This victory remained without lasting results. On the contrary, the slavery of the Israelites to the Philistines became more extensive and more severe. In order to bring the northern tribes into the same subjection as the tribes of Dan, Judah, and Simeon, the Philistines established fortified camps at Michmash and Geba (Gibeah) in the tribe of Benjamin, as a centre from which to hold this and the northern tribes in check. The men of the tribes of Judah and Simeon had to take the field against their own countrymen. These arrangements soon obtained their object. All Israel on this side of the Jordan was reduced to subjection. In order to make a rebellion impossible, the Israelites were deprived of their arms; indeed, the Philistines were not content that they should give up the arms in their possession, they even removed the smiths from the land, that no one might provide a sword or javelin for the Hebrews. The oppression of this dominion pressed so heavily and with such shame on the Israelites that the books of Samuel themselves tell us, if the plough-shares, bills, and mattocks became dull, or the forks were bent, the children of Israel had to go down into the cities of the Philistines in order to have their implements mended and sharpened.[211]
At this period Samuel's activity must have been limited to leading back the hearts of the Israelites to the God who brought them out of Egypt; he must have striven to fill them with the faith with which he was himself penetrated, and the distress of the time would contribute to gain acceptance for his teaching and his prescripts. The people sought his word and decision; he is said to have given judgment at Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh. He gathered scholars and disciples round him, who praised Jehovah to the sound of harp and lute, flute and drum, who in violent agitation and divine excitement awaited his visions, and "were changed into other men."[212] From the position which tradition allots to Samuel, there can be no doubt that he brought the belief in and worship of the old god into renewed life, and caused them to sink deeper into the hearts of the Israelites. The oppression of his people by the Philistines he could not turn away, though he cherished a lively hope in the help of Jehovah.
The tribes on the east of the Jordan remained free from the dominion of the Philistines; yet for them also servitude and destruction was near at hand. The Ammonites were not inclined to let slip so favourable an opportunity. As the land on the west of the Jordan was subject to the Philistines, the tribes on the east would prove an easy prey. The Ammonites encamped before Jabesh in Gilead, and the inhabitants were ready to submit. But Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, as we are told, would only accept their submission on condition that every man in Jabesh put out his right eye. Then the elders of Jabesh sent messengers across the Jordan and earnestly besought their countrymen for help.
The tribe of Benjamin had to feel most heavily, no doubt, the oppression of the Philistines. In their territory lay the fortified camps of the enemy. Here, at Gibeah, dwelt a man of the race of Matri, Saul the son of Kish, the grandson of Abiel. Kish was a man of substance and influence; his son Saul was a courageous man, of remarkable stature, "higher by a head than the rest of the nation." He was in the full strength of his years, and surrounded by valiant sons: Jonathan, Melchishua, Abinadab, and Ishbosheth. One day, "just as he was returning home from the field behind his oxen," he heard the announcement which the messengers of Jabesh brought. Himself under the enemy's yoke, he felt the more deeply what threatened them. His heart was fired at the shame and ruin of his people. Regardless of the Philistines, he formed a bold resolution; assistance must be given to those most in need. He cut two oxen in pieces, sent the pieces round the tribes,[213] and raised the cry, "Whoso comes not after Saul, so shall it be done to his oxen." The troop which gathered round him out of compassion for the besieged in Jabesh, and in obedience to his summons, Saul divided into three companies. With these he succeeded in surprising the camp of the Ammonites about the morning watch; he dispersed the hostile army and set Jabesh free.
Whatever violence and cruelty had been exercised since the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, however many the feuds and severe the vengeance taken, however great the distress and the oppression, the nation, amid all the anarchy and freedom so helpless against an enemy, still preserved a healthy and simple feeling and vigorous power. And at this crisis the Israelites were not found wanting; Saul's bold resolution, the success in setting free the city in her sore distress, the victory thus won, the first joy and hope after so long a period of shame, gave the people the expectation of having found in him the man who was able to set them free from the dominion of the Philistines also, and restore independence, and law, and peace. When the thank-offering for the unexpected victory, for the liberation of the land of Gilgal, was offered at Gilgal on the Jordan, as far as possible from the camp of the Philistines, "all the people went to Gilgal, and there made Saul king before Jehovah, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly" (1055 B.C.).
