Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 11:12-15
All Opposition To Saul's Kingship Now Having Been Put To Shame, Saul Is Officially Crowned as King of Israel (1 Samuel 11:12).
The returning Saul arrived back in triumph and the vast majority of the people acknowledged that he had proved himself and determined to deal with the murmurers against him (1 Samuel 10:27) by putting them to death. This was the recognised way of dealing with obdurate opponents to a regime. But to his credit Saul would have none of it. Then with his position established Saul was officially confirmed as king at Gilgal.
‘ And the people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”'
The exuberant returning troops would now look on Saul with a new light. It was one thing to have a war-leader appointed by lot, it was quite another when you have followed him into battle and been hugely victorious. None of them doubted him now. Thus they approached Samuel who would have been awaiting their return and called for all who opposed Saul to be put to death. In view of the fact that it was expected that they would have brought presents to the new king they were possibly mainly older men who through tribal loyalty could not bear the thought of being ruled over by a Benjaminite.
‘ And Saul said, “There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today YHWH has wrought deliverance in Israel.”
To his great credit Saul stepped in and forbade it. This was not a a day for slaying Israelites, it was a day for rejoicing, for on this day YHWH had wrought deliverance for Israel. We should note in view of what follows that in these early days Saul was revealed as someone totally worthy of the kingship. The initial choice was shown to be a good one.
‘ Then said Samuel to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingship there.” '
Meanwhile Samuel saw the opportunity to finally seal the kingship question. With all the tribes gathered together (probably moreso than at Mizpah earlier in the nature of the circumstances of a general levy), and with them all in agreement, he suggested that all repair to the Sanctuary at Gilgal in order to renew the kingship. Some see this as indicating the renewal of the Kingship of YHWH, others see it as referring to the finalisation of Saul's coronation. Both may be included for it is then said that Saul was ‘made king before YHWH'.
‘ And all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before YHWH in Gilgal, and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before YHWH, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.'
It is interesting that no mention is made of Samuel being at Gilgal with the people, nor of him offering a burnt-offering, or indeed any offering (contrast 1 Samuel 7:6), nor of him being involved in the ceremony. (LXX in fact recognises this and amends the text). It seems inconceivable if Samuel was there initially that there was no burnt-offering, and that if he was there his part in the ceremony was not described. It is true that at some stage he must have arrived, but it may well be that he waited seven days, as he had previously said to Saul (1 Samuel 10:8), in order to avoid being directly involved in the ‘renewal of the kingship'. It is quite possible that he felt that he had already done his part in authenticating Saul and now wanted to leave it to the people (he was not very enamoured of the kingship anyway), only arriving in order to finalise the situation. The writer may well have expected us to remember 10:8 and see his words in that light.
Thus it is very possible that Samuel was not present at the celebrations and merely appeared at the end in order to finalise things with his farewell speech as Judge of Israel. He may well genuinely have felt that his time for acting as Judge had passed and that the renewal of Saul's confirmation as king was best left out of his own hands and in the hands of ‘all the people” and of the priests at Gilgal. This would explain why he deliberately delayed until the seventh day, at which point he would arrive to give Saul his final instructions from his standpoint as a prophet (1 Samuel 10:8) and make his final farewell speech as Judge. This would indicate that he was acknowledging publicly that his time for interfering in the question of rule over Israel had passed and that now it was between Saul and the people. We must remember that being an old man it would take him some time to get to Gilgal, and the people in their enthusiasm would not necessarily have waited for him, which would explain why no burnt-offering is mentioned, simply because one was not offered until he did finally arrive.
The making of Saul as king ‘before YHWH' again suggests that Gilgal was being seen as the Central Sanctuary, and the offering of sacrifices of peace-offerings in celebration and thanksgiving for their victory would be by the priests at Gilgal. It was a time of festival and rejoicing, but not one of the regular festivals. Once Samuel arrived he would no doubt take it on himself as the adopted son of Eli to offer burnt-offerings, an important type of dedicatory offering not mentioned above, but described in 10:8 and therefore assumed here on that basis. There appears at this stage still to have been no acceptable candidate for the High Priesthood. Such a candidate will appear in 1 Samuel 14:3.