted him to go, "for you know my goodwill toward him."

Then Jonathan recognized his father's hostility toward David and saw clearly the whole of his intention; for Saul did not restrain his anger, but cursing him called him a deserter and an enemy, and said he was David's partner and accomplice, and that he had no shame before him or before his own mother in holding such views, and would not even be persuaded that as long as David lived, their hold on the kingdom remained insecure. "Send for him, then," he said, "so that he may pay the penalty." When Jonathan replied, "What has he done wrong, that you want to punish him?", Saul no longer vented his anger in words and curses, but snatched up his spear and sprang at him, meaning to kill him. He did not carry out the deed, being restrained by his friends, but it became plain to his son that he hated David and longed to destroy him, since he had very nearly become his own son's murderer because of him.

Then the king's son leapt up from the feast and, unable because of his grief to eat anything, spent the night in tears, mourning both that he himself had nearly been killed and that David had been condemned to die. At daybreak he went out before the city into the plain, as though to train, but really to reveal to his friend his father's disposition, just as they had agreed. When Jonathan had done as arranged, he sent away the boy who followed him back into the city, and there was quiet for David to come into his presence and speak with him. David appeared and fell at Jonathan's feet, bowing down and calling him the savior of his life. Jonathan raised him up from the ground, and embracing one another they greeted each other at length, weeping and lamenting their youth and the friendship that had drawn such envy, and the parting soon to come, which seemed to them no different from death. Barely recovering from their mourning and urging each other to remember their oaths, they parted. David then, fleeing,

Fleeing the king and the death that threatened him, David came to the city of Nob, to Ahimelech the high priest. Ahimelech was astonished to see him arrive alone, with no friend and no servant accompanying him, and wanted to learn the reason why no one was with him.

David told him that he had been ordered by the king to carry out a secret mission, and that for it he could not be attended by any company, since the king wished it kept hidden. "I have instructed my attendants," he said, "to meet me at a certain place." He asked for provisions, since Ahimelech would be doing a friend's work by supplying him and helping him toward the task before him. Having received these, he also asked for some weapon, a sword or a small spear. Now Saul's servant Doeg was present, a Syrian by birth, who tended the king's mules.

The high priest said he had nothing of that kind himself, but that Goliath's sword was there, which David, after killing the Philistine, had himself dedicated to God. David took it and fled beyond the territory of the Hebrews to Gath, a city of the Philistines, where Achish was king. But he was recognized by the king's servants and brought to his notice, for they reported that this was David, who had killed many thousands of Philistines.

Fearing that he might be put to death by Achish and that he would meet from him the very danger he had escaped from Saul, David feigned madness and fits, letting foam run down over his mouth and doing all the other things that would persuade the king of Gath that he suffered from this disease. The king, indignant with his servants for bringing him a lunatic, ordered David thrown out at once.

Having gotten safely away from Gath, David came to the tribe of Judah, and while he was staying in the cave near the city of Adullam he sent to his brothers to let them know where he was. They came to him with their whole family, and all the others who were in need or in fear of King Saul flocked to him as well, declaring themselves ready to do whatever he thought fit. In all they numbered about four hundred.

Emboldened now that he had gathered a force and men to help him, David set out from there and came to the king of the Moabites, and asked him to receive his parents into his own country until he should see how his own affairs would turn out. The king consented to grant the favor, and treated David's parents with every honor for as long as they remained with him. The prophet himself then commanded David to leave the wilderness and go settle within the territory allotted to the tribe of Judah; David obeyed, and coming to the city of Hereth, remained there.

When Saul heard that David had been seen with a large company, he fell into no ordinary confusion and alarm, for knowing the man's spirit and daring, he suspected that no small undertaking would arise from him, one over which he himself would surely have to grieve and suffer. So he called together his friends, his officers, and the tribe from which he himself came, to meet him on the hill where his palace stood, and sitting on a place of honor called Arurah, with the customary bodyguard drawn up around him, he said to them:

"Men of my own tribe, I know well that you remember my kindnesses to you -- that I have made some of you owners of fields, and honored others with rank and with positions among the people. I ask you, then, whether you expect greater and more numerous gifts than these from the son of Jesse. For I know that all of you have gone over to him, my own son Jonathan having thought this way himself and having persuaded you to do the same. I am not unaware of the oaths and the agreements he has made with David, nor that Jonathan is an adviser and accomplice in what has been arranged against me -- yet none of you cares about any of this, but you sit in silence watching to see how it will turn out."

