Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 10:1
Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured [it] upon his head, and kissed him, and said, [Is it] not because the LORD hath anointed thee [to be] captain over his inheritance?
1Sa 10:1. a vial of oil ] Rather, “ the vial of oil.” The word rendered vial (i.e. phial or flask) occurs again only in the account of the coronation of Jehu, in 2Ki 9:1 ; 2Ki 9:3 (E. V. box). The definite article in the original may perhaps indicate the holy anointing oil used for the consecration of priests (Exo 30:23-33).
and kissed him ] In token of reverence and homage to his royal dignity. Cp. Psa 2:12.
Is it not because the Lord ] Lit., “Is it not the case that Jehovah” = Surely Jehovah, &c.
hath anointed thee ] The rite of anointing ( a) signified the consecration of the king to the service of God; ( b) was the outward sign of the gift of the Spirit to qualify him for his office ( 1Sa 10:9-10, 1Sa 16:13, cp. Act 10:38); ( c) marked his person as sacred and inviolable (ch. 1Sa 26:9; 2Sa 1:14).
The title “the Lord’s anointed” (Sept. , cp. Luk 2:26), designating the theocratic King as the Vicegerent of Jehovah, is characteristic of the books of Samuel and the Psalms. It never occurs in Kings, when the true idea of the kingdom had been lost.
Priests (Exo 40:15; Lev 8:12), prophets in some cases (1Ki 19:16), and kings, were consecrated by anointing, and formed partial types and foreshadowings of The Messiah (derived from the Hebrew word Mshach = anointed, through the Greek form ), i.e. the Anointed one, the Christ, who united in Himself all three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.
According to Jewish tradition, anointing was only necessary when a new dynasty came to the throne or the succession was disputed. Hence we only find mention of it in the case of Saul; David (ch. 1Sa 16:3; 2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3); Absalom (2Sa 19:10); Solomon (1Ki 1:39); Joash (2Ki 11:12); Jehoahaz, who was not the eldest son of Josiah (2Ki 23:30); Jehu (2Ki 9:3).
The ceremonies of this first recorded coronation are still observed in England. The anointing is performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the kiss of homage is given by the Archbishop, bishops, and premier peer of each rank for the rest of his order.
The Sept. reads “Hath not the Lord anointed thee to be ruler over his people Israel? And thou shalt rule the people of the Lord, and thou shalt save them out of the hand of their enemies. And this shall be the sign unto thee that the Lord hath anointed thee to be ruler over his inheritance. When, &c.” The Vulgate also contains the greater part of this addition, which seems to be required to connect 1Sa 10:1-2. Its omission in the Hebrew may be accounted for by what is called Homoeoteleuton. When two sentences end with the same words, the scribe’s eye is liable to catch the second instead of the first, so that he omits the intervening words.
his inheritance ] Cp. Deu 32:9; Psa 78:71, &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Is it not because … – Samuel answers Sauls tacit or expressed wonder, by telling him why he did as he did. (Compare 1Sa 9:21.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Sa 10:1-13
Then Samuel took a vial of oil.
The discipline of a promoted life
Men are not usually taken from the valley of ordinary toil, and instantaneously placed, as by the flight of an angel, upon the cloud-wrapped peak of national greatness. There must be a climbing process; its accomplishment may be tedious, its progress slow, its experiences sorrowful, but such discipline is necessary. And as we climb the rugged path, exhilarating breezes refresh, sweeping prospects gladden; and the soul thrilled by such beauty, achieves fitness for the higher sphere of duty. Summer does not suddenly come around us with its grandeur, touching nature into fragrance, but advances gently through the frozen portals of winter and the uncalculated possibilities of spring. So with the promotions of human life. God descends unknown to the busy multitude, appropriates the Saul, and brings into contact with the spiritual, that under its tuition he may be fitted for kingship. This promoted life was–
I. Unostentatious is its commencement. It might be accepted as an axiom that all great results issue from small beginnings. Throughout this coronation the greatest simplicity prevails. Only two are present–a ruddy youth, an aged man–both in the great temple of nature, with God for witness. Consider the disciplinary nature of this coronation.
1. Its simplicity would appear contradictory. It would seem unlikely that the highest office of life should be introduced in such poor attire.
2. It would appear unauthenticated. There was no human witness besides the two interested parties. They were alone. The only guarantee he had was the reputation of the prophet; and if that failed, he had no refuge, for his own word would not be sufficient to establish anything so unlikely. He would, like Joseph, have been designated the Dreamer. This consideration would impose silence even if disappointed.
3. Then the suggestion of promotion was interrogative. Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? (1Sa 10:1). Thus we can easily imagine how this coronation scene would test the character, try the patience, exercise the thought, and discipline the soul of this incipient king. This promoted life was–
II. Confirmatory in its progress. Moral discipline does not retain its darkness. Night clears away, and in the bright shining of morning, fear is dispelled and hope realised. So with Saul, he has passed the midnight of preparation, and now departing from the prophet, his claim to kingship will be vindicated by foretold events. Confirmed:–
1. By the restoration of lost property. The most trivial incidents may prove confirmatory to the reality of Divine promotion. A shining star authenticates the power of God as much as the solar system. So the finding of asses on our homeward journey may stamp our elevation with truth, as much as the mightiest catastrophe of history. Here also is seen the beneficence and considerateness of the Divine plan. In that the missions of life are attested by measures adapted to condition and want. Saul had been in search of the asses; their restoration was used as the Divine indenture. Saul had to pass the sepulchre of Rachel on his way home. Why? Was it not to solemnise him in his transition to kingship? To remind him of his future destiny? The journey of life is full of tombs, to hush the mirth of the traveller by the reflections of another world. Here we see the wisdom of the Divine plan in that he makes the monitors of life confirm its elevation. He was confirmed:–
2. By the manifestation of hospitality. These people were no doubt going to worship, to sacrifice to God; and, being prompted by the Divine Spirit, paid homage to their unknown but future king. Men often unconsciously outstrip themselves. In ministering to the necessities of a man they sometimes minister to a king. This scene in connection with Rachels tomb shows the contrasts of life; that, while death is near, there is sufficient to keep in life and comfort; that while there are tombs on our life road there is also a sanctuary. The former representing the power of evil, the latter the power of good. Past both the promoted one must walk, that, filled with sadness at the grave, joy may come with stronger impulse at the sanctuary. Lastly, he was confirmed:–
3. By the sympathetic power of prophecy. And thou shalt prophesy with them (1Sa 10:6). The young king was now to meet a band of students from the college of the prophets. This is a typal of all life; it is full of the educational, and that educational is spiritual in its nature. This company of prophets had instruments of music. So a ministers life, like a peal of bells, should give forth the choicest music at the lightest touch. Who ought to carry the harp, the tabrets of life, if a teacher of the highest music, the divinest harmony, does not?
III. Preparatory in its issue. Saul seems now to have reached the level of prophetic character; from henceforth he is fit for the regal. He is prepared:–
1. By the impartation of a new nature. God gave him another heart (1Sa 10:9). What does this mean, but that Saul was converted? Are we told that it was a mere external fitness; an intellectual foresight, or heroic courage, necessary for his office? Was it merely the creation of a taste for the new sphere of duty? If so, it should have said that God gave him another inclination. No! God gave him another heart, swept of the past, filled with the seeds of a larger manhood.
2. By the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of God came upon him (1Sa 10:10). Surely no king commenced his rule with greater blessing or deeper fitness. But we shall yet have to witness the tempestuous sunset of this great life. If kings now were selected by God, and qualified by his Spirit, what a glory would enshrine our national constitution! Lessons:–
(1) Learn that the Spiritual ought to be the Supreme Power of national life.
(2) That when God calls to the higher duties of life he qualifies for them.
(3) That on the road to the sanctuary you are likely to meet the newly-made king.
(4) That life is capable of the highest development. (Joseph S. Exell, M. A.)
Saul anointed by Samuel
There is a remarkable minuteness of detail in this and other narratives in Samuel, suggesting the authenticity of the narrative, and the authorship of one who was personally connected with the transactions. Everything was planned to impress on Saul that his elevation to the royal dignity was not to be viewed by him as a mere piece of good fortune. Both Saul and the people must see the hand of God very plainly in Sauls elevation, and the king must enter on his duties with a profound sense of the supernatural influences through which he had been elevated, and his obligation to rule the people in the fear, and according to the will, of God. To be thus anointed by Gods recognised servant, was to receive the approval of God Himself. Saul now became Gods messiah–the Lords anointed. For the term messiah, as applied to Christ, belongs to His kingly office. Though the priests likewise were anointed, the title derived from that act was not appropriated by them, but by the kings. It was counted a high and solemn dignity, making the kings person sacred, in the eyes of every God-fearing man. Yet this was not an indelible character; it might be forfeited by unfaithfulness and transgression. The only Messiah, the only Anointed One, who was incapable of being set aside, was He whom the kings of Israel typified. It is evident that Saul was surprised at the acts of Samuel. It was reasonable that Saul should be supplied with tangible proofs that in anointing him as king Samuel had complied with the will of God. These tangible proofs Samuel proceeded to give. We must try, first, to form some idea of Sauls state of mind in the midst of these strange events. The thought of being king of Israel must have set his whole being vibrating with high emotion. He was like a cloud surcharged with electricity; he was in that state of nervous excitement which craves a physical outlet, whether in singing, or shouting, or leaping,–anything to relieve the brain and nervous system, which seem to tremble and struggle under the extraordinary pressure. But mingling with these, there must have been another, and perhaps deeper, emotion at work in Sauls bosom. He had been brought into near contact with the Supernatural. The thought of the Infinite Power that ordains and governs all had been stirred very vividly within him. The three tokens of Divine ordination met with in succession at Rachels tomb, in the plain of Tabor, and in the neighbourhood of Gibeah, must have impressed him very profoundly. Probably he had never had any very distinct impression of the great Supernatural Being before. It is always a solemn thing to feel in the presence of God, and to remember that He is searching us. At such times the sense of our guilt, feebleness, dependence, usually comes to us, full and strong. Must it not have been so with Saul? The whole susceptibilities of Saul were in a state of high excitement; the sense of the Divine presence was on him, and for the moment a desire, to render to God some acknowledgment of all the mercy which had come upon him. When therefore he met the company of prophets coming down the hill, he was impelled by the surge of his feelings to join their company and take part in their song. But it was an employment very different from what had hitherto been his custom. That utter worldliness of mind which we have referred to us his natural disposition would have made him scorn any such employment in his ordinary mood as utterly alien to his feelings. Too often we see that worldly-minded men not only have no relish for spiritual exercises, but feel bitterly and scornfully towards those who affect them. The reason is not far to seek. They know that religious men count them guilty of sin, of great sin, in so neglecting the service of God. To be condemned, whether openly or not, galls their pride, and sets them to disparage those who have so low an opinion of them. It is not said that Saul had felt bitterly towards religious men previous to this time. But whether he did so or not, he appears to have kept aloof from them quite as much as if he had. And now in his own city he appears among the prophets, as if sharing their inspiration, and joining with them openly in the praises of God. It is so strange a sight that every one is astonished. Saul among the prophets! people exclaim, Shall wonders ever cease? And yet Saul was not in his right place among the prophets. Saul was like the stony ground seed in the parable of the sower. He had no depth of root. His enthusiasm on this occasion was the result of forces which did not work at the heart of his nature. It was the result of the new and most remarkable situation in which he found himself, not of any new principle of life, any principle that would involve a radical change. Ordination to the ministry, or to any other spiritual office, solemnises one at first, even though one may not, be truly converted, and nerves one with strength and resolution to throw off many an evil habit. But the solemn impression wanes with time, and the carnal nature asserts its claims. How earnest and how particular men ought ever to be in examining themselves whether their serious impressions are the effect of a true change of nature, or whether they are not mere temporary experiences, the casual result of external circumstances. Alas, Saul was like the young man also in the particular that made all the rest of little effect–One thing thou lackest. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
The appointment, of Saul
A sovereign Lord has already determined the destination of the crown. The royalty is to light on the head of Saul. Forthwith a wakeful Providence works onward to this end. Let us mark its mysterious movements. See in this transaction Gods absolute sovereignty. See also how its end is reached by the confluence of two providential currents. An ordinary incident of rural life summons Saul from his home–his wanderings lead him to the neighbourhood of Samuels dwelling–his servant knows this–Saul consents to an interview. This is one stream. The other meets it. Samuel is forewarned. It was a fair morning this to a hopeful day. By this series of events, most powerful provision was made for attaching the newly-appointed monarch to the service of God. His selection was manifestly the result of a heavenly grace, which reposed on no ground but its own sovereign will. And the manner in which the way to it had been smoothed was well fitted to impress him with the nearness, penetrating knowledge, and controlling power of God. But this great lesson is not yet finished. Signs from heaven are granted. Sauls excitement grows with the occurrence of each new incident. And thus, no doubt, his mind was prepared for that mysterious operation of the Spirit by which he joined the company of prophets in their ardent utterances of sacred truth. His heart was not renewed. But inspiration is different from regeneration. And if a Balaams worldly heart were made a consecrated vehicle of truth, why might not, Sauls? Elevated conceptions and ardent enthusiasm of feeling on sacred subjects may dwell in the neighbourhood of an icy heart, that has never returned in love the smile of a forgiving God. Most direful anomaly! Our maimed and dislocated nature has lost the power of interior transmission. Sunlight may glare on the understanding, while chilly darkness nestles in the heart. But Sauls true character was not discerned. The first step has now been taken. But the appointment must be made public. How rich was this opening period in manifestations of an overruling Providence! The new and strong emotions, the strange salutes and offerings of passing travellers, and the sacred welcome of a company of prophets–the disposing of the lot to make it fall on him–the divine disclosure of his hiding place–all these made up a crowded region of miraculous interposition in which God treasured up mighty impulses to mould and guide his future life. He is placed in the centre of scenes most touching, solemn, and memorable. In this small spot lie powers enough to move a lifetime. These basement facts, like those of the national history, are fruitful of mighty and lasting impulses. The vessel is launched, the anchor is weighed, the breeze has filled her sails. If she founder at sea, we shall know where the blame lies. (P. Richardson, B. A.)
King making
1. The lines of Providence are convergent and divergent. They come from different points of the compass towards one centre, and radiate outwards from unity into diversity. The chief events of four thousand years of human history all tended to one grand consummation, and when God became incarnate realised their end. From that event the lines of Providence have been diverging ever since, and are designed to embrace in their benignant influences the wide world and the various races of men. The Old Testament history all coiled into Jesus of Nazareth; the New Testament history unrolls from him. Chronology is all comprised in Before Christ and After Christ. This arrangement is common to the providence of God. One series of events conspires to develop another. The same Providence is seen in many periods of Hebrew history, and in none more strikingly than in the influences which brought Saul and Samuel together, and the issues that resulted from a monarchy in Israel. The outward circumstance was striking, but the diversified providences had been divinely arranged to further it. Infallible wisdom had guided these two men, and in their meeting prepared for kingly rule in Israel. In the appearance of Saul at the time appointed, Samuel had full testimony to the word of God. The event proved the prediction and strengthened his faith in God. Every new evidence works conviction in the believer, and does much to conform his mind to God. But there was another person to be convinced of the Divine arrangement–Saul. The evidence was vouchsafed in a manner fitted to impress, and so cumulative and varied as to work conviction. Samuels conduct towards him, and the circumstances that transpired on his way home, after he left the prophet, were unmistakable signs that God was preparing some dignity for him among his people. These three signs were designed to warrant his faith in the announcement, to encourage his hope, and to prepare him to conform to the arrangement of God for the government of His people, and to certain special directions given by Samuel with reference to his coronation.
2. Whom God calls to any service He will make fit for it. If He advance to another station, He will give another heart to those who sincerely desire to serve Him with their power. Just as of old God endowed Bezaleel and Aholiab with skill to design, and build, and carve the work of the tabernacle of the wilderness, so did he endow Saul with the qualities of a kingly mind. These were apart from the moral qualities that relate to the right service of God. The latter are not so much endowments attached to a man, as the necessary fruits of a thorough conversion and a new heart. Saul had the one, but he had not the other. He had another heart, but, not a new heart. He gave evidence of possessing the gifts of kingship, but none of the grace of holy living. While he could henceforth command armies and practice diplomacy, he cared not for keeping a conscience void of offence toward God and man. His heart was not right with God. It is not enough to have natural endowments, or learned attainments of skill or wisdom. What are the wit of Voltaire, the poetry of Byron, the science of Halley, the philosophy of Hobbes, the command of Napoleon, the statesmanship of Pitt, the eloquence of Sheridan, the taste of Beckford, the learning of Michaelis, the common sense of Franklin, the mechanical skill of Stephenson, the business talents of a Rothschild, if you have not the grace of God to transform your heart and to make you holy? Gifts may make you illustrious, and useful, and powerful among men, but they do not make you fit for the fellowship of God, or prepare you for the holiness of heaven. They are of value. Sanctified by grace, the highest gifts have their place and their usefulness in the Church, Saul had striking evidences presented to his mind of the prospect which Samuel opened up to his hope. The clear fulfilment of all that had been foretold must have convinced him that he was designed for dignity. He weighed it well, was persuaded of it, and waited for its accomplishment.
3. The manner of the kingdom was written in a book for his study and observance (1Sa 10:25). This was their constitution–the covenant between monarch and subjects. The rights of the king were specified therein, and so were the rights of the people. The government of Israel was to be no absolute monarchy, nor was it to be a democracy. This was also the case when David was made king of Israel (2Sa 5:3), and when Joash was proclaimed in Judah, after the despotic usurpation of Athaliah (2Ki 11:17). It was as sinful in the one to break the covenant as in the other. In the word of God there is a clear recognition of the rights of the ruled as well as of the ruler. No man is at liberty to tyrannise over another. The model people of the ancient world had rules for kings such as no constitution has ever yet continued. The engagement between God, king, and people, was laid up before the Lord, to be kept under his eye, and to be a witness against monarch and subject should they break their engagements. It is a solemn thought that all our engagements are laid up before the Lord. They are held in all their integrity by him, and be never fails to fulfil his part. Once entered into by us, we become bound, and are responsible, and must render an account for the manner in which we bays kept them. Your signature to a bill, given by impulse, cannot be nullified before a court of law, it is binding, and you can be distrained for payment. In like manner all solemn resolutions and spiritual pledges are binding, and are laid up before the Lord. Under these mutual obligations Samuel sent king and people to their several homes.
4. That was a happy day in Israel. Samuel had reason to be glad, and king and people had abundant cause for joy. The monarchy had been established. God had smiled on the first royal act of Saul. The nation had united in a public service of gratitude. On a theatre so full of historic interest, they all rejoiced greatly. Their difficulties now seemed ended, and their hearts flowed over in exuberant joy. If they abode in the love and obedience of God, joy would possess their souls. (R. Steel.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER X
Samuel anoints Saul captain of the Lord’s inheritance, 1.
Instructs him concerning his return home, whom he should meet,
and what he should do, 2-8.
Saul meets a company of prophets, the Spirit of the Lord comes
on him, and he prophesies among them, 9-13.
He meets his uncle, and converses with him, 14-16.
Samuel calls the people together to Mizpeh, and upbraids them
for having rejected the Lord as their king, 17-19.
Lots are cast to find out the person proper to be appointed
king; Saul is chosen, 20-24.
Samuel shows the manner of the king, and writes it in a book,
25.
Saul goes to Gibeah; and certain persons refuse to acknowledge
him as king, 26, 27.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1. Took a vial of oil] The reasons of this rite the reader will find largely stated in Clarke’s note on “Ex 29:7“. The anointing mentioned here took place in the open field. See the preceding chapter, 1Sa 9:26-27. How simple was the ancient ceremony of consecrating a king! A prophet or priest poured oil upon his head, and kissed him; and said, Thus the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance. This was the whole of the ceremony. Even in this anointing, Saul is not acknowledged as king, but simply nagpid, a captain – one who goes before and leads the people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This was the usual rite in the designation, as of priests and prophets, so also of kings, as 1Sa 16:1,13; 1Ki 1:39; 2Ki 9:1,3,6; whereby was signified the pouring forth of the gifts of Gods Spirit upon him, to enable him for the administration of his office, which he might expect, and should receive upon the discharge of his duty.
And kissed him; partly in token of that reverence which he did owe, and that subjection which he and all the people were shortly to perform to him, whereof kissing was a sign, as Gen 41:40; 1Ki 19:18; and partly as a testimony of his sincere friendship and affection to him, and how far he was from envying his successor in the supreme dignity.
Over his inheritance, i.e. over his own peculiar people; whereby he admonisheth Saul that this people were not so much his as Gods; and that he was not to rule and manage them according to his own will and pleasure, but according to the will and mind of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Then Samuel took a vial ofoilThis was the ancient (Jud9:8) ceremony of investiture with the royal office among theHebrews and other Eastern nations. But there were two unctions to thekingly office; the one in private, by a prophet (1Sa16:13), which was meant to be only a prophetic intimation of theperson attaining that high dignitythe more public and formalinauguration (2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3)was performed by the high priest, and perhaps with the holy oil, butthat is not certain. The first of a dynasty was thus anointed, butnot his heirs, unless the succession was disputed (1Ki 1:39;2Ki 11:12; 2Ki 23:30;2Ch 23:11).
kissed himThissalutation, as explained by the words that accompanied it, was an actof respectful homage, a token of congratulation to the new king (Ps2:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Samuel took a vial of oil,…. Out of his pocket very probably, which he brought along with him on purpose for the use he made of it: this, as the Jews y say, was not the anointing oil that was in the tabernacle, which was at another and distant place, and with which only the kings of the house of David were anointed; but common oil, or, as they say, oil of balsam; and this was not an horn, but a vial, which held a small quantity, and was brittle; and they observe that Saul and Jehu, who were anointed with a vial, their reigns were short, whereas David and Solomon, who were anointed with a horn, their reigns were long; and as oil is a symbol of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, it may denote a smaller measure conferred on Saul than on David and Solomon:
and kissed him; congratulating him on the dignity he was raised to, and in reverence and respect to him, because of the high office he was arrived to; and as a token of subjection and homage, and to testify his well pleased in his being king, and that he readily, willingly, and with pleasure resigned the government to him:
and said, is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? the people of Israel, so called, De 32:9 and which is observed here to show, that though Saul was anointed king over them, they were the Lord’s possession still, and he was accountable to him for his government and usage of them, over whom he was to be a captain, leader, and commander, to go before them, and fight their battles for them, of which his being anointed with oil was a token; and therefore it is said, “is it not?” or dost thou not see by this? or knowest thou not, as R. Isaiah supplies it, that this is of the Lord? for it was the Lord that anointed him, or Samuel by his orders; and such questions as these, as Kimchi observes, are for the greater confirmation of what is spoken; and if Saul had any doubt upon his mind, as perhaps he might because of his meanness, and the high honour designed hereby, not only this question is put, but three following signs are given him, whereby he might be assured of the truth of it.
y T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 11. 2. & 12. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Samuel then took the oil-flask, poured it upon his (Saul’s) head, kissed him, and said, “ Hath not Jehovah (equivalent to ‘Jehovah assuredly hath’) anointed thee to be captain over His inheritance? ” , as an expression of lively assurance, receives the force of an independent clause through the following , “ is it not so? ” i.e., “yea, it is so, that,” etc., just as it does before in Gen 4:7. , (His (Jehovah’s) possession, was the nation of Israel, which Jehovah had acquired as the people of His own possession through their deliverance out of Egypt (Deu 4:20; Deu 9:26, etc.). Anointing with oil as a symbol of endowment with the Spirit of God; as the oil itself, by virtue of the strength which it gives to the vital spirits, was a symbol of the Spirit of God as the principle of divine and spiritual power (see at Lev 8:12). Hitherto there had been no other anointing among the people of God than that of the priests and sanctuary (Exo 30:23.; Lev 8:10.). When Saul, therefore, was consecrated as king by anointing, the monarchy was inaugurated as a divine institution, standing on a par with the priesthood; through which henceforth the Lord would also bestow upon His people the gifts of His Spirit for the building up of His kingdom. As the priests were consecrated by anointing to be the media of the ethical blessings of divine grace for Israel, so the king was consecrated by anointing to be the vehicle and medium of all the blessings of grace which the Lord, as the God-king, would confer upon His people through the institution of a civil government. Through this anointing, which was performed by Samuel under the direction of God, the king was set apart from the rest of the nation as “anointed of the Lord” (cf. 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:5, etc.), and sanctified as the , i.e., its captain, its leader and commander. Kissing was probably not a sign of homage or reverence towards the anointed of the Lord, so much as “a kiss of affection, with which the grace of God itself was sealed” (Seb. Schmidt).
