25 Details About the Life of King Saul -- A to Z Quiz

Answer: Samuel

Samuel, the last judge of Israel, is the correct answer. Details about Saul being anointed king can be found in Chapters 9 and 10 of 1 Samuel.

1 Samuel 10:20-22 tells of the people coming together for the coronation of the new king and at the key moment Saul couldn't be found. According to Verse 22 in the NKJV, the LORD advised Saul could be found hidden among the equipment. Rather than use the word 'equipment', the NIV uses 'supplies'. (The Amplified Bible uses the word 'baggage'.)

Scripture records Samuel was strongly opposed to having a monarchy for Israel, but the overwhelming majority of the people wanted a king so he had to concede defeat.

Answer: True

King Saul, it seems, is known for the many problems in his private life -- notably his extreme hatred for David. However, when all the facts are examined, he was a brave and brilliant military leader. Scripture reports he was involved in numerous battles with the traditional enemies of the Israelite and always encountered success in his early years.

1 Samuel 14:47-48, for example, in the NKJV, states: "So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them. And he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them."

Rather than use the words 'he harassed them', the NIV states Saul 'inflicted punishment' on the enemies of the Israelites. The Easy to Read Version states Saul "defeated Israel's enemies wherever he went."

Eventually though, Saul would encounter defeat in his final campaign on the battlefield.

Answer: Rizpah

Rizpah is the correct answer. According to 2 Samuel 3:7, Rizpah was the daughter of Aliah. Meanwhile, 2 Samuel 21:8, states she was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth. (Incidentally, Jonathan, a son of Saul, was the father of a boy also named Mephibosheth.)

2 Samuel 21:10-14 tells of Rizpah's two sons, as well as five other men, being handed over at the beginning of the barley harvest to the Gibeonites who "hanged them on the hill before the Lord."

Verse 10 tells of a heartbroken Rizpah standing guard over the bodies of the men: "Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night."

Answer: Committed suicide

Saul, the first king of Israel, committed suicide. According to the 31st chapter of 1 Samuel, Saul was critically injured in battle with the Philistines and pleaded with his armorbearer to kill him with a sword. When his armorbearer refused to do such a thing, Saul committed suicide.

1 Samuel 31:4, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Then Saul said to his armorbearer, 'Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.' But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it."

Just prior to this incident, Saul's three sons -- Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua -- were killed in battle.

Answer: En Dor or Endor

En Dor, as per the NKJV, is the correct answer. (The KJV and the NIV use the spelling Endor)

King Saul consulted with a medium to find out if his army would win a looming battle with the the Philistines at Shunem. According to Scripture, Saul was deeply distressed because his inquiries of the LORD went unheeded while the Philistine army "gathered together" and was massive.

1 Samuel 28:14 reports the female medium in En Dor was successful in bringing up Samuel for Saul, but from there on it was bad news for the king.

1 Samuel 28:15-20 tells of the conversation between Samuel and Saul:

"Now Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?'

"And Saul answered, 'I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.'

"Then Samuel said: 'So why do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.'

"Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night."

True to what Samuel had predicted, Chapter 31 of 1 Samuel tells of the defeat of the Israelites and the deaths of Saul and his sons.

Answer: 8

Saul was the father of a total of eight children -- six boys and two girls. Scripture states Saul and his wife Ahinoam had four sons and two daughters. The sons were Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua and Ish-bosheth. Their daughters were Merab and Michal. (1 Samuel 14:51, 2 Samuel 2:8 and 1 Chronicles 8:33)

Meanwhile, Saul and his concubine Rizpah were the parents of two sons -- Armoni and Mephibosheth. (2 Samuel 21:8)

Answer: Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul and Scripture reports he was accidentally crippled when he was five years old. Israel was involved in a bloody civil war and with Saul and Jonathan both dead, an unnamed nurse attempted to flee with Mephibosheth, when he was crippled. 2 Samuel 4:4 in the NKJV states: "Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth."

David and Mephibosheth's father were the best of friends. This, even though Jonathan's father Saul devoted much of his latter life trying to kill David. 2 Samuel 9:7 states that David restored to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul and he ensured he would "always dine at his table with him."

Answer: David

Saul, it seems, totally despised David. This even though David had no hard feelings to Saul.

Saul might have been a mighty king, but he definitely had a number of personal issues. His reign started relatively smoothly, but in later years it seemed Saul was preoccupied with a burning desire to kill David simply because he was deeply jealous of the young shepherd boy who kept making a name for himself.

Even though Saul wanted him dead, David did everything possible to avoid any confrontation with the king. In fact, even when David had opportunity to kill Saul, he refused to do so. (1 Samuel 24 and 26)

It's difficult to comprehend, but according to Scripture, Saul was filled with total resentment of David when the women of Israel sang praises for the former shepherd boy, proclaiming his victories much more impressive than anything Saul had ever done.

Here's how 1 Samuel 18:6-9 explains the sordid situation: "Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said:
'Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.'
Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, 'They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?' So Saul eyed David from that day forward."

From this point on, David was a marked man.

