Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
Ver. 1. Saul reigned one year,] i.e., Well and orderly; he reigned the two first years, till he was rejected of God, and bereft of his Spirit; for then he turned tyrant, holding the kingdom by violence, 1Sa 14:47 and ruling with rigour. Now although he reigned many years, yet the two first only are reckoned on. In God's account, a man liveth no longer than he liveth well a Seneca saith of men's lives as of ships in a storm, that they have been much tossed, but have sailed little.
a Sic, Qui diu vixit, nec profecit ad bonos mores, non diu vixit, sed diu fuit. - Seneca.