Chapter 36: King Saul And David
God instructed that when this rest came about and the people demanded a king like other nations, the monarch must be an Israelite and not a foreigner of any sort, the monarchs should not accumulate great wealth, and they should not return to Egypt. The kings were not to be polygamists, nor were they to consider themselves greater than any other Israelite. The kings were to make a copy of these laws and read every day; only then would the descendants of these kings reign a long time (Deut. 17:14–20). All this was decreed in direct defiance and opposition to polygamist Nephilim kings of other nations, who chose an opposite set of principles. The responsibility for the first Israelite kingship fell first to King Saul and then to King David.
According to Jewish legends, Saul was chosen because of his military record. Saul captured the tablets of the Law back from the famous Goliath, an insult that Goliath would not forget. 2 As a sign of God’s favor with Saul and the ordaining of Talut/Saul to kingship, the Qur’an notes that Talut fought Goliath and his army with just a few faithful warriors, defeating the Philistines and retrieving the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of the Law. 3 Saul was the bravest Israelite, a hyperbolized hero of old, which clarifies why he was made king. 4 He was as strong as a lion, in conjunction with his tall and handsome appearance. Saul’s, original name was Labaya , meaning “great lion of Yaw (weh),” but he was renamed Saul , meaning “asked for,” as the people of Israel asked God for a king so they could be like other nations. 5
Scripture records Saul as a large man, a man without equal, a head taller than any of the others. 6 He was very handsome, exceedingly modest, innocent, and of very good Messianic bloodlines. 7 He was the son of a high- ranking chieftain Kish, son of Abiel, from the clan of Matri. 8 Abiel was the son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of Benjamin. 9
When Samuel became old, the people asked him for a king to lead them as all the other nations had, because Samuel’s sons were not fit to carry on as judges. 10 According to the Qur’an, Israel asked the prophet for a king, and in return, they would fight God’s good causes. 11 Then Talut/Saul was declared king. Talut is Arabic for “Saul.” 12
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