When the king fell silent, no one else present answered him, but Doeg the Syrian, who tended his mules, said that he had seen David come to the city of Nob, to Ahimelech the high priest, and that Ahimelech had inquired of God on his behalf about the future, given him provisions and Goliath's sword, and sent him off safely to whomever he wished. So Saul sent for the high priest and his whole family, and said:

"What have I done to you, that you should receive the son of Jesse -- a dreadful and thankless act -- give him food and weapons when he was plotting against my kingdom, and consult the future for him besides? For it surely was not hidden from you that he was fleeing from me and hated my house."

The high priest did not try to deny what had happened, but openly acknowledged that he had provided these things -- not as a favor to David, but to Saul himself. He said he had not known the man was Saul's enemy, but rather one of his most trusted servants, a commander of a thousand, and, greater still, already his son-in-law and kinsman. Such things, he said, are not given to enemies, but to those held in the highest goodwill and honor. And it was not the first time he had inquired of God for him; he had done this often before on other occasions as well. "When he told me he had been sent by you in great haste on a mission, I thought it more reasonable to give him what he asked for than to argue with him about it. So do not think ill of me, and do not suspect, because of what you now hear about David's undertaking, that the kindness I showed him then was meant against you. For I gave it to your friend, your son-in-law, your commander -- not to your enemy."

By saying this the high priest did not persuade Saul, for fear is a terrible thing, unwilling to trust even a true defense. He ordered the soldiers standing around Ahimelech to kill him. But when they did not dare to lay hands on the high priest, showing more reverence for what was sacred than fear of disobeying the king, he commanded Doeg the Syrian to carry out the killing.

Doeg, taking men as wicked as himself, killed Ahimelech and his family, who numbered in all about three hundred and eighty-five. Saul also sent men to the city of the priests, Nob, and had all its people killed, sparing neither women nor infants nor any other age, and burned the city itself. Only one son of Ahimelech, named Abiathar, escaped alive.

All this came about just as God had foretold to the high priest Eli, because of the transgressions of his two sons, saying that his descendants would be destroyed. King Saul, having carried out so brutal a deed, slaughtering an entire family that held the high priesthood, showing no pity for infants and no reverence for the aged, and razing to the ground the very city which the divine had chosen as the home and nurse of priests and prophets and marked out as the only one destined to produce such men, thereby gave everyone the means of learning and understanding human nature:

that as long as men are private citizens of humble station, unable to indulge their nature or dare do all they wish, they are fair-minded and moderate, pursuing only what is just, and show the utmost goodwill and zeal toward it; and at that time they also believe concerning the divine that it is present at everything that happens in life, and sees not only the deeds that are done but knows clearly already the very thoughts from which those deeds are going to arise. But once they come into power and authority, then they strip off all of that, and, as if putting away theatrical masks, they cast aside their character and manners and take up instead boldness, recklessness, and contempt for things both human and divine.

And it is precisely when, having drawn nearest to being envied and having become conspicuous to all in whatever they think or do, they most need piety and justice, that they behave as though God no longer sees them -- or as though he feared their power -- and so run riot against the world. Whatever they happen to fear on hearing of it, or hate out of some willful impulse, or love without reason, all of this they treat as valid, certain, true, pleasing to men and to God alike, while they give no thought at all to the future. They honor those who have endured great hardships in their service, but having honored them, they envy them, and having raised them to prominence, they strip from them not only that prominence but, on account of it, their very lives as well,

on wicked and, through their very extravagance, incredible charges. They punish not those whose deeds deserve justice, but those targeted by slander and untested accusations -- not as many as deserve to suffer this, but as many as they are able to kill. This Saul, son of Kish, the first man to reign as king over the Hebrews after the aristocracy and the constitution under the judges, made plain among us, killing three hundred priests and prophets

out of his suspicion against Ahimelech, and razing along with them the very city and, in a certain sense, the temple itself, striving to leave it empty of priests and prophets -- killing so many, and not even allowing their native place to survive, so that others might arise after them.

Now Abiathar, Ahimelech's son, the only one of that family of priests slaughtered by Saul able to escape, fled to David and told him of the disaster that had befallen his household and of his father's murder. David said he was not unaware that this would happen to them, for he had seen Doeg there; he had suspected the high priest would be denounced to the king by him, and he blamed himself for their misfortune. He urged Abiathar to stay there and remain with him, since he judged that he would be no safer hidden in any other place.

At this time David heard that the Philistines had invaded the territory of the people of Keilah and were plundering it, and he resolved to march against them, first inquiring of God through the prophet whether he would grant him victory. When the answer came that he would, David set out against the Philistines with his companions, inflicted great slaughter on them, and drove off their plunder.

He remained with the men of Keilah until they had safely gathered in their threshing floors and their crops, but word reached King Saul that he was there among them -- for the deed and its success did not stay confined to those in whose midst it happened, but spread everywhere by report, both to the ears of others and to the king's, establishing both the fact and the man who had done it.

