Losing the Kingship Twice/1/en
Losing the Kingship Twice?
Introduction
Repeat?
Not long after after Shaul begins to reign, he errs and is told that his kingdom will be torn away from him. In Chapter 13, after he fails to wait the allotted seven days for Shemuel in Gilgal, opting instead to bring a sacrifice on his own, Shemuel tells him:
(יג) וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל שָׁאוּל נִסְכָּלְתָּ לֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת מִצְוַת י"י אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּךְ כִּי עַתָּה הֵכִין י"י אֶת מַמְלַכְתְּךָ אֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד עוֹלָם. (יד) וְעַתָּה מַמְלַכְתְּךָ לֹא תָקוּם בִּקֵּשׁ י"י לוֹ אִישׁ כִּלְבָבוֹ וַיְצַוֵּהוּ י"י לְנָגִיד עַל עַמּוֹ כִּי לֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ י"י.
(13) And Samuel said to Saul: 'Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee; for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. (14) But now thy kingdom shall not continue; the Lord hath sought him a man after His own heart, and the Lord hath appointed him to be prince over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.'
Just two chapters later, Shaul once again blunders, not fulfilling Hashem's command to destroy Amalek. Here, too, he is told:
(כו)...כִּי מָאַסְתָּה אֶת דְּבַר י"י וַיִּמְאָסְךָ י"י מִהְיוֹת מֶלֶךְ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל. (כז) וַיִּסֹּב שְׁמוּאֵל לָלֶכֶת וַיַּחֲזֵק בִּכְנַף מְעִילוֹ וַיִּקָּרַע. (כח) וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו שְׁמוּאֵל קָרַע י"י אֶת מַמְלְכוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ הַיּוֹם וּנְתָנָהּ לְרֵעֲךָ הַטּוֹב מִמֶּךָּ.
(26) And Samuel said unto Saul: 'I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.' (27) And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. (28) And Samuel said unto him: 'The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
Shemuel's words are perplexing. If Shaul had lost the kingship already in Chapter 13, how can he lose it again? What is the relationship between these two punishments?
