Editing Saul (section)

== Biblical criticism ==
[[File:Facial Chronicle - b.03, p.158 - Desecration of Saul's body.jpg|thumb|Desecration of Saul's body. 1560s]]
There are several textual or narrative issues in the text, including the aforementioned conflicting accounts of Saul's rise to kingship and his death, as well as plays on words, that biblical scholars have discussed.

The birth-narrative of the prophet [[Samuel]] is found at 1 Samuel 1:1–28. It describes how Samuel's mother [[Hannah (Bible)|Hannah]] requests a son from [[Yahweh]], and dedicates the child to God at the shrine of Shiloh. The passage makes extensive play with the root-elements of Saul's name, and ends with the phrase {{tlit|he|hu sa'ul le-Yahweh}} 'he is dedicated to Yahweh'. Hannah names the resulting son Samuel, giving as her explanation, 'because from God I requested him'. Samuel's name, however, can mean 'name of God', (or 'Heard of God' or 'Told of God') and the etymology and multiple references to the root of the name seems to fit Saul instead. The majority explanation for the discrepancy is that the narrative originally described the birth of Saul, and was given to Samuel to enhance the position of David and Samuel at the former king's expense.<ref>The idea was originally advanced in the 19th century, and has most recently been elaborated in [[P. Kyle McCarter, Jr.|Kyle McCarter]]'s influential commentary on I Samuel (P. Kyle McCarter, "I Samuel: A New Translation with Introduction, Notes and Commentary", Anchor Bible Series, 1980)</ref>

The Bible's tone with regard to Saul changes over the course of the narrative, especially around the passage where David appears, midway through 1 Samuel. Before, Saul is presented in positive terms, but afterward his mode of ecstatic prophecy is suddenly described as fits of madness, his errors and disobedience to Samuel's instructions are stressed and he becomes a paranoiac. This may indicate that the David story is inserted from a source loyal to the House of David; David's lament over Saul in 2 Samuel 1 then serves an apologetic purpose, clearing David of the blame for Saul's death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible): Lecture 13 – The Deuteronomistic History: Prophets and Kings (1 and 2 Samuel) |website=Yale Open Courses |publisher=Yale University |first=Christine |last=Hayes |url=http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-13 |access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

In the narrative of Saul's private anointing in 1 Samuel 9:1–10:16, Saul is not referred to as a king (''melech''), but rather as a "leader" or "commander" (''nagid'')<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Samuel|9:16|HE}}; {{bibleverse|1|Samuel|10:1|HE}}</ref><ref>Bright, John, ''A History of Israel'', The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1972, p. 185.</ref> Saul is only given the title "king" (''melech'') at the public coronation ceremony at [[Gilgal]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Samuel|11:15|HE}}</ref>

Various authors have attempted to harmonize the two narratives regarding Saul's death. [[Josephus]] writes that Saul's attempted suicide was stalled because he was not able to run the sword through himself, and that he therefore asked the Amalekite to finish it.<ref name="arnold">{{cite journal |first=Bill T. |last=Arnold |title=The Amalekite report of Saul's death: political intrigue or incompatible sources? |journal=Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=1989 |pages=289–298 |url=http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/32/32-3/32-3-pp289-298_JETS.pdf}}</ref> Later biblical criticism has posited that the story of Saul's death was [[Documentary hypothesis|redacted from various sources]], although this view in turn has been criticized because it does not explain why the contradiction was left in by the redactors.<ref name="arnold" /> But since 2 Samuel records only the Amalekite's report, and not the report of any other eyewitness, some scholars theorize that the Amalekite may have been lying to try to gain favor with David. In this view, 1 Samuel records what actually happened, while 2 Samuel records what the Amalekite ''claimed'' happened.<ref>Life Application Study Bible: Note on 2 Samuel 1:13</ref>