(Note: The lxx and Vulgate have expanded the second half of this verse by a considerable addition, which reads as follows in the lxx: , , . And in the Vulgate: Ecce, unxit te Dominus super haereditatem suam in principem, et liberabis populum suum de manibus inimicorum ejus, qui in circuitu ejus sunt. Et hoc tibi signum, quia unxit te Deus in principem. A comparison of these two texts will show that the lxx interpolated their addition between and , as the last clause, , is a verbal translation of . In the Vulgate, on the other hand, the first clause, ecce unxit – in principem , corresponds word for word with the Hebrew text, from which we may see that Jerome translated our present Hebrew text; and the addition, et liberabis , etc., was interpolated into the Vulgate from the Itala. The text of the Septuagint is nothing more than a gloss formed from 1Sa 9:16-17, which the translator thought necessary, partly because he could not clearly see the force of , but more especially because he could not explain the fact that Samuel speaks to Saul of signs, without having announced them to him as such. But the author of the gloss has overlooked the fact that Samuel does not give Saul a , but three , and describes the object of them in 1Sa 10:7 as being the following, namely, that Saul would learn when they took place what he had to do, for Jehovah was with him, and not that they would prove that the Lord had anointed him to be captain.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Saul Anointed by Samuel; Samuel’s Address to Saul. | B. C. 1070. |
1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? 2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? 3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: 4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. 5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: 6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee. 8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
Samuel is here executing the office of a prophet, giving Saul full assurance from God that he should be king, as he was afterwards, according to these prophecies which went before of him.
I. He anointed him and kissed him, v. 1. This was not done in a solemn assembly, but it was done by divine appointment, which made up the want of all external solemnities, nor was it ever the less valid for its being done in private, under a hedge, or, as the Jews say, by a fountain. God’s institutions are great and honourable, though the circumstances of their administration be ever so mean and despicable. 1. Samuel, by anointing Saul, assured him that it was God’s act to make him king: Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee? And, in token of that, the high priest was anointed to his office, to signify the conferring of those gifts upon him that were requisite for the discharge of its duties, and the same was intimated in the anointing of kings; for whom God calls he qualifies, and suitable qualifications furnish good proof of a commission. These sacred unctions, then used, pointed at the great Messiah, or anointed one, the king of the church, and high priest of our profession, who was anointed with the oil of the Spirit, not by measure, but without measure, and above all the priests and princes of the Jewish church. It was common oil, no doubt, which Samuel used, and we read not of his blessing it or praying over it. But it was only a vial of oil that he anointed him with, the vessel brittle, because his kingdom would soon be cracked and broken, and the quantity small, because he had but little of the Spirit conferred upon him to what David had, who was therefore anointed with a horn of oil, as were Solomon and Jehu with a box of oil. 2. By kissing him, he assured him of his own approbation of the choice, not only his consent to it, but his complacency in it, though it abridged his power and eclipsed his glory and the glory of his family. “God has anointed thee,” says Samuel, “to be king, and I am satisfied and very well pleased, in pledge of which take this kiss.” It was likewise a kiss of homage and allegiance; hereby he not only owns him to be king, but his king, and in this sense we are commanded to kiss the Son, Ps. ii. 12. God has anointed him, and therefore we must thus acknowledge him and do homage to him. In Samuel’s explication of the ceremony, he reminds him, (1.) Of the nature of the government to which he is called. He was anointed to be a captain, a commander indeed, which bespeaks honour and power, but a commander in war, which bespeaks care, and toil, and danger. (2.) Of the origin of it: The Lord hath anointed thee. By him he ruled, and therefore must rule for him, in dependence on him, and with an eye to his glory. (3.) Of the end of it. It is over his inheritance, to take care of that, protect it, and order all the affairs of it for the best, as a steward whom a great man sets over his estate, to manage it for his service and give an account of it to him.
II. For his further satisfaction he gives him some signs, which should come to pass immediately, this very day; and they were such as would not only confirm the word of Samuel in general, and prove him a true prophet, but would confirm this word to Saul in particular, that he should be king. 1. He should presently meet with some that would bring him intelligence from home of the care his father’s house was in concerning him, v. 2. These he would meet hard by Rachel’s sepulchre. The first place Samuel directed him to was a sepulchre, the sepulchre of one of his ancestors, for Rachel died in travail with Benjamin; there he must read a lecture of his own mortality, and now that he had a crown in his eye must think of his grave, in which all his honour would be laid in the dust. Here two men would meet him, perhaps sent on purpose to look after him, and would tell him the asses were found, and his father was in pain concerning him, saying, What shall I do for my son? He would reckon it happened well that he met with these messengers; and it is good to eye Providence in favourable conjunctures (though the matter be minute) and to be encouraged to trust it in greater matters. 2. He should next meet with others going to Bethel, where, it should seem, there was a high place for religious worship, and these men were bringing their sacrifices thither, 1Sa 10:3; 1Sa 10:4. It was a token for good to one that was designed for the government of Israel, wherever he came, to meet with people going to worship God. It is supposed that those kids and loaves, and the bottle of wine which the three men had with them, were designed for sacrifice, with the meat-offerings and drink-offerings that were to attend the sacrifice; yet Samuel tells Saul that they will give him two of their loaves, and he must take them. Such a present would look to us now like the relieving of a beggar. Saul must hereafter remember the time when he received alms, and must therefore be humble and charitable to the poor. But perhaps it would then be construed a fit present for a prince; and, as such, Saul must receive it, the first present that was brought to him, by such as knew not what they did, nor why they did it, but God put it into their hearts, which made it the more fit to be a sign to him. These two loaves, which were the first tribute paid to this newly-anointed king, might serve for an admonition to him not to spend the wealth of his crown in luxury, but still to be content with plain food. Bread is the staff of life. 3. The most remarkable sign of all would be his joining with a company of prophets that he should meet with, under the influence of a spirit of prophecy, which should at that time come upon him. What God works in us by his Spirit serves much more for the confirming of faith than any thing wrought for us by his providence. He here (1Sa 10:5; 1Sa 10:6) tells him, (1.) Where this would happen: At the hill of God, where there was a garrison of the Philistines, which is supposed to be near Gibeah, his own city, for there was the Philistines’ garrison, ch. xiii. 3. Perhaps it was one of the articles of Samuel’s agreement with them that they should have a garrison there, or, rather, after they were subdued in the beginning of his time they got ground again, so far as to force this garrison into that place, and thence God raised up the man that should chastise them. There was a place that was called the hill of God, because of one of the schools of the prophets built upon it; and such respect did even Philistines themselves pay to religion that a garrison of their soldiers suffered a school of God’s prophets to live peaceably by them, and did not only not dislodge them, but not restrain nor disturb the public exercises of their devotion. (2.) Upon what occasion; he should meet a company of prophets with music before them, prophesying, and with them he should join himself. These prophets were not (as it should seem) divinely inspired to foretel things to come, nor did God reveal himself to them by dreams and visions, but they employed themselves in the study of the law, in instructing their neighbours, and in the acts of piety, especially in praising God, wherein they were wonderfully assisted and enlarged by the Spirit of God. It was happy for Israel that they had not only prophets, but companies of prophets, who gave them good instructions and set them good examples, and helped very much to keep up religion among them. Now the word of the Lord was not precious, as it had been when Samuel was first raised up, who had been instrumental in founding these colleges, or religious houses, whence, it is probable, the synagogues took their rise. What a pity was it that Israel should be weary of the government of such a man, who though he had not, as a man of war, expelled the Philistines, yet (which was a greater kindness to Israel) had, as a man of God, settled the schools of the prophets! Music was then used as a proper means to dispose the mind to receive the impressions of the good Spirit, as it did Elisha’s, 2 Kings iii. 15. But we have no reason to look for the same benefit by it now, unless we saw it as effectual as it was then in Saul’s case, to drive away the evil spirit. These prophets had been at the high place, probably offering sacrifice, and now they came back singing psalms. We should come from holy ordinances with our hearts greatly enlarged in holy joy and praise. See Ps. cxxxviii. 5. Saul should find himself strongly moved to join with them, and should be turned thereby into another man from what he had been while he lived in a private capacity. The Spirit of God, by his ordinances, changes men, wonderfully transforms them; Saul, by praising God in the communion of saints, became another man, but whether a new man or no may be questioned.
III. He directs him to proceed in the administration of his government as Providence should lead him, and as Samuel should advise him. 1. He must follow Providence in ordinary cases (v. 7): “Do as occasion shall serve thee. Take such measures as thy own prudence shall direct thee.” But, 2. In an extraordinary strait that would hereafter befal him at Gilgal, and would be the most critical juncture of all, when he would have special need of divine aids, he must wait for Samuel to come to him, and must tarry seven days in expectation of him, v. 8. How his failing in this matter proved his fall we find afterwards, ch. xiii. 11. It was now a plain intimation to him that he was upon his good behaviour, and, though a king, must act under the direction of Samuel, and do as he should order him. The greatest of men must own themselves in subjection to God and his word.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
First Samuel – Chapter 10
Saul Anointed and Directed by Samuel, vs. 1-6
The events of this chapter follow immediately the preceding one, with no break at all. Samuel had accompanied Saul out of the city and instructed him to send the servant on ahead. Then he took a vial of oil and anointed Saul to be the first king over Israel at the command of the Lord.
There is no doubt that Saul was very hesitant at this point to assume the kingship. It would seem that he lacks assurance that he would be accepted. Therefore, as he proceeds on his way homeward Saul would meet with three signs, each of which would further confirm that he was indeed the chosen of the Lord. Samuel apprises Saul of the events in order so that when they occur he would be convinced that he is to be king.
First, as Saul came to the border of Benjamin at Zelzah, near the tomb of Rachel (see Gen 35:16-20), he would meet two men who would tell him that the asses of Kish had been found and that Saul’s father was concerned for his son’s safety. Not only would this sign prove that Samuel accurately foretold the future, but would also show that persons who were evident strangers before, knew Saul and were interested in him and the welfare of his family.
The second sign would occur when Saul reached the plain of Tabor. Later language scholars believe that this is a bad translation of the King James translators and the word “plain” should have been translated “oak.” The exact location of this place is now unknown. Here the king-designate and his servant would meet three men, one with three kids, a second with three loaves of bread, and the third with a bottle of wine. These men would greet Saul and give him two loaves of their bread, which Saul is instructed to take. This would show the homage and respect the people were ready to give him, and Saul was to receive it without question.
The third sign would come to pass when the men reached the “hill of God,” possibly a place where people met to worship. There a whole company of prophets (literally, preachers) would meet Saul. It appears to be a kind of evangelistic party, with .their musical instruments. They would prophesy (or preach) to Saul, and he would respond by prophesying (or preaching) in turn.
At that it is said that Saul would “be turned into another man.” He should then proceed to do as the occasion seemed to require, for the Lord was with Saul to sustain him in his new position. Saul is to ultimately continue to Gilgal and wait there seven days. for Samuel. Samuel would come to Gilgal and make offerings and sacrifices and show Saul what else he needed to do.
There is a long debated question whether Saul was saved or lost. The things found here in this context are used by those who believe Saul was a saved person, who got out of the will of the Lord in his later life, in attempt to prove it. Because these things are really inconclusive, especially in light of Saul’s later deeds, it remains a debated question. It is not unusual to find the Lord using persons who did not know Him as Savior to carry out His will. The Lord was with Saul here as the king of Israel whom He had permitted by His will to assume the rule of His people. More about Saul’s prophesying will be said later.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES
1Sa. 10:1. Then Samuel took a vial of oil, etc. The vial is a narrow-necked vessel, from which the oil flowed in drops. The oil, we must suppose, was not of the ordinary sort, but the holy anointing oil (Exo. 29:7; Exo. 30:23-33; Exo. 37:29), which, according to the law, was used in the consecration of the sacred vessels and the priests. On account of the significance of the oil in priestly consecration, Samuel would have used no other in the consecration of the sacred person of the theocratic king. Anointing as a solemn usage in the consecration of a king is referred to as early as Jdg. 9:8-15, and (besides Saul here) is expressly mentioned as performed on David, Absalom, Solomon, Joash, Jehoahaz, and Jehu. In case of regular succession the anointing was supposed to continue its effect, whence is explained the fact that only the above kings are mentioned as having been anointed. The anointed was consecrated, sanctified to God; it signifies, further, the equipment with the powers and gifts of the Spirit of God. (Erdmann). And kissed him. Subjects of rank were wont to kiss a new king in token of homage and subjectionjust as among us the hand of a sovereign is kissed now. There was, no doubt, something of this in the kiss of Samuel; but, under the peculiar circumstances, there must have been something more. It was also the kiss of congratulation upon the dignity to which he had been raised; and while it indicated the dignified respect of Samuel to the man appointed to reign over the house of Israel, it also testified his cheerful acquiescence in the appointment. (Kitto).
1Sa. 10:2. Rachels sepulchre near Bethlehem (Gen. 35:16). After the allotment of the country to the several tribes, the territory of the Benjamites was extended by a long strip far into the south, to include the sepulcher of their beloved ancestress. (Stanley).
1Sa. 10:3. The plain of Tabor, rather, the oak, or terebinth of Tabor. The site is unknown. Three men going up to Bethel. Evidently to make an offering to God. Bethel had been a consecrated place for the worship of God since the days of the patriarchs, in consequence of the revelations He had made to Abraham and Jacob (see Gen. 12:8; Gen. 13:3-4; Gen. 28:18, etc.). In Bethel, therefore, there was an altar; it was one of the places where the people sacrificed to the Lord, and where Samuel at this time held court. (Erdmann).
1Sa. 10:4. And give the two loaves. That this surprising prelude to all future royal gifts is taken from bread of offering points to the fact, that in future some of the wealth of the land, which has hitherto gone undivided to the sanctuary, will go to the king. (Ewald). An omen that God Himself would feed and sustain him, if he would only obey Him. (Wordsworth).
1Sa. 10:5. Hill of God, rather, Gibeah of God, Sauls home. Two things are clear; one, that Saul had got home when he got to Gibeah of God, for no further journeying is so much as hinted at, and the same word describes his home at 1Sa. 10:26 : the other, that there was a high place at Gibeah just above the city. (Biblical Commentary). A company of prophets. Here is the first mention of an influential institution which owes its origin to this period, viz., the schools of the prophets. Even if the schools of the prophets had begun to form themselves before the time of Samuel, which we have the less reason to doubt, since the book of Judges bears adequate testimony to the existence of prophets, and since it lay in the nature of the thing that individuals bound themselves together as closely as possible and joined in a common activity against the spirit of the time, yet we cannot suppose that there was any great extension and formal organisation of the institution previous to Samuel, from what is said in 1Sa. 3:1. Add to this the sporadic character of the activity of the prophets, which we learn from the Book of Judges. Finally, in favour of Samuel having virtually established the schools of the prophets, we have the fact that we no longer meet with them except in the kingdom of Israel. This circumstance cannot be attributed to lack of information. The fact of our not meeting with them in the kingdom of Judah leads us to infer that they did not exist, and if this were the case, it is impossible to suppose that the schools of the prophets had taken deep root before Samuel. They appear as an institution established by him for a temporary object, and only continued, where necessity demanded it, in the kingdom of Israel, whose relations were, in many respects, similar to those in Samuels time, where the prophethood occupied quite another position than in the kingdom of Judah, not being a mere supplement to the activity of the Levitical priesthood, but possessing the entire responsibility of maintaining the Kingdom of God in Israel. The principal passages referring to the schools of the prophets, besides this one, are 1Ki. 19:20-21; 2Ki. 2:5; 2Ki. 4:38; 2Ki. 6:1. The designation is an awkward one, liable to cause misunderstanding. No instruction, was given in the schools of the prophets, they were regular and organised societies. Taking all these passages together it becomes evident that they were in many respects a kind of monkish institution. Those who were educated there had a kind of common dwelling and a common table; the most distinguished of the prophets standing at its head as spiritual fathers. Music was employed as a principal means of edification, and of awakening prophetic inspiration. But what distinguishes the schools of the prophets from the cloisters, or at least from a great number of them, is their thorough practical tendency. They were hearths of spiritual life to Israel. Their aim was not to encourage a contemplative life, but to rouse the nation to activity; every prophetic disciple was a missionary. (Hengstenberg), With a psaltery, etc. The psaltery was a kind of lyre with ten or twelve strings, triangular in form. The tabret, or tabourine, or timbrel (Exo. 15:21) was a species of hand drum. The pipe was a kind of flute, and the harp another stringed instrument resembling the psaltery. They shall prophesy, The emphasis rests on the words and they were prophesying, they were in a condition of ecstatic inspiration in which, singing or speaking, with accompaniment of music, they gave expression to the overflowing feeling with which their hearts were filled from above by the controlling Spirit. (Erdmann).
1Sa. 10:6. The spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, lit., rush upon thee. This phrase is used of those who, under the influence of Divine inspiration, uttered truths supernaturally revealed to them, in a lofty, poetic style, or who celebrated in exalted strains of praise the glorious deeds of Jehovah to His church. In this latter sense it is applied to Miriam (Exo. 15:20-21), to the seventy elders (Num. 11:29), and to the choir of young prophets, to which Saul joined himself, and in whose sacred employment he participated (cf. Luk. 1:65, end). (Jamieson). Shalt be turned into another man. This expression is a remarkable one, and occurs nowhere else. Doubtless it describes the change in point of mental power and energy which would result from the influx of the Spirit of the Lord. In the case of Samson it was a supernatural bodily strength, in the case of Saul a capacity for ruling and leading the people, of which before he was destitute, which the Spirit wrought in him. The change in the mental power of the apostles, as described in Act. 1:8, is analogous. The change is described in 1Sa. 10:9, by saying that God gave him another heart. The heart in the Hebrew acceptation points more to intellect and courage than to the affections and conscience. (Biblical Commentary), Ecstatic states, says Tholuck, have something infectious about them. The excitement spreads involuntarily, as in the American revivals and the preaching mania in Sweden, even to persons in whose state of mind there is no affinity to anything of the kind. But in the instance before us there was something more than psychical infection. The Spirit of Jehovah, which manifested itself in the prophesying of the prophets, was to pass over to Saul, so that he would prophesy along with them, and was entirely to transform him. This transformation is not, indeed, to be regarded as regeneration in the Christian sense, but as a change resembling regeneration, which affected the entire disposition of mind, and by which Saul was lifted out of his former modes of thought and feeling, which were confined within a narrow earthly sphere, into the far higher sphere of his new royal calling, was filled with kingly thoughts in relation to the service of God, and received another heart. (Kiel).
1Sa. 10:7. Do as occasion serve thee. For God is with thee, and I will not intrude upon thee with imperious dictations on each several occasion, but I will leave thee to the free exercise of thy royal authority. (Wordsworth).
1Sa. 10:8. Thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, etc. This, according to Josephus, was to be a standing rule for the observance of Saul while the prophet and he livedthat in every great crisis, as a hostile incursion into the country, he should repair to Gilgal, where he was to remain seven days, to afford time for the tribes on both sides of Jordan to assemble, and Samuel to reach it. (Jamieson). Considering that at least two years elapsed between this time and that referred to in 1Sa. 13:8-13; considering that Saul and Samuel had met at Gilgal, and offered peace-offerings to the Lord on one occasion between the times referred to in the two passages, it seems quite impossible that this verse can refer to the meeting spoken of in 1Sa. 13:8-10. (Biblical Commentary).
1Sa. 10:9-10. See on 1Sa. 10:6.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH1Sa. 10:1-10
THE PRIVATE CONSECRATION OF SAUL, AND THE MIRACULOUS ATTESTATION TO HIS CALL
I. The most eventful forces of human life often begin in secret. The great forces in nature begin in secret. The mightiest cedar of Lebanon put forth its first tiny germ beneath the earth, and while men slept showed itself above ground, and received its first anointing of the dew when no human eye was there to look on. And the great men who have become mighty forces in the world have had their characters moulded and the direction of their lives determined by incidents unnoticed by the world. They became kings among their fellows, but their anointing took place in secret. They began their career buried in obscurity, and their first coming to the light was a circumstance unnoticed by any. It was not till God publicly called them to His service by the voice of His providence that men recognised who and what they were. So the anointing of the first king of Israel was witnessed by no one except those engaged in the transaction. The consecration of this man, whose name has ever since had a place in human history, was performed in the most private manner. The first act in the establishment of this kingdom, like that of many others, came not with observation. Our Lord teaches that this is an especial characteristic of the gospel kingdom, both in the world and in the heart. He, its king, made His first appearance upon the earth in a stable in the presence of one or two humble peasants, and received His first adoration from shepherds as He lay in a manger. The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which, indeed, is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs (Mat. 13:31-32). And the beginning of Christs kingdom in the individual heart is marked by the same characteristic. The anointing of the Spirit which seals a human soul to God takes place unobserved by othersthe ordination to be a king unto God (Rev. 1:6) is a private transaction between the soul and Him who has called it out of darkness to lightit is like the hiding of the leavenan unnoticed actonly known to others by its effects (Mat. 13:33). Ananias the disciple at Damascus was the only human being who was made cognisant of the fact that Saul of Tarsus had uttered his first prayer to Jesus of Nazareth; but what an eventful force was then set in motionhow mighty have been the influences which have ever since been flowing from that act of consecration to Godfrom the anointing of that mighty king in the Church of Christ.
II. Epochs in the history of the Church, and in the history of individual souls, are generally preceded and followed by signs. The exodus of Israel from Egypt was preceded by supernatural events, and signs and wonders followed that epoch in their history. The manifestation of God in the burning bush, and the miracles done in Egypt, ushered in their national birth, which was followed by the Divine manifestation in the pillar of cloud and by the giving of bread from heaven, water from the rock, etc. At the epoch in the worlds history created by the bringing into the world the first-begotten Son of God (Heb. 1:6), there were signs preceding and following in gifts of the Holy Ghost and angelic visits to lowly men and women (Luk. 1:11; Luk. 1:20; Luk. 1:24; Luk. 1:28; Luk. 1:41; Luk. 1:67; Luk. 2:9; Luk. 2:27; Luk. 2:38), and before his entrance on His public ministry, which was marked by miracles from beginning to end, there was the supernatural manifestations connected with His baptism. The entrance of the apostles upon their great work was an epoch in the history of the world and of the Church, and signs preceded it on the day of Pentecost and followed it in the conversion of three thousand souls, as well as in the miracles of healing, and of resurrection, and of judgment connected with their ministry and with that of others associated with them (Act. 3:7; Act. 5:1-11; Act. 5:8; Act. 8:13; Act. 9:40; Act. 13:11; Act. 15:3; Act. 19:11, etc.). The word which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will (Heb. 2:4). The anointing of Saul marked a great epoch in the history of the Hebrew nation, and it was in accordance with the general rule of Gods government that it should be preceded and followed by signs, some of a more private nature, and others, especially that of Sauls endowment with the spirit of prophecy, of a public character. And the same truth holds good as to epochs in the individual soul. When that soul enters into entirely new conditions by entering into new relations to God, signs follow and precede the entrance. Like those before mentioned, some are known only to the man himself, but some are evident to onlookers. Pricking of consciencean awakening to the sense of the burden of unpardoned sin, is a sign from heaven. This sign evidently preceded and accompanied the conversion of the great Apostle of the Gentiles (Act. 9:5; Act. 9:11), and it is found in a greater or less degree whenever a soul is turned from the power of Satan unto God. But more public signs follow in the new life of those who believesigns which are not only for the confirmation of their own faith, but for evidence to those who believe not. In connection with the new life to which Saul was now called, the signs which went before and followed his consecration not only confirmed his own faith in the really Divine nature of his call, but some of them were so evident to others also as to make them conscious that a great change had passed over him. In many respects he was another man. And the new life which follows the new birth is the most convincing testimony to the truth that there is a Spirit of God working in the world. The words of Christ, says Neander, assure us that the communication of the life of God to men was the greatest of all miracles, the essence and aim of all; and further, that it was to be the standing miracle of all after ages.
III. Signs accompanying a message from God are intended to lead to a practical result. They are to confirm faith and to lead to the exercise of the gifts entrusted. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou shalt do as occasion serve thee (1Sa. 10:7). This was the intention of the sign given to Moses in the burning bush. He was to go to Pharaoh in the certainty that God was with him, and he was to demand the deliverance of his people, and become their leader and lawgiver. The signs here vouchsafed to Saul were to lead him to the exercise of his newly-acquired giftsthey were an encouragement and a call to him to use the powers which God now implanted within him. So the signs given to the apostles on the day of Pentecost were not simply events to be marvelled at, but the newly-gotten gifts which they signified were to be used for the joy of the receivers, the glory of the Giver, and the blessing of others. The remarkable signs which accompanied the conversion of the New Testament Saul were a call to him to bear the name of Him who had appeared to him before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, even when the bearing of it involved the suffering of great things for the sake of his Lord (Act. 9:15-16). And so it is with every man who is called out of darkness into marvellous lightby life and word he is expected to show forth the praises of Him who has called him (1Pe. 2:9).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.
