murder - How was Saul a Tzadik if he wiped out Nov?

I've read many commentaries that argue that despite losing the kingdom, Saul is a righteous guy.

But how, after he mass murdered priests (Samuel 1 21-22)? To be more exact, he ordered priests to be mass murdered for giving aid to David. He didn't do it himself, but he ordered it. Isn't that a major capital crime?

Answer

To begin with, Saul only ordered the execution of Achimelekh's Beit Av( Samuel I 22:16):

ויאמר המלך, מות תמות אחימלך: אתה, וכל-בית אביך
And the king said: 'Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.'

The massacre at Nov was Doeg's own initiative( ibid. 22:18-19):

ויאמר המלך, לדויג (לדואג), סב אתה, ופגע בכהנים; ויסב דויג (דואג) האדמי, ויפגע-הוא בכהנים, וימת ביום ההוא שמנים וחמשה איש, נשא אפוד בד
And the king said to Doeg: 'Turn thou, and fall upon the priests.' And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
ואת נב עיר-הכהנים, הכה לפי-חרב, מאיש ועד-אשה, מעולל ועד-יונק; ושור וחמור ושה, לפי-חרב
And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

As far as executing Achimelekh's Beit Av( "father's house") itself goes, two others played major roles in bringing it about:

1. Doeg the Edomite, who fearing Saul's rage after the latter accusing his men - even his fellow tribesmen - of conspiring against him with his son Jonathan( ibid 22:6-8), especially after he'd seen David at Nov( ibid 21:8), and didn't mention it at the time, decided to shift the accusation to Achimelekh, even falsely accusing him of having "inquired of the LORD" for David( ibid 22:9-10). Based on his testimony, Saul judged and executed the priests.


2. David, when he arrived at Nov, lied to Achimelekh, saying that he is on the king's mission( ibid 21:3), and in asking for food and a sword, made Achimelekh an accessory to his "crime". He latter even admitted his complicency in the affair to Abiathar, who escaped the massacre( ibid 22:22)

So Saul's actual crime here was accepting Doeg's testimony over Achimelekh's.

As such, his evil deeds are usually reconciled with him being under the influence of the Ru'ach Ra'ah, and not fully responsible for his actions( see here and here).

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It may be worth mentioning that Chronicles I 10:13-14 mentions only Saul's failure to fulfill God's command in the war against Amaleq, and especially him inquiring in Ov and not in ha-Shem, as the transgressions for which he died, but does not mention the massacre at Nov.