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seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and taketh thought for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee there three men going up to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: and they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. After that thou shalt come to Gibeah, where is the pillar of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall be prophesying: and the spirit of God will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they came to Gibeah, behold a band of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he went home.

And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we could not find them, we came to Samuel. And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

What is meant by this prophesying of Saul I do not clearly understand, any more than what was meant by the prophesying of Eldad and Medad and the sixty-eight elders. The Pillar' at Gibeah had probably been erected by the Philistines as a symbol or trophy of their supremacy. We shall hear of it again.

§ 11. Now an opportunity arises for Saul, who has had this private interview with Samuel, to show his prowess publicly.

Now it came to pass after about a month that Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Jahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all Israel: and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee. Then came the messengers to Gibeah, the city of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people and all the people lifted up their voices and wept.

And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And a terror from God fell on the people, and they came out as

one man.

And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And he said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To-morrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before God in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before God; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

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§ 12. Thus Saul is chosen king of Israel, and he justifies the confidence of the people in his valour by the overthrow of the Philistines. But this only happened after perilous adventures, as we shall now hear.

And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. And Jonathan brake the pillar of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard that the Hebrews had revolted. For Saul had blown the trumpet throughout all the land. And all Israel heard that Saul had broken the pillar of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.

And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, three thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward of Beth-aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for they were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in rocks, and in holds, and in pits. And some passed over the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people forsook him trembling.

And Saul numbered the people that remained with him, about six hundred men. And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. And a troop of plunderers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual: and another company turned the way to Beth-horon: and another company turned the way of the hill that looketh down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. And an outpost of the Philistines went out towards the pass of Michmash.

Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come and let us go over to the Philistines' outpost, that is on yonder side. But he told not his father. Now Saul was tarrying in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were

with him were about six hundred men. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. And between the pass, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the outpost of the Philistines, there was a steep rock on the one side, and a steep rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The forefront of the one was situate over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Geba. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come and let us go over unto the outpost of these Philistines: it may be that God will work for us: for there is no restraint to God to save by many or by few. And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all unto which thine heart inclineth; behold I am with thee; according to thy heart so is my heart. Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto the men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for God hath delivered them into our hand and this shall be the sign unto us. : And both of them discovered themselves unto the outpost of the Philistines and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. And the men of the outpost answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for God hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and the Philistines fled before Jonathan; and he smote them, and his armourbearer slew them after him. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men.

And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the outpost and the plunderers, they also trembled: and the earth quaked; so there was a very great trembling. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the camp was in commotion, swaying hither and thither. And Saul and

all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and when they came to the battle, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. Now the Hebrews that were with the Philis

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tines before, who went up with them into the camp; even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. So God saved Israel that day.

Much fighting against the Philistines still continued, and a later notice says that 'there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul,' but the permanent dominion of the Philistines over Israel had passed away.

§ 13. Before continuing the history of Saul we must listen to the second account of the establishment of the monarchy. It is very different from the first. Samuel plays in it a much more important part. It begins in the following way:

And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgement.

But

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah: and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto God. And God said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

And Samuel told all the words of God unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them over his chariots, and over his horses; and they shall run before his chariots: and he will