Saul rejoiced on hearing that David was in Keilah, saying, "God has now delivered him into my hands," since he had forced himself to enter a city with walls, gates, and bars. He ordered the whole army to march against Keilah, besiege it, capture it, and kill David. But David, perceiving this and learning from God that if he remained among them the men of Keilah would hand him over to Saul, took his four hundred men and departed from the city for the wilderness above the place called En-gedi.

When the king heard that David had fled from the men of Keilah, he abandoned his campaign against him. David, moving on from there, came to a place called Horesh, in the district of Ziph, where Jonathan, Saul's son, met with him, and embracing him, urged him to take courage and hold good hopes for the future, and not to grow weary under his present troubles; for he would become king and hold all the power of the Hebrews under himself, though such things are wont to come only with great toil.

Once again they exchanged oaths of goodwill and loyalty toward each other for the whole of their lives, calling God to witness the curses each invoked upon himself should he break their agreement and turn to the opposite course. Jonathan, having eased David's cares and fears a little, left him there and returned home himself.

But the men of Ziph, to curry favor with Saul, informed him that David was staying among them, and promised to hand him over if he came against him, since once the narrow passes of the district of Ziph were seized, he would have no way to escape to others.

The king praised them, acknowledging his gratitude to them for informing him of his enemy, and promising to repay their goodwill before long. He sent men ahead to search for David and scour the wilderness, and answered that he himself would follow. Those sent out on the hunt to capture David pressed the king forward eagerly,

anxious not merely to reveal his enemy's whereabouts out of goodwill toward him, but also to put David more fully within his power by handing him over. Yet they failed in their unjust and wicked desire -- men who risked nothing by not disclosing this to Saul, but who, through flattery and hope of profit from the king, betrayed a man beloved of God who was being hunted unjustly to his death, though he could easily have remained hidden, and promised to deliver him up.

For David, learning of the malice of the Ziphites and of the king's approach, abandoned the narrow passes of their territory and fled to the great rock in the wilderness of Maon. Saul set out in pursuit of him there, for on learning that David had withdrawn from the narrow passes along the road he made for one side of the rock, while David moved off to the other side.

But Saul was turned aside from his pursuit of David, who was on the very point of being captured, when news came that the Philistines had again invaded the territory of the Hebrews; for he judged it more urgent to turn back against them, his natural enemies, and drive them off, than to overlook the ravaging of his land while eagerly bent on catching his personal foe. And so David, having thus escaped danger against all expectation, made his way to the narrow passes of En-gedi.

When Saul had driven out the Philistines, some men came reporting to him that David was staying within the borders of En-gedi. Taking three thousand picked men-at-arms, he hastened after him, and coming not far from the place, he saw beside the road a cave, deep and hollow, opening to great length and breadth, where it happened that David, with his four hundred men, lay hidden.

Pressed by natural need, Saul went into it alone, and was seen by one of David's men. When the man who had seen him told his companions that his enemy had, by God's doing, been delivered into his hand for vengeance, and advised him to cut off Saul's head and free himself from all his long wandering and hardship, David rose up and cut off the fringe of the...

only the piece of the garment Saul was wrapped in, he at once repented, saying it was not right to kill his own master, not even one whom God had deemed worthy of the kingship; for even if this man was wicked toward him, he himself must not be such toward him. When Saul had left the cave, David came out after him and called for Saul to hear him. The king turned around,

and David bowed down before him, falling on his face as was the custom, and said: "O king, you ought not lend your ears to wicked men who fabricate false slanders, granting them belief, while holding your dearest friends under suspicion; you ought instead to judge everyone's disposition by their deeds. Slander deceives, but plain proof of goodwill lies in what a man actually does. A word can prove

either true or false alike, but deeds lay the mind bare before the eyes. Know, then, from this that I am well disposed toward you and your house, and that you ought to trust me, and not, by believing my accusers, pursue my life for things I never had in mind and that could never happen, having no peace day or night,

consumed with anxiety over killing me, a pursuit you carry on unjustly. How have you not formed a false opinion of me, as though I wished to kill you? And how are you not impious toward God, in hunting down a man who today had it in his power to punish you and take justice from you, and yet was unwilling, and did not use the opportunity — which, had it fallen to you against me, you would not yourself have let pass,

longing to destroy me and counting me an enemy? For when I cut off the edge of your garment, I could at that same moment have taken your head as well. By showing you the piece of cloth I gave you cause to see and believe. But I," he said, "held back from a just act of vengeance, while you feel no shame in nursing an unjust hatred against me. May God judge between us and expose the true character of each." Saul, astounded

