A TRANSITIONAL STAGE The life of Samuel, the prophet and the judge, represents a transitional stage, through which Israel passed over from the Judge system to that of Monarchy. Samuel was born by pious parents, as a fruit of prayers and faith of his mother; then was raised by ‘Ali,’ the priest and judge, who has been characterized by piety and a weak personality, especially before his own sons. Samuel was raised in the house of the Lord in ‘Shiloh,’ where the tabernacle of meeting settled down for 300 years; then was destroyed by the Philistines in one of their attacks; probably during the battle of ‘Aphek’ (1 Samuel 4) after which the ark never returned there. His role as a judge (1 Samuel 7: 6; 15 - 17), like that of ‘Ali’ the priest, had a special feature - a spiritual role, praying and counsel giving, but not leading armies for wars. It was characterized by spiritual guidance as much as possible; as the people still had a prevailing tendency to deviate from the Lord, and to be ignorant, that prevailed from the time of the judges; That is why God allowed for their humiliation on the hands of the Philistines. When the people demanded a king like the other nations around them, Samuel considered that to be a rejection of the reign of God, and of him. Yet, through a divine ordinance, Samuel anointed ‘Saul’ as their king whom God eventually rejected when he rebelled against Him. David was secretly anointed as a king to have his life persistently pursued by Saul.
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