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בֶּן שָׁנָה שָׁאוּל בְּמָלְכוֹ. אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל (יומא כב ב): כְּבֶן שָׁנָה, שֶׁלֹּא טָעַם טַעַם חֵטְא. וְיֵשׁ לִפְתּוֹר: בֶּן שָׁנָה שָׁאוּל בְּמָלְכוֹ, בְּשָׁנָה רִאשׁוֹנָה שֶׁהוּמְלַךְ בָּהּ, וְהוּא מָלַךְ שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבַשָּׁנָה רִאשׁוֹנָה, מִיָּד: ״וַיִּבְחַר לוֹ שָׁאוּל שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים״: One year was Shaul in his reign. Our Rabbis, of sainted memory, said,1 Maseches Yoma 22b. [Shaul was] like a one year old, who did not experience the taste of sin. It may also be interpreted, "Shaul was a year in his reign," i.e., in the first year in which he was made king, though he actually ruled over Yisroel two years, in the first year, immediately, "Shaul chose for himself three thousand [men]."