at the unexpected nature of his deliverance, and struck with wonder at the young man's restraint and character, wept aloud; and when David did the same, Saul answered that it was he himself who had reason to weep. "For you," he said, "have become the cause of good things for me, and I of misfortunes for you. Today you have shown that you possess the justice of the men of old, who, when they caught their enemies in the wilderness, gave orders to spare them. I am now convinced

that God is keeping the kingship for you, and that the might of all the Hebrews awaits you. Give me your sworn word that you will not wipe out my line, nor, bearing me a grudge, destroy my descendants, but that you will preserve and save my house." David swore as Saul asked, and let Saul go back to his own kingdom, while he himself, with the men

who were with him, went up into the narrow pass at Maon. At about this time Samuel the prophet also died, a man who enjoyed no ordinary honor among the Hebrews; for the mourning the people carried on for so long a time, and the zeal and eagerness shown in fulfilling the customary rites at his burial, made plain both his virtue and the goodwill the multitude bore him. They buried him

in his native city, Ramah, and wept for very many days — not grieving as one grieves for a stranger's death, a thing shared with everyone, but each man mourning him as his own. He was a just man, good by nature, and for that above all beloved by God. He led and stood at the head of the people

for twelve years alone after the death of Eli the high priest, and for eighteen more alongside Saul the king. And so the story of Samuel came to its end. There was a certain man of the Ziphites, from the town of Emmah, rich and owner of many flocks; he had three thousand sheep grazing and a thousand goats. David gave orders

to the men with him to keep these flocks unharmed and undamaged, and neither out of desire, nor need, nor the isolation of the wilderness and their ability to do harm unseen, should any of them commit wrong — putting above all these things the rule that no man should be wronged, and holding it a terrible thing, offensive to God, to lay hands on what belonged to others. He taught them this because he believed he was doing a favor to a good man, one worthy of such consideration. Now this man was

Nabal — for that was his name — harsh and evil in his ways, having shaped his life on a churlish, dog-like manner, though he had obtained a wife who was good, prudent, and beautiful in appearance. So at the time when Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent ten of his men to him, and through them greeted him and wished him well in doing this for many years

to come; he asked him to provide, from what he was able, such things as he had learned from the shepherds — that his men had done Nabal no wrong, but had for a long time now, while staying in the wilderness, been guardians of the shepherds and their flocks, and Nabal would have no reason to regret giving something to David. But when those who had been sent delivered this message, Nabal met it with great inhumanity and harshness; for he asked them who

David was, and on hearing he was the son of Jesse, said, "So now, it seems, runaway slaves think a great deal of themselves, and pride themselves on having abandoned their masters!" When they reported this, David grew angry, and having ordered four hundred armed men to follow him — for he now had six hundred in all — leaving two hundred behind to guard the baggage, he marched against Nabal, having sworn that very night to destroy his house and

all his possessions entirely; for he said he was not troubled merely because Nabal had proven ungrateful toward men who had shown him great kindness, giving nothing in return, but because Nabal had also cursed and spoken ill of them, though he had suffered no wrong from them at all. But one of the slaves who guarded Nabal's flocks reported to his mistress — Nabal's wife — that David had sent to him,

and that his men had received nothing decent in return, but had even been insulted with terrible curses, though they had used every care and watchfulness in guarding the flocks, and that this had happened to their master's harm. When he said this, Abigail — for that was her name — loaded the donkeys, filled them with gifts of every kind, and without saying a word to her husband, since he was senseless with drink, set out toward

David. As she came down through the mountain pass, David met her, coming with the four hundred men against Nabal. When the woman saw him, she leaped down, fell on her face, and bowed before him, and begged him not to remember Nabal's words, for he was, she said, not unaware that the man matched his name — Nabal, in the Hebrew tongue, means foolishness — and she excused herself for not having seen

the men he had sent. "So forgive me," she said, "and give thanks to God, who has kept you from being stained with human blood; for as long as you remain clean, he himself will take vengeance for you on wicked men. May the evils that await Nabal fall instead upon the heads of your enemies. Be gracious to me, judging me worthy to receive this from you, and let go your rage

and your anger against my husband and his house, for my sake; for it befits you to be gentle and kind, especially since you are soon to be king." David, accepting the gifts, said, "But it was God in his mercy, woman, who brought you to us today; for otherwise you would not have lived to see tomorrow, since I had sworn this very night to destroy the house of

