WAS KING SAUL AN EPILEPTIC?

Golden Bay Argus, Volume XII, Issue 45, 7 April 1910, Page 3

WAS KING SAUL AN EPILEPTIC?

WHY THE PHILISTINES CONQUERED.

It has always been clear from the Bible narrative that Saul, the first King of Israel, sufiered from a mysterious malady that rendered him unfit to rule from madness or weakness at many critical moments in his career, and finally caused him to fail and lose his life in his last great battle with the Philistines. But the Old Testament historians do not use modern terms to describe diseases, and it has hitherto been uncertain what was the cause of Saul’s disastrous failures.

Dr. Edward M. Merrins. a physician who is a profound student of the Bible, has examined' and analysed with great medical knowledge and scholarship all the references to Saul’s illness, and has come to the conclusion that it was unquestionably epilepsy that afflicted him. The fact that on more than one occasion Saul fell down in bis attacks of madness points very strongly to epilepsy, for aD old popular name for the disease was “the falling sickness." Saul was the son of Kish, a wealthy farmer, "a mighty man of power." When first Saul appears on the scene he is a handsome youth with extraordinary stature : "Prom his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” This excess of bodily development may well be due to a morbid growth of the bones, called "gigantism," which is often accompanied by mental disorder. • The nation, weary of the rule of the incapable and morally worthless sons of Samuel, had requested the aged prophet who had been their leader to find for them a king. It wa9 divinely revealed *to Samuel that a visitor would call upon him to be anointed for the office. Saul duly appeared, and immediately won Samuel's heart by his handsome appearance and by his unaffected modesty wheD it was made - known to him that he was chosen to be King of Israel.

Dr. Merrins shows that the emotional excitement produced by this interview,' occurring at the critical stage of adolescence, may have led to the first attack of Saul’s mental malady. On a later occasion we find him again among the prophets,, and he undresses himself—a frequent occurrence in persons in the epileptic state—"and fell down naked all that day and all that night.” These details, and especially the falling down, point strongly to an epileptic seizure. Saul's strange hiding of himself when the lots were being drawn to decide . who should be king, "may be accounted for in the same way.

The sacred historian states it was an evil spirit that troubled Saul. That epilepsy was due to supernatural agency was the universal belief in ancient times. As far back as the Stone Age, the doctor states holes were bored in the skulls of epileptics to afford a means of escape to the spirits buried within. David’s music made Saul breathe more freely. The relief of epilepsy by music is an established fact. Of the sudden outbursts of homicidal violence, characteristic of the epileptic, there are several examples. As Saul's career was drawing to a close, his malady became aggravated. “When Saul saw the host of the Philistines he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.” Palpitation of the heart Is a usual accompaniment of epileptic attacks. In his agitation he secretly sought the assistance of witchcraft. He paid his famous visit to the Witch of Endor, perhaps the most dramatic incident described in the Old Testament. The witch raised up Samuel from the dead, and he uttered his terrible prophecy to Saul "The Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hands o! the Philistines ; and to-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me." . . .

. . . “Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth.” On the morrow ‘‘the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines.” It appears that Saul suffered an attack of his malady during the battle, as Julius Caesar did on a similar occasion. Feeling his weakness, Saul asked his armour bearer to slay him, but he was afraid. Then be turned to an Amalekite, and, evidently in a fainting condition, said : ‘‘Stand, I pray thee, over me, and slay me ; for anguish hath taken hold of me ; because my life is yet whole in me.” Then the Amalekite slew the first King of Israel, while he lay. so Dr. Merrins concludes, unconscious from an epileptic seizure.— “Popular Science Siftings.”