The Death of Saul

At that time Samuel died. When the Philistines made war on Saul, he asked counsel of God, and no answer was given him. Then, through a woman whose belly a spirit of error had filled, he called up Samuel and consulted him. Samuel told him that on the next day he and his sons would be beaten by the Philistines and would fall in the battle. So the Philistines pitched their camp in enemy territory and the next day drew up their army for battle. David, however, had been sent away from their camp, because they did not believe he would be loyal to them against his own people. The battle was fought; the Hebrews were routed and the king’s sons fell. Saul slid down from his horse and fell on his own sword, so as not to be taken alive by the enemy. [a]

We find no certain statement about the length of his reign, except that the Acts of the Apostles says he reigned forty years. On this point, though, I am inclined to think that Paul, who said this in his preaching, meant to include the years of Samuel as well in the length of that king’s reign. Most of those who have written about these times say that he reigned thirty years. I cannot at all agree with this opinion. For when the ark of God was moved to the town of Kiriath-jearim, Saul had not yet begun to reign, and we are told that King David brought the ark out of that town after it had been there twenty years. So, since Saul both reigned and died within that period, he must have held the government for only a very short time.

We find the same uncertainty about the times of Samuel. He was born when Eli was priest, and we are told that when he was very old he carried out the duties of a priest. As for those who have written about these times (for the sacred history records almost nothing about his years), most say that he ruled the people seventy years. But I have not been able to discover what authority there is for this assumption. Amid so many different errors, we have followed the account of the Chronicle, because we think it was taken, as we said above, from the Acts of the Apostles. And we state once more that Samuel and Saul together held the government for forty years.