1Sa. 10:1. The natural basis for this symbolism of oil is its power to dispense light and life, joy and healing, by which it sets forth the Spirits dispensation of light and life and the therein contained gifts and powers. And in the historical development of the theocracy and of the Divine revelations which point to the perfecting and fulfilment of the theocracy in the new covenant, the symbolic anointing of theocratic kings, priests, and prophets, as sign of the impartation of the spirit of God and its powers, is the type, that is, the historical foretokening and prefiguring of the anointing of the Spirit without measure (Joh. 3:34), and with the Spirit of might (Act. 10:38) by which Jesus was the Christ, the anointed of God for the New Testamental kingdom of God, first as King of His kingdom, and then as chief Prophet and Priest. Samuels word, The Lord hath anointed thee, signifies that God Himself, of His free grace, dispenses the powers and gifts of His Spirit, when He calls to an office in His kingdom and service.Langes Commentary.
1Sa. 10:1-9. How the Lord fits His chosen ones for the kingly calling in His kingdom.
1. By quiet instruction by means of His word He brings them into a right knowledge of the tasks He assigns.
2. By the anointing of His Spirit He imparts to them the needful power and strength therefore.
3. By the production of infallible signs He gives them a just certainty and joyous confidence. The signs of Divine guidance along the paths of human life on earth, how they
1. Pointing back wards, remind us of grace in past times (the holy places);
2. Pointing upwards, admonish us to lift up the heart from worthless, earthly things to higher good;
3. Pointing forwards, demand a new life in the Spirit; and
4. Call on us to look into our own heart, while for the work of renewal of the whole man they promise the gifts and powers of the Spirit from above. The appearance of special Divine signs in human life
1. Whence coming? Ordered in time by Gods wise Providence, not springing from chance, not aimless; decreed in His eternal purpose, not accidental, not groundless; sent as messengers of His holy and gracious will, not meaningless.
2. To whom applying? To him who lets himself be guided by God; to him who holds still when God is guiding him, and to him who lets God speak to him by His word.
3. What signifying? Reminding of the saving and gracious presence of God (partly in the past, partly in the present: God is with thee). Pointing to our tasks, which under the guidance of the Lord are to be fulfilled (1Sa. 10:7-8). Exhorting to a renewal of the whole inner life through the power of the Holy Ghost (1Sa. 10:6-9).Langes Commentary.
1Sa. 10:6. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee.
1. A great word of promise, which applies to everyone that is called to the kingdom of God.
2. A wonderful event of the inner life which occurs and is experienced only under definite conditions.
3. The beginning of a new life which takes place by the change of the heart.Langes Commentary.
1Sa. 10:7. The great word, God is with thee.
1. The infallible signs, which assure us of it.
2. The consoling strength which the heart thereby receives.
3. The mighty impulse to do according to Gods good pleasure, which lies therein.
4. The earnest exhortation which is thereby given in all the occurrences of human life to mark the will of the Lord therein made known.Langes Commentary.
1Sa. 10:6-8. What the royal anointing gives, and what it demands.
1. It makes the anointed one fit for all that his office may lay upon him.
2. It demands that the anointed one should now do nothing more according to his own choice, but everything according to the direction and will of God.Disselhoff.
1Sa. 10:9. He has no longer the heart of a husbandman, concerned only about his corn and cattle, but the heart of a statesman, a general, and a prince, whom God calls to any service He will make fit for it.Henry.
Saul had another heart, but he had not a new heart. He gave evidence of possessing the gifts of kingship, but none of the grace of holy living. While he could henceforth command armies and practise diplomacy, he cared not for keeping a conscience void of offence toward God and man. It is not enough to have natural endowments, or learned attainments of skill or wisdom. These may be possessed in the highest degree, while the soul is unrenewed and unreconciled to God.Steel.
Before Sauls election he occupied a very low standpoint, intellectually and spiritually. He scarcely knew anything of Samuel, the centre of all higher Israelitish life. Nothing moves him to make acquaintance with the celebrated prophet but anxiety respecting the lost asses. But we see that there was a decisive change in Sauls lifethat in the parable of the sower he belonged not to the first class, but to the third.Hengstenberg.
1Sa. 10:10. Saul, by conversing with prophets, prophesied: see the power and profit of holy company. Those that live within the sunshine of religion cannot but be somewhat coloured of their beams.Trapp.
The Spirit bloweth where it listeth (Joh. 3:8), and the power of the Holy Ghost manifested itself by sudden effusions before the day of Pentecost; but on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven by Christ to His church, to abide with her for ever (Joh. 14:16).Wordsworth.
As of Saul it is written when the Spirit came upon him, he was changed into a new man; this holds true even of the whole world. For when the breath of the Holy Ghost came upon it, it was cast into a new mould presently, and became a new world.Bishop Andrewes.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Saul Anointed by Samuel. 1Sa. 10:1-8
Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
2 When thou are departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachels sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.
5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
6 And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.
7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.
8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do.
1.
When was Saul anointed king at first? 1Sa. 10:1
On the morrow after the feast which Samuel and Saul celebrated together, Samuel called Saul from his bed early in the morning. As they went toward the edge of the town, Samuel told Saul to send the servant on ahead. Samuel then took a vial of oil and poured it upon Sauls head and kissed him. This anointing with oil was a symbol of endowment with the Spirit of God. Hitherto there had been no other anointing among the people of God than that of the priests and the sanctuary. Thus the monarchy was inaugurated as a divine institution. Now the king was set apart from the rest of the nation as anointed of the Lord. The kiss bestowed by Samuel must have been only a mark of personal affection, for kissing is nowhere an act expressive of fealty to a king.
2.
Where was Rachels sepulchre? 1Sa. 10:2
According to Gen. 35:16, Rachels sepulchre was on the way from Bethel to Bethlehem, only a short distance from the latter place. Jerome mentions a tradition of the tomb being located here. This traditional site is northwest of Bethlehem, and west of the road between Bethelehem and Jerusalem. Sauls passing by the tomb is another indication of the fact that he was not anointed by Samuel in Ramah. If he were southwest of Bethlehem when he met Samuel, he would naturally pass near Rachels tomb on the way to Gibeah in Benjamin. He would have no need to pass by Rachels tomb down in Judah if he were in Ramah when he was anointed. To go from Ramah to Gibeah, he would pass only through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.
3.
Where was Zelzah? 1Sa. 10:2 b
The expression in the border of Benjamin does not make it impossible for Saul to be traveling from near Bethlehem to his home. The traditional site of Rachels tomb is several miles away from the southern border of Benjamin. The mention of Zelzah helps us to understand what is meant by the mention of the border and would be superfluous otherwise since Rachels tomb was unquestionably a well-known place. Zelzah must have been up between Rachels tomb and the south border of Benjamin. It is otherwise an unknown location, but it should not be translated by the phrase in great haste. It is undoubtedly a reference to a place and not a Hebrew word to describe Sauls manner of traveling.
4.
Where was the plain of Tabor? 1Sa. 10:3
Elsewhere the word translated plain in this verse is translated with the word oak. It is simply mentioned here as one of the points on the homeward journey of Saul. The place is nowhere else mentioned, and nothing further can be determined concerning it other than it stood by the road leading from Rachels tomb to Gibeah. It no doubt meant a great deal to Saul as a point of reference, but it has little meaning for us today.
5.
What was the hill of God? 1Sa. 10:5
This is not a high place of God, a place dedicated to Gods worship, but rather a reference to Gibeah, the native place of Saul. Gibeah is sometimes called the high place of Saul (1Sa. 11:4; 1Sa. 15:34; 2Sa. 21:6). It is called the hill of God here because of the sacrificial height which rose within or near the town (1Sa. 10:13), and which may have possibly have been more famous than any other such heights. Here the Philistines had a military post. It was a seat for the school of the prophets (2Ki. 2:3).
6.
Who were the company of the prophets? 1Sa. 10:5 b
Bands, or schools, of the prophets were the men of God. They were active in Israel from this time forward to the time of Amos, who said he was not a prophet nor a son of the prophets (Amo. 7:14). No definite reason is assigned to their going in the direction opposite to Saul at this time, other than that they had been in the high place for worship.
7.
Did they use instrumental music in their worship? 1Sa. 10:5 c
These prophets had with them a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp. As far back as we have any record of music in worship, we find reference to instruments connected with the worship. God has never prohibited the use of these instruments, and there is even indication of different kinds of music in the New Testament (Eph. 5:19)both accompanied and unaccompanied.
8.
What signs were given to Saul to substantiate his appointment? 1Sa. 10:2-7
Saul was told that he would meet two men in the vicinity of Rachels tomb, and these men would tell him of his fathers concern for his safety. This would substantiate the seers announcement concerning the animals and also raise Sauls thoughts to concern for his new work. The second sign was his meeting three men going up to God to Bethel, carrying three kids, three loaves of bread, and a bottle of wine. Saul was told to accept their inquiry concerning his welfare and their proffered gift of two loaves, The third sign concerned Sauls meeting a group of prophets who were to be coming down from Gibeah, his home town. As Saul met these men, it was prophesied that he too would be filled with the spirit of God and begin to prophesy as did the prophets.
9.
Where was Gilgal? 1Sa. 10:8
Gilgal was one of the towns on Samuels circuit (1Sa. 10:7-16). The people of Israel had been circumcised there immediately after they had crossed Jordan into Canaan under Joshuas leadership (Jos. 4:19). The spot was located in the border of the tribe of Benjamin and would be found between Jericho and the Jordan river. Some evidence is seen for there being another location by this name in the hill country of Ephraim (Jos. 9:6; Jos. 10:15), but the former location seems more appropriate to the narrative here. No doubt Samuel wanted to meet Saul at Gilgal as he made his next appointed visit on his circuit.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Then-Samuel took a vial of oil.The vial was a narrow-necked vessel, from which the oil flowed in drops. It was, of course, no common oil which the prophet used on this momentous occasion, but the oil of holy ointment, the sacred anointing oil which was used at the consecration of the priests, and also of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels. (See Exo. 29:7; Exo. 30:23-33, &c.) The solemn anointing took place in the ceremony of consecration in the case of some, but not of all, the Hebrew sovereigns. We hear of it at the accession of David, Absalom, Solomon, Joash, Jehoahaz, And Jehu. In cases of regular succession the anointing was supposed to continue its effectthat is, the regular succession needed no new anointing. Hence it is that only the above named kings are mentioned as having been anointed, all founders of dynasties or irregularly advanced to the throne. (See Erdman in Lange here.)
And kissed him.Rather as a customary sign of reverential homage than as a mark of affection, which at that early date of their acquaintance it was hardly possible to assume that the old man felt for the younger. (Compare Psa. 2:12 : Kiss the son, lest he be angry: that is, Do homage, O ye kings of the earth, to Him who is your anointed King.)
The Lord hath anointed thee.Samuel replies to the look and gesture of extreme astonishment with which the young Saul received the anointing and the kiss with these words: Do you mutely ask me why I pay you this formal homage? why I salute you with such deep respect? Is it not because you are the chosen of the Eternal? Are you still incredulous respecting your high destiny? See now, as you go on your way home, you will meet with three signs; they will prove to you that what I do, I do not of myself, but in obedience to a higher power.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. A vial of oil The Hebrew is emphatic the flask of the oil; probably the holy anointing oil described Exo 30:23-33, which Samuel had prepared for this express purpose.
Poured it upon his head Among the Hebrews this solemn ceremony had hitherto been used only on the priests, and the holy places and vessels of the sanctuary. Its application to the king would, therefore, serve to show that he was a sacred personage, and that the monarchy, like the priesthood, was a divine institution. Hence “the Lord’s anointed” became the common designation of the kings of Israel. Chap. 1Sa 12:3 ; 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 24:6; 2Sa 1:14 ; 2Sa 1:16; Psa 105:15. From
Psa 133:2. we would naturally infer that the precious ointment was very copiously poured out.
Kissed him In token both of friendly congratulation and of homage. Compare Psa 2:12.
Captain over his inheritance , prefect; overseer; prince. Solemn and responsible office. Compare the term , Messiah Prince, or, the Anointed Prince. Dan 9:25.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE ANOINTING OF SAUL, 1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16.
In this chapter we are introduced to him who figures in the following history as the first king of Israel. But Samuel is yet the chief ruler, and Saul does not appear as reigning and exercising all his regal prerogatives until in chap. 13, after the prophet Samuel has given his last public counsel and exhortation to the assembled nation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 10:1-8 Samuel Gives Saul Directions In 1Sa 10:1-8 Samuel gives Saul directions on what will take place on his way home. Saul and his servant had initially come to Samuel for such divine directions, and he received it after being anointed king.
1Sa 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
1Sa 10:1
[24] Benny Hinn, “Fire Conference,” 5-6 June 2009, Miracle Center Cathedral, Kampala, Uganda.
1Sa 16:13, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”
1Sa 10:2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
1Sa 10:2
1Sa 10:4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.
1Sa 10:4
1Sa 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
1Sa 10:5
1Sa 10:6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
1Sa 10:6
1Sa 10:7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.
1Sa 10:7
1Sa 10:7 “that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee” Comments – This is a type of us serving God in an obedience lifestyle, because God is with us.
1Sa 10:8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
1Sa 10:8
Samuel 1Sa 11:14, “Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal , and renew the kingdom there.”
1Sa 15:12, “And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal .”
1Sa 10:8 “seven days shall thou tarry” Comments – This period of waiting seven days may be compared to tarrying for Pentecost. In 1Sa 10:9, God gave Saul a new heart, like He gives us a new heart. In 1Sa 10:10, Saul’s infilling of Holy Spirit was accompanied with signs of prophesying, just like with us.
Act 19:6, “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”
1Sa 10:8 Comments – Samuel gives Saul commands to be obedient to his word. This is a type of us hearing God’s word.
Pro 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
1Sa 10:10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
1Sa 10:10
“I had become so full of God’s presence, I had to give it away. I remember sitting with two other youth pastors in the church office and the Spirit of prophecy fell on me. Literally, a mantle fell Whap! ‘I’m going to prophesy,’ I said. I’d given little words here and there but this was like a torrent. I felt the prophetic bubble up in my spirit. I prophesied over them and I got so intense, I opened up the door and ran down the hallway into the church and said, ‘Is there anyone out here I can prophesy over? It’s flowing. Where’s the secretary?’ I was looking for more targetsI mean, people. So I prophesied over everybody there in the church. It just kept flowing people were going out under the power and they were weeping. It was like Saul when the Spirit of prophecy fell on him and he prophesied non-stop from morning to night.” [25]
[25] Todd Bentley, Journey Into the Miraculous (Victoria, BC, Canada: Hemlock Printers, Ltd., 2003), 107-8.
Note:
1Sa 19:24, “And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Bentley continues later in this same chapter:
“It seemed that even this prophetic anointing was being caught. The Spirit of prophecy would come on the place and youth would begin to prophesy spontaneously under my mantle, similar to the story in 1Sa 10:10 of Saul prophesying when he came into contact with the prophets.” [26]
[26] Todd Bentley, Journey Into the Miraculous (Victoria, BC, Canada: Hemlock Printers, Ltd., 2003), 112.
1Sa 10:24 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.
1Sa 10:24
1Sa 16:6-7, “And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature ; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
1Sa 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
1Sa 10:27
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Samuel Anoints Saul as King In 1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16 we have the story of Samuel anointing Saul as the first king over God’s people Israel. The previous chapter tells us how the children of Israel cried out for a king and how God decided to grant them their request. It reveals that this was not God’s perfect plan for His nation, but rather His permissive will.
The first event of Samuel anointing Saul to be king over Israel at a sacrifice foreshadows Saul’s failure later in his ministry when he refused to wait for Samuel and took upon himself the office of the priest (1Sa 13:8-15 a); for both events took place at a sacrifice unto the Lord.
1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16 Samuel Anoints Saul as King (Comparison of Saul and David) We are about to read the story of King Saul followed by the story of King David. Both men were given a kingship and an anointing, but both did not use these blessings in a manner that pleased God. King Saul quickly lost his blessing and anointing as a king because he was not seeking it. Saul was seeking donkeys when he was given the kingship. He did not desire it nor appreciate it when it was given. Therefore, he easily mismanaged it and God took both of them away. On the other hand, King David received this blessing and anointing many years before he actually became king. Therefore, he longed for it to come and deliver him from his hardships in exile while awaiting his calling. David appreciated his blessings while Saul despised his gifts. Note these insightful words from Sadhu Sundar Singh:
“To pray does not imply that without prayer God would not give us anything or that He would be unaware of our needs, but it has this great advantage, that in the attitude of prayer the soul is best fitted to receive the Giver of blessing as well as those blessings He desires to bestow. Thus it was that the fullness of the Spirit was not poured out upon the Apostles on the first day, but after ten days of special preparation. If a blessing were conferred upon one without a special readiness for it, he would neither value it sufficiently nor long retain it. For instance, because Saul obtained the Holy Spirit and the kingship without seeking for them he very soon lost them both, for he had set out from home not to obtain the Holy Spirit but to look for his lost asses (1 Sam. ix.3; x.11; v.13-14; xxxi.4).” [23]
[23] Sadhu Sundar Singh, At the Master’s Feet, trans. Arthur Parker (London: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1922) [on-line]; accessed 26 October 2008; available from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh/feet.html; Internet, “III Prayer,” section 2, part 1.
1Sa 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
1Sa 9:2 1Sa 9:2
1Sa 9:9 (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)
1Sa 9:9
1Sa 9:11 And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?
1Sa 9:11
1Sa 9:5-14 Comments Divine Providence – 1Sa 9:16 says that God was sending Saul, so this was not just mere chance meeting.
1Sa 9:16, “To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.”
1Sa 9:21 And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
1Sa 9:21
1Sa 9:24 And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.
1Sa 9:24
Exo 29:27, “And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering , which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:”
Lev 7:32, “And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Saul Anointed by Samuel
v. 1. Then Samuel took a vial, v. 2. When thou art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher, v. 3. Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, v. 4. and they will salute thee, v. 5. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, v. 6. and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man, v. 7. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee. v. 8. And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, v. 9. And it was so, v. 10. And when they came thither to the hill, v. 11. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime, v. 12. And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? v. 13. And when he had made an end of prophesying,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
SAUL ANOINTED TO BE KING, AND SIGNS GIVEN HIM CONVINCING HIM OF THE TRUTH OF HIS APPOINTMENT (1Sa 10:1-16).
1Sa 10:1
A vial of oil. Hebrew, “the vial of oil,” because it was that same holy oil with which the priests were anointed (Exo 29:7). Throughout Holy Scripture the office of king appears as one most sacred, and it is the king, and not the priest, who is especially called Messiah, Jehovah s anointed (1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 2:35; 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 16:6, etc.), because he represented the authority and power of God. And kissed him. I.e. did homage to him, and gave him the symbol and token of allegiance (see Psa 2:12). Is it not?…. A strong affirmation often takes the form of a question, especially when, as probably was the case here, surprise is manifested. Saul, on whom the occurrences of the previous day must have come as strange and unintelligible marvels, was no doubt still more embarrassed when one so old and venerable, both in person and office, as Samuel solemnly consecrated him to be Israel’s prince (see 1Sa 9:16), and gave him the kiss of fealty and allegiance. Samuel, therefore, answers Saul’s inquiring looks with this question, and, further, gives him three signs to quiet his doubts, and convince him that his appointment is from God.
1Sa 10:2
The first signThou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre. In Jer 31:15 (quoted in Mat 2:18) Rachel’s sepulchre is connected with Ramah, but in Gen 35:19 it is placed near Bethlehem. The whole of the geography of Saul’s wanderings is very obscure, but Wilson (‘Lands of the Bible,’ 1:401) places Zelzah at Beit-jala, to the west of Bethlehem, in the neighbourhood of the Kabhet Rahil, or Tomb of Rachel, Though both are now in the tribe of Judah, yet by a slight rectification of the frontier, in conformity with Jos 18:11-28, Zelzah would be on the border of Benjamin, and there may have been local reasons for Saul and his companion not taking the most direct route for Gibeah. The news given by these men, that the asses were found, would set Saul’s mind at rest, and, freed from lower cares, he would be able to give his thoughts entirely to preparation for the higher duties that were before him. For an interesting note upon the journey of Saul home see Wilson, 2:36.
1Sa 10:3
The second sign was to be the presenting of an offering to him out of their sacrificial gifts by three men going on a pilgrimage to Bethel. He would meet them not in the plain of Tabor, but at the oak, elon, of Tabor. Many attempt to connect this elon-Tabor with the allon, or oak, under which Deborah, Rachel’s nurse, was buried (Gen 35:8), and suppose that Tabor is a corruption of the name Deborah. This is scarcely possible, and it is better to acknowledge that we know nothing of the site of this tree, except that it was on the road to Bethel. This was one of the places which Samuel used to visit as judge (1Sa 7:16); but these men were on a pilgrimage thither because since the days of Jacob it had been a sacred spot, and a chief seat of the old patriarchal worship, for which see 1Sa 9:12.
1Sa 10:4
These pilgrims would salute Saul, i.e. give him the usual friendly greeting of travellers, and would then present to him, a stranger, two loaves of the bread intended for their offering at Bethel. By so doing, in the first place, they acknowledged him as their lord (see 1Sa 9:7; 1Sa 16:20), and, secondly, they indicated that the king would henceforth share with the sanctuary the offerings of the people. And Saul was to receive of their hands the present, as being now his due, for by anointing him Samuel had designated him as king.
1Sa 10:5
The third sign was to be his taking part with the prophets in their religious exercises in the hill of Godreally Gibeah, his own home. Gibeah is strictly a rounded hill, while Ramah is a height. This Gibeah ha-Elohim was probably that part of the hill on which the “high place” was situated, and which was evidently outside the city; for Saul, on his route homeward, met the troop of prophets descending from it. For “Gibeah of Saul” see 1Sa 9:1; but, as Conder remarks, this name was given to a district as well as to a town, inasmuch as Ramah is described as situated within it1Sa 22:6 (‘Tent Work,’ 2:111). The garrison of the Philistines was probably on some height in this district, and, coupled with the mention of similar military posts elsewhere (1Sa 13:3; 1Sa 14:4), shows that most of the tribe of Benjamin was subject to that nation, and disarmed (1Sa 13:19); but probably, as long as the tribute was paid, its internal administration was not interfered with A company of the prophets. At Gibeah Samuel had established one of his “schools of the prophets,” by means of which he did so much to elevate the whole mental and moral state of the Israelites. The word rendered company literally means a cord or line, and so a band of people. These prophets were descending from the Bamah (see on 1Sa 9:12), where they had been engaged in some religious exercise, and were chanting a psalm or hymn to the music of various instruments. Music was one of the great means employed by Samuel in training his young men; and not only is its effect at all times elevating and refining, but in semi-barbarous times, united, as it is sure to be, with poetry, it is the chief educational lever for raising men’s minds, and giving them a taste for culture and intellectual pleasures. The musical instruments mentioned are the psaltery, Hebrew, nebel, a sort of harp with ten strings stretched across a triangle, the longest string being at its base, and the shortest towards its apex; the tabret, Hebrew toph, a tambourine struck by the hand; the pipe, Hebrew, chalil, i.e. “bored” or “pierced,” so called from the holes bored in it to make the notes, and being probably a sort of flute; and, lastly, the harp, Hebrew, cinnor, a sort of guitar, chiefly used for accompanying the voice, and sometimes played with the fingers, and sometimes with a plectrum or quill. There is nothing to indicate that there was only one of each of these instruments, so that the articles would be better omitted. No doubt every prophet was playing some one or other of them. And they shall prophesy. The conjugation used here is not that employed for the prediction of future events, but means, literally, and they will be acting the prophet, the right word for men who were in training for the prophetic office. They were really engaged in chanting God’s praises with fervour, and this was no doubt one of the methods employed by Samuel to refine and spiritualise their minds. Years afterwards David was thus educated, and learned at one of Samuel’s schools that skill in metre and psalmody which, added to his natural gifts, made him “the sweet singer of Israel.” For prophesying, in the sense of playing instruments of music see 1Ch 25:1-3, and in the sense of chanting, 1Ki 18:29.
1Sa 10:6
The spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee. The Hebrew means, will come mightily upon thee, will come upon thee so as to overpower thee. And thou shalt prophesy. Shalt act as a prophet (see above). Albeit untrained, thou shalt be carried away by religious fervour, and join in their singing and psalmody. And be turned into another man. New thoughts, new emotions shall take possession of thee, and in addition to the bodily strength for which hitherto thou hast been famous, thou shalt be filled with mental power, making thee eager for action and capable of taking the lead among all men, and in all emergencies. We have an instance of this enlarged capacity in the vigour with which Saul acted against the Ammonites.
1Sa 10:7
Do as occasion serve thee. Literally, “do for thyself as thy hand shall find,” i.e. follow the lead of circumstances, and do thy best. This is the flood time of thy fortunes; press onward, and the kingdom is thine own, for God is with thee, and success is sure.
