Question: Was Saul actually our first king or was it Moses, as some claim? And if Moses was our first king, why was Samuel later critical of Israel for requesting a king?
Menachem
(Via E-Mail)
Synopsis: We explained that Samuel was critical of the manner in which the king was requested, not of the concept of having a king. We brought proof from a Baraisa (Zevachim 102a) that Moses was considered to be a king; he possessed in abundance one of the important qualities of kingship: humility. We also noted Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen’s difficulty with Moses, the king, personally serving Jethro, a matter below his station. Sefer Hamakneh resolves the difficulty in that since he was king before entering Canaan, the restrictive laws pertaining to a king did not apply.
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Answer: Moses, as we noted, was not a dynastic king, for in his Torah, he cites the word of G-d, the command (Deuteronomy 17:14-15) to establish a [dynastical] monarchy; obviously one did not exist prior to the command. This mitzvah (according to R. Yosi, Sanhedrin 20b) is one of three mitzvot that Bnei Yisrael were commanded upon their entry into the land of Canaan, the other two being the mitzvah to build a Beit HaBechira (lit. ‘Chosen House’) – a Temple to Hashem; and lastly, the mitzvah to eradicate Amalek.
The Gemara asks, “What is the order in which they are to be accomplished?” The Gemara (citing a verse in Parashat Ki Teitzei) answers: First we install the king, then we eradicate Amalek, and then we build Hashem’s house.
Ramban stresses that since the verse (Deuteronomy 17:14) says “virishta v’yashavta bah – and you have inherited and settled in it,” therefore these mitzvot are delayed until such time as the land is acquired, similar to the mitzvah of Ma’akeh – the parapet one must place about one’s roof, that too is applicable only after the land is acquired.
Rambam (Hilchot Melachim u’Milchamoteihem chap.1:1-2) in the verses from which we derive the order of these mitzvot, cites the following (I Samuel 15:1-3):
“I have been sent by Hashem to anoint you as king over His people and now listen to the words of Hashem: ‘Thus said Hashem, L-rd of hosts, I have remembered what Amalek did to Israel that he ambushed them on the way as he went up from Egypt, Now go and smite Amalek and destroy everything he has. Have no pity on him; kill man and woman alike, infant and suckling alike, ox and sheep alike, camel and donkey alike.”
Thus, Rambam sees from this passage that first a king is to be chosen (by Hashem), then anointed, and following that he is commanded to destroy Amalek.
Who was that first king? That was Saul, hand-picked by Hashem as the first dynastic king. His being chosen at that time was because, as we cited earlier (I Samuel 8:4-7), Shmuel was approached by the elders of Israel, who realized that Shmuel would leave the scene and they needed a leader, a king, to replace him. Until that point, they were led and ruled by Judges, but that period was now coming to its end. Shmuel reproached them for their request, but Hashem told Shmuel to accede to the people’s request.
In his last blessing to his sons, Jacob singles out Judah when he says (Genesis 49:10), “The scepter shall not depart Judah nor a scholar from among his descendants until Shiloh arrives.”
According to Onkelos, the scepter refers to the king, and according to Rashi, Shiloh refers to Melech HaMoshiach – the King, the Messiah. According to Jacob’s divinely inspired blessing, kingship belongs to the House of Judah. Yet the first divinely chosen King of Israel was Saul, not a scion of Judah.
Saul understood this very well as he demurred acceding to Samuel’s charge. He argues that he is from the smallest tribe, Benjamin (also the youngest of the tribes) and is of the youngest of the families of Benjamin. Notwithstanding, he was chosen by Hashem, in spite of all, because no one at the time possessed the stature, comely appearance and great modesty that would enhance his position as a Jewish sovereign.
The question now arises: If Jacob bestowed kingship upon Judah, why did Hashem take that away? Would that not pain the righteous tzaddik? The answer might be, would that the people had waited for a divine command to seek out a king then Hashem would have directed His prophet (Shmuel or perhaps some later prophet) to seek out one from the Tribe of Judah. Now that the request came from the people, Hashem tells Shmuel it is not you that they have rejected but Me.
Additionally, how could it be that the elders, mighty and pious individuals, each a leader of Israel in his own right, have erred not in their request for a king but in the manner of the request as stated (I Samuel 8:4) “Appoint for us a king to judge us, like all the nations?”
Indeed, Hashem’s Torah tells us that we are not to have a king like the other nations. The king must be righteous, a scholar who studies the Torah constantly; he must as well write his own personal Sefer Torah, which he is to have on his person constantly. And after all that, their request was that he be a king like those of all the other nations?
We find the answer in a Baraisa (ad loc Sanhedrin 20b). R. Eleazar says: The elders of that generation requested properly as they said, “Appoint for us a king to judge us.” But it was the simple people who erred when they said (infra I Samuel 8:20), “And we all will be like all the other nations”
But what of Jacob’s blessing to Judah? I therefore wish to offer that Hashem chose as the first king specifically one not from the tribe of Judah, one who was without blemish, a person of great piety, yet one who could fail; however, if he passed the test, so be it, but if not, he would lose all. Indeed, this was the piety of Saul – he saw the danger to his person, to his soul, in accepting this position, yet upon Samuel’s coaxing he reluctantly acceded to the will of Hashem.
Indeed, Saul was the first king of Israel, fulfilling the first of the three mitzvot that were specific to the secure settling of the land and, ironically, it was the mitzvah that follows, that of destroying Amalek, in which he erred, losing not only his kingship but cutting short his dynasty and his own life and that of his much beloved son Jonathan. Thus, kingship would revert back to the tribe of Judah manifest in the person of David, whose dynasty is forever.
As we pray daily to Hashem, Avinu Malkeinu – our Father, our true King – we beseech Him in ways that are manifest in so many different tefillot that He find the time opportune and that we be deserving of the arrival of Melech HaMoshiach and the resultant acceptance of Hashem’s reign by all people on the face of the earth.
