Kings Saul and David The Israelites disrupted Philistine caravans bringing goods from the desert, and the Philistines established military outposts between their cities and the Israelites. Around the year 1050, the Israelites combined their forces for the first time and confronted an army of Philistines near the Philistine outpost at Aphek – the Philistines with iron weapons and horse drawn chariots, the Israelites riding into battle on donkeys. According to 1 Samuel 4:2, the Israelites lost the battle. Israelite elders wondered why their god had allowed this, and they sent for the Ark of the Covenant, proclaiming that it would "deliver us from the power of our enemies."

According to modern scholars the two Books of Samuel were written long after the events they describe. The archaeologist Israel Finkelstein writes that "according to many scholars" the books appeared in substantially their present form in the late seventh century BCE." note13 The gap of centuries between the events and the writing is said to have allowed inventions that suited the priestly scribes doing the writing – as is common with story telling. But this, it is pointed out, does not mean that the story is entirely false. how do i do this