1Sa 10:8
Thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal. We find in 1Sa 13:8-13 a meeting at Gilgal so exactly parallel to what is arranged here that we cannot help looking upon this, again, as a sort of sign to be fulfilled at a later period. It is no argument against it that Gilgal was the place where in the mean while Saul was solemnly inaugurated king; for he was appointed in order that he might deliver Israel from the Philistines (1Sa 9:16), and we may feel sure that this grand purpose would form the subject of conversation between the prophet and the soldier, either on the house-top or the next morning. In this conversation Gilgal would be selected as the place where Saul would assemble Israel for the war of independence (so Rashi and other Jewish interpreters); and so great an enterprise must necessarily be begun with religious rites, and Saul was to wait a full week for the prophet’s coming, both to try his faith, which ought to have been confirmed by the fulfilment of the three appointed signs, and in order that the war might be undertaken under the same holy auspices as his own election to the kingdom. The two years’ interval, were it really so long, would give time for Saul’s character to develop under the forcing influences of royalty, and it would then be proved, when he felt himself every inch a king, whether he was still as amenable to the Divine authority as when he was first summoned from obscurity to mount a kingly throne. But, really, the words in 1Sa 13:1 do not justify this conclusion, and most probably the occurrences mentioned in that chapter followed immediately upon Saul’s confirmation as king.
1Sa 10:9
God gave him another heart. The Hebrew is remarkable: “When he turned his shoulder to go from Samuel, God also turned for him another heart,” i.e. God turned him round by giving him a changed heart. He grew internally up to the level of his changed circumstances. No longer had he the feelings of a husbandman, concerned only about corn and cattle; he had become a statesman, a general, and a prince. No man could have gone through such marvellous events, and experienced such varied emotions, without a vast inward change. But it might have been only to vanity and self-complacency. Saul’s change was into a hero.
1Sa 10:10, 1Sa 10:11
To the hill. Hebrew, “to Gibeah,” his home. He prophesied. Took part in prophetic exercises (see on 1Sa 10:5). On seeing this, the people of Gibeah, who knew him beforetime,Hebrew, “from yesterday and the day before,” but equivalent to our phrase “for years,”asked in surprise, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? What makes him thus act in a manner unlike all our long past experience of him? Is Saul also among the prophets? From this question two things are evident: the first, that the schools founded by Samuel already held a high place in the estimation of the Israelites; the second, that Saul had not shared in that education which so raised the prophets as a class above, the mass of the people. Probably also Saul s character was not such as would have made him care for education. A young man who, while living in his neighbourhood, knew so little about Samuel (1Sa 9:6), could not have had a very inquiring or intellectual frame of mind. Of course Samuel could not, by gathering young men together, and giving them the best education the times afforded, gain for them also the highest and rarest of gifts, that of direct inspiration. Even when Elisha, the friend and attendant upon Elijah, asked his master for an elder son’s portion of the Divine spirit, Elijah told him that he had asked a hard thing (2Ki 2:10). The disparity then that the people remarked between Saul and the prophets was that between a rich young farmer’s son, who had been brought up at home, and cared only for rustic things, and these young collegians, who were enjoying a careful education (comp. Joh 7:15). How good that education was is proved by the fact that at David’s court all posts which required literary skill were held by prophets. No man could found schools of inspired men; but Samuel founded great educational institutions, which ended by making the Israelites a highly trained and literary people. Saul’s prophesying was not the result of training, but came to him by a Divine influence, rousing the slumbering enthusiasm of an energetic but fitful nature.
1Sa 10:12
One of the same placei.e. Gibeahanswered and said, But who is their father? The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read, But who is his father? But this would be a foolish reply to the question, “What has happened to the son of Kish?” The meaning rather must be, You ask about the son of Kish; but what has birth to do with prophecy? None of these young men have inherited these gifts, and if Saul can take part in their prophesyings, why should he not? Kish, his father, is no worse than theirs. Is Saul also among the prophets? Under very different circumstances Saul once again took part in the exercises of these youthful prophets (1Sa 19:24), and evidently on both occasions with such skill and success as prove the readiness of his genius; and so struck were the people at the strange power which he thus evinced, that their expression of wonder became fixed in the national mind as a proverb. Saul was a man of great natural ability, and yet not the sort of person whom the people expected would be made king. He probably could neither read nor write, and from his extreme height was perhaps awkward and bashful; as he suffered afterwards from fits of insanity (1Sa 16:14), he may always have been flighty and wilful; and altogether, though possessed of marvellous gifts, was certainly the very opposite of Samuel’s well trained and orderly scholars.
1Sa 10:13
He came to the high place. Saul had met the prophets coming down from the Bamah; but the same religious fervor, which had made him take so earnest a part in the prophesyings of the young men, urged him now, after parting from their company, himself to go up to the high place, there to offer his prayers and praises to God.
1Sa 10:14-16
Saul’s uncle. According to 1Sa 14:50, 1Sa 14:51; 1Ch 8:33, this would be Abner. The conversation probably took place after Saul had returned from the Bamah and gone to his own home, for in so brief a summary much necessarily is omitted. It is curious that the conversation should have taken place with the uncle, and not with the father; but possibly the latter was too well pleased to have his son back again to be very particular in his inquiries. Not so Abner. He was evidently excited by his nephew s visit to the prophet, and struck perhaps by the change in Saul himself, and would gladly have heard more. But Saul does not gratify his curiosity. Of the matter of the kingdom he told him not. It was not merely prudent, but right to keep the matter secret. An able man like Abner would probably have begun to scheme for so great an end. Saul s silence left the fulfilment of the prophet’s words entirely to God.
HOMILETICS
1Sa 10:1-8
Supports to faith and duty.
The facts are
1. Samuel privately anoints Saul as the chosen of God.
2. He gives him four signs of the Divine sanction of the act of anointing.
(1) The safety of the asses, and his father’s sorrow.
(2) The spontaneous gift of sacrificial bread near Bethel.
(3) A welcome by the prophets at Gibeah.
(4) An inspiration from God to prophesy.
3. He instructs him on the completion of the signs to act on his own judgment, with the assurance that God is his helper.
4. He finally directs him to wait at Gilgal for himself, there to receive further guidance. The course taken by Samuel was the natural completion of his protracted intercourse with Saul. The hour had come in which the symbolism of the recent feast and the foreshadowings of suggestive language must receive definite form in word and deed. As one chosen of God to high office in his government of Israel, Saul is anointed with oil; and Samuel voluntarily gives him what he must have valued above all price, the kiss of homage and of congratulation, thus indicating his perfect readiness to fall in with the new order, and his tender interest in the king s prosperity. A new era of responsibility opened up to Saul. He had to go forth, believing himself to be God’s chosen servant, ready for the onerous duties attaching to great honours. But a man could not thus have his faith taxed without craving for encouragement. There were, in the circumstances of Israel and of Saul, obvious reasons for this private announcement and anointing. The deliberate act of such a man as Samuel must go far to banish doubt. But still human nature needs many supports, and God is very considerate of our frame. The day might come when difficulties and disappointments would recall the primary misgivings of the reality of the Divine call. Hence the provision made by Samuel for the encouragement of Saul.
I. THERE IS ALWAYS IN GOD‘S SERVICE A NEED OF SUPPORT TO FAITH AND DUTY. Others have been summoned to a life requiring strong faith and unfailing courage in duty.
1. There is a call to special service. Abraham was called to be a pilgrim in a strange land, and to thereby secure a seed in whom all should be blessed. Moses was called to surrender the wealth of Egypt, and to lead God’s people to freedom. The apostles were bidden to leave house and business for Christ’s sake. Every true pastor and Christian worker recognises a voice which, in commanding separation to his service, puts honour on the servant. The instrument by which each is called may be human, as truly as it was a human hand and voice that set apart Saul. The evidence of the call may be clear. But tedious toils have to be borne. Events will not realise the expectations of a too sanguine temperament. Abraham needed the support of occasional manifestations, as well as of fulfilled predictions. Moses could not go without “signs.” Christ promised proofs that he was sending forth his disciples.
2. There is a call to Christian life. This is the most blessed summons to privilege, honour, and obligation. The call to Christian life is endless in its form and manner and seasons. It may come in infancy, when we are unconsciously made new creatures in Christ; or in mature years, by the preacher’s voice, the written word, the loss of friends, and the adversities of life, or the still small voice in the heart. There may be instances in which it is as clear as was Samuel’s voice and hand to Saul; and a wonder and sense of unworthiness may arise as sincere and deep as was his. But times will come when a horror of great darkness falls on the spirit; the difficulties of one’s path will raise the question as to the reality of that call which once seemed so clear, and the possibility of maintaining the distinct line of duty once entered on. A man cannot find support simply in retrospect of what was a marked change in his life; he needs something else to convince him that all is right, that the past change was not an illusion.
II. The SUPPORT GIVEN IS VARIEDADAPTED TO THE ENTIRE NEED. Saul needed to be assured of the fact that it was God, and not merely man, who appointed him; he had it in the fourfold fulfilled prediction (1Sa 10:2, 1Sa 10:3, 1Sa 10:5, 1Sa 10:6). He needed the sympathy and concurrence of the religious portion of Israel; he was assured of it symbolically by the worshippers spontaneously offering him nourishment. He needed the cooperation of the most important educators of the age; he was assured of it in the symbolical welcome given to him by the company of prophets, the then rising power, which in years hence was to exert so great an influence on the national life. He needed, moreover, a power and wisdom in excess of that inherited from his father, and acquired during years of private life; he had it given when the spirit of the Lord made him another man. Wisely, therefore, were these arrangements made for the servant of God. They are beautifully congruous with the position of Saul, and the age in which he was called to act. An examination of the lives of Abraham, Moses, and the apostles will show that an equally wise arrangement was made for the support of their faith and duty. So modern servants of God can point to promises fulfilled, in a blessing on their toil, as evidence that they were not mistaken in the call to work; and their once distrustful heart becomes strong in the consciousness of a power not their own. In a different, though not less real, way the individual Christian finds varied support to his belief that God has called him into the kingdom, and made him a “king and a priest;” as also to his discharge of the duties appropriate to his high and holy calling.
III. The REALISATION OF THE PROVIDED SUPPORT ENSUES ON THE EFFORT TO EXERCISE THE FAITH AND TO DISCHARGE THE DUTY. When Saul acted on the belief that Samuel was a true prophet speaking and acting for God, he found all to turn out as he had been promised. The exercise of such faith as he had, in the first instance, put him in possession of the supports to faith for future times; and the discharge of duty, so far as made clear, led to a discovery of the supports to duty that would be his in the more conspicuous acts of life. So was it with Abraham, and Moses, and the apostles. Every true servant gets encouragement, not by waiting, but while “going on his way,” and doing the deeds appointed. The Saviour said to the palsied, “Put forth thy hand.” In the attempting of the impossible act the faith came and grew. Faith finds nourishment for itself, and waxes strong in proportion as it is exercised.
General lessons:
1. We may render valuable service by timely sympathy and cooperation with those called to occupy difficult positions.
2. The most unassailable Christian evidence is that to be gained in a life of entire devotion to Christ.
3. Full confirmation of our hopes and beliefs will come in so far as we are faithful to carry into action what confidence we already have.
Another man.
The mind of Saul was evidently overcharged with the great things which had so unexpectedly been brought before his attention. His imagination must have been filled with those pictures of royal state and lofty duties which are over in Eastern minds associated with kingship. But he was scarcely able to frame an adequate conception of what Samuel meant by saying, “Thou shalt be turned into another man.” There are several grades of transformation brought before us by ordinary life and by Scripture.
I. “ANOTHER MAN” IS SOMETIMES MADE BY TOTAL CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. We all are partly subject to our surroundings; but some natures happen to be in circumstances which appear to be quite alien to the development of what is in them. They are repressed; the strong forces of their life refuse to come forth; they are comparative nonentities; if no change occurs in their relative position they will pass away from life unknown and almost useless. There are in some persons mental faculties which, being predominant, but not drawn out by appropriate nutriment and exercise, give to the individual an appearance of stupidity and vacuity. A poet’s soul encompassed by everything antagonistic to its development will be miserable as a lark that cannot rise. But when the unnatural restraints are removed, and the dispositions and faculties of individuals are placed amidst circumstances favourable to their proper development, there comes a change as rapid, as fresh, and striking as when the light and rain of spring call forth the bulb from under the dull earth into a form of beauty and sweetness. An observer of life cannot but have met with many cases of this.
II. “ANOTHER MAN” IS SOMETIMES MADE BY SPECIAL ENDOWMENTS FOR OFFICIAL DUTIES. This was the case with Saul. It is the teaching of Scripture that “every good and perfect gift” cometh from God. He gave wisdom and cunning to the men who framed the choice work of the tabernacle (Exo 31:2-6). Reason is his gift, though too often used against him. The Old Testament speaks of special gifts for men called to lead on the people of God. The endowment of Saul was in harmony with that of Moses and Joshua. The contrast of the men as not endowed and endowed is striking. The figure of Moses after he went forth in the name of Jehovah dwarfs the Moses feeding Jethro’s sheep. The timid, questioning, spiritually ignorant men who followed Christ as long as they dared, and “thought” that he “would have redeemed Israel,” can scarcely be recognised as the men who, when endowed with power from on high, stood forth on the day of Pentecost, and, with calmness and fearlessness, expounded the spiritual nature of his kingdom who was crucified. Spiritual power works marvels in men.
III. “ANOTHER MAN” IS MADE WHEN THE SOUL IS RENEWED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. This is the most radical of all changes; it is more than an enlargement of the ordinary powers, more than the gift of discrimination by which ordinary duties can be discharged; it is the renovation of that deep, subtle spring of feeling and willing which determines the character of the entire life. The will of a man is supposed to be the key to his destiny; but the change wrought by the Holy Spirit seems even to penetrate into the mysterious rear of the will, and insure that it shall issue in acts of repentance; of faith in Christ, of supreme love for God, of delight in holiness. The reality of the transformation is seen in the new aims, the new joys, the new acts of the soul, the new outward form of life, the new spiritual discernment of the spiritual and unseen, the new hidden secret which no words can reveal, the new absorption in Christ.
IV. “ANOTHER MAN” IS MADE WHEN WE ATTAIN TO THE COMPLETE REDEMPTION FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED. Relatively to a life of sin, the regenerate life of the Christian on earth is a new creation, he is “another man;” and likewise, relatively to the imperfect, struggling life we spend on earth, that which awaits us beyond is a new creation. When the full stature of a man in Christ is attained, and becomes clothed upon with a body “like unto his own glorious body,” then may it be most truly said of each, he is “turned into a new man.” How unlike our former selves will be that perfectly holy, tearless, strong, joyous, unwearied life, exercised in a “spiritual body,” created in special adaptation for the new activities and joys of the kingdom of heaven.
General considerations:
1. Reflect on what the world may lose by careless disregard in our social life of the adaptation of circumstances to aptitudes and abilities.
2. There is room forevery man to examine himself and see whether his religion is really the product of a radical renewal by the Holy Spirit.
3. With so lofty a destiny before us as Christians, the inquiry should arise, how it is that we are so little affected by the prospect, and by what means we can more fully live under the inspiring “powers of the world to come.”
Limitations of prerogative.
Saul was told that when the promised “signs” came upon him he might do as occasion required, and for the assigned reason that God was with him (verse 7). This great freedom immediately receives a limitation in the command to wait at Gilgal till Samuel came and offered sacrifice, and gave further instructions. The royal prerogative was to be exercised under limitations. Here the question of civil and spiritual power is brought into distinct concrete form as the natural outcome of Israel’s history. The analogy between Israel and all other nations cannot be established in detail with respect to this question; but, nevertheless, there are a few truths of general application illustrated in the restrictions put by the prophet of God on the actions of Israel’s king.
I. The ULTIMATE ENDS FOR WHICH GOVERNMENTS EXIST ARE SPIRITUAL. There is a difference between the immediate concern of a governmentnamely, with protection of life and property, the repression of crime; scope for the free action of citizens, and for the development of national resourcesand the ultimate end for which Providence designs it and all other institutions. Man’s body exists for his spirit. Society, in the mind of God, exists for the spiritual welfare of individuals. There is an evolution progressing towards a worldwide righteousness, and governments are one of the agencies which are to subserve this issue. Attention to the material and intellectual interests of a people may be to rulers an end in itself, but not to God. Governments may subserve this spiritual end without consciously entering into questions pertaining to its nature and varied means for securing it. A faithful discharge of definite functions, on approved principles, cannot but help on the purpose for which God is himself governing mankind.
II. The CHURCH OF GOD IS THE TRUE WITNESS BEARER AND THE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHING THESE SPIRITUAL ENDS. Samuel was the representative of the spiritual power. He had authority to assert the Messianic truth, to educate the people in harmony with that truth, and to demand that the king should govern in such a way as to allow free scope to the spiritual work. He and the religious community were one in this respect. And the living Church of Christ is the assertor of Messianic truthclaiming to hold what Christ has given, pointing to the spiritual reign of Christ over every heart and home as the goal of all effort and the hope of the world; and the witness bearer, calling upon rulers to observe in their administration the principles of righteousness, truth, and benevolent regard, which God alone will honour with his blessing.
III. CIVIL RULERS ARE BOUND TO ACT IN HARMONY WITH THE WITNESS BEARING OF THE CHURCH. Saul was bound, morally, and as a condition of stability to his throne, to recognise Samuel in his capacity as prophet of God, working, with all the devout, for Messianic purposes. He must not ignore the spiritual power, and thus dishonour God (verse 8; cf. 1Sa 13:8-10); nor must be arrogate its functions. His duty lay in administering government on the principles of righteousness, and so as not to bar the way to the realisation of the Messianic purpose. And knowing as we do that in the truth given by Christ, and borne witness to by the living Church, there are all the sound principles of human progress as well as of personal salvation, every government is morally bound to act on them, and is guilty of fearful presumption if it professes to supplant them by creations of its own. As surely as decay at the root of a tree will issue in its fall, so surely will every government perish which acts on other principles than those asserted by the living Church of God. No government can successfully wage war with the one living Church, which, by example, word, and deed, preaches righteousness, and claims the right to do so.
IV. The CHURCH IS BOUND TO CONFINE ATTENTION TO HER OWN PROPER FUNCTIONS. Samuel left Saul to “do as occasion” might “serve” (verse 7). He simply claimed that there was another power in the development of Israel’s life beside the civil, and that Saul must recognise this. The exercise of the power had reference to general principles of conduct, and the securing of Messianic purposes. The Church of Christ is bound to avoid everything that would be inharmonious with her spiritual nature and uses. To be the educator of the state conscience, to assert her own independence as a spiritual community for spiritual purposes, this is the function of the Church in relation to the civil power, as illustrated in the conduct of Samuel, involved in the spiritual nature of Christ’s body, and confirmed by the adversities and prosperities of history.
General considerations:
1. How far the controversies connected with spiritual supremacy are the result of a deviation from the simplicity of purpose characteristic of apostolic times.
2. To what extent calamities have befallen the world by the professing Church being more concerned for the assertion of power than for the preaching and practising of righteousness.
3. Whether history does not show that an earnest Church, solely bent on preaching the gospel, and enforcing it by example, exercises more real power over the destinies of nations than a Church ever watchful to limit the powers of civil rulers.
1Sa 10:9-17
The reasonableness of incongruities.
The facts are
1. Saul experiences the truth of all that Samuel had told him.
2. Being met by a company of prophets, Saul, under an inspiration from God, also prophesies.
3. The people remark on the incongruity of Saul’s being among the prophets.
4. Saul’s uncle, being too inquisitive in the matter of Samuel’s intercourse with him, is not gratified. The general reader of the Bible is struck with the incongruity between Saul’s antecedents and his sudden participation in the gifts of prophecy; and men generally have sympathised with the surprise which expressed itself in the proverb, “Is Saul among the prophets?” Too frequently the event here recorded is left as one of the strange, unaccountable things scattered ever the page of sacred history, furnishing to the mind more of perplexity and embarrassment than of instruction and aid to faith. It will, however, be found that in the course of Providence the seeming incongruities play an important part, that they are not essentially unreasonable, and are all reducible to a common principle.
I. The COURSE OF PROVIDENCE PRESENTS NUMEROUS INSTANCES OF STRIKING INCONGRUITY. Whatever the precise definition of incongruity, the thing itself may be found in the form of conduct, association, relation, and means. Leaving out all instances resulting from human folly and eccentricity; we may notice a few in the order of
Providence as seen in
1. Conduct. Saul’s is a case in point. He was an instrument in the hand of God of producing the strange impression indicated by the familiar proverb. To the Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost there was an unaccountable incongruity in the speech and bearing of men who, up to that time, had been timid, obscure followers of the Crucified. Considering the reputed character of Peter as a rash, impulsive man, it was, in the judgment of his companions and in the light of his denial, scarcely congruous to commit to him the “key” of the kingdom. And the joyful songs which rose from the apostles when in the stocks were strange music to their warders. Modern history is not without its notable instances.
2. Associations. For Saul to be associated with a prophetic order was a marvel. That a glorious star should lead wise men from afar only to a babe in a manger, and that the hosts of heaven should sing on the birth of a helpless child, was an association rare and astonishing. The most perplexing incongruity to many is that the Eternal One should for a term of years be in association with a frail body, with all the sorrowful incidents inseparable therefrom.
3. Relations. We find this in Saul’s case; for men can see no congruity between his ecstatic excitement as prophet and the office of king to which he was being called. The relation of John the Baptist, an austere, unsociable ascetic, as forerunner to the mild, approachable Christ, struck men as remarkable, and needed the vindication that “wisdom is justified of her children” (Mat 11:16-19). It also occurred to John as a most incongruous thing that he should have to baptize the holy Saviour (Mat 3:13-15).
4. Means. As a means of qualifying Saul for the discharge of kingly functions this prophetic excitement seemed to be most unsuitable. So, likewise, to many there is no propriety in the uplifting of a brazen serpent as a means of restoring health to the poisoned. Naaman could not think the Jordan better than the rivers of his own country. The cross of Christ was despised by the Greeks as foolishnessa most incongruous means for the subjugation of the world to him who died thereon.
II. The SEEMING INCONGRUITIES IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE ARE RELATIVE TO OUR IGNORANCE. That is incongruous only which is not understood. “Things are not what they seem.” Our surprises and astonishments are often the index of our lack of knowledge. It may not be possible in every instance to find a complete solution, but some clue may be found if we will consider all the events of Providence as interrelated, and throwing light on one another. The reasonableness of incongruities may be illustrated by taking as a typical instance the conduct of Saul. The appearance of a prophetic order at that juncture, under the direction of Samuel, was a necessary feature in the moral elevation of the people. The stagnant indifference of men could be best aroused by urgent zeal. The reasonableness of Saul’s excitement resolves itself into that of the order. We are to remember that a coming good in Messiah’s reign was the hope of the true Israel. In so far as their conviction was deep, and was attended by a corresponding pity for present degradation, it, when full on the spirit, would not unnaturally produce an excitement proportionate to the susceptibility of the temperament and the external occasion, and the utterance of the truth would be measured by the degree of excitement. Therefore the educational value of these men was great, and they were obedient, in their extravagance, to the laws of mind and the urgency of religions conviction. Now it was reasonable for Saul to share in this gift
1. For the people. It would call their attention to him, and prepare them for the subsequent action of Samuel.
2. For Saul himself. He was to be king, and the people imagined that their king would be after the pattern of other kings. But Israel’s king must rule in harmony with the spiritual destiny of the nation. He must be in sympathy with prophets.
3. For the order of prophets. This order was one of the great powers in fashioning the future of the people of God. It therefore was interested in the character and aspirations of whatever king might be chosen. Saul’s endowment with their own gift would assure them that he was worthy of their support, and would not be as the kings of the nations. The incongruity was most reasonable.
III. The TRUE SOLUTION OF ANY INCONGRUITY IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE IS TO BE FOUND IN THE SERIES OF WHICH THE EVENT IS BUT ONE. Saul’s conduct, regarded in relation to the antecedents of Israel’s life, and the gradual preparation of the world for Christ, stands out as most fit and useful; therefore, natural. No one can rightly judge of Scripture events who does not consider the course of Providence as a development from the imperfect to the more perfect. The place and power of every molecule in the universe are relative to the antecedent and subsequent movements of the whole. Astronomers have met with perturbations and irregularities which seemed incongruous with all they knew, but in time they discovered the place of these so called irregularities in the mechanism of the heavens, and they became at once beautiful regularities. The issue of redemptive methods will throw light on the process.
General lessons:
1. The most unlikely of men may be called to do God’s will in forms unlocked for.
2. The varied gifts requisite to an office will be forthcoming to all whom God calls to the office.
3. We should be careful to keep our mind free from prejudice against methods which, though unusual, may be of God.
4. A deep and patient study of the Bible as a whole is the only means of learning the beauty and harmony of his ways.
5. A true philosophy will induce us to suspend our judgment on some subjects until we can see more clearly the relation of the past to the future.
Wise reticence.
The notice taken of an inquiry by Saul’s uncle is evidently for the purpose of bringing in bold relief Saul’s wisdom in being reticent on the important matters concerning the kingdom. It is probable that the bearing of Saul indicated that something unusual had transpired, and the prophesying would only confirm the suspicion. Saul’s replies do not make clear whether the uncle was designedly prying into what he knew were secrets, or was simply seeking general information. But in either case Saul formed a proper estimate of his own position, and manifested a proper reserve.
