A king without respect: Insubordination as a theme in 1 Samuel

Abstract

Saul, Israel’s first king, has long been seen as a tragic figure who was put in an untenable situation and lived down to expectations. Whether personally flawed or divinely fated to fail, Saul became a king who got little respect, either from the prophet Samuel, who appointed him in God’s behalf, or from the people he ruled. Saul was neither the oppressive king that Samuel had predicted nor the willful rebel that Samuel accused him of being. Rather, the author(s) behind the received form of 1 Samuel intentionally framed Israel’s inaugural monarch, not simply as disobedient to God, but also as one so willing to follow his subjects’ will that he failed to win their respect, contributing to his fall.