The character of Saul and his place within the history, theology, and ideology of ancient Israel have fascinated interpreters for centuries. This book surveys the field of Saul studies. It includes in the first instance essays detailing Saul's place within the biblical narrative and its constituent parts (such as the Deuteronomistic History and the Chronicler's work). The possibility of identifying a Saulide period in the archaeological record is also discussed. A number of essays look at more specific themes and passages within the Saul cycle, such as his heroic nature, kingship, war, and literary balance. The final section of the book looks at the place of Saul within the post-biblical interpretative traditions, with essays devoted to Saul in the works of Josephus, in midrashic literature, in the Qur'an, in selected European literary texts, in the western artistic tradition, and in Handel's oratorio Saul. Contents: Carl S. Ehrlich: Introduction Avraham Faust: Settlement Patterns and State Formation in Southern Samaria and the Archaeology of (a) Saul Siegfried Kreuzer: Saul - not always - at War. A New Perspective on the Rise of Kingship in Israel Steven L. McKenzie: Saul in the Deuteronomistic History Yairah Amit: The Delicate Balance in the Image of Saul and Its Place in the Deuteronomistic History Gregory Mobley: Glimpses of the Heroic Saul Christophe Nihan: Saul among the Prophets (1 Sam 10:10-12 and 19:18-24). The Reworking of Saul's Figure in the Context of the Debate on Charismatic Prophecy in the Persian Era Mark W. Hamilton: The Creation of Saul's Royal Body. Reflections on 1 Samuel 8-10 Marsha C. White: Saul and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 1 and 14 Samuel A. Meier: The Sword. From Saul to David C. Mark McCormick: From Box to Throne. The Development of the Ark in DtrH and P Gary N. Knoppers: Israel's First King and the Kingdom of YHWH in the hands of the sons of David. The Place of the Saulide Monarchy in the Chronicler's Historiography Louis H. Feldman: Josephus' View of Saul Hanna Liss: The Innocent King. Saul in Rabbinic Exegesis Walid A. Saleh: What if you refuse, when ordered to fight? King Saul (Talut) in the Qur'an and Post-Quranic Literature Rudiger Bartelmus: Handel and Jennens' Oratorio Saul. A Late Musical and Dramatic Rehabilitation of the Figure of Saul, Misrepresented in theOld Testament as the Diametrical Opposite of David Sarah Nicholson: Catching the Poetic Eye. Saul Reconceived in Modern Literature Marc Michael Epstein: Seeing Saul

A First Nations former hockey star looks back on his life as he undergoes treatment for alcoholism in this novel from the author of Dream Wheels. Saul Indian Horse is a child when his family retreats into the woods. Among the lakes and the cedars, they attempt to reconnect with half-forgotten traditions and hide from the authorities who have been kidnapping Ojibway youth. But when winter approaches, Saul loses everything: his brother, his parents, his beloved grandmother—and then his home itself. Alone in the world and placed in a horrific boarding school, Saul is surrounded by violence and cruelty. At the urging of a priest, he finds a tentative salvation in hockey. Rising at dawn to practice alone, Saul proves determined and undeniably gifted. His intuition and vision are unmatched. His speed is remarkable. Together they open doors for him: away from the school, into an all-Ojibway amateur circuit, and finally within grasp of a professional career. Yet as Saul’s victories mount, so do the indignities and the taunts, the racism and the hatred—the harshness of a world that will never welcome him, tied inexorably to the sport he loves. Spare and compact yet undeniably rich, Indian Horse is at once a heartbreaking account of a dark chapter in our history and a moving coming-of-age story. “Shocking and alien, valuable and true… A master of empathy.”—Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Golden Age “A severe yet beautiful novel…. Indian Horse finds the granite solidity of Wagamese’s prose polished to a lustrous sheen; brisk, brief, sharp chapters propel the reader forward.”—Donna Bailey Nurse, National Post (Toronto)