I. A DEGREE OF RETICENCE IS ESSENTIAL TO A WISE LIFE. “There is a time to speak, and a time to be silent.” Reticence, however, is more than silence; it is deliberate silence where speech is possible and sought. It may be considered with reference to
1. Its source. In every case its source is in the will acting freely in the form of a negative judgment. But still this judgment may in some persons be connected more with temperament than with an enlightened estimate of what is proper. The wise reticence is that which comes from a just estimate of what is due to the occasion and the subject matter.
2. Its proper subject matter. This must be determined by a calm judgment on the right of others to know what we know, and the utility of unveiling our knowledge. But taking a general view of human life, we may say that reticence is due to
(1) Our deepest religious experience. There are depths in the soul which no eye but God’s can penetrate, and there are experiences there so sacred, tender, and awful that it would be a species of profanity to endeavour to unfold them in form of speech. If, for purpose of seeking assistance, reference is made to secret experiences, the surface only is to be touched. No one who reveres the sacredness of religious life will attempt to pry into what is secret between the soul and God, or to probe wounds which “shame would hide.”
(2) Private and domestic affairs. There are in every life interests which belong to no one else; and in home there are solemn secrets on which the cold, critical eye of the world must not be allowed to gaze. Much of the sweet, binding influence of home lies in the unforced reticence of its members.
(3) Secrets pertaining to office. Office in Church, State, or commerce implies know]edge to be used only for specific purposes in relation thereto. No one is fit for office who cannot control his tongue and resist temptation to speak.
3. Its value. As a habit of mind, when distinguished from sullen reserve, the result of mere temperament, it gives power to the possessor. It reveals a sober, discriminating judgment, a strength of purpose that can resist inducement, and a profound regard for the sanctities of life. In society it, wisely exercised, insures confidence, renders transaction of affairs easy, and promotes respectful, courteous bearing. In religious associations it tends to reverence, devoutness of spirit, and sincerity.
4. Its dangers. It is, if not carefully guarded, likely to degenerate into a love of secrecy, an unnaturally close, reserved habit of mind. In religious life its excess may put a check on the free utterance of life’s sorrows and cares even to God, and also deprive the Church of the benefits of a rich experience.
II. WISE RETICENCE WILL ALWAYS BE CONSISTENT WITH TRUTHFULNESS. It is possible to state partial truth in such a way as virtually to lie, and to be silent when silence may be designed to convey a false impression. Saul was truthful in his reticence. He answered questions; he did not volunteer information. Had he been pressed he most likely would have declined to answer. Christ was reticent when pressed on the question of John’s baptism, and when examined by Pilate, but no false impression was conveyed. In cases of difficulty it is better point blank to refuse information than incur the risk of suspected prevarication. Inquisitive men should be plainly rebuked rather than put off with questionable answers.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE
1Sa 10:10. (GIBEAH.)
A company of prophets.
This is the first mention of “a company (cord, chain, or band) of prophets” (Nabhis). There were previously individual prophets. And on one occasion the seventy elders prophesied (Num 11:25), and Moses said, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.” But until the time of Samuel there was no association or community, college or school, of prophets.
1. His language shows his intimate relation to this “company,” of which he was doubtless the founder, and appears subsequently as president (1Sa 19:20); for it is not likely that there were now several such “companies,” as in later times (1Ki 20:35; 2Ki 2:3, 2Ki 2:16; 2Ki 4:38).
2. Its formation was due to a newly awakened religious life among the people, and intended as a means of deepening and extending it.
3. It arose about the same time as the establishment of the monarchy, and furnished a regular succession of prophets, by whom the word of the Lord was spoken for the guidance and restraint of the king. “Samuel saw the need of providing a new system of training for those who should be his successors in the prophetic office, and formed into fixed societies the sharers of the mystic gift, which was plainly capable of cultivation and enlargement. As it was a leading crisis of the dealings of God with men, unusual operations of the Spirit marked the time of Samuel; but they were not confined to him, though he is far the most conspicuous figure” (‘Heroes of Hebrews Hist.’). Notice their
I. SPIRITUAL CALLING. They are called prophets with reference to their vocation or profession. But this was founded upon an individual and inner call by the Divine Spirit. Dwelling on the high ground of Divine contemplation, they were often visited by breezes of spiritual influence to which others were strangers, borne along in an ecstasy beyond their own control, and impelled to give utterance to the overflowing feeling of their hearts; and some of their number were chosen by God to be the recipients of the gift of prophecy in the highest sense. Their calling represents that of the Christian ministry, and more generally the vocation of all Christians (Act 2:17; Eph 5:18, Eph 5:19).
II. FRATERNAL UNION. They formed a “company,” a voluntary, organised society, apparently dwelling together in the same place, and pursuing the same mode of life. The bond of their union was the common spirit they possessed; and their association contributed to their preservation and prosperity, and their power over others. “They presented the unifying, associative power of the prophetic spirit over against the disruption of the theocratic life, which was a legacy of the time of the judges” (Erdmann). Of Christian union the like, and much more, may be said (Joh 17:21; Act 2:46; Act 4:23).
III. MUSICAL SKILL. “And before them a psaltery (cithara), and a tabret (tambourine), and a pipe (flute), and a harp (guitar);” stringed, percussion, and wind instruments of music (1Sa 10:5; Gen 4:21; Gen 31:27; Exo 15:20). They made a religious use of music, and cultivated it with great care. It prepared them for high and holy emotion (2Ki 3:15), and gave appropriate expression to it. It strengthened the feeling to which it gave expression, regulated it, and stirred in others a similar feeling. Their sacred music was the germ of the splendid choral service of the temple in subsequent time.
“What passion cannot music raise and quell?
When Jubal struck the chorded shell,
His listening brethren stood around,
And wonder on their faces fell,
To worship that celestial sound;
Less than a god they thought there could not dwell
Within the hollow of that shell,
That spoke so sweetly and so well.
What passion cannot music raise and quell?” (Dryden)
IV. PROPHETIC UTTERANCE. “And they shall prophesy.” Poetry, like music, is the natural vehicle of strong emotion. And in it they recited and sang in an impassioned manner the praises of God, and the wonders which be had wrought on behalf of his people (1Ch 25:1, 1Ch 25:3).
V. POPULAR REPUTATION. The manner in which they were spoken of by the people generally (1Sa 10:11) shows the important position they occupied, and the high estimation in which they were held. When the professed servants of God are so regarded
1. It is an evidence of their worth and consistency. They commend themselves to “every man’s conscience.” If, being faithful to their vocation, they are despised, it only reveals the evil character of their despisers; and it is not honour, but shame, to be commended by foolish and wicked men (Luk 6:26).
2. It indicates the prevalence of a right sentiment in society.
3. It affords a favourable condition of bearing witness for God and successful spiritual labour.D.
1Sa 10:11-13. (GIBEAH.)
Saul among the prophets.
“Is Saul also among the prophets?” Of the three signs of which Saul was assured, the occurrence of the last alone is particularly described. “And the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.” “Turned into another man” (1Sa 10:6). It was “the most important for his inner life.” “Through this sign his anointing as king was to be inwardly sealed.” In what is here recorded we see an instance of
I. SURPRISING TRANSFORMATION. The question was mainly one of surprise. The change was
1. Sudden. In what are called “sudden conversions,” indeed, there is often a secret preparation of mind and heart. Even in the case of Saul the surprise would not have been so great if his recent interview with Samuel and its effect upon him had been known.
2. In extraordinary contrast to his previous life, wherein he had exhibited little interest in or aptitude for spiritual exercises. Four or five days ago among them wholly occupied with the care of oxen and assesdull, moody, and silent; now in a transport of religious emotion, and “speaking in a new tongue!”
3. Supernatural. It was plainly due to the “Spirit of God,” i.e. (in the Hebrew conception) the direct, invisible, operative energy of God, whether put forth in nature or in man, in imparting mental or physical force for great enterprises, in promoting moral improvement, in producing exalted states of feeling, or in acts of the highest inspiration (Gen 1:2; Exo 31:3; Num 24:2; Jdg 13:25; 2Sa 23:2; Isa 11:2); and (according to the fuller revelation of the New Testament) the holy, personal, Divine Spirit of God and of Christ. The expression (here used in this book for the first time) is not employed with respect to Samuel, whose intercourse with God is represented as more voluntary, self conscious, intimate, and continuous than that which it here denotes.
II. SYMPATHETIC ENTHUSIASM. Saul was drawn into sympathy with the Divine enthusiasm of the “company of prophets.”
1. The links which unite men are secret, subtle, and mysterious, and the influence which some men exert over others is extraordinary.
2. Human influence is a common condition of Divine.
3. The contagious power of strong emotion is often seen in religious revivals, and to some extent also in other public movements. “Ecstatic states have something infectious about them. The excitement spreads involuntarily, as in the American revivals and the preaching mania in Sweden, even to persons in whose state of mind there is no affinity to anything of the kind” (Tholuck). “As one coal kindles another, so it happens that where good is taught and heard hearts do not remain unmovedAct 16:13, Act 16:14” (Hall).
III. SPIRITUAL ENDOWMENT. “And one of the same place answered,” in reply to the question (asked somewhat contemptuously and sceptically), “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also” (whose relationship and antecedents are so different) “among the prophets? and said, But who is their father?” “Who is he that teacheth these prophets, and causeth the spirit of prophecy to rest on them? Nor is there any cause for astonishment in this; for the same holy, blessed One who teacheth these prophets teacheth also this one” (Kimchi). “Prophetical perfection is not a matter that is conveyed from father to son. Under these circumstances the son may be a prophet, though the father is not so” (R. Levi Ben Gersom, quoted by Ed. of Smith’s ‘Sel. Dis.’).
1. Spiritual gifts are not the result of natural relationship.
2. They are due to the free and sovereign operation of the Divine Spirit, “dividing to every man severally as he will.”
3. When they are bestowed on ourselves they should be received with humility, and when they are observed in others they should be regarded without envy, and with admiration and thankfulness.
IV. PARTIAL CONVERSION. “And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place” (Act 16:13). His inspiration was transitory, and the change which he had undergone, great as it was, and in the direction of a renewal of his heart in righteousness, did not involve such renewal. “This transformation is not to be regarded as regeneration in the Christian sense, but as a change resembling regeneration which affected the entire disposition of mind, and by which Saul was lifted out of his former modes of thought and feeling, which were confined within a narrow, earthly sphere, into a far higher sphere of his new royal calling, was filled with kingly thoughts in relation to the service of God, and received another heartAct 16:9” (Keil).
1. Great spiritual gifts may be possessed without the possession of a new heart (Num 24:1-25 :35; Num 31:8; Mat 7:22; 1Co 13:2).
2. There may be considerable moral reformation, much spiritual feeling, correct orthodox beliefs, outward profession of piety, and strict observance of religious ordinances, whilst the supreme affection or ruling purpose of the soul remains unchanged (Mat 13:1-58.).
3. A real renewal of the heart is manifested by its permanent fruits (Mat 7:20; Joh 15:16; Heb 3:14). “If Samuel is the great example of an ancient saint growing up from childhood to old age without a sudden conversion, Saul is the first direct example of the mixed character often produced by such a conversion He became ‘another man,’ yet not entirely. He was, as is so often the case, half converted, half roused His religion was never blended with his moral nature” (Stanley)
“Let not the people be too swift to judge;
As one who reckons on the blades in field
Or e’er the crop be ripe. For I have seen
The thorn frown rudely all the winter long,
And after bear the rose upon its top;
And bark, that all her way across the sea
Ran straight and speedy, perish at the last
E’en in the haven’s mouth. Seeing one steal,
Another bring his offering to the priest,
Let not Dame Birtha and Sir Martin thence
Into Heaven’s counsels deem that they can pry;
For one of these may rise, the other fall” (Dante, Par. 13.).D.
1Sa 10:14-16. (GIBEAH.)
Inquisitiveness.
Inquiry after truth is a necessary and invaluable exercise. But inquiry, when it is directed to matters in which we have no proper concern, degenerates into vain curiosity, or mere inquisitiveness. And this often appears both in relation to Divine affairs (Gen 3:6; Deu 29:29; 1Sa 6:19; Luk 13:23; Act 1:6)and human affairs (Joh 21:21). Of the latter we have here an illustration. Saul, having reached his home, was asked by his uncle concerning his journey and interview with Samuel. “Whither went ye?” “Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you.” This man was doubtless acquainted with the popular agitation about a king, but what his precise motives were we are not told. Such inquisitiveness as he displayed
I. MANIFESTS A WRONG DISPOSITION.
1. An unrestrained desire of knowledge. There must be self-restraint in this desire, as in every other; else it leads to recklessness, irreverence, and pride.
2. An unjust disregard of the rights of others. The claims of family relationship are sometimes exaggerated so as to ignore or interfere with those rights. It is imagined that they justify the expectation of an answer to any inquiry, however little it affects the inquirer.
3. Uncharitable and suspicious thoughts about the conduct of others, expressed in impertinent and annoying questions, which naturally cause resentment and discord. It may be added, that persons who are “busybodies in other men’s matters” (1Pe 4:15) are seldom so diligent and faithful in their own as they ought to be. The proper province of every man affords plenty of scope for his attention and effort (2Th 3:11; 1Ti 5:13).
II. REQUIRES TO BE PROMPTLY CHECKED.
1. Out of due regard to higher claims. What Samuel said to Saul was intended for him alone, and to divulge it would be a breach of duty.
2. Lest the information given should be used to the disadvantage of him who gives it. Who knows how Saul’s uncle would have employed the knowledge of his having been appointed king by the prophet? He might have done irreparable mischief. Many excellent projects have been frustrated by an untimely disclosure of them.
3. For the good of the inquirer himself. The gratification of his curiosity tends to increase his inquisitiveness, the mortification thereof to its cure. It was for the benefit of the Apostle Peter that the Lord said, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”
III. SHOULD BE CHECKED IN A RIGHT MANNER. Judiciously, discreetly, and, more particularly
1. With strict truthfulness. “He told us plainly that the asses were found” (1Sa 10:16). Saul spoke the truth, but not the whole truth; nor was he in the circumstances described under any obligation to do so. “A fool uttereth all his mind; but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards” (Pro 29:11).
2. With due courtesy. By a blunt refusal and rude repulsion Saul might have alienated his uncle, and turned him into an enemy. “Honour all men.” “Be courteous.”
3. With few words or resolute silence. “But of the matter of the kingdom whereof Samuel spake he told him not.” There is a “time to keep silence” (Ecc 3:7; Amo 5:13). “Then he (Herod) questioned him with many words; but he answered him nothing” (Luk 23:9). Our Lord himself is thus an example of silence to us when addressed with questions which it would not be prudent or beneficial to answer. “Silence is golden.”
Conclusion.
1. Check the tendency to curiosity in yourselves, so that it may not be checked, disappointed, and reproved by others.
2. In checking it in others seek their improvement rather than your own dignity and honour.D.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Sa 10:1. Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head It appears from the last verse of the preceding chapter, that Samuel did this in the open field. Anointing was, from the earliest times, made use of at the inauguration of kings, as well as of priests. See Jdg 9:8. The kiss which Samuel gave Saul was in token of subjection and reverence to him. See Gen 41:40. The reason why Samuel foretels to Saul the several particulars in the subsequent verses, is to convince him of his prophetic spirit, and, consequently, of the truth of what he had advanced concerning the kingdom. Houbigant, after the LXX, adds what follows to this verse, which, whether it be genuine Scripture or not, will at least tend to explain it: Then Samuel, having taken a phial, poured oil upon his head, and kissed him, saying, Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee prince over his inheritance: thou shalt rule over the people of the Lord: thou shalt deliver them from their enemies which are round about. 1Sa 10:2. But this shall be a sign unto thee, that the Lord hath anointed thee prince over his inheritance: when thou shalt depart from me to-day, thou shalt find, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND SECTION
Sauls Introduction into the Royal Office
1Sa 10:1-27
I. Saul anointed by samuel. 1Sa 10:1
1Then [And] Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured1 it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not2 because the Lord [Jehovah] hath anointed thee to be captain [prince] over his inheritance?
II. The Signs of the Divine Confirmation given to Saul. 1Sa 10:2-16
2When thou art departed [goest] from me to-day, then [om. then] thou shalt [wilt] find two men by Rachels sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto [to] thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found; and lo, thy father hath left the care3 of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, 3What shall I do for my son? Then [And] thou shalt go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain [oak]4 of Tabor, and there [ins. three men] shall meet thee three men [om. three men] going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three5 loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of 4wine. And they will salute thee,6 and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou 5shalt receive of their hands. After that thou shalt [wilt] come to the hill of God7, where is the garrison of the Philistines;8 and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt [wilt] meet a company of prophets9 coming down from the high place, with [ins. and before them, om. with] a psaltery and a tabret and a pipe and a harp before them [om. before them], and they shall prophesy 6[prophesying]; And the Spirit of the Lord [Jehovah] will come upon thee, and thou shalt [wilt] prophesy with them, and shalt [wilt] be turned into another 7man. And let it be [om. let it be], when these signs are come unto thee, that [om. that] thou do [do thou] as occasion serve thee [what thy hand findeth]; for God10 8is with thee. And thou shalt go11 down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings; seven days shalt thou tarry till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do.
9And it was so [came to pass] that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all these signs came to pass that day. And 10when they came thither to the hill [to Gibeah],12 behold a company of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that behold [and behold] he prophesied among the prophets,13 then the people said one to another, What is this that is come [What has happened] unto [to] the son of Kish? Isaiah 12 Saul also among the prophets? And one of the same place answered and said, But [And] who is their14 father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among 13the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the 14high place.15 And Sauls uncle said unto [to] him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were no 15where,16 we came [went] to Samuel. And Sauls uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, 16what Samuel said unto [to] you. And Saul said unto [to] his uncle, He told us plainly [om. plainly]17 that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.
III. The Choice by Lot. 1Sa 10:17-21
17And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord [to Jehovah] to Mizpeh 18[Mizpah]. And [ins. he] said unto [to] the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians,18 and out of the hand of all [ins. the] kingdoms and 19of them [om. and of them] that oppressed19 you. And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations, and ye [om. ye] have said unto him [om. unto him], Nay [Nay],20 but [ins. a king thou shalt] set a king [om. a king] over us. Now, therefore [And now], present 20yourselves before the Lord [Jehovah] by your tribes and by your thousands. And when [om. when] Samuel had [om. had] caused all the tribes of Israel to come 21near, [ins. and] the tribe of Benjamin was taken. [ins. And] When [om. when] he had [om. had] caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families [wis. and] the family of Matri [the Matrites] was taken.21 And Saul, the son of Kish, was taken; and when [om. when] they sought him, [ins. and] he could not be found.
IV. The Installation into the Royal Office. Proclamation. Greeting. Royal Right. Return To Quiet Life. 1Sa 10:22-27
22Therefore [And] they inquired of the Lord [Jehovah] further, if the man should [would] yet come thither.22 And the Lord answered [Jehovah said], Behold, he 23hath hid himself [is hidden] among the stuff [baggage]. And they ran and fetched him thence; and when [om. when] he stood23 among the people [ins. and] he was 24higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord [Jehovah] hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save [Long live]24 the king.
25And Samuel told the people the manner25 of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book,25 and laid it up before the Lord [Jehovah]. And Samuel sent all the people away, 26every man to his house. And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went 27with him a band of men,26 whose hearts God had touched. But [And] the children of Belial [certain wicked men] said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace [And he was as though he were deaf].27
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
I. 1Sa 10:1. The anointing. It is performed without witnesses in secret (1Sa 9:27), and is the factual confirmation to Saul of what Samuel had before told him in Gods name of his call to the kingd om. The vial (, from , to drop, flow, in Pi. only Eze 47:2) is a narrow-necked vessel, from which the oil flowed in drops. The oil, we must suppose, was not of the ordinary sort, but the holy anointing-oil (Exo 29:7; Exo 30:23-33) which, according to the Law, was used in the consecration of the sacred vessels and the priests. To this refers the expression the vial of oil; and it is supported by the analogy of the priests consecration with the consecrated oil (Lev 8:12), which, according to Exo 30:31, was to be a holy oil throughout all generations, and by the use here and 2Ki 9:3 of the word (,) which is proper to the anointing of the high-priest. Besides, on account of the significance of the oil of priestly consecration, Samuel would have used no other in the consecration of the sacred person of the theocratic king. Anointing as a solemn usage in the consecration of a king is referred to as early as Jdg 9:8; Jdg 9:15, and, besides Saul here, is expressly mentioned as performed on other kings, on David (1Sa 16:3; 2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3), Absalom (2Sa 19:11), Solomon (1Ki 1:39), Joash (2Ki 11:12), Jehoahaz (2Ki 23:30), and Jehu (2Ki 9:3). In case of regular succession the anointing was supposed to continue its effect [that is, the regular successor needed no new anointingsuch is the view of the RabbisTr.]; whence is explained the fact that only the above kings are mentioned as having been anointed [they being all founders of dynasties, or irregularly advanced to the throneTr.] (Oehl., Herz. R.-E. VIII. 10 sq.). On account of this anointing the theocratic king was called the Anointed of the Lord. Whence we see the general significance of the act: The Anointed was consecrated, sanctified to God; by the anointing the king is holy and unassailable (1Sa 24:7; 1Sa 26:9; 2Sa 19:22). It signifies, however, further in especial the equipment with the powers and gifts of the Spirit of God and the blessing of the salvation which is bestowed in them (comp. 1Sa 16:13). In accordance with the significance of the act of anointing it is narrated in 1Sa 10:9-10 how the Spirit of God came upon Saul. While the anointing thus set forth the divine consecration from above, the kiss, which Samuel then gave Saul, was the sign of the human recognition of his royal dignity, the expression of reverence and homage, as in Psa 2:12. The kiss, seldom on the mouth, generally on the hand, knee, or garment [among modern Beduins on the foreheadTr.], has always been in the East the universal sign of subordination and subjection, and is so yet, as also among the Slavic nations. The kissing of idols (their feet) is mentioned as a religious usage (1Ki 19:18; Hos 13:2; Job 31:27). The word with which Samuel turns to Saul after the anointing: Is it not that the Lord hath anointed thee? is witness and confirmation to him that Samuel is only the instrument in Gods hand in the consecration, that it is Gods act. (The , with the following , signifies yea, surely. Clericus: an interrogation, instead of an affirmation). Prince over his inheritance. , leader, prince. His inheritance is Israel, not only because of the great deliverance out of Egypt, Deu 4:20 (Keil), but also on the ground of the divine choice of Israel out of the mass of the heathen nations to be His own people (Exo 21:5). The Sept. rendering in 1Sa 10:1-2 is as follows: hath not the Lord anointed thee ruler over his people, over Israel? And thou shalt rule over the people of the Lord, and thou shalt save them out of the hand of their enemies. And this be to thee the sign that the Lord hath anointed thee ruler over his inheritance. This last clause that……inheritance is the literal translation of the Masoretic text. The Vulg. has these words in the first sentence: behold, the Lord hath anointed thee prince over his inheritance; then follows the addition: and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies round about. And this is the sign to thee that the Lord hath anointed thee prince. These words of the Sept. and Vulg. are, however, not (with Then.) to be used to fill up a supposed gap in the text: We are rather to adopt Keils remark that the Alex. text is merely a gloss from 1Sa 9:16-17, introduced because the translator did not understand the is it not that?, and especially because he did not see how Samuel could speak to Saul of signs [1Sa 10:7] without having before announced them as such. The gloss assumes that Samuel wished merely to give Saul a sign that the Lord had anointed him prince. On the contrary, as Keil points out, Samuel gave Saul not a sign (, ), but three signs, and declares (1Sa 10:7) their purpose to be, that, on their occurrence, Saul should know what he had to do, Jehovah being with him.
II. 1Sa 10:2-16. The divine signs. Three signs are given Saul by Samuel in his capacity of prophet, as a confirmation to him that he is now, according to the divine consecration, also really the king of Israel, and under the immediate guidance of the Lord (1Sa 10:2; 1 Samuel 3, 4; 1 Samuel 5, 6).
