Israelites that come thither. Yea, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, "Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, IO but raw." And if the man said unto him, "They will surely burn the

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fat first, and then take as much as thy soul desireth"; then he would say, "Nay, but thou shalt give it me now: and if not I will take it by force." And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah.

But Samuel ministered before Jehovah, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.1

To disregard thus the sacredness of the offerings brought to Jehovah was a violation of the ritual of worship, which among all ancient nations was regarded as a great offense to the god. It is likely also that the enforced idleness of priests at a small sanctuary and their inherent sense of privilege had caused many forms of dissipation to creep into the life of the priesthood at Shiloh. Then as now forms of worship without sincerity were valueless, and Eli's sons were seeking only personal gain and pleasure in their sacred office. To people of that day, however, a violation of the ritual of Jehovah was a greater crime than a moral offense, the dangers of which it remained for the prophets to reveal.

But the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no widespread vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to wax dim, so that he 5 could not see), and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down3 to sleep, in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was; that Jehovah called4 "Samuel, Samuel": and he

I

*Ephod: here, a garment worn by priests; elsewhere, an instrument of divination. 2 *Lamp of God: a special lamp upon the altar, probably filled with oil enough to last for the night, so that the hour must have been near morning.

3*Laid down: indicating that at least some of the attendants slept within the temple inclosure.

4*Jehovah called: Samuel was now possibly in the neighborhood of twelve or fourteen years of age. The writer of this story undoubtedly believed that Jehovah spoke with human voice and appeared in visible form. To us who believe that the voice of God to the heart is stronger than any physical presence, the view of the early prophet is important only from the point of view of the history of religious ideas. The precise method by which Jehovah communicated his wishes to Samuel is not so important as the fact itself, namely, that he did inspire Samuel to do his bidding.

said, “Here am I." And he ran unto Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me." And he said, "I called not; lie down again." And 10 he went and lay down. And Jehovah called yet again,"Samuel." And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said,"Here am I; for thou calledst me." And he answered, "I called not, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yet revealed unto him. And Jehovah called Samuel again the 15 third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here am I; for thou calledst me." And Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, “Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah; for thy servant heareth." So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at other times "Samuel, Samuel." Then Samuel said, "Speak; for thy servant heareth." And Jehovah said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have 25 spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house 30 shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.'

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And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors3 of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "What is the thing that Jehovah hath 35 spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to

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thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee." And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good."

And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to

1 *Ears shall tingle: with surprise and consternation.

2 Lines 24-30: Reference is here made to some previous communication to Eli. 3 *Opened the doors: With the Hebrews great phenomena of nature were identified with the direct acts of Jehovah. The rising and the setting of the sun were seasons filled with awe and marked by sacrifices. The doors of the temple were thrown open to the east at sunrise when the morning sacrifice also began.

Beer-sheba1 knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah. And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah. 45 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.'

Samuel Leading to Victory.-Samuel next appears upon the pages of the narrative more than twenty years after the destruction of Shiloh and the capture of the Ark by the Philistines,3 in an assembly of the people gathered at Mizpah,4 one of the cities of Samuel's circuit. The Philistines were still aggressive. At the call of Samuel, Israel put away all the foreign gods which were a constant temptation to the people, surrounded as they were by enemies whose success was attributed to the strength of their gods. A great wave of enthusiasm for Jehovah, probably instigated by Samuel and his associates, swept over the nation, and assembled Israel through Samuel cried out to Jehovah for relief from her oppressors. Great sacrifices were offered, the people calling, "Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines." The story of the battle to which this assembly was a preliminary and which was won by the Israelites is told in I Sam. 7:3-14. Peace reigned for the time being, and Samuel enjoyed a supremacy which none questioned. The record follows: "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places, and his return was to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel; and he built there an altar unto the Lord."

1*Dan to Beersheba: Note on the map the two cities marking approximately the northern and southern boundaries of the land. 2 Appeared in Shiloh: Of these revelations we have no further record. Whether they refer to traditions of distinct appearances or to the fact of Samuel's ever-increasing understanding of Jehovah and his will we do not know.

3 The story of the victory of the Philistines through which the threats of Jehovah were fulfilled, and the legends of the disasters which befell the Philistine country while the ark of God was kept in Philistine territory, resulting in its return to the Hebrews, are told in I Sam. 4: 1-7: 2.

4 Mizpah: The name signifies "the watchtower." A crusaders' church now stands over a spot which, tradition says, marks the grave of Samuel. All such sites are, however, a matter of pure speculation.

A Crisis in Government.-But old age came to Samuel. Palestine was the center of a busy life. The caravan routes from Egypt to the great northeast led right across the center of the land, and along its western coastline. The more advanced civilization of the older Philistine and other Canaanitish cities had greatly affected the life of the Hebrews. The Philistines were still aggressively seeking to grasp the hardly won territory of Israel. Following a natural precedent as seen among other peoples, Samuel named his sons as his successors. They were unworthy of the high office, dishonest, open to bribery and corruption, and were promptly repudiated by the people whom Samuel himself had trained to higher ideals. "Other nations have kings," said Israel with one voice, "why not we?""

Samuel was now confronted with a desire for unity and a national ambition which was largely the result of his own influence. Later writers, as seen by one of the accounts which we shall read, emphasized the reluctance with which Samuel moved in response to the request of the people, but we must believe that the sound judgment which had marked his career led him to see that a great military leader would be the salvation of Israel from the hands of her foes. In two of the accounts we find no mention of reluctance but co-operation in finding a king so prompt and definite as to suggest that the coming of the kingdom had long been in the mind of Samuel. Was there in the thought of Samuel at this time an ambition to be himself the people's king? Did he shrink from the establishment of another great power in the land, a civil power which might come between Jehovah and his people, which might even ignore the voice of his prophets? We have no hint of this in the earlier stories, unless it be in Samuel's insistence that the king shall be one of Jehovah's choice, and in this as in earlier days his judgment prevailed.

I Consult the map of the Semitic World for the caravan routes.

2 The Hebrews were of course familiar with the government of the older nations, Egypt, Syria, and Assyria, and her own more insignificant neighbors, Moab, Phoenicia, Edoin, etc. But at this time they thought of a king chiefly as the leader of their armies.

The Choice of the King. We have three different traditions of the actual choice of the new king. All three are here given, for each is of peculiar interest. The important thing to note is that in all of them Samuel is the commanding figure. His authority in Israel as the representative of Jehovah was not lessened by the impending change of government. His was still a supremacy which was allied in the minds of the people with the mysteries of God and the universe. It could only be overthrown by failure to interpret Jehovah truly.

First Account-Chosen by Samuel Privately2

Now there was a man of Benjamin,3 whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of wealth. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly: 5 and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, "Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses." And he passed through the hill10 country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

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When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his serv15 ant that was with him, “Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us." And he said unto him, "Behold now there is in this city a man of God,5 and he

It should be recalled that the records of the history of the Hebrews which we possess are literary fragments, gathered from many sources. It is not strange therefore that we have seemingly divergent accounts of the same event. We can only weigh them in the light of all that we can discover of the spirit and the life of the period, and must even then be satisfied with knowing that we cannot get at the exact facts. We can gather from these three accounts, however, that Saul was welcomed as king by the people as well as by Samuel.

map.

2 I Sam. 9:1-10:1; 10:196–24; 11:14, 15 (chiefly Am. Standard Rev. Ver.). 3*Benjamin: one of the smallest of the tribes, whose territory can be noted on the

4 Hill country of Ephraim:

Trace this trip on the map.

5 *Man of God: one who officially represented God. Note that the thing which they expected of the prophet was much the same that some people might expect of a