Nabal, and to leave not one of you alive, from man to beast, since he had proven wicked and ungrateful toward me and my companions. But now you have come before me and softened my anger, God himself caring for you. Yet Nabal, even though he is spared now for your sake, will not escape punishment for his wrongdoing; his own character will destroy him,

on some other charge." Having said this, he sent the woman away. She went home and found her husband feasting with many guests, already heavy with wine; at that time she told him nothing of what had happened, but the next day, when he was sober, she told him everything, and the shock of her words and the grief they caused left him paralyzed, his whole body as if dead. And after no more than ten

days he had lived, Nabal died. When David heard of his death, he said it was well that he himself had been avenged by God; for Nabal had died on account of his own wickedness, and paid the penalty while David's own hand remained clean. He recognized then, too, that the wicked are driven on by God, who overlooks nothing among men, but gives

to the good what is fitting for the good, and brings swift punishment on the wicked. David then sent to the woman, calling her to come and live with him as his wife. She said to those who came that she was unworthy even to touch his feet, yet she came all the same, with her whole retinue in attendance. And she became his wife, receiving this honor both because

his character was prudent and just, and, in gaining her, also for her beauty. Now David already had a wife before this, whom he had married from the city of Abesar; and Michal, the daughter of King Saul who had been David's wife, her father had joined in marriage to Phalti, son of Laish, who was from the city of Gethla. After this some of the Ziphites came and reported to

Saul that David was again in their territory, and that they were able to seize him if he wished their help in doing so. Saul marched against him with three thousand armed men, and when night fell he made camp in a place called Hachilah. David, hearing that Saul had come against him, sent scouts and ordered them to find out how far into the region Saul had already advanced. When those at

Hachilah told him, he waited through the night, then, slipping past his own men unseen, made his way into Saul's camp, bringing with him Abishai, the son of his sister Zeruiah, and Abimelech the Hittite. Saul was asleep, with his armed men lying around him in a circle and his general Abner beside him; David entered the king's camp, but did not kill Saul himself, though he recognized

his resting place by the spear that was planted beside him, nor did he allow Abishai, who wanted to kill Saul and had set himself to do it, but said that it was a terrible thing to kill the man whom God had appointed king, wicked though he might be, for in time he would receive justice from the one who had given him his rule. So he held Abishai back from his rush. And as a token that, though able to kill him, he had held back,

he took Saul's spear and the flask of water that lay beside him, and, with no one in the camp aware, all of them sound asleep, went out, having done everything fearlessly that the moment and his own daring allowed him to do to the king's men. Crossing the ravine and climbing to the top of the mountain, from where he could

be heard clearly, he shouted to Saul's soldiers and to the general Abner, rousing him from sleep and calling out to him and to the people. When the general answered and asked who it was calling him, David said: "I, the son of Jesse, your fugitive. But why is it that you, so great a man and holding the first place of honor

beside the king, guard your master's person so carelessly, and find sleep sweeter than his safety and welfare? These things deserve death and punishment, since you did not even notice some of your own men entering the camp a little while ago. Search, then, for the king's spear and the flask of water, and you will learn what harm came upon you unnoticed while it was within your reach."

When Saul recognized David's voice and understood that, having had him delivered into his hands by sleep and the carelessness of his guards, David had not killed him but spared him though he could justly have destroyed him, he said he was grateful to David for his life, and urged him to take courage and, fearing nothing more terrible from him, to return to his own home; for he was now convinced that not even

his own son could love him as much as he was loved by David — David, who, though able to protect him and had given many proofs of his goodwill, he had driven away and forced to live so long a time in flight and in anguish for his life, deprived of friends and family, while he himself never ceased being kept safe by him, and never took his life even when it plainly lay within his grasp. David then told him to send someone to retrieve

the spear and the flask of water, adding that God would be judge for each of them of his own character and of what he had done in accordance with it, and that God knew that this very day, though able to kill him, David had held back. And Saul, having twice escaped David's hands, returned to his palace and his own household. But David, fearing that if he remained there

he might be seized by Saul, judged it better to go up into Philistine territory and stay there, and with the six hundred men who were with him he came to Achish, king of Gath — one of the five cities. The king received him along with his men and gave him a place to live, and, having with him also his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, he spent his time

in Gath. When Saul heard of this, there was no more talk of sending men after him or marching against him, for he had already twice come near to disaster in his eagerness to seize him. But David did not think it right to remain in the city of Gath; instead he asked the king, since he had received him so kindly, to grant him this favor too — to give him some place in the country

to settle in, since he was ashamed that, by staying in the city, he was a burden and an annoyance to him. Achish gave him a village called Sekella, which David, once he became king, was fond of and honored as his own possession, as did his descendants after him. But of these things we shall speak elsewhere. The length of time David lived in Sekella, in Philistine territory, came to four months

for four months and twenty days. In secret raids on the neighboring Philistine peoples, the Girzites and the Amalekites, he plundered their territory, taking a great deal of livestock and camels as spoil before turning back; he kept clear of the people themselves, for fear they would report him to King Achish, though he did send Achish a share of the plunder as a gift. When the king asked him whom he had raided to bring back such spoil, David told him it was the people of Judah living toward the south and in the plain, and so persuaded Achish to believe this. Achish, for his part, hoped that David had come to hate his own nation and that he would keep him as a subject who would remain in his service for life.