The first sign, 1Sa 10:2 : The meeting with two men of his native place, who will inform him that the asses are found, and his father anxious about him. According to these words, the sepulchre of Rachel must have been not far from Ramah, whence Saul started. With this agrees Jer 31:15 : a voice is heard in Ramah,Rachel weeping for her children. The declaration in Mat 2:18, that the mourning of the women of Bethlehem for their slaughtered children is the fulfilment of this word of Jeremiah, does not affirm or suppose that Rachels grave was near Bethlehem, and therefore far from Ramah south of Jerusalem, for it is not a local, but a personal-real similarity, namely, between the mournings in the two cases, that is intended to be set forth. According to our passage, Rachels grave must have been north of Jerusalem on the road between Ramah and Gibeah; and thus the view prevalent since the Middle Ages, that Rachels tomb was near Bethlehem, and somewhat north of it, is shown to be incorrect. In support of this view are cited the passages Gen 35:16-20; Gen 48:7, where Rachels sepulchre is said to have been a kibrah of land as one goes to Ephrah, and on the road to Ephrah, and in respect to Ephrah the explanation is added: which is now called Bethlehem (comp. 1Sa 17:12; Mic 5:2); but these indefinite expressions (kibrah is merely tract, see 2Ki 5:19 sq.) may, as Winer correctly remarks (Bibl. R.-W. s. v. Rachel, II., 299), be so understood as to extend to Ramah. So Ewald: Here, as in Genesis, we may very well understand the northern boundary of Benjamin, beginning somewhat southeast from Ram-allah (III. 31, Rem.). If, however, in Genesis Rachels grave be taken to be (as the narrator intends) not far from Ephrah, then, on account of the indubitable proximity of the grave to Ramah, this Ephrah cannot be the Bethlehem which lay in Judah six Roman miles south of Jerusalem, and the explanatory remark, which is now called Bethlehem, must be regarded as a late, erroneous addition. Ephrah is, then, to be looked on as an otherwise unknown place, in the region in which Bethel, Ramah and Gibeah lay, perhaps the same with the city Ephraim, named in connection with Bethel in 2Ch 13:19 (Qeri Ephrain, Kethib Ephron) and Jos. B. J. 4, 9. 9, and mentioned in Joh 11:54, according to Jerome twenty Roman miles (Onom. s. v. Ephron) north of Jerusalem (comp. Jos 15:9), named Ephron, according to von Raumers conjecture (p. 216 A. 235 e) identical with Ophrah (comp. 1Sa 13:17).28 On this supposition the grave of Rachel was, according to Graf, very near Rama (1Sa 10:2), at the intersection of the road from Bethel to the neighboring Ephrah (2Sa 13:23; 2Ch 13:19; see Then, and Bertheau in loco, Gen 35:16 sq.; Gen 48:7), and the road from Ramah to Gibeah (Der Proph. Jer., p. 384, and Stud. u. Krit. 1854, p. 868, on the site of Bethel and Ramah). On the border of Benjamin. This agrees with the supposition that Rachels grave was near Bethel (so Kurtz, Gesch. d. A. B., I., 270 [Hist, of the Old Covenant]), which was on the border between Ephraim and Benjamin. At Zelzah. This word must at an early time have been uncertain, to judge from the variations of the versions (Sept.: , whence Ewald renders in great haste, and Vulg.: in meridie). If we do not regard it as an unknown place, we may adopt Thenius conjecture, that the original text was: at Zela ( , with local); Zela was the place of the sepulchre of Sauls father (2Sa 21:14).The statement of the two men that the asses were found was not only to be to Saul a confirmation of Samuels prophetic declarations, but also to detach his thoughts from lower earthly things, and direct his inner life to the higher calling, to which he had been privately elected and consecrated. Ewald: Thus happily disappears the burden of former lower cares, because henceforth something more important is to be thought of and cared for (III. 31).
1Sa 10:3-4. The second sign. Three men on the way to the holy place at Bethel, to sacrifice there, will bestow on him two loaves of bread from their sacrificial gifts. The direction of the road, and the whole geographical situation here correspond very well with the statement in Gen 35:8 as to the oak (, Allon) near which, beneath Bethel, Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, was buried, and with the statement in Jdg 4:5, that Deborah dispensed judgment between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim under the palm-tree of Deborah. It is therefore a natural supposition (Then.) that, by error of hearing, Tabor was written instead of Deborah. But this hypothesis is somewhat bold, and against it is the fact that all the ancient translations have Tabor. That this is certainly a mere dialectic variation of Deborah (Ew. III., 31 Rem. 2) is an equally hold opinion. Besides, Jdg 4:5 speaks of the palm-tree of Deborah, named, according to the narrator, from the Judge Deborah, and known in his time, therefore, to be distinguished from the oak of Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Gen 35:8. The place of the terebinth of Tabor, therefore, otherwise unknown, must be in any case on the road to Bethel, not far from Ramah. The three men are going up to God to Bethel. The things that they carry (three kids, three loaves of bread, and a vessel of wine) show that their purpose is to make an offering to God in Bethel. Bethel had been a consecrated place for the worship of God since the days of the Patriarchs, in consequence of the revelations which He had made to Abraham and Jacob; as to the former see Gen 12:8; Gen 13:3-4, as to the latter Gen 28:18; Gen 19:35; Gen 6:7; Gen 6:14-15. In Bethel, therefore, there was an altar; it was one of the places where the people sacrificed to the Lord, and where Samuel at this time held court. The asking after welfare signifies friendly salutation (1Sa 17:22; 2Ki 10:13; Exo 18:7; Jdg 18:15). The men will give him, an unknown person, two of their loaves. This divinely-ordained occurrence betokens the homage, which by the presentation of gifts pertains to him as the king of the people. And that this surprising prelude to all future royal gifts is taken from bread of offering points to the fact, that in future some of the wealth of the land, which has hitherto gone undivided to the Sanctuary, will go to the king. (Ew., Gesch. III., 32 [Hist, of Israel]).
1Sa 10:5-6. The third sign. Going thence to Gibeah he will meet a company of prophets, will, under the influence of prophetic inspiration, also prophesy, and be changed into another man. Gibeah Ha–Elo–him is in the immediate context distinguished from the city. What city is here meant is clear from the fact that all the people know him (1Sa 10:10 sqq.); it can, therefore, only be Gibeah of Benjamin, Sauls native city. The Gibeah of God is thus, and especially because of the definition of God, to be taken not as a proper name, but as an appellative, the hill of God, that is, the height, Bamah [high-place] near the city, which was used as a place of sacrifice, and after which the city was called; afterwards, when Saul made it his royal residence, it was called Gibeah of Saul (1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 15:34; 2Sa 21:6). According to Josephus (B. J. 5, 2. 1) it was one hour [somewhat more than two Eng. miles; according to Mr. Grove, in Smiths Dict, of Bib., four milesTr.] on the direct road north from Jerusalem, and, as appears from what follows, was probably the seat of a community of prophets, and, on that account, perhaps specially distinguished, along with Bethel, among the sacrificial places. The [garrison in Eng. A. V.] are the military posts or camps established by the Philistines to keep the country under their sway, even though there were no more devastating incursions (see on 1Sa 7:14). For a similar procedure see 2Sa 8:6; 2Sa 8:14. The substitution of the Sing. () for the Plu. is supported by the Sept., Vulg., Syr., Arab.; but it is going too far to suppose, on the authority of the Sept., that here, as well as in 1Sa 13:3-4, this Sing. denotes a pillar set up by the Philistines as a sign of their authority (Then, and Bttcher).29 Ewalds opinion (Gesch. III., 43) that it refers to an officer who collected the tribute, is still less probable. Instead of a monument, we must regard it, according to 1Sa 13:3-4, and as in 2Sa 8:6; 2Sa 8:14, as a military colony stationed there.A company of prophets ( cord, line, then like our band, company). From this description, and from the fact that they approach with music, it appears that they formed a society, an organized company. That they descended from the Bamah [high-place] is no proof that they dwelt on it, against which is the fact that the Bamah was especially consecrated to the service of Jehovah, and for this reason was called the hill of God, not because it was the abode of men of God (Cleric). Since it is clear, from what follows, that this was a private solemn procession, it is probable that their residence was not far off, most likely in the city of Gibeah, whence they may have proceeded to the sacrifice and prayer on the high-place. This company of prophets belongs, no doubt, to the so-called Schools of the Prophets, which, however, would be better named prophetic Unions. They were founded by Samuel, and were under his direction, comp. 1Sa 19:20. The origin of these unions lies in the tendency to association given by the Spirit of God and by the new life which Samuel awakened, and their aim was to cherish and develop prophetic inspiration and the new life of faith by common holy exercises. In our passage we must distinguish the following facts: 1) The descent from the high-place in this solemn procession suggests that they had gathered there for common religious exercises, sacrifice, and prayer. 2) The music which went before them shows that, in these societies, religious feeling was nourished and heightened by sacred music, though music was also elsewhere cultivated. The four instruments which accompanied them indicate the rich variety and advanced culture of the music of that day. The psaltery (, nebel) is a cithernlike stringed instrument, which, according to Jerome, Isidorus and Cassiodorus, had the form of an inverted Delta, and, according to Psa 33:2; Psa 144:9, had ten strings (Jos. Ant. 7, 10 says twelve strings), called by the Greeks , nablium, psalterium; it was commonly used, as here, in sacred songs of praise (1Ki 10:12; 1Ch 15:16), but also on secular festive occasions (2Ch 20:28). The kinnor ( [Eng. A. V. harp]) was another stringed instrument, apparently different from our harp (Luther), since it was played on in walking (comp. 2Sa 6:5), rather a sort of guitar, and with the nebel indicates complete string music (Psa 71:22; Psa 58:3 [2]; 1Sa 15:3). According to Josephus (Ant. 7, 12, 3) the kinnor was struck with the plectrum, the nablium with the finger. But David played the kinnor (1Sa 16:23; 1Sa 18:10; 1Sa 21:9) with the hand. The tabret (, toph) is the hand-drum, the tambourine; used by Miriam, Exo 15:20. The fourth instrument is the flute (), which was made of reed, wood, or horn, and was a favorite instrument in festive and mournful music. 3) The emphasis rests on the words and they were prophesying; they were in a condition of ecstatic inspiration, in which, singing or speaking, with accompaniment of music, they gave expression to the overflowing feeling with which their hearts were filled from above by the controlling Spirit. Cleric: they will sing songs, which assuredly were composed to the honor of God. The strains of the music were intended not only to awaken the heart to inspired praise of God, or to intensify the religious inspiration, but also to regulate the feeling. According to Pindar, it was peacefully to bring law into the heart that Apollo invented the cithern, which was played in the Delphic Apollo-worship (O. Mller, Dorier I., 346 [Dorians]). There was a similar outflow of religious inspiration to the praise of God in the case of the seventy elders, Num 11:25.
1Sa 10:6. Saul will not be able to withstand the mighty influence of this sight. Three things will happen to him: 1) the Spirit of the Lord, a divine power external to himself, will come upon him; that is, suddenly, immediately take possession of his soul. The words Spirit of Jehovah exclude every earthly, internal case of inspiration. It is, however, in this presupposed that the Spirit of the Lord must descend to produce this excitation and elevation, and does not dwell continually in him; 2) he will prophesy. (On the form see Ew. 198, 6.) He will, therefore, have a part in the religious inspiration and the prophetic utterance of the prophets. It is taken for granted that the fire of inspiration will pass immediately from them to him; 3) he will be turned into another man. The change relates to the inner life, which is renewed by the Spirit of God, and consists in the sanctification of heart and subordination of the will to the law of the Lord which the Spirit works. The prophecy [of Samuel], therefore, is: Thou wilt, through the Spirit of God which shall come upon thee, not only prophesy in inspired words, but also experience a change of the inner man, as accords with thy divine call to be king.
1Sa 10:7. The general significance of the occurrence of these signs. When these signs come to thee (read , Psa 45:16, when all this happens to thee), do what thy hand findeththe same formula in 1Sa 25:8 and Jdg 9:33, not, what thou likest, what seems most proper, what seems good to thee, (Cler.), but, what presents itself, that to which this action leads, (Ew. III., 41), do what circumstances suggest; for God is with thee, thou needst not consult any one, for God will second thy counsels (Cler.). These signs are to signify to him that, so surely as they happen to him will he happily, with Gods help, carry out his undertakings.These words refer to Sauls immediate task in his royal calling (of which these God-given signs were to assure him), namely, the deliverance of the people from the oppression of the Philistines.
1Sa 10:8. Saul next receives from the prophet a command in Gods name, which limits the unrestricted royal authority conferred on him under support of God; he is forbidden, in the exercise of the royal office, to perform independently priestly functions. Gilgal, situated between the Jordan and Jericho, formerly the camp of the people after the crossing of the Jordan, where were undertaken the wars against the Canaanites for the conquest of the land, the central point of Israel consecrated by the tabernacle and the sacrificial worship (Joshua 5.) was now one of the holiest places in Israel, and the true middle-point of the whole people,because the control of the Philistines extended so far westward [eastward?] that the centre of gravity of the realm was necessarily pushed back to the bank of the Jordan (Ew. III., 42). Hither must Saul as king betake himself, when he would enter on the deliverance of Israel from the dominion of the Philistines. This place seems to have been chosen, because it was remotest from the Philistine border (Cler.). There the people assembled in general political questions, and thence, after sacrifice and prayer, marched armed to war. Here, then, especially, in the nature of the case, would the mutual relation of the two independent powers of the realm come into question, be announced, and somehow permanently decided (Ew. as above). Samuel, therefore, bids Saul wait seven days, when he goes to Gilgal, in order that he, Samuel, may direct the sacrifice, and impart to him the Lords commands as to what he shall do. Saul is not to make the offering in his own powerthis pertains only to Samuel as priestly mediator between God and the peoplenor is he to undertake independently anything in connection with the past struggle for freedom, but he must await the instructions which the prophet is to give him. The king must act only in dependence on the invisible King of his people. See further, on 1Sa 10:8 and its relation to 1Sa 8:8, the Introduction, pp. 11,12.
1Sa 10:9-12. The occurrence of the signs announced to Saul. 1Sa 10:9 refers to the fulfilment of the last, most important element of the third prophecy (1Sa 10:6): the change into another man. Not only the fact of this renewal, but also its innermost source is indicated in the words: God gave [lit. turned, changed] him another heart, two assertions being involved in this pregnant phrase: God turned him about, and gave him another heart. His departure from Samuel and turning to go back home, and his conversion are expressed, not without design, by the same word turn; for the place, from which he turned, was the means of this conversion; Samuels person and word was the instrument by which God began in him the process of inward renewal; the Spirit of God, that wrought and completed it, came in part mediately through Samuel, in part immediately to his heart I from above. According to the Biblical representation the heart denotes the centre of the whole inward life, the uniting-point of all the elements of the inner man. The thorough and complete change to another man can proceed only from the heart, which alone God in His judgments on man looks at (1Sa 16:7). The essential element, therefore, in the renewal of the heart is not only the production of a, as it were, new, hitherto latent side of his spiritual beingthis is only its symptombut in a real religious-ethical change and renewal of the innermost foundation of life. In this all special revelations of the divine spirit and will to Saul must culminate; all that has happened from 1 Samuel 9 on tends to this highest and innermost end, to the proper establishment of this religious-ethical relation of the innermost foundation of life to God, as the most essential condition of an administration of the theocratic office which should be well-pleasing to God.And all those signs came to pass that day. From Ramah Saul could easily come to Gibeah the same day through the stations indicated. It is not mentioned in what order the signs occurred, but it is first summarily stated that they were all fulfilled, and then related how the third happened. If the summary statement did not precede, and the third sign were related immediately, one might suppose with Thenius a possible omission by the redactor; but, the context of 1Sa 10:2-4 being thus [summarily] dispatched, the narrator hastens to the third sign as the most important, in order to show how and under what circumstances it occurred, after having made the remark, which was sufficient for his purpose, that the first and second had been fulfilled according to Samuels words. It is worthy of note that none of the ancient translators has attempted to fill out the supposed gap. Thenius adopts the reading of the Sept. from thence ( ), from which he infers the previous mention of another place; but even this reading would not prove an omission, but would refer to the place where Saul separated from Samuel, the journey being thus summarily described with omission of two stations. Further, the words from thence would be quite super-fluous.The of the text [Eng. A. V. thither] is not to be translated whither (Bunsen: to Gibeah), but expresses local rest: they come there to Gibeah.The mention of the third sign only (there being nothing in narrative or language, as shown above, to necessitate the assumption of a historical or auctorial gap) is not to give importance to Gibeah, Sauls home (Keil); rather this sign was the most important for Sauls inner life, and for that on which depended the right exercise of the theocratic royal office, namely, the new heart and life called forth by the prophetic spirit, and it stands in causal connection with the preceding testimony (which is the principal thing) to the actual renewal of Sauls heart, narrating how Saul was equipped with the Spirit of the Lord, and filled with the prophetic Spirit, which changed his heart.
1Sa 10:10. From the local statements here made, it is tolerably clear that this company of prophets dwelt in Gibeah. In order to understand the effect of their appearance on Saul, we must think of it as it is described in 1Sa 10:5. Suddenly, unannounced, overpoweringly the Spirit comes upon him, falls upon him. Involuntarily, therefore, he is seized by it, and drawn along into the lofty inspiration of the prophets. By the influence of the Lords Spirit, which Saul has hitherto experienced through Samuel, he is made capable of receiving the fullness of the prophetical Spirit, and of this sudden seizure by the prophetic inspiration, which thus manifested itself in music and song. He prophesied, that is, he united in their inspired song, or in the discourse in which their new life poured itself forthin their midst, he attached himself to them, joined their solemn procession; meeting leads to uniting (the phrase, in the midst, answers to the towards him).
1Sa 10:11. Before time [lit. from yesterday and the day before, and so Erdmann has it.Tr.]. This universal previous acquaintance with Saul and the talk of the people among themselves is proof that he was here at home. The surprise produced by Sauls participation in the prophetic utterance is described with incomparable fidelity and liveliness. The two questions, which testify to surprise and amazement, presuppose two things: 1) the power and significance of the prophetic community in the public opinion, and 2) the fact that Sauls life had hitherto been far therefrom, that it had not been in harmony, either externally or internally, with this society; we see him suddenly introduced into a sphere which had hitherto been outwardly and inwardly strange to him. Clericus: This seems to show that Saul had led a life very different from those who associated with the prophets.
1Sa 10:12. To the questions: What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? answer is given by a man from there (from Gibeah) in a counter-question, which, by its form (the who is their father? referring to the son of Kish), ingeniously and decisively repels the false conception of the nature of this prophetic inspiration which lay in these questions. The explanation: who is their president? has no support in the connection, and no bearing on the matter. The Sept. has who is his father? (adding also [Alex.]: is it not Kish?): but this is arbitrary and obviously adopted to get rid of the difficulty in the text. And to suppose that the words: Who is their father? Is it not Kish? indicate that recognition as a prophet was denied Saul because of his descent from so insignificant a man as Kish (Then.), or that they merely express the surprise of the people (Ew.), would introduce an intolerable tautology into the lively, pregnant description. As a simple question, these words would mean nothing in the mouth of the man of Gibeah, who necessarily knew the answer, and could learn it from the connection in which the question was asked. The question who is then their father? rather refers to the prophets, in whose midst was even now the object of the question of surprise: Is the son of Kish a prophet? As Bunsen rightly remarks, the their is to be emphasized: And who is their father? We may suppose (in accordance with the situation) that the words were accompanied by an indicative gesture, and with Oehler (Herz. R. E. XII. 612) explain: Have these then the prophetic spirit by a privilege of birth? Bodily paternity is here of no importance; the son of Kish may as well be a prophet as these sons of fathers, who are wholly unknown to us, or of whom we should not, according to human reckoning, suppose that their sons would be filled with the prophetic Spirit. So Bunsens admirable explanation: The speaker declares, against the contemptuous remark about the son of Kish, that the prophets too owed their gift to no peculiarly lofty lineage. Saul also might, therefore, receive this gift, as a gift from God, not as a patrimony. In this counter-question lies this truth: the impartation of the prophetic Spirit, as of its gifts and powers, pertains to the free, gracious will of God, and is altogether independent of natural-human relations. The expression of surprise at the unexpected change in Saul gives occasion to the proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets? According to its origin here given, this proverb does not merely express surprise at the sudden unexpected transition of a man to another calling in life (Then., Cler.: another manner of life), or to a high and honorable position (Mnster). The personal and moral qualities of Saul, perhaps the religiousmoral character of his family, or at least the mean opinion that was entertained of Sauls qualities and capacities, intellectually, religiously and morally, formed the ground of surprise at his sudden assumption of the prophetic character. The proverb, therefore, expresses astonishment at the unexpected appearance of a high spiritual endowment, and, still more, of a high religious-moral tone of life and soul, which has hitherto been foreign to, even (as it seems) opposed to, the person in question.
1Sa 10:13-16. A family-scene: Saul and his uncle. 1Sa 10:13. The cessation of the prophesying was the result either of a sudden removal of the ecstatic inspiration which had come suddenly on him, or of a separation from the prophesying company. Saul came to the Bamah [high-place]. Instead of Bamah (), Then. (so Ew.) reads after the Sept. to Gibeah ( , ). But this reading came from the supposed inability to reconcile Sauls going up to the high-place with the prophetic companys coming down thence, and Sauls return to his family in 1Sa 10:14, nor did it seem clear, why Saul went up thither. The last objection is removed by the simple suggestion, that Saul went up thither to pray and sacrifice in the holy place after his great experiences of the divine favor and goodness, and so after his return home first to give God the glory before he returned to his family-life. He joined the descending company of prophets in their solemn procession; but when his participation in the utterances of the prophetic inspiration was over, his look rested on the sacred height, whence the men had descended, and the impulse of the Spirit of the Lord forced him up thither, that, after the extraordinary offering he had made with the prophets, he might make the ordinary offering, and engage in worship. This was the aim, suggested by the connection of the whole history, of his ascent to the high-place.
1Sa 10:14. The uncle of Saul, here spoken of, was Ner (1Sa 14:51), who, like Kish (1Sa 9:1), was a son of Abiel, not Abner, as Ewald, with Josephus, supposes. Either Sauls relations went up with him to the high-place, and the conversation with the uncle occurred there, or (as is natural in a summary statement, like this), we must suppose that Saul came down to his family. According to the narrative the former explanation is preferable. In the question and answer between Saul and his uncle, the history of the search after the asses is briefly recapitulated, 1Sa 10:14-16. Sauls laconic answer to the question of his uncle, who very properly speaks of so important a domestic matter, shows that his heart is fixed on higher things than the asses of his father. To the curious and at the same time inquisitorial question: What said Samuel to you? which shows what importance was attached to knowing the mans words exactly and fully, Saul answers shortly and to the point: He said that they were found. Thus the uncle, to whom this fact was long since known, was disposed of, and the long conversation he had laid out sharply broken off; thus Saul had done his duty to family-affairs. The further express statement that he said nothing to his uncle of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken to him, is to be referred, not to Sauls unassuming humility (Keil), or modesty (Ewald), or prudence (Then)., or apprehension of his uncles incredulity and envy, but to the fact that Samuel, by his manner of imparting the divine revelation, had clearly and expressly given him to understand (1Sa 9:25-27) that it was meant in the first instance for him alone, and that it was not the divine will that he should share it with others. The public presentation of Saul as the king of Israel, whom God had chosen, was to take place only at the time appointed by God through Samuel, and at the place which the prophet should determine. Saul may have thought, too, that his uncles ears were not entitled to be the first recipients of so holy a message, he having got his rights on the question concerning the asses.
III. The choice of Saul by lot as public confirmation of the divine election already made in secret. 1Sa 10:17-21
1Sa 10:17. The popular assembly, called by Samuel at Mizpah, because this sacred place was connected in the peoples minds with the memory of the great victory, 1 Samuel 7, was intended, as is shown by the expression to Jehovah (see 1Sa 7:5), solemnly to confirm and ratify the divine choice of Saul to be king of Israel, and to consecrate him to this office. Ngelsbach (Herz. R.-E., XIII. 401), referring to 1Sa 10:8, objects that the next meeting was not in Gilgal, but in Mizpah, and that, according to 1Sa 11:14, Saul goes to Gilgal not before but with Samuel, and there could, therefore, be no question of waiting for him. The objection is, however, set aside by the remark that these two meetings in Mizpah and Gilgal have nothing to do with 1Sa 10:7-8, but are designed, as is expressly said, to announce Saul as the chosen of the Lord, and again to confirm him as king (1Sa 10:24; 1Sa 11:14), in order that, as universally recognized king, he might, from Gilgal, that ancient classic ground, take in hand the great work of delivering Israel from the Philistines, which, as his primary task, lay ready to his hand (1Sa 10:7 : whatever thy hand findeth).
1Sa 10:18-19. Samuels introductory discourse. The thus saith the Lord, answers to the to the Lord of 1Sa 10:17. The people were called to assemble before the Lord to hear His word through the mouth of Samuel, as the latter had received it directly from the Lord. Samuels discourse first sets before the people in curt, vigorous phrase the royal deeds of might which God the Lord had done for them: the conduction from Egypt, the deliverance out of the hand of the Egyptians (immediately after the exodus) and the deliverance out of the hand of all the kingdoms which had oppressed them. Cleric.: The history of which last deliverances is contained in the Book of Judges.30 This third period of the history embraces the whole time from the conquest of Canaan to the present, including the victory at Mizpah (1Sa 7:5), of which the stone before their eyes bore witness. The reference to the kingdoms, from which God had delivered Israel is noteworthy, because, after the pattern of these very kingdoms, the Israelites wished to have a king and an outward kingdom. There is in this a factual irony.
