Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, What ails the people that they weep? They told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
"So shall it be done to his oxen"  (1 Samuel 11:7).  These are the words of a king, not those of some country bumpkin, who, for the first time, suddenly decided to rescue Israel.  Thus, we have a triple confirmation here of both the preceding phases of Saul's designation as King of Israel. Nothing is any more unreasonable or unintelligent than the critical nonsense about the `early and late sources.' Again, in the words of Ewald, what we have here is nothing but the simple truth throughout these four chapters, with every single statement in them fitting exactly as in a jig-saw puzzle.