Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 13:21
And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
21. Saul , a man of the tribe of Benjamin ] And to the speaker himself the same words applied. The forty years duration of Saul’s reign is only to be gathered indirectly from Holy Writ, but Josephus ( Antiq. vi. 14. 9) expressly states that time as the length of his reign, and as Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, whom Abner set on the throne after his father’s death, was forty years old when he began to reign (2Sa 2:10), we may conclude that the length assigned in the text is correct.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And afterward they desired a king – See 1Sa 8:5; Hos 13:10. It was predicted that they would have a king, Deu 17:14-15.
Saul, the son of Cis – is the Greek mode of writing the Hebrew name Kish. In the Old Testament it is uniformly written as Kish, and it is to be regretted that this has not been retained in the New Testament. See 1Sa 9:1.
By the space of forty years – During forty years. The Old Testament has not mentioned the time during which Saul reigned. Josephus says (Antiq., book 6, chapter 14, section 9) that he reigned for 18 years while Samuel was alive, and 22 years after his death. But Dr. Doddridge (note in loco) has shown that this cannot be correct, and that he probably reigned, as some copies of Josephus have it, but two years after the death of Samuel. Many critics suppose that the term of 40 years mentioned here includes also the time in which Samuel judged the people. This supposition does not violate the text in this place, and may be probable. See Doddridge and Grotius on the place.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. Saul the son of Cis] In all proper names quoted from the Old Testament, we should undoubtedly follow, as nearly as possible, the same orthography: Kish, was the name of this king’s father, and so we spell it in the Old Testament, and yet have transformed it into Cis in the New, where the orthography is almost entirely lost.
The space of forty years.] Reckoning from the time of his anointing by Samuel to the time of his death, from A.M. 2909 to 2949.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Their great sin in desiring a king was, because by that desire they rejected God, who had at that very time a prophet (Samuel) by whom he governed them, 1Sa 8:7; 10:19. They had been under a theocracy ever since they came out of Egypt, their laws and their governors being appointed by God; had their condition been as that of other nations, their desire had not been a provocation. These words,
by the space of forty years, are to be joined with the foregoing verse, and the other foregoing words in the verse read with a parenthesis: and thus they show how long Samuel the prophet (as he is here called) exercised his prophetical office, which was the space here mentioned, partly before Saul was anointed king, and in part afterward; in which, as another Moses, he cared for, and went in and out before, the people of God, the like space of forty years. This computation of St. Paul might also agree more with the Septuagint, and be according to the then current account, which (not being of more consequence) St. Paul would not controvert at this time, having greater matters to speak of unto them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. God gave . . . them Saul . . .of the tribe of BenjaminThat the speaker was himself of thesame name and of the same tribe, has often been noticed as in alllikelihood present to the apostle’s mind while speaking.
forty yearsWith thislength of Saul’s reign (not mentioned in the Old Testament), JOSEPHUScoincides [Antiquities, 6.14.9].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And afterward they desired a king,…. 1Sa 8:5 which the Jews w say, was in the tenth year of Samuel; that is, of his government over Israel, or of his judging them:
and God gave unto them Saul; whose name signifies one that is asked; he was
the son of Cis; so the Septuagint read and pronounce the word “Kish”, the name of Saul’s father, 1Sa 9:1 a man of the tribe of Benjamin; not of Judah, from whence the sceptre was not to depart till Shiloh came; the business of their asking a king being resented by God, he gives them their first king of another tribe:
by the space of forty years. The Jews are very much divided about the years of Saul’s reign, some allow him but two years x, and others three, one year that he reigned with Samuel, and two by himself y, which they conclude from 1Sa 13:1 but others z think this too short a time for the things done by him, the wars he fought with many nations, and his persecution of David from place to place; wherefore others a allow him, some seventeen, and others twenty years; but our apostle ascribes forty years to him, which must be understood both of him and Samuel; with which Josephus b agrees, who says that he reigned eighteen years, during Samuel’s life, and twenty two years after his death, which make the space of forty years fixed by the apostle; though the clause, “by the space of forty years”, may be read in construction with the latter end of the preceding verse, until Samuel the prophet; who, the Jews c own, judged so many years: wherefore the apostle is not to be charged with an error, as he is by a Jewish d objector; who observes, that from the beginning of Saul’s kingdom, or from the time that he was anointed by Samuel the prophet, until