Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 10:23

And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

And they ran and fetched him thence,…. Being in haste to see their king elect, and proclaim him:

and when he stood among the people; being brought among them, and presented to them:

he was higher than any of the people, from the shoulders, and upwards; which made him look very graceful and majestic; height of stature, and a comely form, as Kimchi observes, recommend to royal dignity; and make the people stand more in awe of a prince, and have always been reckoned among all other nations to make a prince venerable,

[See comments on 1Sa 9:2].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(23) And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. (24) And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. (25) Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. (26) And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

The people seem to have been struck with his majectic appearance, and therefore hailed him as king. And some so much regarded him as to attend his person home. By God touching their hearts, I apprehend is meant as God touched his, that is, inclined them to respect him. No saving change of grace is meant. Not the regeneration of the heart by grace. The subject refers only to things of a temporal nature.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1Sa 10:23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

Ver. 23. And they ran and fetched him thence. ] Thus honour followeth them that fly it, flieth from them that follow it; as they say of the crocodile. It hath been already noted of Claudius, that he was pulled out of a hole by the heels, and made emperor.

He was higher than any of the people by the shoulders. ] a This did further edge the people’s affections, as hoping that he would be as eminent above others in virtue, as he was in stature. Virgil commendeth his Aeneas and Turnus b from their tallness: and Pliny c his Trajan, that he was not carried on men’s shoulders as some proud emperors had been, but was taller than others by the head and shoulders.

a E .

b Cunctis altior ibat. – Aeneid., lib. viii. Toto vertice supra est (“de Turno “) , lib. vii.

c Plin., in Paneg.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)