1Sa 10:19. The second part of the discourse: the charge of ingratitude and unfaithfulness, expressed in the demand of a king. Their fault consisted not in the simple desire for a king, but in the fact that, forgetting Gods royal achievements, they wished to have a visible mighty king like the heathen nations, and, not seeking help from oppressive enemies from the Lord, they desired a human king along with God, or instead of their invisible King as helper out of all need and oppression.It is to be noted that the and ye at the beginning of the second part [1Sa 10:19] answers to the I at the beginning of the first part [1Sa 10:18], marking emphatically the contrast between the Lords powerful help and the peoples sinful conduct in this question of a king.The contempt or rejection of Jehovah (comp. Expos, on 1Sa 8:7 sq.) consisted, in respect to God s gracious and mighty deliverances, in the demand: set a king over us.31 After this sharp rebuke, in which (as before in chap, viii.) the full significance of their desire from the religious-ethical point of view is held up before the people, follows thirdly the factual granting of the desire, according to the divine command, 1Sa 8:22, by ordering a choice by the sacred lot. The and now, in respect to the Iye contrasted above, marks a division in the address. The manner of choice is enjoined with precision by Samuel. They are to appear before Jehovah; this refers not merely to the conception of God as everywhere present (Cleric.: when invoked, He was present with the assembly), but also to the holy place in which the Lords altar was erected (1Sa 7:9). hey were to appear by tribes and thousands, the latter here meaning the same thing as families (). To facilitate legal transactions Moses had divided the people into thousands, hundreds, etc., and appointed captains over all these divisions (Exo 18:25). This division probably followed as closely as possible the natural one, and so the designation thousands was used as synonymous with families (Num 1:16; Num 10:4; Jos 22:14, etc.), because the number of heads of houses in the several families of a tribe might easily reach a thousand (comp. 1Sa 10:21).
1Sa 10:20 sq. Execution and result of this mode of election. The representatives of the tribes being called, the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin, (properly the tribe was taken). How the lots were cast is not said; commonly it was by throwing tablets (Jos 18:6; Jos 18:8; Jon 1:7; Eze 24:7), but sometimes by drawing from a vessel (Num 33:54; Lev 16:9). The latter seems to have been the method here employed. There is not the slightest ground for connecting this with the lot of the high-priestly Urim and Thummim (Vaihinger in Herz. R.-E. IV. 85).
1Sa 10:21. When the families of the tribe of Benjamin were called, the lot fell on the family of Matri,32 an otherwise unknown name (Ew. III. 33 conjectures that it is corrupted from Bikri). In the families the lot was usually so conducted that the houses () were next called (Jos 7:14), then from the patrce or father-house () thus chosen the individual heads of families () came forward, that the family and the individual chosen by the Lord might be indicated (see Keil in loco, Rem. 1). Here the description of the election is abridged, the last steps being passed over (comp. what is said above on the three signs). The result is given at once: And Saul was taken. The insertion of the Sept. and they present the family of Matri by men is to be regarded (with Keil, against Then.) as an interpretation of the Alexandrian translators. According to the order above-stated (from Jos 7:14) it fills out the supposed gap in the text not completely, but only partially and erroneously.They sought Saul, but found him not. The ground was his diffidence and shyness in respect to appearing publicly before the whole people. Ngelsbach rightly remarks (Herz., Saul, p. 433), that his hiding behind the baggage during the election is not in conflict with the account of his change of mind. At so decisive a moment, which turns the eyes of all on one with the most diverse feelings, the heart of the most courageous man may well beat. The situation, along with an element bordering on the comic, has a serious significance and a deep psychological truth.
IV. Saul declared king; the partial homage. 1Sa 10:22-27.
1Sa 10:22. Inquiry of the Lord and divine answer in respect to the failure to find Saul. To inquire of the Lord (1Sa 22:10; 1Sa 23:9 sq.; 1Sa 28:6; 1Sa 30:7 sq.; 2Sa 2:1; Num 27:21; Jdg 1:1; Jdg 20:27) is to ask for the divine decision in individual matters of private or (as here) public importance for the theocratic congregation, by Urim and Thummim. [For a case of personal inquiry in premosaic times, see Gen 25:22Tr.]. Though the latter is not here expressly mentioned, its presence must be assumed according to Exo 28:30, it being inseparably connected with the high-priestly Ephod, in the Choshen of which (breastplate with twelve precious stones and the name of the twelve tribes) it was placed. The inquiry of Jehovah by this means was, it is true, according to Exodus 28 and Numbers 27, to be made by the high-priest. We cannot, however, suppose that this was done here, for the high-priests office was vacant; some other, not Samuel, who presided over the assembly and the election, but a priest, in the high-priestly robes, conducted the solemn inquiry, which was exclusively the privilege of the priests. It must be looked on as a different act from the preceding casting of lots.The question was: Has any one else come hither? that is, besides those here present, among whom Saul was not to be found. The one (lit. man) refers to the one who could not be found; the oracle is to give information as to his presence or absence. The Sept. and Vulg. have: will the man yet come hither? and Then, alters the text accordingly, against which Keil rightly remarks: it was unnecessary to inquire of God whether Saul would yet come; he might have been sent for without more ado.The answer is: Behold, he is there, hid among the baggage. The Pron. he () does not require a preceding the man (Then.), but relates to the person referred to in, or giving occasion to the question, and to whom the procedure referred. Stuff (, vasa), baggage, which must have been extensive in such an assembly. As Saul had the assurance that he was the king chosen by God, his behavior here could not signify that he wished to evade the acceptance of the kingdom, but must be referred to overpowering diffidence, in view of the grand preparations of the election and the divine decision which had laid so mighty a grasp on his life, and to anxious consideration of the awfully important consequences of his appearance (Ew.).With this view the remark of Clericus may be considered to accord: Saul, informed beforehand by Samuel of what would be done, seems to have hidden himself, that he might not appear to have solicited the royal dignity, and to have come to Mizpah to gain the popular vote for himself.In the beginning of 1Sa 10:23 the three consecutive verbs give a quick and lively coloring to the whole process of fetching Saul from his purposely sought-out hiding-place. His magnificent stature (1Sa 9:2), as outward-physical qualification for the kingdom, very imposing to the people, is here again expressly mentioned ( , Eurip. in Grotius). In accordance with the peoples receptivity for so imposing and kingly an appearance, Samuel closes the solemn election with the words (1Sa 10:24): See ye him whom the Lord has chosen? by which he expressly declares the election by lot to be a confirmation of the previous divine choice, and completes the formal presentation of Saul as the divinely-appointed king, and then adds as proof: For there is none like him in all the people. There are two factors which, according to this account, co-operated to call forth the peoples cry of salutation and homage: May the king live! The testimony of Samuel: This is the king chosen by the Lord, granted in spite of the fact that their demand, proceeding from a vain, haughty, and unfaithful mind, was not well-pleasing to him, and the immediate impression made by Sauls person, which was in keeping with the kingly dignity.
1Sa 10:25. The manner of the kingdom. Samuel is said to have done three things in connection with this constitution: 1) he set it before the people; 2) he wrote it in a book; 3) he laid it up before the Lord.The law of the kingdom, which Samuel presented to the people, is, as appears from the context, one which has not yet been written. It is to be distinguished from the manner of the king (1Sa 8:11 sqq.) in which Samuel set before the people the usurpation of an unrestricted arbitrary rule, such as existed among the heathen nations whose monarchical constitution Israel envied. In content it was no doubt essentially the same with the law of the king in Deu 17:14-20, especially 1Sa 10:19-20, and therefore related to the divinely established rights and duties of the theocratic king, the fulfilment of which the people were authorized to demand from him. Gods purpose is to rule the people through Him as His organ. The right [or manner] of the kingdom is therefore, this being its theocratic ground and aim, not a capitulation (Michaelis) between the king (that is, here Samuel) and the people or the first example of a constitutional monarchy (Then.); for the restraints, which are here set on the kingly power, are not imposed by the demands of the people, or by a partition of power between king and people, and not by a contract or agreement between the two as parties, but are given in the divine Law, in the already existing theocratic right of the theocracy, in which the absolute monarchy of the divine will is to rule and reign over king and people, both together.Samuel wrote this law of the kingdom in a book. We find here the first trace, after the written records of Moses, of writing among the prophets, long before the literary activity to which we owe what we now have, and essentially also the spoken prophecies with the historical notices pertaining to themthe beginning of a literature, which was exclusively in the service of the theocratic spirit, and, when it appeared soon after this in the so-called Schools of the Prophets, made its first task the theocratic writing of history.He laid it up before the Lord. Where and how? The supposition that it was deposited in the Tabernacle at Shiloh contradicts the context, from which it appears that the deposition was made in the place where the announcement took place. The expression before the Lord leaves the manner undetermined, and indicates merely the solemn and formal deposition and preservation of the writing, as sacred original documentary record of the establishment and regulation of the theocratic kingdom, in a safe place before the Lord, whose presence was symbolically represented partly by the holy priestly vestment, partly by the altar to which the people approached, and in connection therewith had here its local representation even without tabernacle and ark, though we know not in what manner.Notwithstanding this public and solemn investment of Saul with the royal dignity and authority, Samuel continues to be the highest director of the affairs of the people; the now established kingdom retires passively into the background before Samuels Prophetic-Judicial Office, which retains its full activity and authority. This is indicated by the fact that it is not Saul, but Samuel that finally dismisses the people, an act which involves the formal closing by him of the assembly.
1Sa 10:26-27. Sauls behavior after his installation as king, and the behavior of the people towards him. And Saul also went home to Gibeah. Clericus hence infers that the Philistines had no military post at Gibeah, since they would not have permitted Israel to have a king in opposition to their authority; but the objection vanishes when we reflect that, the Philistines being few in number and at a distance from the place of election, the meaning of the event might easily have been concealed from them, at least for the short time till the battle of 1 Samuel 11 during which Saul remained quietly at home, especially as such great religious assemblies at Samuels instance were not infrequent and could not appear strange to the Philistines, and Saul had returned to his ordinary occupations in the field.The conduct of the people towards Saul as king is twofold. On one side he receives friendly recognition with willingness to serve him [and there went with him the company of valiant men]. The Sept. and Then, read: There went sons of strength, whose hearts God had touched, with Saul; but this is suspicious as being apparently a conformity to the following sons of wickedness, interpreting the somewhat strange word valiant company () by the ordinary periphrasis sons of strength (), as in 1Ki 1:52. The word () is found alone with similar meaning host (in Pharaohs retinue) in Exo 14:28; here it means valiant company, but with allusion to the power which Saul as king might build up from such valiant men as those who now formed the escort of honor. Whose hearts God had touched; that is, to show themselves so faithful and willing in service and obedience. This faithfulness and willingness to serve, shown in their escorting Saul, sprang from their hearts, the deepest base and centre of their inner life; but it was in this case an effect of the immediate influence of the Spirit of God, who sanctifies and rules the heart even in respect to moral deportment towards His constituted authorities. But not irresistibly. In 1Sa 10:27 we find an organized opposition to Gods established kingdom, whose representative Saul was. Whether envy and jealousy produced it (Then.) is not said. The opposition are called worthless people ( ). They are people who 1) haughtily and contemptuously nullified beforehand the whole-someness and utility of Sauls royal government for the people in their depressed condition,the question What will the man help us? expresses hostility to and contempt for Sauls kingship as a completely aimless and useless institution; 2) they exhibited decided contempt for his fitness for the office, and attacked his personal honor; 3) they did not show submission to his rule, brought him no present as sign of reverence, obedience, and obligation to provide for his maintenance; for freewill-gifts from the people were a part of the regular revenue of princes.Clericus: Therefore others, who thought better of his election, brought him gifts, that he might maintain the royal dignity without disgrace. Sauls conduct towards these enemies: he was as a deaf man; that is, he acted as if he heard nothing; he left those mens contempt unnoticed (Cler.). This shows self-control and self-denial, but also great foresight and prudence; for though Saul had had the right, notwithstanding his and Samuels purpose that he should remain in private life awhile, to proceed vigorously against this mean insult to his person and office, yet such a course might have prejudiced his position among and towards the people; and all the more, if the open opposers, as Ngelsbach conjectures (Herz. XIII. 433), belonged to the princes of the larger and hitherto controlling tribes of Judah and Ephraim, who were dissatisfied with the election of an obscure Benjaminite, in which case, still more imbittered by Sauls resolution to punish them, they could have made their influence still more widely felt against him.As to the construction it is to be remarked with Keil on (1Sa 10:26) and (1Sa 10:27) that in both cases the Imperf. with Waw Consec. forms the apodosis to a preceding adjective-clause as protasis, and the sequence of clauses in German [and English, Tr.] would be: When Saul also went home .there went with him ., and when worthless people said .he was as a deaf person.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
See the remarks in the Exegetical exposition. In addition to these:
1. Anointing with oil as a sacred, theocratic usage is the symbol of introduction into the fellowship and service of the Spirit of God, as is clear from 1Sa 16:13 sq.; Isa 60:1 sq. It was employed 1) in connection with the tabernacle and all that was in it, that is, its furniture (Exo 29:36; Exo 30:26-30; Exo 40:9-13; Lev 8:10-12; Num 7:1), and in these lifeless objects (which are said to be sanctified) denotes their separation from everything unclean and unholy, and their consecration to the holy end for which they were designed, namely, to be instruments of Gods Holy Spirit for acting on His people. So it is said especially of the altar of burnt-offering, Exo 40:10 : and it shall be most holy, because as the place of expiation, it was the holiest object in the court; 2) in connection with persons, who are called to theocratical service and office, anointing is the symbol of the impartation of Gods Spirit, and the equipment with His gifts and powers as indispensable condition of the right theocratic exercise of the office. Hitherto confined to sanctuary and priests, it now appears as the consecration to the theocratic office of king, and denotes here the impartation of the powers of light and life from the Spirit of God, as possessor of which the king is henceforth called by excellence the Anointed of the Lord, and is alone authorized to exercise the theocratic rule in the name of the Lord, the invisible King. The coming of the Spirit of God on Saul and David is the consequence of their anointing, or answers to the significance of its symbolism. The natural basis for this symbolism of oil is its power to dispense light and life, joy and healing, by which it sets forth the Spirits dispensation of light and life and the therein-contained gifts and powers (Bhr, Symb. ii. 173). And in the historical development of the theocracy and of the divine revelations which point to the perfecting and fulfilment of the theocracy in the New Covenant, the symbolic anointing of theocratic kings, priests, and prophets (comp. 1Ki 19:15-16) as sign of the impartation of the Spirit of God and its powers is the type, that is, the historical foretokening and prefiguring of the anointing with the Spirit without measure (Joh 3:34) and with the spirit of might (Act 10:38), by which Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed of God for the New-Testamental kingdom of God, first as King of His kingdom, and then as chief Prophet and Priest. Samuels word: The Lord hath anointed thee, signifies that God Himself, of His free grace, dispenses the powers and gifts of His Spirit, when He calls to an office in His kingdom and service.
2. The greatness and glory of the royal office consisted essentially in the fact that he who filled it was Prince over the inheritance or possession of Jehovah. The foundation for this view is the inward life-fellowship into which God has so entered with Israel by His self-revelation, that they have Him as their God, as their highest good and possession; Exo 20:2 : I am the Lord, thy God. God is thus the possession of His people, and of every individual godly man, Psa 16:5; Psa 142:6; Psa 119:57; Jer 10:16; Jer 51:19. Conversely the people of Israel is the property () of its God, or His inheritance (), 1) by reason of its election out of all other peoples, Exo 19:5; Exodus 2) by reason of the wonderful deliverance out of Egypt, Exo 19:4; Deu 4:20; Deu 9:29; Deuteronomy 3) by reason of the covenant at Sinai, Exo 19:5; Exodus 4) by reason of the constant manifestations of grace and salvation (Psa 28:9; 2Sa 14:16; 2Sa 21:3), among which the forgiveness of sins is the greatest, Exo 34:9. The New Covenant presents the fulfillment and completion of this relation in the [peculiar people, that is, Gods own property] Tit 2:14 : 1Pe 2:9.
3. The three signs which, in accordance with Samuels prophetic announcement, were given to Saul, signify in the first place in general the assurance given him (by events apparently accidental, yet ordered to this end by God) of His divine appointment to the royal office and his qualification for it, and of the fact that the Lord would therein be with him. In the lives of those who desire to serve God in faithful obedience, even the simplest and apparently most accidental events must go to confirm the assurance that all things work together for good to them that serve God, and to confirm their confidence in His providence that works in detached, seemingly insignificant circumstances, and His faithfulness that lasts through life.Severally, however, these three signs indicate so many principal stations in the development of Sauls inner life, and in an advancing line from the ass-driver to the prince of the inheritance of God. These are divinely-ordered facts, each of which has two meanings for Saul; first a factual revelation or instruction from God for the present moment, and then a prefigurative relation to the future administration of his royal office. The first occurrence, the meeting with two men who inform him that the asses are found, frees his heart from the pressure of little, earthly, everyday cares, and instructs him henceforth, free from the concerns of the lower, material life, to direct his inner life to the lofty aims and duties of his theocratic calling. Once for all the petty earthly is to find for him its quietus. Inwardly free and consecrated to the Lord alone, he is to pursue his way upward. The second sign: three men going up to Bethel offer him two of the three sacrificial loaves. This gift is the factual homage paid him by a royal offering, and betokens for the future his royal position in which to him, along with sanctuary and priests, the wealth of the land will be offered as tribute. The third event directs Sauls look from this kingly power to the highest conditions of a right theocratic administration, which he receives through impartation of the Spirit of God and His gifts. In the company of prophets by the Spirit which comes on him, he receives the gift of prophecy and that equipment of his inner life with the powers of the divine Spirit by which he becomes another man and receives a new heart. In this there is also for the future the warning that it is only under the guidance of Gods Spirit, in the absolute obedience of his will to the divine will, rooted in a heart new-created, changed by the Holy Ghost and sanctified, that he can fulfil his calling so as to secure the welfare of Gods inheritance and the approbation of the Lord. So, while outwardly wandering from place to place, and coming home at last, Saul rises inwardly from the cares of a lower earthly calling to the lofty tasks of the highest office of the theocracy in which he is to gain for his people the holiest possessionsfrom a low and common sphere of life to a free broad view that embraces all Israelfrom a soul entangled in the natural and earthly to the experience of thorough renewal of heart and change of mindfrom a low and narrow wealth, wherein he seeks satisfaction, to the possession of the highest and holiest gift, the Spirit of Godfrom a profane, godless life, to the most intimate fellowship with God through the mediation of the Spirit. This career and leading of Saul is a type of the Lords leadings which all experience who give themselves up to His guidance that they may be called by Him for His kingdom and its service. The change of the natural man, the renewal of the inner life from the heart out showed itself, indeed, in the Old-Testamental point of view, partially and sporadically; but at the same time it was also only a thing postulated, desiderated, promised, and as such is most clearly expressed in Psa 51:12-14; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36; the complete fulfillment was possible only in the New-Testamental kingdom of God through the new birth by the Spirit of God which in all its fulness was first imparted by Christ and went out from Christ, John 3. [Because of the difference in force and extent of the expression new heart in the Old and New Testaments, we must guard against supposing in Saul so radical a change as Dr. Erdmann seems disposed to assume. In the Old Test, conception any endowment, spiritual, mental or physical, which connects itself with faith in God, is regarded as the product of the Spirit of God (see the history of Samson and the Judges generally, and Balaam), and a divine influence which leads a man to sing the praises of God, as Saul did here, is not necessarily the creative touch which regenerates the soul. In an important sense Saul was a changed man, and received a new heart, in the elevation of his aims and his upward striving to God; but his after-life shows that this impulse towards the divine, given in mercy by the divine Spirit, was damped and finally destroyed by the opposing force of his worldliness and self-seeking. His heart, so we must conclude from the teachings of Scripture, was touched and roused, but not new-created.Tr.]
4. It is noteworthy for the significance of this crisis in the life of Saul as well as in the history of the kingdom of God in Israel, that these three facts, so important for the establishment of the kingdom and the calling of Saul, occur at or not far from holy places, which were of great importance for the history of Israel. Rachels grave must have reminded Saul how here, by the birth of Benjamin, which cost his ancestress her life, was laid the foundation of the greatness to which this smallest tribe was raised by his election as king. The ancient Bethel carried him back to the time when Gods revelation to Jacob strengthened the foundation of the theocracy which was laid in Abrahams call and the promises given him, and renewed the promise made to the patriarchs; in the sanctuary there Saul sees the sign of the covenant-faithfulness of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Gibeah and its neighboring height was a place consecrated to sacrifice and prayer, and especially important because the dwelling-place or pilgrimage-shrine of a community of prophets. Here flourishes prophecy, which in Samuel prepares the way for the kingdom, and guides it on the way; here rules the mighty prophetic spirit, which lays hold on Saul, and which he receives with its gifts. The holy places, in and near which Saul receives the three signs, are, in respect to their significance for his calling to the royal office, the historically holy ground. This is as little accidental as the belief, so often expressed in the Psalter, that help comes from the holy place; and the central country; the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim, whither Sauls steps now lead him, is especially rich in such holy places (Ew. III. 30).
5. For the development of prophecy in the time just before the rise of the theocratic kingdom the history in this section is important in several respects. We here meet for the first time a prophetic fraternity, which is not an accidental assemblage, but a connected, united community. Its members are called prophets; to their designation Nebiim () [prophets, taken to be from a verb meaning to gush forth]) answers the inspired outstreaming of praise to God in testimony of His deeds of grace; the bond that unites them is the Spirit of God, who fills them and impels them to such inspired utterances; their inner unity and fellowship shows itself, it is probable, already in a common abode and like manner of life. It is an association of prophetical men, representing both the prophetic calling and office (munus), and the prophetic gift (donum), that is, prophecy not of the nature of a calling and office. Whatever may have been the numerical strength of this prophetic element in the people, it is certain from this narrative that the Spirit of the Lord showed itself alive in individual circles of the national life, and freely and mightily unfolded its powers and gifts. A preindication of this is found in the incident recorded in Num 11:26 sq., where the Spirit of the Lord freely and independently of institutions exhibited its awakening and vitalizing power, outside of the circle of Elders gathered around Moses at the Tabernacle, in the camp of the people, and when Joshua contended that Moses official authority was the only proper medium of the divine Spirit, Moses rebuked him with the words: Enviest thou for my sake? I would that all Jehovahs people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them! In the rise of the prophets of Samuels time we see a fulfillment of the promise contained in Moses exclamation, a sign of the new spiritual life of faith aroused in the people, a type of the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh, which is prophesied of in Joel 3. [1Sa 2:28], and is set forth in the New Covenant as factual condition of the universal priesthood, limited only by the working of Gods Spirit, and as final revelation of the living God. Further, in these prophetic communities, whether they were from the beginning firmly organized or free associations, we see the unifying, associative power of the prophetic spirit over against the disruption of the theocratic and religious life which was the legacy of the time of the Judges. The company descending from the high-place at Gibeah, which Saul joined, shows that in these bodies there were common religious exercises. However these associations arose through the associative impulse of the awakened higher lifewhether Samuel founded them or not is uncertain, the latter is more probable; but after their establishment he took them under his care, and later gave them a firmer form and government (see 1 Samuel 19. and what is there said at greater length of the schools of the prophets)they were, by their concentrated power of religious life, light and salt for the popular life, and diffused around them the influences of the Spirit that filled them. An indication of this is the power of the Spirit by which Saul was laid hold of (in his third sign) after his meeting with those men. But this new Spirit-born life has its contrast always in a lower, sensuous life, disinclined to the joyous abandon and the holy uprising towards God. The wondering question: Is Saul also among the prophets? points to such a contrast, in which the worldly-minded, strangers to the life in the Spirit of the Lord, stand opposed to the members of the prophetic Union, just as to-day the children of the world, despising the guidance of the Spirit from above, set themselves with contempt or reviling over against living Christians, the pietists and godly.
The prophetic inspiration is characteristically delineated in these occurrences. Its essence consists in such an entrance of the Spirit of God into the inner life of the prophet, that the latter is thereby mightily laid hold of and lifted up into the condition of ecstatic ravishment. As a vehicle of this spiritual excitation appears here instrumental and vocal music which, on the physical-psychical side, gives freer play to the feelings aroused by the divine Spirit. The prophetic inspiration takes the musical art into its service. If 1Sa 10:5 says nothing special as to the relation of music to the prophetic utterance, it yet shows that music was practiced in the prophetic communities. In its origin the prophetic inspiration shows itself as a sudden thing which gets the mastery of the mans subjective state; the Spirit of God comes upon Saul; we trace it as a controlling power in 1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 10:10; 1Sa 19:20; Mic 3:8. The utterance of this inspiration, the prophesying, is impassioned address or inspired song, and has an enkindling, sweeping power. It is, however, only a momentary, not a continuous thing. As the seventy-two elders prophesied once, and not again, so also Saul here among the prophets. The spring of the Spirit is an intermitting one, because, according to the nature of the Old Covenant, though there might be various grades of individual powerful inworkings, there could not be a permanent indwelling of the Spirit of God in the heart of man.33 The indispensable condition of the prophetic inspiration and of prophesying as a genuine life-utterance of the Spirit from above is a mind directed to the living God, the religious-ethical disposition of heart well-pleasing to him, such as Saul had received by the Lords leadings, he going obediently and humbly in the ways appointed him. Comp. 1Sa 10:9 : God gave him another heart, with 1Sa 10:10 : the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied in their midst.