the kingdom was renewed to him by all Israel, was one year, and then Saul chose three thousand men out of Israel after that he reigned two years by the consent of all Israel, until he sinned in the business of the Amalekites, and then he was accounted as a dead man, and the years of his reign were not numbered; at which time David was anointed, who must be about twenty years of age, 1Sa 16:18 and yet when he came to the kingdom after the death of Saul, he was but thirty years of age, 2Sa 5:4 from whence he thinks it follows that Saul reigned but ten years: in all which he is guilty of several mistakes, and advances things he cannot prove; it was not after Saul had reigned one year, but after he had reigned two years, that he chose three thousand men out of Israel, as is expressly said, 1Sa 13:1 and that he had reigned but two years when he sinned in the case of the Amalekites, wants proof; nor is it evident that David was twenty years of age when he was anointed, for it was after his unction that he is said to be a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, 1Sa 16:18 nor indeed can it be said in what year of Saul’s reign he was anointed; so that nothing can be concluded from the age David was at when he began to reign, concerning the years of the reign of Saul his predecessor; and even according to this man’s own reckoning, he must reign thirteen years, one before the consent of all Israel, two after, and before his sin about the Amalekites, and ten from the time of David’s unction: but that Saul must reign more years than these, and even as many as the apostle assigns to him, may be concluded, not only from his wars with many nations, and his long persecution of David before observed; but from the number of high priests which were in his time, and who were no less than three, Ahiah, Abimelech, and Abiathar, 1Sa 14:3 and from his being a young man when he began to reign, 1Sa 9:2 and yet at the end of his reign, or at his death, he had a son, Ishbosheth, that was forty years of age, 2Sa 2:10.
w T. Bab. Nazir, fol. 5. 1. & Temura, fol. 14. 2. x Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 37. Juchasin, fol. 11. 1. Kabbala, R. Abraham, &c. y T. Bab. Temura, fol. 15. 1. z R. Levi ben Gersom & R. Isaiah in I Sam. xiii. 1. a Shalsheleth Hakabala, fol. 8. 1. b Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 9. c Midrash Tillim apud Broughton’s Works, p. 599. Vid. Viccarsium, in Psal xcix. 6. d R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 67. p. 453, 454.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They asked (). First aorist indirect middle indicative, they asked for themselves. They were tired of a theocracy. Cf. 1Sam 8:5; 1Sam 10:1. Paul mentions with pride that Benjamin was the tribe of Saul (his name also), but he does not allude to Saul’s sin (Furneaux).
For the space of forty years ( ). Accusative of extent of time. Not in the O.T., but in Josephus, Ant. VI. 14, 9.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And afterward they desired a king:” (kakeithen etesanto basilea) “And at that time they asked (for) a king,” they cried to Samuel for a king, like the heathen nations about them, much as a child cries for a razor blade or an open pocket knife, or a needle, 1Sa 8:4-5; 1Sa 8:19-20.
2) “And God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis,” (kai edoken autois ho theos ton Saoul huion Kis) “And God gave over to them Saul, son of Cis,” 1Sa 9:15-17; 1Sa 10:1.
3) “A man of the tribe of Benjamin,” (andra ek phules Beniamin) “A man out of the family line of Benjamin,” 1Sa 9:1-3; 1Sa 9:21; 1Sa 10:1.
4) “By the space of forty years,” (ete tesserakonta) “For a period of forty years,” until rejected of the Lord and by Samuel, 1Sa 15:22-23; 1Sa 15:34-35; 1Sa 31:8-13. Saul’s sin “found him out,” so that he not only died a suicide’s death but also was beheaded, then his body and that of his three sons were nailed to the wall of Bethshan, that housed idol gods, after which they were later recovered by some valiant Jewish brethren, burned in Jabesh, then buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh; thus ends the judgement story of Israel’s first king of forty years, 1Sa 31:1-13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. Afterward they desire. And this change was all one as if they would quite and manifestly overthrow the government which he had appointed, whereof God himself complaineth in Samuel, (1Sa 8:5.) But the stability of the election saved them from being punished as such madness did deserve; yea, the wicked and unlawful desire of the people was to God a new and incredible occasion to erect the kingdom whence Christ should afterward come. For how is it that the scepter came to the tribe of Judah, save only because the people were desirous to have a king? And assuredly the people dealt wickedly; but God, who knoweth how to use evil things well, turned that offense into safety. Whereas Saul was thrown down from the kingdom, it served to reprove the fault of the people, (1Sa 15:28,) but immediately when the kingdom is established in David’s family the prophecy of Jacob was verified, (Gen 49:10.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin.It is natural to think of the Apostle as dwelling on the memory of the hero-king of the tribe to which he himself belonged. (Comp. Php. 3:5.) The very fact that he had so recently renounced the name, would bring the associations connected with it more vividly to his recollection.