At that same time the Philistines resolved to make war on the Israelites, and sent word around to all their allies to join them for the campaign at a place called Regan, from which they meant to muster and march out against the Hebrews. Achish, king of Gath, ordered David to join him in this alliance with his own armed men. David readily agreed, saying that the moment had come for him to repay Achish for his kindness and hospitality, and promised to serve as his bodyguard once the victory and the struggle against the enemy had gone well for them — a pledge by which he only heightened his zeal, through this promise of honor and loyalty.

Now Saul, king of the Hebrews, had driven out of the country all diviners, ventriloquists, and every such practitioner of that art, except for the prophets. But when he heard that the Philistines had already arrived and made camp near the city of Shunem, on the plain, he marched out against them with his army. Coming to a mountain called Gilboa, he pitched his camp facing the enemy. He was troubled, not without reason, by the size of the enemy's force, which was thought to be both very large and stronger than his own, and he asked God through the prophets to foretell the outcome of the coming battle. When God gave him no answer, Saul grew still more afraid and lost heart, foreseeing, as was only natural, the disaster that threatened him now that the divine was no longer at his side. He ordered a search made for some woman who was a ventriloquist and could call up the souls of the dead, so that through her he might learn how matters were going to turn out for him; for the ventriloquist's art, by bringing up the souls of the dead, foretells to those who ask what is going to happen.

When one of his servants told him there was such a woman in the city of Dor, he slipped away from everyone in the camp, changed out of his royal robes, and taking two servants whom he knew to be utterly loyal, came to the woman at Dor. He asked her to practice her art and bring up for him the soul of whomever he named. The woman refused, saying she would not defy the king, who had banished this class of diviners from the land; she had done Saul no wrong, and it would not be right of him to entrap her into breaking the law so as to punish her for it. Saul swore that no one would learn of it and that he would not report her divination to anyone else, and that she would come to no harm. Once he had persuaded her with his oaths not to be afraid, he ordered her to bring up the soul of Samuel.

Not knowing who Samuel was, she called him up from Hades. When he appeared and the woman saw a dignified, godlike figure, she was seized with fear, and, startled at the sight, cried out, "Are you not King Saul?" — for Samuel had revealed to her who he was. When Saul nodded that he was, and asked her why she was so disturbed, she said she saw someone coming up who looked like a god in form. He told her to describe the figure's appearance and dress and to say how old he was; she answered that he seemed already an old man, of distinguished bearing, wearing a priestly robe. From this the king recognized that it was Samuel, and, falling to the ground, he did him reverence and bowed down.

When Samuel's soul asked why he had disturbed it and forced it to come up, Saul lamented that the enemy pressed hard upon him, that he was at a loss what to do, abandoned as he was by God, receiving no guidance either through prophets or through dreams, and that for this reason he had taken refuge with him, the one who had once watched over him. Samuel, seeing that Saul's fortunes had already reached their end, said, "It is pointless for you to wish to learn anything more from me, now that God has abandoned you. But hear this all the same: David must become king and bring the war to a successful end, while you will lose both your kingdom and your life for having disobeyed God and failed to keep his commands in the war against the Amalekites, just as I foretold you while I was still alive. Know, then, that your people will fall into the power of the enemy, and that tomorrow you yourself, together with your sons, will fall in the battle and join me."

On hearing this, Saul was struck speechless with grief and collapsed to the ground, whether from the anguish that came upon him at these words or from weakness — for he had eaten nothing the previous day and night — and lay there as still as a corpse. When he had barely come to himself, the woman urged him to eat, asking this favor of him in return for the perilous divination she had performed, one it was not lawful for her to carry out, given the danger to herself while not even knowing who he was; yet she had undertaken it and provided it all the same. In return she asked him to let her set a table and food before him, so that once he had regained his strength he might make his way safely back to his own camp. Though he resisted and, in his despair, had turned entirely away from the thought, she pressed him and won him over. She had a single calf that she kept, one she cared for and fed with her own hands as a poor woman does, her sole comfort and possession; this she slaughtered, prepared the meat, and set it before his servants and before him. So Saul returned to the camp during the night.

It is right to commend the woman for her generosity, in that, although she had been forbidden by the king to practice her art — the very king from whom, had things gone otherwise, her household might have had a better and more secure living — and though she had never laid eyes on him before, she bore him no grudge for having condemned her craft, nor did she turn away from him as a stranger with whom she had never had any dealing. Instead she showed him sympathy, comforted him, and, though he was utterly averse to it, urged him toward the very thing that was distasteful to him, and gave him freely and warmly the one thing she had, poor as she was — not repaying some kindness already done to her, nor courting a favor to come, since she knew he was going to die. Most people show generosity either toward those who have already done them some good, or toward those from whom they hope to gain some future advantage; she did neither. It is good, then, to imitate this woman, and to do good to all who are in need, without supposing that anything is more fitting or more proper to the human race, or anything by which we might better secure God's favor as the giver of good things.