Answer: Ishbosheth

Ishbosheth is the correct answer. He ruled over the northern ten tribes of Israel for two years after the death of his father Saul, as per 2 Samuel 2:10. Meanwhile, David ruled over Judea and the country was beset by a bloody civil war. Eventually David's forces won out with a key turning point in the war being the assassination of Ishbosheth by Rechab and Baanah.

Answer: Jonathan

Even though Jonathan would've been in line to replace his father as king, he was the best of friends with David, the man who would eventually become king of Israel. In fact, their friendship was perhaps unlike any other in the Old Testament. 1 Samuel 18:1, in the NKJV Bible, describes their friendship this way: "After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself." Had it not been for Jonathan, Saul might have been successful in his insatiable quest to have David killed.

Answer: Kish

Kish was the father of Saul. Scripture states Kish was a Benjamite and he was the son of Abiel, who was the son of Zeror, who was the son of Bekorath. Bekorath was the son of Aphiah and the grandson of Benjamin.

Saul, according to Scripture, was extremely handsome. 1 Samuel 9:2, in the NKJV Bible, states in part: "And he [Kish] had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul."

Answer: Handsome

Saul was as handsome as they came. As stated in the answer to Question No. 11, Saul was "choice and handsome". 1 Samuel 9:2, in the NKJV, explains things this way about Saul, who was the son of Kish: "And he [Kish] had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people."

Saul is not the only man in the Old Testament to be described as handsome. The likes of Joseph, David and Absalom, for example, are also described as being good looking. Interestingly, not a single male in the New Testament is given such a distinction, although Acts 6:15 describes Stephen's adversaries looking at him on trial and seeing "the face of an angel."

Answer: Michal

Michal is the correct answer. According to 1 Samuel 18:25, Saul promised David he could win Michal's hand if he could produce one hundred Philistine foreskins. According to Verse 27 of the same chapter, David complied by producing two hundred foreskins and won Michal's hand in marriage.

Michal, similar to her brother, Jonathan, played a key role in thwarting her father's attempts to kill David. She informed David that King Saul had sent people to murder him and he was able to take evasive action. (1 Samuel 19:11)

Scripture states she would later despise her husband for "dancing and celebrating" as he helped bring back the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. According to 2 Samuel 6:23, Michal had "no children to the day of her death."

Answer: Yes

The name Saul, in reference to the Old Testament king, is found once in the New Testament -- Acts 13:21.

The name Saul can be found an additional 26 times in the New Testament of the New King James Version Bible, but in every incident, it is in reference to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who was known as Saul before his conversion.

It's ironic the name David can be found fifty-six times in the New Testament compared to one occurrence for King Saul as Saul totally despised David and was committed to killing him.

Answer: Farmer

Scripture is not entirely clear about Saul's occupation before he became king, but it is generally conceded he was a farmer. 1 Samuel 9:3, for example, states "the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost." The verse goes on to tell of Kish instructing Saul to take one of the servants and to go looking for the missing donkeys.

Meanwhile, 1 Samuel 11:5 tells of "Saul, coming behind the herd from the field", to meet with messengers.

It appears he definitely didn't come from a high and mighty background as some Websites describe Saul as being the son of a peasant.

Answer: True

True. Just type 'King Saul psychological disorders' and you will quickly see what I mean.

I don't profess to be an expert, but I believe a casual reader of the Bible can see Saul had some personality issues. In addition to his stubborn refusal to follow the instructions of God and his desire to get answers from the occult, Saul did some things that simply don't make sense. For example, he devoted considerable time and energy in an attempt to kill David simply because he was jealous. His actions, in my humble opinion, smack of a psychopath.

The situation is perhaps best explained by this report on Wikipedia:
"Accounts of Saul's behavior have made him a popular subject for speculation among modern psychiatrists. George Stein views the passages depicting Saul's ecstatic episodes as suggesting that Saul may have suffered from mania. Martin Huisman sees the story of Saul as illustrative of the role of stress as a factor in depression. Liubov Ben-Noun of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, believes that passages referring to King Saul's disturbed behavior indicate he was afflicted by a mental disorder, and lists a number of possible conditions. However, Christopher C. H. Cook of the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, UK recommends caution in offering any diagnoses in relation to people who lived millennia ago."

Answer: Most definitely

Scripture indicates Saul had major qualms about becoming king. He didn't want the job at all. But as Shakespeare once wrote, some have greatness thrust upon them.

As explained in the answer to Question No, 1, 1 Samuel 10:20-22 tells of the people coming together for the coronation of the new king and at the key moment Saul couldn't be found. According to Verse 22 in the NKJV, the LORD advised Saul could be found hidden among the equipment. Rather than use the word 'equipment', the NIV uses 'supplies'. (The Amplified Bible uses the word 'baggage'.)

However, after being anointed as king, he returned to his father's farm at Gibeah, as per Verse 26.

The turning point appears to be when messengers traveled to Gibeah to meet with Saul in regards to the Israelite city of Jabesh coming under severe attack.

"Reasoning that national security was a king's job, Saul rose to the occasion and used an ingenious public relations campaign to assemble an army, and Jabesh was rescued," the Website Vtaide.com reports. "Upon this stunning performance, Saul became a national hero and took his throne."