Forty years.The duration of Sauls reign is not given in the Old Testament, but Ish-bosheth, his youngest son (1Ch. 8:33), was forty years old at the time of Sauls death (2Sa. 2:10), and Saul himself was a young man when chosen as king (1Sa. 9:2). A more definite corroboration of St. Pauls statement is given by Josephus (Ant. vi. 14, 9), who states that he reigned eighteen years before Samuels death and twenty-two after it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Son of Cis The Greek Kis, being the softened form of the Hebrew Kish.
Forty years The apostle furnishes these repeated lengthened periods to show the perpetuity and constancy of the dealings of God with Israel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 13:21. By the space of forty years. Several very considerable critics are of opinion, that the forty years here spoken of, do not all belong to the actual reign of Saul, but include a considerable part of Samuel’s government. Biscoe, who is followed by Bedford, in his Chronology, seems to have proved very satisfactorily, that the reign of Saul continued all these fortyyears. He is far from thinking that Saul’s reign is to be reckoned only from Samuel’s death; the contrary is most apparent; and he has abundantly proved, that the actions assigned to him must have taken up many years. But of the forty in question, it may well suffice to allow twenty to him from his anointing, and the former twenty (computed from the grand action at Mispeh) to Samuel, who might at that time be past his prime, and so be inclined to associate his sons with him; till, on their miscarriages, the people took occasion to demand a king; who, at first, we are sure, from the history, lived privately, and whose authority was never so great as to swallow up that of so illustrious a prophet and judge. It was a common opinion prevailing among the Jews, that Saul survived Samuel but little more than two years.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 13:21 . ] and from thence . has only here in the N.T., as also in later Greek, a temporal reference, yet so that the time is conceived as something in space stretching itself out. So, too, in the passages in Bornemann, Schol. in Luc . p. 90 f., but not in Luk 13:28 .
.] , , , Joseph. Antt . vi. 14. 9 (according to the usual text, in which, however, is spurious; see Bertheau on Judges , p. xx.). In the O.T. there is no express definition of the duration of Saul’s reign. However, the explanation (Erasmus, Beza, Calovius, Wolf, Morus, Rosenmller, Heinrichs) that . (which, in fact, contains the duration of ) embraces the time of Samuel and Saul together, is to be rejected as contrary to the text; and instead of it, there is to be assumed a tradition although improbable in its contents, yet determined by the customary number 40 which Paul followed.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
Ver. 21. By the space of forty years ] Taking into the account the days of Samuel’s government.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. . . ] It may be not altogether irrelevant to notice that a Saul, a man of the tribe of Benjamin , was speaking; and to trace in this minute specification something characteristic and natural.
] So also Josephus: , Antt. vi. 14. 9. In the O. T. the length of Saul’s reign is not specified; 1Sa 7:2 gives no reason, as Bengel thinks, why Saul’s reign should have been less than twenty years , as the twenty years there mentioned do not extend to the bringing up of the ark by David, but only to the circumstances mentioned in the following verses. Biscoe has well shewn (p. 399), that as Saul was a young man when anointed king, and Ishbosheth his youngest son ( 1Ch 8:33 ) was forty years old at his death ( 2Sa 2:10 ), his reign cannot have been much short of that period. It is clearly against the construction to suppose Samuel’s time as well as Saul’s included in the forty years, following as they do upon the . Yet this has been done by the majority of Commentators.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 13:21 . : only here of time in N.T. as in later Greek. Weiss even here interprets the expression to mean that they asked for a king from him, i.e. , Samuel, in his character as prophet. : not mentioned in O.T., but cf. Jos., Ant. , vi., 14, 9. The period does not seem much too long for Saul’s reign when we remember that Ishbosheth was forty years old at his father’s death, when he was placed on the throne by Abner, 2Sa 2:10 . . . ., cf. Paul’s description of himself in Phi 3:5 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
desired = asked. Greek. mid. of aiteo. App-134.
unto = to.