The heavy misfortunes which the land had experienced for a long time, the severe oppression of the dominion of the Philistines, had at length taught the majority that rescue could only come by a close connection and union of the powers of the tribes, and an established authority supreme over all. To check anarchy from within and oppression from without required a vigorous hand, a ruling will, and a recognised power. What the people could do to put an end to the disorganisation was now done, they had placed a man at the head whom they might expect to be a brave leader and resolute guide. The Israelites had used their sovereignty to give themselves a master, and might hope with confidence that by this step they had laid the foundations of a happier future which they might certainly greet with joy.[214]
Immediately after his election on the Jordan, Saul was firmly resolved to take up arms against the Philistines for the liberation of the land. He turned upon their camp in the district of his own tribe. While he lay opposite the fortifications at Michmash, and thus held the garrison fast, his son Jonathan succeeded in conquering the detachment of the Philistines stationed at Geba. But the princes of the Philistines had no mind to look on at the union of Israel. They assembled, as we are told, an army of 3000 chariots, 6000 cavalry, and foot soldiers beyond number; with these the tribes of Judah and Simeon were compelled to take the field against their brethren.[215] Whether the numbers are correct or incorrect, the armament of the Philistines was sufficient to cause the courage of the Israelites to sink. Saul summoned the Israelites to the Jordan, to Gilgal, where he had been raised to be their chief. But in vain he caused the trumpets to be blown and the people to be summoned. The Israelites crept into the caves and clefts of the rock, and thorn-bushes, into the towers and the cisterns, and fled beyond Jordan to find refuge in the land of Gilead. Only the king and his brave son Jonathan did not quail before the numbers or gallantry of the enemies, though only a small troop—it is said about 600 men—gathered round Saul. The great army of the Philistines had first marched to the fortified camp at Michmash, and from this point, after leaving a garrison behind, in which were the Israelites of Judah and Simeon, it separated into three divisions, in order to march through Israel in all directions and hold the country in subjection. One column marched to the west in the direction of Beth-horon, the second to the north towards Ophra, the third to the east towards the valley of Zeboim.[216] This division made it possible for Saul to attack. He turned upon that part of the army which was weakest and most insecure, the garrison at Michmash, and made an unexpected attack on the fortification. Jonathan ascended an eminence in the rear, while Saul attacked in the van. In the tumult of the attack the Hebrews in the camp of the Philistines joined the side of their countrymen, and Saul gained the fortification. The Philistines fled. The king knew what was at stake and strove to push the victory thus gained to the utmost.[217] Without resting, he urged his men to the pursuit of the fugitives. That none of his troop might halt or stray in order to take food, he said, "Cursed is the man who eats bread till the evening, till I have taken vengeance on mine enemies." Jonathan had not heard the command of his father, and as the pursuers passed through a wood in which wild honey lay scattered he ate a little of the honeycomb. For this he should have been put to death, because he was dedicated to Jehovah (I. 499). But the warriors were milder than their customs. "Shall Jonathan die," cried the soldiers, "who has won this great victory in Israel? that be far from us: as Jehovah liveth, not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has wrought with God this day;" "and the people rescued Jonathan that he died not."[218]
This success encouraged the Israelites to come forth from their hiding-places and gather round their king. But only a part of the hostile army was defeated, and the Philistines were not so easily to be deprived of the sovereignty over Israel. "And the strife was hot against the Philistines so long as Saul lived," and "king Saul was brave and delivered Israel from the hand of the robbers," is the older of the two statements preserved in the Books of Samuel.
Saul had rendered the service which was expected by the Israelites when they elevated him: he had saved his nation from the deepest distress, from the brink of the most certain destruction. Without him the tribes beyond the Jordan would have succumbed to the Ammonites and Moabites, and those on this side of the river would at length have become obedient subjects of the Philistines. He found on his accession a disarmed, discouraged nation. By his own example he knew how to restore to them courage and self-confidence, and educate them into a nation familiar with war and skilled in it. The old military virtues of the tribe of Benjamin (p. 96) found in Saul their full expression and had a most beneficial result for Israel. The close community in which from old time the small tribe of Benjamin had been with the large tribe of Ephraim, by the side of which it had settled, was an advantage to Saul.[219] The strong position which he gained by the recognition of these two tribes could not but have an effect on the others, and contribute with the importance of his achievements and the splendour of their results to gain firmness and respect for the young monarchy, and win obedience for his commands. In the ceaseless battles which he had to carry on he was mainly supported by his eldest son Jonathan, who stood beside him as a faithful brother in arms, and his cousin Abner, the son of Ner his father's brother, whom he made his chief captain. "And wherever Saul saw a mighty man and a brave he took him to himself."[220] Thus he formed around him a school of brave warriors. He appears to have kept 3000 warriors under arms in the district of Benjamin, and this formed the centre for the levy of the people.[221]
But the Israelites had not merely to thank the king they had set up for the recovery and vigorous defence of their independence and their territory; he was also a zealous servant of Jehovah. He offered sacrifice to Him, built altars, and inquired of Him by His priests, who accompanied him even on his campaigns.[222] He observed strictly the sacred customs; even after the battle the exhausted soldiers were not allowed to eat meat with blood in it. He was prepared to allow even his dearest son, whose life he had unconsciously devoted, to be put to death. He removed all magicians and wizards out of the land with great severity.[223] How earnestly he took up the national and religious opposition to the Canaanites is clear from his conduct to the Hivites of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, who had once made a league with Joshua, and in consequence had been allowed to remain among the Israelites (I. 494). "Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for Israel," and the Gibeonites afterwards maintained that Saul had sought to annihilate them, and his purpose was that they should be destroyed and exist no more in all the land of Israel.[224] The ark of the covenant, which had fallen into the hands of the Philistines at the battle of Aphek, was brought back to Israel in his reign. The possession of it, so the Hebrews said, had brought no good to the Philistines. They had set it up as a trophy of victory in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod. But the image of the god had fallen to pieces, and only the fish-tail was left standing (I. 272); the people of Ashdod had been attacked with boils, and their crops destroyed by mice. The same occurred at Gath, when the ark was brought there, and, in consequence, the city of Ekron had refused to accept it. Then the Philistines had placed the ark upon a wagon, and allowed the cows before it to draw it whither they would. They drew it to Beth-shemesh in the tribe of Judah. But when the people of Beth-shemesh looked on the ark a grievous mortality began among them, till the men of Kirjath-jearim (not far from Beth-shemesh) took away the ark, and Abinadab set it up in a house on a hill in his field, and established his own son Eleazar as guardian and priest (about 1045 B.C.[225]). The Books of the Chronicles mention the gifts which Saul dedicated to the national sanctuary.[226]