Photo by Sonia Halliday and Laura Lushington

ON THE COVER: Impaled on his own sword, King Saul raises his hand as a last farewell, in this 13th-century stained glass window from Chartres Cathedral. In “Saul as Sacrifice: The Tragedy of Israel’s First Monarch,” L. Daniel Hawk suggests that Saul, by killing himself on Mount Gilboa, ensures the survival of his people. With this self-sacrificial act, Saul appeases God’s anger at the Israelite’s insistence on having a king and prepares the way for David, the leader whom “Yahweh has sought after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).