Saul. Greek. Saoul. The Hebr. form. Compare Act 9:4.
son. Greek. huios. App-108.
of = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
by. Omit.
forty years. See App-10and App-50.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21. . .] It may be not altogether irrelevant to notice that a Saul, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, was speaking; and to trace in this minute specification something characteristic and natural.
] So also Josephus: , Antt. vi. 14. 9. In the O. T. the length of Sauls reign is not specified; 1Sa 7:2 gives no reason, as Bengel thinks, why Sauls reign should have been less than twenty years, as the twenty years there mentioned do not extend to the bringing up of the ark by David, but only to the circumstances mentioned in the following verses. Biscoe has well shewn (p. 399), that as Saul was a young man when anointed king, and Ishbosheth his youngest son (1Ch 8:33) was forty years old at his death (2Sa 2:10), his reign cannot have been much short of that period. It is clearly against the construction to suppose Samuels time as well as Sauls included in the forty years, following as they do upon the . Yet this has been done by the majority of Commentators.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 13:21. -, Saul-Benjamin) Paul had been of the same name and tribe.- , forty years) Here the years of Samuel the prophet and Saul the king are brought together into one sum: for between the anointing of king Saul and his death there were not twenty, much less forty years: 1Sa 7:2, While the ark abode in Kirjath Jearim-twenty years (a considerable part of Samuels ministry before the reign of Saul).
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
they: 1Sa 8:5-22, 1Sa 12:12-19
Saul: 1Sa 10:1, 1Sa 10:21-26, 1Sa 11:15, 1Sa 15:1
Cis: 1Sa 9:1, 1Sa 9:2, 1Sa 10:21, Kish
Reciprocal: 1Sa 7:15 – judged 1Sa 9:15 – the Lord 1Sa 9:17 – reign over 1Sa 12:13 – have desired 1Sa 16:1 – Jesse 2Sa 21:6 – whom the Lord did choose 1Ch 8:33 – Kish Dan 2:21 – he removeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Act 13:21. This is the only passage that states the length of Saul’s reign.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 13:21. By the space of forty years. The Old Testament does not mention the length of Sauls reign. The statement here, however, agrees with Josephus, who speaks of Saul reigning eighteen years before Samuels death and twenty-two after it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Act 13:21-22. Afterward they desired a king Being foolishly desirous of being like the neighbouring nations in that respect, and insensible of the favour which God had done them in assuming the character and relation of a king to them. And God gave them Saul Whose government, with that of Samuel the prophet, lasted for the space of forty years So Beza, Grotius, Limborch, and many other eminent critics. And when he had removed him In his righteous displeasure, from reigning over Israel; he raised up unto them David Hence they might understand that the dispensations of God admitted of various changes; to whom he gave a more glorious testimony Than to Saul. See 1Sa 13:14; Psa 89:20. And said, I have found David, &c., a man after my own heart This expression is to be taken in a limited sense. David was such at that time, but not at all times. And he was so in the respect here mentioned: he performed all Gods will In the particulars there spoken of. But he was not a man after Gods own heart in other respects, wherein he performed his own will. In the matter of Uriah, for instance, he was as far from being a man after Gods own heart, as Saul himself was. It is, therefore, a very gross, as well as dangerous mistake, to suppose this is the character of David in every part of his behaviour. We must beware of this, unless we would recommend adultery and murder as things after Gods own heart. So Mr. Wesley: and in the same sense Dr. Benson understands the words, observing, when it is said that King David was a man after Gods own heart, it ought to be understood of his public, not of his private character. He was a man after Gods own heart, because he ruled his people Israel according to the divine will. He did not allow of idolatry; he did not set up for absolute power; he was guided in the government of the nation by the law of Moses, as the standing rule of government, and by the prophet, or the divine oracle, whereby God gave directions upon particular emergencies. That this was the meaning of Davids being a man after Gods own heart, will easily appear by comparing 1Sa 15:28; 1Sa 28:17-18; 1Ch 9:13-14; Psa 78:70, &c.; Psa 89:20, &c.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
See notes one verse 17
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of {m} forty years.
(m) In this space of forty years the time of Samuel must be counted and included with the days of Saul, for the kingdom did as it were include his administration.