6 So Saul died with his three sons. Jonathan was 57 years old when he died. Saul Bellow would have been 89 years old at the time of death or 100 years old today. 2 Samuel 2 – Regnal details for David and Ish-bosheth For about 4 years, Samuel can look down from Ramah where he lives and see the Tabernacle between 1018-1014 BC. The following diagrams show how the above pieces of information can be combined. Saul was the first king, and he ruled over all of the 12 tribes of Israel for 40 years. What website can you type in a riddle and get the answer? Timelines and interpretations This would suggest that Saul had reigned long enough for David to have encountered him once as a youth – probably in his teens – in connection with Goliath, and a second time rather later when he entered his service in a military capacity. It is often thought that this recounts a rather earlier episode concerning Saul and David, than the account in chapter 16 of David entering military service. If David was 15 when he slew Goliath, Jonathan would be 45 years old at the time he and David formed their friendship. Thus I wanted to get your thoughts on this passage. Now we are in a position to understand the meaning of 1 Samuel 13:1a in context. Presuming Samuel anoints David at around 20 years of age, he would have been at least 60 at this point of time, a realistic figure. Jonathan around 53. Are 2 Samuel 24:13 (7 years of famine) and 1 Chronicles 21 (3 years of famine) a biblical contradiction? The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. Ish-bosheth could be nearly 40 when he took the throne (depending how long after Jonathan he was born), fitting with 2 Samuel 2. David and Jonathan differ considerably in age, and Jonathan is unusually old for Mephibosheth to be his firstborn. What this means for us is that we cannot simply run through the text of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles and add up years, assuming in every case that they measure the literal age of a man when he begins his reign and the literal number of years he reigns. by James B. Jordan The emphasis is on Saul’s capacity for rule, not his age. The anals of the world records the high priest Eli diedin 1117 Hence other secondary clues must be used, and the results are not certain. All Rights Reserved. What are the possible activities that you expect NSTPRO1 facilitators to be giving you in preparation for your community immersion? But how old was he when he became king? A quick glance at the Hebrew letters used for the numbers will show that some of them are rather similar in shape, making the likelihood of a copying error particularly great.