1 Samuel 10:1—Does the Scripture give contradictory accounts of the anointing of Saul?

Problem: According to 1 Samuel 10:1, Samuel anointed Saul at the outskirts of Ramah in the territory of Zuph (cf. 9:5). However, 1 Samuel 10:17–24 asserts that Saul was appointed king of Israel at Mizpah. Are these accounts contradictory?

Solution: No. The only passage that describes the anointing of Saul is found in 1 Samuel 10:1. In 1 Samuel 10:17–24 we read of the public appointment of Saul in the presence of the whole nation. There is no statement of anointing him at this time. Also, in 1 Samuel 12 we find the confirmation ceremony of Saul’s appointment as king of Israel and Samuel’s farewell address to the nation. Nowhere in this section is there any reference to an anointing. According to the biblical record, Saul was anointed only once, and there is no contradiction among these accounts.

Problem: Genesis 49:10 indicates that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes.” But history records that the first king of Israel (Saul) was from “the tribe of Benjamin” (Acts 13:21; cf. 1 Sam. 9:1–2).

Solution: This problem is predicated on the assumption that “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah. Some scholars take it to refer to the city in Ephraim where the Tabernacle of Moses was erected. On this interpretation, Judah was to be the leader of the 12 tribes all during the wilderness, until they came into the Promised Land.

Even if “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah, there is no real problem here, since the Messiah came from the tribe of Judah (cf. Matt. 1:1–3, 16; Rev. 5:5). In God’s eyes David (from the tribe of Judah), not Saul, was His choice for the first king of Israel (cf. 1 Sam. 15–16). So, the tribe of Judah was always the ruling line from which the Messiah was to come.