שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יבְִחַר ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ בּוֹ מִקֶּרֶב אַחֶיךָ תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ לֹא תוּכַל לָתֵת עָלֶיךָ אִישׁ נָכְרִי אֲשֶׁר לֹא אָחִיךָ הוּא (דברים י:טו)
As you might know, Shaul was the first king of klal Yisroel but he did not merit that his children inherited his position.
There are two opinions in the Gemara (Yoma 22b) the reason for this. Rav Yehuda—in the name of Shmuel—holds it was because there was no flaw in his ancestry. If a person’s ancestry is flawed, he is careful not to act arrogantly toward the community in order that the people will not be able to answer back: How do you have the gall to speak to us so degradingly? Take a look into your own family before you open your mouth! When there are no flaws, there is nothing stopping him from being haughty and looking down on people. Therefore, even though that Shaul was very humble, his descendants might not be, so Hashem took away the kingship from him.
Rav Yehuda—in the name of Rav—said the reason was because in the beginning of his kingship, Shaul did not defend the honor of the kingship. At the time that Shmuel Hanavi anointed Shaul to be king, there were people who not only did not accept Shaul as the king but they even mocked him. Shaul, in his great humility, didn’t react at all. Even though this looks like the conduct of a tzaddik, in truth, it was a big aveira. It is written: “Sohm taseem ahlecha melech— You shall surely appoint over yourself a king,” and Chazal teaches us that this means that a king should be very authoritative and the people will be in awe of him at all times. Rav Yehuda—in the name of Rav—maintains that since Shaul did not act accordingly, Hashem punished him by taking the kingship away from him.
Although it seems that there is a machlokes between Rav and Shmuel, Zera Shimshon explains that both opinions are really the same. They both hold—like Rav—that he lost the kingship because he did act with enough authority. Shmuel only strengthened this view by saying that there was no justification for Shaul to act the way that he acted. If he would have come from a flawed lineage, then, there would have been some justification for what he did; if he would have punished the dissenters, they could have answered, “Before you chastise us, ‘Look into your own family.’” Shmuel, therefore, said that his lineage was pure and there was no reason for him not to act with authority. He was, therefore, totally guilty for what he did and he deserved to lose the kingship because of it.
Despite this, Zera Shimshon asks the question that he doesn’t understand what exactly Shaul did wrong?
Many years later—right after the death of Shlomo HaMelech—his son, Rechavam inherited the kingship from Shlomo. He went to the city of Shechem, in order that all of klal Yisroel will accept him to be their king, and Yeravam ben Nevat arrived with a large delegation that he should not deal with them harshly. Rechavam didn’t know what to do. His young advisors advised him not to listen to them, while the elders advised him that since his kingship was not yet stable, he should listen to Yeravam ben Nevat and be lenient with the people and not place heavy taxes on them. Rechavam listened to his young advisors with whom he grew up with and Chazal taught us that this was a mistake. He should have listened to the elders and should have been lenient with the people.
According to this, it would seem that Shaul acted properly. After Shmuel anointed Shaul to be king, only a few people accepted him as their king. Most people didn’t follow him in the beginning. Since his kingship was not yet stable, it would seem that he did the wise thing by being humble, just as the elderly advisors advised Rechavam! Why, then, do Rav and Shmuel hold that he acted improperly, to such a degree that he lost the kingship?
Zera Shimshon answers that there is a huge difference between Shaul and Rechavam. Rechavam was not appointed to rule over the whole nation al pi Hashem, through Hashem’s instruction. On the contrary, the Navi Achia Hashiloni told Yeravam that Yeravam will rule over 10 of the 12 tribes! Rechavam didn’t know this, but he reasoned that his kingship was dependent on the choice of kal Yisroel. The elders, therefore, told him to be lenient with the people in order to win them over to his side until his rule is stable. Shaul, on the other hand, was anointed by Shmuel al pi Hashem, and, therefore, the people had to accept him as king—whether they liked it or not. Therefore, there was no reason for him not to show his authority over his dissenters and because of this weakness, Hashem took away the kingship from him.