So much, then, may suffice to have said about the woman. I will now turn to an account that is of value to cities, peoples, and nations, and fitting for good men — one that will move everyone to pursue virtue, to strive for glory, and to leave behind an undying name and memory, and that will instill in kings and rulers of nations alike a great longing and zeal for what is noble, spurring them to face danger and death for their homelands, and teaching them to despise every terror. I take as the occasion for this account Saul, king of the Hebrews. For although he knew what was to happen and the death that awaited him, since the prophet had foretold it, he did not choose to flee it, nor, out of love of life, to abandon his own people to the enemy and disgrace the dignity of his kingship; instead, he gave himself over, with his whole household and his sons, to danger, judging it a fine thing to fall fighting alongside them for his subjects, and for his sons to die good men rather than be left to an uncertain fate as to what kind of men they would turn out to be — for a worthy heir and lineage will keep his praise and his memory forever undimmed. This man, then, seems to me alone — or if there has ever been or will ever be another like him — just, brave, and self-controlled, and alone worthy to reap from everyone the tribute owed to virtue.

Those who go out to war full of hope, expecting to win and to return safe, and who, once they have accomplished some brilliant feat, are then called brave by historians and other writers — I do not think they are rightly so called. Such men are indeed just and deserve approval, but only those who imitate Saul could rightly be called courageous, daring, and men who despise danger. To go into battle without flinching, not knowing what is going to happen, and to leave oneself to the uncertainty of fortune, is not yet a mark of true nobility, even if such men happen to accomplish many great deeds. But to expect nothing good in one's mind, to know beforehand that one must die and suffer this fate in the fighting, and yet not to be afraid or terrified at the danger, but to go forward to meet what one knows lies in store — this I judge to be the true proof of courage. This, then, is what Saul did, showing that all who long for a good name after death ought to act in such a way as to leave one behind, and above all kings, since the greatness of their power leaves them no room to be anything less than good to their subjects, indeed no room even to be merely moderately good. I could say still more about Saul and his courage, since the subject furnishes ample material, but so as not to appear to make excessive or tasteless use of his praises, I return now to the point from which I turned aside to this digression.

The Philistines, then, having encamped as I said before, and mustering their forces by nation, kingdom, and province, the last king to come forward was Achish with his own army, and David followed with his six hundred armed men. When the Philistine commanders saw him, they asked the king where these Hebrews had come from and who had summoned them. He told them that this was David, who had fled from his master Saul and come over to him, and that Achish had received him, and that David now wished to repay the favor and be avenged on Saul by fighting on their side. But the commanders found fault with Achish for having taken on an enemy as an ally and advised him to send David away, lest he do some great harm to their side without their noticing, for it would give him a way to be reconciled with his former master by damaging their forces. This, they said, was clearly what he had in mind, and they urged that he be sent back, together with his six hundred armed men, to the place Achish had given him to live in; for this, they said, was the David of whom the young women sang, that he had destroyed many tens of thousands of Philistines.

On hearing this, the king of Gath judged that they had spoken well, and calling David to him said, "I myself can testify to your great loyalty and goodwill toward me, and it was for that reason I brought you along as an ally; but the commanders do not share my view. Go, then, at daybreak to the place I gave you, suspecting nothing amiss, and there keep watch over the territory for me, in case any of the enemy should invade it. That too is a part of being an ally." So David, as the king of Gath ordered, went to Ziklag. But during the very time he had left to fight alongside the Philistines, the Amalekites had come and taken Ziklag by force, and after burning it and carrying off a great quantity of plunder both from that town and from the rest of the Philistine territory, had withdrawn.

David, finding Ziklag sacked, everything plundered, and his own wives — he had two — together with the wives and children of his companions carried off captive, at once tore his clothes. Weeping and mourning with his friends, he was so overcome by these misfortunes that his very tears finally failed him, and he was in danger of being killed, pelted by his own companions, who were in anguish over the captivity of their wives and children and blamed him for what had happened. But recovering from his grief and turning his mind toward God, he asked the high priest Abiathar to put on the priestly robe, to inquire of God, and to prophesy whether, if he pursued the Amalekites, God would grant him to overtake them, to save the women and children, and to punish the enemy. When the high priest bade him pursue them, David set out at once with his six hundred armed men and went after the enemy. Coming to a wadi called Besor, he came upon an Egyptian wandering there, exhausted from want and hunger — for he had gone three days lost in the wilderness without food — and, first reviving him with drink and food, asked him who he was and where he came from.