"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

Ponder questions of the united monarchy under Saul and David in light of current historical and archaeological evidence Reconstructing the emergence of the Israelite monarchy involves interpreting historical research, approaching questions of ancient state formation, synthesizing archaeological research from sites in the southern Levant, and reexamining the biblical traditions of the early monarchy embedded in the books of Samuel and Kings. Integrating these approaches allows for a nuanced and differentiated picture of one of the most crucial periods in the history of ancient Israel. Rather than attempting to harmonize archaeological data and biblical texts or to supplement the respective approach by integrating only a portion of data stemming from the other, both perspectives come into their own in this volume presenting the results of an interdisciplinary Tübingen–Tel Aviv Research Colloquium. Features: Essays on Israel's monarchy by experts in biblical archaeology and biblical studies Methods for integrating archaeology and biblical traditions in reconstructing ancient Israel's history New research on the sociopolitical process of state formation in Israel and Judah

Pastor and Bible teacher Randy McCracken offers an intimate look at lesser-known members of 1 and 2 Samuel's four main families--those of Samuel, Eli, Saul, and David. Examining characters unfamiliar to many Bible readers, he reveals important lessons for today.

A compendium of approximately three hundred texts--in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, Coptic, and other languages--that are important for the study of Jewish messianism and early Christology. In recent decades, the study of Jewish messianic ideas and how they influenced early Christology has become an incredibly active field within biblical studies. Numerous books and articles have engaged with the ancient sources to trace various themes, including "Messiah" language itself, exalted patriarchs, angel mediators, "wisdom" and "word," eschatology, and much more. But anyone who attempts to study the Jewish roots of early Christianity faces a challenge: the primary sources are wide-ranging, involve ancient languages, and are often very difficult to track down. Books are littered with citations and a host of other sometimes obscure writings, and it can be difficult to sort them all out. This book makes a much-needed contribution by bringing together the most important primary texts for the study of Jewish messianism and early Christology--nearly three hundred in total--and presenting the reader with essential information to study them: the critical text itself (with apparatus), a fresh translation, a current bibliography, and thematic tags that allow the reader to trace themes across the corpus. This volume aims to be the starting point for all future work on the primary sources that are relevant to messianology and Christology. About the Author Gregory R. Lanier (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He has written extensively on early Christology and published Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and the Christology of Luke's Gospel (Bloomsbury, 2018); Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson, 2018); and Is Jesus Truly God? How the Bible Teaches the Divinity of Christ (Crossway, 2020). He also serves as associate pastor of River Oaks Church in Lake Mary, Florida.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Saul was the first king of Israel (1029-1005 BCE). His life was full of drama and tribulations, and ended tragically. The book of Samuel portrays Saul as a colorful personality with excesses--as the classic tragic hero. Moreover, Saul's excellent virtues qualified him for the monarchy. He had courage and military power. Saul was modest and shy. In contrast to the positive portrayal of Saul in some biblical narrative, many other passages in the Hebrew Bible portray Saul negatively--as a paranoid man who chased demons, as obsessed with the pursuit of David. Thus he struggles constantly with his own family members as well as his circle of friends. From the battle at Michmas till the last day of his life, fear is Saul's constant companion. Readers of this volume will rediscover Saul, will have a better understanding of his achievements and failures as the first king of Israel. We trust that this study will afford a provocative and useful insight into the character of Saul.

Authors from the ancient world rarely used great detail to describe the physical features of characters in their works. When they did mention bodies, they did so with very specific goals in mind. In particular, the bodies of "heroic" figures, such as warriors, kings, and other leaders became loaded sites of meaning for encoding cultural, religious, and political values on a number of fronts. Brian Doak analyzes the way biblical authors described the bodies of some of their most iconic male figures, such as Jacob, the Judges, Saul, and David. These bodies represent not mere individuals-they communicate as national bodies, signaling the ambiguity of Israel's murky pre-history, the division during the period of settlement in the land, and the contest of leading bodies fought between Saul and David. Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel examines the heroic world of ancient Israel within the Hebrew Bible, and shows that ancient Israelite literature operated within and against a world of heroic ideals in its ancient context. The heroic body tells a story of Israel's remembered history in the eventual making of the monarchy, marking a new kind of individual power. Not merely a textual study of the Hebrew Bible in isolation, this book also considers iconography and compares Israelite literature with other ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern materials, illustrating Israel's place among a wider construction of heroic bodies.