History of king saul

Biblical figure and Israelite monarch

This article is about King Saul, the biblical figure found in the Hebrew Bible.

History of king saul

For the New Testament figure known as Saul of Tarsus, see Paul the Apostle. For other uses, see Saul (disambiguation).

Saul (; Hebrew: שָׁאוּל‎, Šāʾūl; Greek: Σαούλ, Saoúl; transl. "asked/prayed for") was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity.

His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh century BCE,^[3] supposedly marked the transition of the Israelites from a scattered tribal society ruled by various judges to organized statehood.^[4]

The historicity of Saul and the United Kingdom of Israel is not universally accepted, as what is known of both comes exclusively from the Hebrew Bible.^[3][5] According to the text, he was anointed as king of the Israelites by Samue