๐ 1 Samuel (Chapters 1–16) — Part 1: ๐ God Looks at the Heart and Character of People
๐ To determine accurately whether Saul was truly humble before he became king or not, I held the 124th competition among three artificial intelligences.
And in that competition, the summary below was selected as the winner.
Through additional discussions with the AIs, I then tried to make the reasoning easier to understand and added it to the [Final Conclusion].
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Yesterday, while summarizing the key points up to 1 Samuel 16, I suddenly realized something that I thought was worth sharing.
Unlike many other books of the Bible, 1 Samuel seems to record the character and personality of many different people in considerable detail. ๐
๐ Samuel, the Nazirite
Unlike other priests, Samuel was a priest whom the Lord God Himself raised up for His own purpose.
→ Chapter 1: God declares that He will raise up someone for Himself and chooses Samuel.
Samuel is recorded as a man who faithfully carried out his ministry without seeking attention.
Every year, he traveled through different regions and judged Israel.
He also judged Israel from the place where he lived.
The Bible even says that Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
Although the Bible does not describe Samuel’s character in detail, when we observe how faithfully he carried out God’s commands, we can understand enough about the kind of person he was.
๐ Saul, made king at the people’s request
Chapters 9 and 10 contain important clues about Saul’s character before he became king.
([Click to view])In chapter 13, only two years after becoming king, his true character begins to appear.
([Click to view])In chapter 14, he makes reckless oaths and displays behavior that is even worse than that of an animal.
([Click to view])In chapter 15, he disobeys God’s command and shifts the responsibility onto the people.
([Click to view])
๐ Was Saul humble before he became king? ❌
๐ During the competition with the AIs, Gemini presented this interpretation:
→ Saul hid among the baggage because of fear and humility.
๐ One reader also left a comment expressing a similar view:
→ “Saul was humble before he became king, but after becoming king, he became proud and changed.”
However, there is no clear passage in the Bible that actually says Saul was humble.
If we try to find evidence, there are only two passages that could possibly be used. But we need to examine them carefully.
“Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you said such a thing to me?”
(1 Samuel 9:21)
✔️ These words came from Saul’s own mouth, but they do not constitute proof of humility. ❌
→ In fact, Benjamin had become the smallest tribe after the war against its own fellow Israelites.
There is another passage:
“Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel...”
(1 Samuel 15:17)
✔️ Samuel says: “Although you were once small in your own eyes.”
But we need to remember that these are Samuel’s words, not Saul’s own statement about his character.
๐ If we accept this statement as proof that Saul was humble...
๐ then we should also accept Samuel’s first impression when he saw Eliab, David’s brother:
→ “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
But Samuel was wrong. ❌
And here is the important point:
What Samuel said in 1 Samuel 15 was Samuel’s own recollection and assessment.
He was rebuking Saul because, although God had placed a man from a small tribe on the throne, Saul had failed to obey the Lord’s command.
➡️ We can understand this more easily through a familiar kind of expression:
“I took someone who came from a small rural village and made him a leader, and now you dare to behave like this?”
That is a statement of rebuke, not necessarily a statement that Saul had been humble in the past. ❌
๐ In other words, it is like saying:
“You came from a humble background and became a great man.”
Or, using a Korean proverb:
“A dragon can be recognized from the very first leaf of the tree.” ๐
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๐ An interesting Korean proverb
There is a Korean proverb that says:
“A promising tree can be recognized from its first leaves.”
But in Saul’s case...
He was already approaching 40 years of age, and yet his influential father Kish sent him out to look for lost animals.
This does not exactly give the impression of a man with an important responsibility of his own. ๐
That is why his father sent an intelligent servant with him.
Chapter 9 records this situation.
Chapter 10 shows us Saul hiding among the baggage.
And an interesting question arises:
Why specifically among the baggage?
He suddenly hides!
It is quite a curious situation.
Could there have been another reason why he hid? Perhaps because someone had already recognized him? ๐ค
✔️ And immediately afterward, the Bible records the presence of some troublemakers.
“But some troublemakers said, ‘How can this fellow save us?’ They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul remained silent.”
(1 Samuel 10:27)
๐ Final Summary Regarding Saul
Hiding does not necessarily mean humility
✔️ Saul had already been anointed by Samuel as king.
✔️ After that, he had already experienced the signs that God had announced in 1 Samuel 10:2–9.
✔️ Therefore, before the assembly at Mizpah and the casting of lots, Saul already knew that he had been chosen and would become king.
✔️ Later, after the battle against Amalek, he even set up a monument for himself early in the morning.
☑️ Therefore, hiding behind the baggage does not necessarily have to be interpreted as pure humility, nor simply as fear of people. ๐
☑️ He already knew the outcome, but there may have been another reason why he hid.
And I believe the Bible records the actions of the troublemakers immediately afterward so that we will pay attention to this detail.
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๐ 1 Samuel 16:
The Word of the Lord → “I Look at the Heart” — That Is, the Character!
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.’”
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
๐ These words were spoken to Samuel concerning David.
They are words concerning David, but they were spoken directly to Samuel.
They were not only about Eliab.
We may also consider that Saul was part of the broader context of what God was showing Samuel.
๐ Therefore, from 1 Samuel 1 through 16...
➡️ We can summarize this first section as showing that God looks at the heart and character of people. ๐
It is not merely about outward appearance, position, strength, or what people can see.
God looks at the heart.
And as we follow Samuel, Saul, David, and the other people throughout these first 16 chapters, we can see that each person’s character is gradually revealed through their own actions and choices. ๐
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