Samuel, by the direction of God, did not go into the powerful tribe of Ephraim, which possessed one half of the Israelitish territory, to select a sovereign, but to the smallest of the tribes, that of Benjamin,—­the most warlike, however,—­and to one of the least of the families of that tribe, dwelling in very humble life.  Kish, the Benjamite, had sent out his son Saul in quest of three asses which had strayed away from the farm,—­a man so poor that he had no money to give to the seer who should direct his search, as was customary, and was obliged to borrow a quarter of a shekel from his servant when they went together to seek the counsel of Samuel.  But this obscure youth was “a choice young man, and a goodly.”  He had a commanding presence, was very beautiful, and was head and shoulders taller than any other man of his tribe,—­a man every way likely to succeed in war.  Samuel no sooner saw the commanding figure and intelligent countenance of Saul than he was assured that this was the man whom the Lord had chosen to be the future captain and champion of Israel.  He at once treated him with distinguished honor, and made him sit at his own table, much to the amazement of the thirty nobles who also were bidden to a banquet.  The prophet took the young man aside, conducted him to the top of his house, anointed him with the sacred oil, kissed him (a form of allegiance), and communicated to him the will of God.  But Saul was only privately consecrated, and with rare discretion told no man of his good fortune,—­for he had not yet distinguished himself in any way, and would have been laughed to scorn by his relatives, as Joseph was by his brothers, had he revealed his destiny.

Nor did Samuel dare to tell the people of the man whom the Lord had chosen to rule over them, but assembled all the tribes, that the choice might be publicly indicated.  Probably to their astonishment the little tribe of Benjamin was “taken,”—­that is pointed out, presumably by lot, as was their custom when appealing for divine direction; and out of the tribe of Benjamin the family of Matri was chosen, and Saul the son of Kish was selected.  But Saul could not be found.  With rare modesty and humility he had hidden himself.  When at length they brought him from his hiding-place Samuel said unto the people, “See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people!” And such was the authority of Samuel that the people shouted, saying, “God save the king!”—­a circumstance interesting as being the first recorded utterance of a cry that has been echoed the world over by many a loyal people.

Not yet, however, was Saul clothed with full power as a king.  Samuel still remained the acknowledged ruler until Saul should distinguish himself in battle.  This soon took place.  With heroic valor he delivered Jabesh-Gilead from the hosts of the Ammonites when that city was about to fall into their hands, and silenced the envy of his enemies.  In a burst of popular enthusiasm Samuel collected the people in Gilgal, and there formally installed Saul as King of Israel.