Music plays a vital role in the pivotal points in Saul’s career. In his election as the inaugural king of Israel, he is told by the prophet Samuel to join a procession of prophets “coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes, and harps being played before them” (1 Sam 10:5). In 1 Sam 16:14-23, Saul’s mental health takes on such a plunge that David has to be brought into court as the king’s music therapist.
If music brings David and Saul together in 1 Sam 16:14-23, it will tear the two men apart in 1 Sam 18:6-10. After David’s triumphant victory over Goliath, the women’s song exalting David’s success over Saul’s is enough to cause the latter to become very angry (v. 8). The next day, an “evil spirit” (רעה רוח) comes upon Saul while David is playing the lyre. Saul hurls the spear in his hand at David. Unwilling to give up, Saul repeats the same assault in 1 Sam 19:9-10. While David plays his lyre, Saul tries to pin David to the wall again with his spear. David panics and escapes to Samuel’s home.
Saul’s espionage soon discovers David’s whereabouts, and three contingents are sent to take David down without success. Finally, Saul decides to seek David out himself, and a spirit from God comes upon him, and he also shows ecstatic prophetic behavior (1 Sam 19:23). What is consciously missing is that, in this final episode, we do not read of the playing of musical instruments during the processions.
This paper contends that music plays a vital role within the Saul narratives in the books of Samuel—music functions as a sign that marked Saul’s election as the king of Israel. As part of the sign, the spirit of Yahweh comes upon Saul, making him prophesy. Further, Saul is being transformed into “another man,” where his heart is transformed. However, after Saul is rejected as king, the role of music progressively changes. An evil spirit replaces the spirit of Yahweh. Music initially has the power to chase away the evil spirit and make Saul feel better. By the time we come to 1 Sam 19:9-24, music is not only conspicuously missing, Saul’s rejection becomes final, marked by a depiction of the naked king before Samuel.
In terms of this paper’s contribution to the study of 1 Samuel: by arguing for the importance of the motif of music in the Saul narratives, we see how music interacts with the more prominent themes of the book, namely Saul’s election/rejection as king and the roles of the evil spirit/Spirit of Yahweh. This study also helps us appreciate the poetics of 1 Samuel, an endeavor that has found precedence in the works of scholars such as Alter, Bar-Efrat, Fokkelman, Berlin, Licht, Sternberg, Long, Polzin, and others.