SAUL

flourished 11th century BC, , Israel Hebrew Sha'ul first king of Israel (c. 10211000 BC). According to the biblical account found mainly in I Samuel, Saul was chosen king both by the judge Samuel and by public acclamation. Saul was similar to the charismatic judges who preceded him in the role of governing; his chief contribution, however, was to defend Israel against its many enemies, especially the Philistines. Additional reading Martin Noth, Geschichte Israels (1950; The History of Israel, 2nd ed., pp. 164178, 1960); and John Bright, A History of Israel, pp. 163174 (1959), provide the best historical assessments of Saul's reign. A somewhat romanticized but provocative personality study is in Fleming James, Personalities of the Old Testament, pp. 96116 (1939).