A Philistine victory showed the failure of the amphictyony and led to the formation of the monarchy.
The Philistine victory was complete. Israel’s army was cut to pieces. Shiloh was destroyed.
The Philistines had a monopoly of iron—they deprived Israel of all iron.
Later the Philistines returned the ark captured at Shiloh to Israelite soil. A plague made them afraid of it.
Samuel was the bridge from the old order to the new.
Saul was elected king by his army and privately anointed by Samuel at Ramah.
Saul was made king because of his victory over Ammon. He also came from a wealthy family.
Saul’s whole reign was spent at war.
Saul was a manic-depressive person and was, therefore, seldom in a normal state of mind. He was slightly paranoid.
Saul broke with Samuel and persecuted David.
Saul’s son Jonathan was a great friend of David.
David became an outlaw and organized a private army.
After a military defeat, Saul became a suicide on Mt. Gilboa.
This war with the Philistines was started by Jonathan, Saul’s son, killing a Philistine official.
There are two accounts of Saul in the Old Testament. The older, I Sam 9-14. More about Saul in the David narratives. I Sam 17:12-31:13.
Remember: Saul had been privately anointed by Samuel, before his army had elected him king.
Saul’s capital was at Gibeah. The excavation of his capital at Tell-el-Ful (three miles north of Jerusalem) is the oldest datable Israelite fortification.
His paranoid tendency caused him to maintain a running feud with David— repeatedly trying to kill him.
His suspicion is further demonstrated in his cruel slaughter of the priests of Nob.
Saul’s mood swings served to inspire Handel’s oratorio and Browning’s poem.
But for his manic-depressive psychotic affliction, no doubt, Saul would have been an outstanding monarch. He had all the personal endowments for such a career.
NOTE; David’s throne becomes a symbol of the future hopes of Israel regarding the Messiah: The Messiah was to sit on David’s throne and rule the world.
David was not permitted to build the temple, because he had been “a man of war.” He was allowed to gather materials for his son Solomon who was directed to build the temple.