The man said he was an Egyptian by birth, left behind by his master because illness had made him unable to keep up; he told him he had been one of those who had burned and plundered parts of Judea, including Ziklag. David then used him as a guide against the Amalekites, and, finding them sprawled on the ground — some eating, others already drunk and slack with wine, enjoying their spoils and plunder — he fell upon them suddenly and slaughtered a great number of them; for, being unarmed and expecting nothing of the kind, but all bent on drinking and feasting, they were easy prey. Some of them were cut down still reclining at their tables, their blood mingling with the food and drink before them; others were killed as they toasted one another's health; others still as sleep overcame them from the strong wine. Those who managed to arm themselves in time and stand against him were struck down just as easily as the ones lying unarmed. David's men kept up the slaughter from the first hour until evening, so that no more than four hundred of the Amalekites were left, and these escaped by mounting swift camels. He recovered

and everything else the enemy had plundered from them, together with his own wives and those of his companions. When they came back to the place where they had left the two hundred men who had been unable to keep up and had stayed with the baggage, the four hundred refused to share with them any of the rest of the spoil and plunder, saying that since these men had not joined the pursuit but had grown soft over it, they should be satisfied to get back their rescued wives without receiving anything more.

David, however, declared their opinion wicked and unjust. Since God had granted them the power both to punish their enemies and to recover all that was theirs, he said, the spoil should be divided equally among all who had taken part in the campaign, especially since it was by guarding the baggage that these men had remained behind. From that time this became their established law, that those who guarded the baggage should receive the same share as those who fought.

When David reached Ziklag he sent portions of the spoils to all his acquaintances and friends among the tribe of Judah. Such, then, was the course of the sack of Ziklag and the destruction of the Amalekites.

When the Philistines joined battle, a fierce fight followed, and the Philistines won, killing many of their opponents. Saul, king of the Israelites, and his sons fought nobly and with all eagerness, since their entire reputation now rested on dying well and risking everything boldly against the enemy — for they had nothing left beyond this. They turned the whole enemy line upon themselves, and though surrounded, they killed many Philistines before falling. His sons were Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

When they had fallen, the mass of the Hebrews turned to flight, and disorder and confusion arose as the enemy pressed upon them. Saul fled with the strong company he still had around him, but when the Philistines sent javelin-throwers and archers after him, he lost all his men but a few. He himself fought brilliantly and received many wounds, until he could no longer hold out or withstand the blows. Unable to kill himself, he ordered his armor-bearer to draw his sword and run him through, before the enemy could take him alive.

When the armor-bearer did not dare to kill his master, Saul drew his own sword, set it upright, and threw himself upon its point. But he could not stand steady or press the blade through by his own weight, so he turned to a young man standing nearby, and on learning that he was an Amalekite, asked him to press the sword through, since he himself could not manage it with his own hands, and so give him the death he wished. When the young man had done this, he stripped the gold armlet from Saul's arm along with the royal crown and made off.

The armor-bearer, seeing Saul dead, killed himself as well. Not one of the king's bodyguard survived; all fell on what is called Mount Gilboa. When the Hebrews living in the valley across the Jordan, and those who held the cities on the plain, heard that Saul and his sons had fallen and that the force with him had been destroyed, they abandoned their own cities and fled to the strongest fortresses. The Philistines, finding the abandoned cities empty, occupied them.

The next day, as the Philistines were stripping the enemy dead, they came upon the bodies of Saul and his sons. They stripped them, cut off their heads, and sent messengers throughout the whole country announcing that their enemies had fallen. They dedicated their armor in the temple of Astarte, and impaled their bodies on the walls of the city of Beth-shan, which is now called Scythopolis.

When the inhabitants of Jabesh, a city of Gilead, heard that Saul's corpse and those of his sons had been mutilated, they thought it terrible to leave them unburied. The bravest and most daring men of the city — for this city produces men strong in body and spirit alike — set out and traveled all through the night to Beth-shan. Approaching the enemy's wall, they took down the body of Saul and those of his sons and carried them to Jabesh, without the enemy daring to stop them, out of respect for their courage.

The people of Jabesh, weeping as one people, buried the bodies in the finest spot in their territory, called Aroura, and for seven days they mourned them, together with their wives and children, beating their breasts and lamenting the king and his sons, tasting neither food nor drink.

This was the end Saul met, as Samuel had prophesied, because he had disobeyed God's commands concerning the Amalekites, and because he had destroyed the family of the high priest Ahimelech, Ahimelech himself, and the city of the priests. He reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive, and twenty-two after his death. Such was the end of Saul's life.

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