King Saul

According to 1 Samuel, Saul son of Kish, a tall Benjaminite, went looking for his father's lost donkeys and was anointed by the prophet Samuel at Zuph, then chosen by lot at Mizpah. He proved himself by rescuing Jabesh-gilead from Nahash the Ammonite, who had threatened to gouge out the right eye of every man there, and his son Jonathan's daring raid on the Philistine garrison at Michmash sparked a great victory. But Saul offered a sacrifice at Gilgal without waiting for Samuel, and later spared Agag, king of Amalek, and the best livestock, prompting Samuel's rebuke "to obey is better than sacrifice" and the announcement that his kingdom would not endure (1 Samuel 13, 15). Tormented by an evil spirit and jealous of David ("Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands"), he pursued him for years. On the eve of his last battle he consulted the medium of En-dor, then died on Mount Gilboa with three sons, including Jonathan.

David's lament, "How the mighty have fallen!" (2 Samuel 1), is one of the Bible's great elegies. Saul's capital Gibeah is identified with Tell el-Ful north of Jerusalem, where W. F. Albright excavated a fortress he attributed to Saul in 1922.