The Hiram Key

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HIe I1Inn OJ Juaalsm
the Israelites was the city of Shiloh. some twenty miles to the north.
Excavations have shown that Shiloh was destroyed in around 1050 BC
in the war between the ]sraelites and the Philistines. This event wa~
desenti~ by Samuel, who was an important judge. prophet, priest and
.rekam~glflk
The war between the Israelites and the Philistines is recorded in the
biblical story of Samson, who was a Nazarite (a holy man) of inunense
strength. He destrg,red three thousand Philistines by~hysicaly pulling
down both the left~ and right-hand pil ~ . iYhich we believe is a
-!!letaphor ior undermining their national stabili . -
~I ,,:,as Samuel who made the Benj;;}ite, Saul, king in a private
anomtmg ceremony. No explanation is given in the Bible as to how
Samuel knew how to do this and there is, of course, no description of the
ceremony itself. II appears that the relationship between Samuel and
Saul was that of the twin powers of priest and king, the two pillars of a
successful society uniting to produce stability. This relationship quickly
came under stress when Saul made a sacrifice at Gilgal without the
benefit of Samuel's ministrations, and when he failed to follow Samuel's
instruction to destroy the harem of the defeated Amalekites, Samuel
began to regret his choice.
A new candidate soon emerged, this time from the major tribe of
Judah rather than from the smallest tribe of Benjamin. His name was
David, and he came from a small town called Bethlehem.
David was, by all accounts, a highly accomplished individual with
I
great skills, first as a courtier then as a soldier and as a statesman. The
well. known story of the slaying of Goliath is generally accepted as true,
but It was not David who killed the giant Gittite - that was done by
another man from Bethlehem called Elhanan: the son of Jareore~
gim. s
l?e attrib.uting of the event to David was a later attempt to portray
David as a simple shepherd boy unused to war, but the fact was that he
was a great soldier and politician throughout his life.
Saul saw the threat from David and tried to have him removed but
eventually it was Saul who lost his life and Samuel created his se~ond
g1lik.~ o~ widely ap.£.reciated that when David was on the run from
k ul he servci