Answer: Failing to follow instructions in battle against the Amelekites

According to 1 Samuel 15, Saul failed to follow God's expressions, as relayed to him by Samuel, while waging battle against the Amelekites. According to 1 Samuel 15:3, Saul received instructions to "utterly destroy" the Amelekites, enemies of Israel.

However, Scripture tells of Saul sparing the life of King Agag and taking "the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good" as spoil.

1 Samuel 15:10-11 states the LORD told Samuel of His extreme disappointment in Saul's failure to follow the divine instructions.

Verse 26 goes on to state Samuel told Saul he was being rejected as king of Israel: "For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible have this observation: "The expression 'utterly destroy' is to literally 'to put under a ban,' similar to the ban placed on Jericho at the time of the conquest (Josiah 6:17-18). The fact that no spoil was to be taken reflects God's judgment on the sins of the Amelekites (Deuteronomy 7:2-6; 12:2-3; 20:16-18). While such judgment is severe, it came at the command of a holy and just God. A holy God cannot let sin go unpunished."

Saul had done other foolish things in the eyes of the LORD, but his failure to follow divine instructions regarding battle against the Amelekites was the beginning of the end for the first king of Israel.

Answer: Played harp for him

Saul might have been a mighty king, but he definitely had a number of personal issues. His reign started relatively smoothly, but in later years it seemed Saul was preoccupied with a burning desire to kill David simply because he was deeply jealous of the young shepherd boy who kept making a name for himself.

Even though Saul wanted him dead, David did everything possible to avoid any confrontation with the king. In fact, even when David had opportunity to kill Saul, he refused to do so. (1 Samuel 24)

However, when David was still an unknown shepherd boy -- before he slayed Goliath -- he would play the harp for Saul to refresh his spirit.

1 Samuel 16:23, in the NKJV, explains things this way: "And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him."

Saul's appreciation of David would be short lived, however.

Answer: David

Scripture states David twice spared the life of King Saul.

The first example is 1 Samuel 24 and the second example is 1 Samuel 26.

In the first case, Saul comes into a cave in which David is hiding, giving David an excellent opportunity to kill him. In fact, according to 1 Samuel 24:3-5, David was so close to Saul he was able to secretly cut off a piece of his cloak while he was "attending to his needs".

Meanwhile, 1 Samuel 26:8-10 tells of David and Abishai entering Saul's camp while he was sleeping and Abishai urging him to seize the opportunity to kill Saul. However, David once again spared Saul's life.

Answer: Saul's kingdom would come to an end

The 13th chapter of 1 Samuel tells of Samuel proclaiming the end of King Saul's kingdom because of his unlawful sacrifice. In a nutshell, Saul conducted a burnt offering by himself, which according to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, was in contravention with the law of Moses as well as the instructions of God's prophet.

Here's how 1 Samuel 13:11-14 tells of Saul's actions as well as Samuel's declaration:

"And Samuel said, 'What have you done?' Saul said, 'When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.'

"And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you'."

It would be only a matter of time before Saul would end up committing suicide in battle and David, "a man after God's heart", would become king.

Answer: Vanquished

Saul was definitely vanquished. In fact, as stated in the answer to Question No. 4, he committed suicide on the battle field. And this after losing his three sons in battle. The sons were Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.

On top of this, Saul had spent much of his latter years in a fruitless pursuit to kill David. Saul, however, would constantly encounter failure in this effort.

Answer: Ahinoam

The correct answer is Ahinoam. According to 1 Samuel 14:50, Ahinoam was the daughter of Ahimaaz. Scripture states she was the mother of four sons and two daughters, with two of the better known children being Jonathan and Michal. Jonathan was David's best friend and Michal was David's first wife, according to Scripture.

There is a second Ahinoam in the Old Testament. The second one was from Jezreel and a wife of David, as per 1 Samuel 25:43.

According to 2 Samuel 21:8, Saul also had a concubine named Rizpah. According to Scripture, Saul and Rizpah were the parents of two sons.

Answer: 30

The correct answer is thirty, according to 1 Samuel 13:1 in the NIV. The verse also states Saul ruled for forty-two years over Israel. In other words, Saul was seventy-two at the time of his death, according to the NIV. (Interestingly, the KJV and the NKJV does not go into details about Saul's age or how many years he reigned in 1 Samuel 13:1.)

To put things in perspective, the youngest American president sworn into office was Theodore Roosevelt at age 42. The youngest Canadian prime minister was Joe Clark at age 39; the youngest Australian prime minister was Chris Watson at age 37. Then to throw everything out of whack, there's William Pitt who was appointed prime minister of Great Britain in 1783 at the age of 24 years.

Answer: True

True. Scripture tells of Saul taking a servant and leaving his home in Gibeah and going to Zuph to find his father's missing donkeys.

According to Scripture, Saul and his servant ended up in the district of Zuph, not far from Ramah, the home of Samuel. And wouldn't you know it, Saul and Samuel ended up meeting. It was during that meeting Samuel proclaimed Saul would become king of Israel. The account can be found in the 9th Chapter of 1 Samuel.