Chiefs in Israel

Abstract

This essay examines the transitional period between the time of tribal organization and the emergence of full monarchy in ancient Israel. It studies the stages of development through which the nation's sociopolitical organizations passed as kingship emerged, and it concentrates upon the stage of chiefdom when chiefs provided leadership for familistic but non-egalitarian social groups. Recognizing the presence of chiefdoms aids in explaining the forces and counterforces which maneuvered within Israel during the rise of the monarchy. Accepting the fact that Saul and David served as chiefs contributes toward unravelling one of the nation's most complex and confusing periods /1/.