6. God gave him another heart, comp. 1Sa 10:9 with 1Sa 10:6 and Deu 5:26 [29]: O that they had such a heart to fear me. Therefore the working of revelation is directed to renewing man from the heart, and its aim is, by a divine salvation, to destroy the unreceptiveness (the stupidity in which the souls centre labors, as Roos expresses it, Fund. psychol. ex sacr. script., 1769, p. 153) and the opposition of the heart (the circumcision of the heart, Deu 30:6), to put the fear of God into the heart (Jer 32:40), and so make the law an inward thing (Jer 31:33). This is effected by the divine Spirit which, even under the Old Covenant, making prophets by change of heart into other men (1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 10:9), and causing the pious to experience His power, that purifies the heart and brings it into accord with Gods law (Psa 51:12-14), thus points to the new creation of the heart on the plane of completed salvation, Eze 36:26 sq.; Eze 11:19. Oehler s. v. Herz, Herzog, R. E.
7. The two elections of king; 1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16 and 1Sa 10:17-27. Sauls call to the royal office consists in two consecutive acts: 1) in the section 1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16 is related how Saul is personally called in secret, consecrated by anointing, and by the three signs assured that he is the king of Israel called by the Lord. Here the divine factor, as the only effective one, appears in the foreground; 2) in 1Sa 10:17-27 is related the public election of Saul by lot by a popular assembly called for that purpose by Samuel to the Lord. Here the human factor appears in co-operation with the divine, and Samuel is their intermediator. There is no conflict between these two narratives. Is then the divine instruction to Samuel to grant the peoples demand and give them a king (1 Samuel 8) and the revelation that Saul was the man selected by Jehovah, together with the anointing of Saul (1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16) irreconcilable with his choice by lot?That a prophet carries out unconditionally the will of God, even when it does not accord with his own views, and leaves the decision of the lot to the control of God, involves neither a tempting of God nor a piece of jugglery (Keil, Introd. I., 235; the latter part against Thenius). By the lot, as means of direct divine decision, Saul, already in secret called to be king, was as such openly before the whole people to receive solemn divine legitimation. Similarly in Aarons case, Numbers 17. Besides the two principal stations of the road on which Saul is led by God through Samuel into the kingdom, Ramah and Mizpah, between which Rachels grave, Deborahs oak and Gibeah are important intermediate stations, there is yet a third, Gilgal, chap. 11. Here the kingdom is renewed to him, here he first finds undivided, universal recognition as king of Israel, having once more received the divine legitimation by a victory over the enemy. We find here a gradation in the occurrences, each of which contains a new moment, and none of which has anything that excludes or contradicts the others.
8. The twofold law of the king, 1Sa 8:11-18 and 1Sa 10:25. These two are mutually exclusive. The former (8) is that which is historically necessary from the heathen point of view, the consequence of the demand to have a king like the kings of the nations; the latter (10) is the ideal theocratic law of the king, which corresponds to the call of the covenant-people, and, as an outflow from the holy will of the covenant God, is the limit and norm of the royal government. The former sprang from the sinful self-will of men, the latter is the absolute dominion of the divine will. Sauls call and election was to be completed in his attestation after the norm of this law of the kingdom.
9. The position of prophecy towards the newly-established kingdom is a controlling, regulating, norm-giving one. Samuels conduct towards Saul on his entrance upon the theocratic royal calling prefigures the position which prophecy was henceforth to occupy alongside of the kingdom. That the law of the king should not be a dead letter, that royal self-will should be kept within bounds, was to be the care not of a representative popular assembly, but of prophecy, which stood as theocratic watchman by the side of royalty. Oehler, s. v. Knig in Herz. R. E. VI. 12.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa 9:27; 1Sa 10:1. How the Lord fits His chosen ones for the kingly calling in His kingdom : 1) By quiet instruction by means of His word He brings them into a right knowledge of the tasks He assigns; 2) By the anointing of His Spirit He imparts to them the needful power and strength therefor; 3) By the production of infallible signs He gives them a just certainty and joyous confidence. [1Sa 10:2, latter part, Scott: A superior care, in common life, swallows up an inferior one; and the tender parent ceases from anxiety about his property, when solicitous for the welfare of his son . And so, a due concern about eternal things would moderate our care about the interests of this life.Tr.].
1Sa 10:2-9. The signs of divine guidance along the paths of human life on earth, how they 1) Pointing backwards, remind us of the manifestations of grace in past times (the holy places); 2) Pointing upwards, admonish us to lift up the heart from worthless, earthly things to higher good; 3) Pointing forwards, demand a new life in the Spirit, and 4) call on us to look into our own heart, while for the work of renewal of the whole man they promise the gifts and powers of the Spirit from above.
The appearance of special divine signs in human life: 1) Whence coming? a) Ordered in time by Gods wise Providence, not springing from chance, not aimless; b) Decreed in his eternal purpose, not accidental, not groundless; c) Sent as messengers of His holy and gracious will, not meaningless. 2) To whom applying? a) To him who lets himself be guided by God; b) To him who holds still when God is guiding him, and c) To him who lets God speak to Him by His word. 3) What signifying? a) Reminding of the saving and gracious presence of God (partly in the past, partly in the present: God is with thee); b) Pointing to our tasks, which under the guidance of the Lord are to be fulfilled (1Sa 10:7-8); c) Exhorting to a renewal of the whole inner life through the power of the Holy Ghost (comp. 1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 10:9). [1Sa 10:5. Music as a means of religious exaltation. Comp. 2Ki 3:15; 1Co 14:26-33; Eph 5:18.Tr.].
1Sa 10:6-9. The transforming effects of the Spirit of God. 1) Out of the old heart He creates a new man. 2) Out of dumb people He makes prophets. 3) To the weak He lends power and strength for a great work. 4) Remoteness from God He changes into the most intimate communion with God.
1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 10:9. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee! 1) A great word of promise, which applies to every one that is called to the kingdom of God. 2) A wonderful event of the inner life, which occurs and is experienced only under definite conditions. 3) The beginning of a new life, which takes place by the change of the heart. [1Sa 10:6. Prophesying not a certain proof of piety. Comp. Balaam, Caiaphas (Joh 11:51), and the many in Mat 7:22Tr.].
1Sa 10:7. The great word, God is with thee! 1) The infallible signs, which assure us of it. 2) The consoling strength, which the heart thereby receives. 3) The mighty impulse to do according to Gods good pleasure, which lies therein. 4.) The earnest exhortation which is thereby given, in all the occurrences of human life, to mark the will of the Lord therein made known.
1Sa 10:9. The new heart a gift of God. 1) Through human proclamations of the divine word the renewal of the heart is only prepared for. 2) But through the divine act of the Holy Spirit working through the word it is effected, and 3) It is accompanied by infallible signs of the manifestations of divine grace. [Henry: He has no longer the heart of a husbandman, concerned only about his corn and cattle; but the heart of a statesman, a general, a prince. Whom God calls to service He will make fit for it. If He advance to another station, He will give another heart, to those who sincerely desire to serve Him with their power.Tr.].
1Sa 10:10. The power of communion in the Lord: 1) Inwardly it unites the members closely together, a) into an inward confederacy of love in the Lord, b) into harmonious praise of the Lord; 2) Outwardly it exercises a controlling and contagious influence: a) so that a way is made for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of others, and b) so that like effects of the Spirit are manifested in others also.
1Sa 10:7-12. The beginning of a new life in the Spirit: 1) Naturally prepared for and indicated beforehand through signs given by God (1Sa 10:7; 1Sa 10:9); 2) Supernaturally effected through the power of the Holy Spirit (1Sa 10:10); 3) Inwardly consisting in the renewal of the heart (1Sa 10:9); 4) Outwardly manifesting itself in the fruits (effects) of the Spirit (willing obedience to the Lords command, patient waiting for the Lords direction; joyful testimony to the Lords grace). [It is not safe to treat this history as a case of true and thorough spiritual renewal, in any sense approaching the New Test, use of similar expressions. Comp. note of Tr. above in Historical.Tr.].
1Sa 10:11-12. The question, Is Saul also among the prophets? 1) A cry of astonishment by the world estranged from God, in which it speaks its own sentence; 2) A reliable attestation and confirmation of the miracle of the awaking to a new life for him in whom it has occurred; 3) A. factual proclamation of the honor of the Lord, who by His Spirit creates such a transformation in man. [Henry: Let not the worst be despaired of, yet let not an external show of devotion, and a sudden change for the present, be too much relied on; for Saul among the prophets, was Saul still.Tr.].
1Sa 10:13-16. The art of testifying and being silent at the right time about the things of the kingdom of God: 1) How it is to be learned in the school of the Holy Spirit (after Sauls example); 2) How it is to be exercised according to the company in which one finds himself (the inspired host of prophetsthe profane uncle of Saul).
1Sa 10:17-19. The mightiest means employed by the word of God to awaken true repentance: 1) It humbles by reminding us of the manifestations of grace which without merit or worthiness we have experienced, in which the Lord has shown Himself our compassionate father (1Sa 10:18). 2) It rebukes by setting before us our ingratitude and unfaithfulness, with which we have rewarded Him (1Sa 10:19, over us), and 3) It shames us by pointing to the grace and faithfulness of God, which notwithstanding do not depart from us, in which He patiently condescends even to our sinful wishes and demands (And now present yourselves before the Lord).
1Sa 10:21-22. [He could not be foundhidden among the baggage. Henry: So little fond was he now of that power, which yet, when he was in possession of, he could not without the utmost indignation think of parting with. We may suppose he was at this time really averse to take upon him the government, 1. Because he was conscious to himself of unfitness for so great a trust. He had not been bred up to books, or arms, or courts, and feared he should be guilty of some fatal blunder. 2. Because it would expose him to the envy of his neighbors that were ill-affected towards him. 3. Because he understood by what Samuel had said, that the people sinned in asking a king, and it was in anger that God granted their request. 4. Because the affairs of Israel were at this time in a bad posture: the Philistines were strong, the Ammonites threatening, and he must be bold indeed, that will set sail in a storm.Tr.].
1Sa 10:20-27. True humility and modesty: 1) How it roots itself in a human heart touched by the Spirit of God; 2) How it shows itself, a) before God in the confession of unworthiness and unfitness for service in His kingdom, b) before men in reserve and silence; 3) How it is crowned, a) before God, with the calling to His service, b) before men, with the approbation of mens hearts which is wrought by God the Lord.
1Sa 10:24-27. The divine choice and calling of a man to service in Gods kingdom: 1) It makes itself known in outward signs (see ye, 1Sa 10:24); 2) It is conditional by the requisite natural gifts and properties (that there is none like him, &c., 1Sa 10:24); 3) It carries itself forward by preparation from above, a) with the gifts and powers of the Spirit, b) through instruction in the will of God (1Sa 10:25); 4) It rises up above the favor and disfavor of parties, in that it teaches us, a) to value human approbation as a gift of God (1Sa 10:26), and b) over against the hate and contempt of opposers to observe an humble silence before God.
J. Disselhoff, 1Sa 10:1-11. The anointing to the office of king: 1) On those who hold still before their God this anointing is wrought, really and truly, though at first in hope; 2) And although it is wrought only in hope, yet it is attested by divine signs following. The same: 1Sa 10:7-8; 1Sa 10:13-27. What the royal anointing gives, and what it demands: 1) It makes the anointed one fit for all that his office lays upon him; 2) It demands that the anointed one should now do nothing more according to his own choice, but every thing according to the direction and will of God.
[1Sa 10:27. And he was as though he were deaf. Notwithstanding they 1) questioned his capacity, 2) despised his power, 3) refused him homage and help (see Exegetical Notes), he was as though he were deaf, thereby showing 1) self-control, 2) prudence, 3) humility. Apply this to 1) public officers, 2) employers of servants or other subordinates, 3) persons in society, 4) church officials. There is a high sense in which God acts thus, and bad men imagine that He really is deaf (Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7; Job 22:13.Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][1Sa 10:1. . Qal. Impf. of Tr.]
[2][1Sa 10:1. On the Sept. insertion here see Expos.Tr.]
[3][1Sa 10:2. Lit. hath put aside the affair.Tr.]
[4][1Sa 10:3. , rendered oak by all the ancient versions except Chald. The Eng. A. V. always translates it plain (though it gives the similar words , , always by oak or some other name of a tree), apparently following Targ., Raschi, Kimchi. The origin of this Jewish rendering is perhaps to be sought in or connected with the Syriacaluneplaces abounding in gardensa plain or place abounding m trees being regarded as more appropriate than an oak. Others make it here a proper name, Elon-Tabor.Tr.]
[5][1Sa 10:3. Note the form of the Heb. numeral, masc. though the subst. is fem. (Wellh.).Tr.]
[6][1Sa 10:4. Lit. ask after thy peace (or welfare).Tr.]
[7][1Sa 10:5. Chald.: the hill on which is the ark of Jehovah.Tr.]
[8][1Sa 10:5. Wellhausen takes this clause as subst., not adj.; that is, not as describing the hill (or, as some read, Gibeah) of God, but as indicating a particular spot on or near the hill. The rendering Gibeah of God (Bib. Comm.) is very unusual and hard, and it is no objection to the appellative rendering here that the same word (Gibeah) is a proper name elsewhere in this chapter (1Sa 10:10; 1Sa 10:26).Tr.]
[9][1Sa 10:5. Chald.: Sopherim scribes.Tr.]
[10][1Sa 10:7. The Chald. renders: the word of Jehovahan appellation which is usually compared with the Logos of the New Test.Tr.]
[11][1Sa 10:8. Erdmann makes this a general relative clause: and when thou goest. See his discussion in the Expos. and Introd.Tr.]
[12][1Sa 10:10. The place here mentioned is almost certainly Gibeah, Sauls place of residence, and may or may not be the same with the hill of God in 1Sa 10:5.Tr.]
[13][1Sa 10:11. Erdmann takes this clause to be a quotation, but the Heb. does not favor this. Here the verb rendered prophesy is Niphal, while in 1Sa 10:10; 1Sa 10:5-6 it is Hithpael. According to Dr. R. Payne Smith, the former indicates true prophetical utterance, the latter merely acting the part of a prophet (Bampton Lectures for 1869, pp. 5358); but this distinction must not be pressed too far.Tr.]
[14][1Sa 10:12. Sept., Syr., Arab. have his father; see Erdmanns discussion in Expos. Chald has their master (Rab).Tr.]
[15][1Sa 10:13. For high place () Wellhausen would read unnecessarily house ().Tr.]
[16][1Sa 10:14. That they were not (comp. Gen 42:30); that is, not to be found.Tr.]
[17][1Sa 10:16. The Inf. Absol., for which this adverb is too definite.Tr.]
[18][1Sa 10:18. Sept.: The hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,a variation for the sake of distinctness or accuracy.Tr.]
[19][1Sa 10:18. Constructio ad sensum: the kingdoms representing their inhabitants. The Partcp. is made masc.Tr.]
[20][1Sa 10:19. The text has , to him, and so Erdmann reads. Sept., Vulg., Syr., Arab. read , nay,and this is required by the following . Eng. A. V. reads to him, and then inserts the nay,thus combining the two readings. So, too, the Chald., which, however, here paraphrases: instead of rejected God, it has rejected the service of God (to avoid apparent irreverence), and makes the people say: We are not saved, but thou shalt set, etc.Tr.]
[21][1Sa 10:21. On the insertion of the Sept.: and they cause the family of Mattari to come near by individuals, see Erdmann in the Expos.Tr.]
[22][1Sa 10:22. The Heb. reads literally: has any other man come hither? and so Erdmann translates; but it was unnecessary to ask Jehovah this, nor does Jehovahs answer correspond to it. The Syr., conforming the question to the answer, reads where is this man? which, however, cannot be gotten from the Heb. The Eng. A. V. represents the text of the Sept. and Vulg., the word man having the Article, and this reading is approved by Thenius, Bib. Comm., and others, and opposed by Keil and Erdmann. See the Expos.Tr.]
[23][1Sa 10:23. Lit. placed or presented himself.Tr.]
[24][1Sa 10:24. Lit. may the king live.Tr.]
[25][1Sa 10:25. is rendered by Erdmann right or privilege (recht); see on 1Sa 8:11. The Heb. Art. in (the book) is correctly represented in Eng. by the Indef. Art., since the defining circumstances are left wholly unmentioned.Tr.]
[26][1Sa 10:26. Erdmann: the band of valiant (or honest, braver mnner) men. Philippson: die tapferen, the valiant men. Cahen: les gens de guerre, the men of war. The Heb. word () is a military one, the host. But it can hardly mean that the army went with Saul, and so the Vulg. renders a part of the army. The Chald. paraphrase does not help us: a part of the people who feared sin; the Syriac renders literally by the same word as the Heb. The Sept. reading, sons of might, that is, the better class of men, the men of honor and reputation, is more satisfactory, on which see Expos.Tr.]
[27][1Sa 10:27. Heb. as a deaf man, or, as one that did not observe. The Eng. A. V. omits the particle as.Tr.
[28][This is to cut the knot rather than to solve the geographical difficulties connected with Sauls journey. See 1Sa 1:1 and 1Sa 9:6, Expos. and Translators notes.Tr.]
[29]On Bttcher remarks: as Jussive it can only mean and be it = and when, so that belongs to the protasis, and the apodosis begins with [1Sa 10:6]. So 1Ki 14:5, where , and be it = even if.
[30]The masc. Partcp. [which oppressed] forms with the fem. subst. [the kingdoms] a constructio ad sensum, the warriors of the heathen nations being had in mind.
[31]The is used to introduce direct discourse, even in a contradictory clause, like our no, but, as in Rth 1:10 (Keil). It is therefore not necessary to read with the ancient vers. for , which reading is obviously imitated from 1Sa 8:19 and 1Sa 12:12.
[32][Properly: Matrites and Bikrites.Tr.]
[33][The author seems here to confound the special and the ordinary influence of the Holy Spirit. Then, as now, there were differences of spiritual power at different times; but there seems to be no good reason for not believing that the Holy Spirit dwelt just as really and permanently, though not so distinctly, in all Gods people under the Old Covenant as under the New.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This Chapter opens with presenting us by a view of the prophet’s anointing Saul king. This is followed with tokens Samuel told Saul, should immediately take place, on his departure from him to return home to his father’s house, and which accordingly came to pass. After this Samuel convenes Israel at Mizpeh; at which convocation, he proceeds to the election of a king. Saul is elected. With which event some are displeased, but Saul holds his peace. These are the principal things contained in this chapter.
1Sa 10:1
(1) Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
The ceremony of pouring oil on the head, was the method appointed by way of inauguration into office. And this was used both in the anointing Priests and Kings. No doubt the ceremony itself was instituted with an eye to Jesus, who was anointed by the Holy Ghost into all his precious offices, as prophet, priest, and king. The holy anointing oil was made according to the Lord’s own direction. See Exo 30:22-33 . Hence the church speaking of her beloved, saith, because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth. Son 1:3 . Whether the vial of oil was of this kind is not said. But the signification was the same. And to show the good will of Samuel on this occasion, he accompanied the ceremony with a kiss. Precious Jesus! do thou grant me the anointings of thy blessed Spirit.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Self-respect and Companionship
1Sa 10:12
The popular interpretation of Saul among the prophets is that Saul had taken a step up. The truth is, the text may mean that he had taken one down. It all depends who the prophets were.
I. In these prophets of the time of Saul, when we first meet them, we have the type which prophesying had first assumed on Canaanitish soil. They were, in fact, a species of begging friars, and were held by the people in a contempt which they evidently did their best to deserve. When Saul was found among these so-called prophets he had ceased to respect himself, and when a man does that he must either recover himself or accept moral ruin.
II. A man may be a very faulty man, and yet be a genuinely good man. His goodness does not excuse his faults, nor do his faults destroy his claim to goodness. Let a man have the right to respect himself, and he has that which can take the sting out of his disappointments and the tyranny of victory out of his failures. There is no necessary connexion between a straight life and failure to win the kingdoms of this world. There may be cases where honesty handicaps a man for a time, but they are comparatively few and short-lived in their operation. But lift the definition of success to higher levels, and I assert without qualification that with the right to respect ourselves there can be no failure, and without it there can be no success.
III. Saul had ceased to respect himself, and this very probably supplies the explanation of his being found in this questionable company. If you realize that you must surrender something of your better self to be the friend of a certain person, you will be almost sure to establish that friendship at your peril. Whatever the King of Israel might think of his company, the fact that he was in it gave to their worthlessness a new tenure of existence, and to their wickedness an added licence. He did not make them better men, but they made him a worse man. Human society has no need more pressing than its need of young men and women with moral courage and religious conviction to take up the right attitude to wrong things.
Ambrose Shepherd, Men in the Making, p. 139.
References. IX. 20. H. Hayman, Sermons Preached in Rugby School Chapel, p. 29. X. 9. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 284.
Saul’s Hiding Himself
1Sa 10:17-27
Dr. W. G. Blaikie remarks on the fact that Saul hid himself and could not be found: ‘We do not think the worse of him for this, but rather the better. It is one of the many favourable traits that we find at the outset of his kingly career…. Many of the best ministers of Christ have had this feeling when they were called to the Christian ministry. Gregory Nazianzen actually fled to the wilderness after his ordination, and Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in the civil office which he held, tried to turn the people from their choice even by acts of cruelty and severity, after they had called on him to become their bishop.’
References. X. 24. J. Richardson, A Sermon Preached in Camden Church, No. viii. X. 26. J. Burns, Sketches of Sermons on Special Occasions, p. 153.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Saul’s Kingdom
1Sa 10:24
WE have previously remarked upon the lowly-mindedness of Saul. The proposition which was made to him showed to his own consciousness, as he had never seen it before, how poor and even contemptible was his claim to social supremacy. “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? “It is well when great demands show us our own insufficiency. Sometimes they do but touch our vanity, and then they show that they are not morally great, but great only in high-sounding words, infinite pretensions without substance or value. In solemn crises men show their quality. Loss takes a man’s character to pieces fibre by fibre, and shows him what he is made of. Prosperity takes a man to the edge of a great cliff”, and proves whether he be a giddy adventurer or a wise and understanding pilgrim. Sometimes we are revealed to ourselves by a tremendous shock. In an unexpected moment a kingdom is offered to us, and then we see into the hidden places of our hearts; ambition maddens us into presumption, or modesty drives us to the Strong for strength. In the case of Saul we see proof upon proof, direct and incidental, that he was self-distrustful and diffident. When his uncle asked him what Samuel had said, “Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found: but of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel spake he told him not.” When the time came to show him forth to Israel, Saul could not be found, and the Lord himself had to tell the people that their prospective king was hidden amongst the stuff. We are now to witness the setting up of the kingdom of Israel. It is a royal day. A new epoch opens. Israel loses the distinctiveness of the theocracy, and becomes like the other nations of the earth.
Let us first of all hear the inaugural speech of Samuel.
“And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh, and said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:
“And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands” (
Here is the destruction of a great religious memory! What is our life when we have taken out of it all the recollections which redeem it from irreligiousness and vanity? Some of us would be poor indeed, were it not for the hidden treasures of secret memory. In our depression we remember the day of God’s deliverance. When we look onward, and see the distant horizon filled with angry clouds, we look back, and see the way of light along which God has conducted us; and the pious memories of a life which has been a succession of wonders, revive and establish our confidence in the Holy One. The history before us is fraught with mournful instruction to men who trifle with their best memories. We condemn those who treat lightly what we have done for them in their hours of darkness and sore distress. What if we have forgotten the Egypts out of which God has brought us, and have clamoured for some lower gift than himself?
It is to be observed that in this instance it was not a theoretical but a practical, casting off of God. This is one of the great difficulties of Christian life, and the sign which the Church makes to the world. It is full of mystery and heart-breaking sadness. Men retain God in their written creed, but depose him from the throne of their life. Men who would be startled to find themselves described as atheists, yet they daily live atheistically. Israel would have been shocked had the charge of theoretical atheism been made against the nation; at the same time that very nation, so tenacious of a theoretical creed, resolutely thrust God off the throne. We say we believe in God, yet in our daily life we never mention his name. We are excited to indignation by the blasphemies of atheism, yet we legislate God’s Book out of our educational institutions! We have God, but no godliness. We have a creed, but no life. We worship with the lips, but our heart is dumb.
Look at the terrible possibility of God allowing men to have their own way! Israel insisted upon having a king. God said, In so insisting, you are rejecting and grieving me; yet take him and see the end! We may clamour until God’s patience yields to our importunity, and he inflicts upon us the intolerable punishment of allowing us to have our own way. By this means only can some be taught the sinfulness and weakness of their own aims. Our self-sufficiency can be destroyed only through our self-gratification. Did not God allow us to carry out our will in many directions, there would linger in our hearts misgivings respecting the equity and perfectness of his government. We fix our eyes upon glittering objects in the distance; we regard those objects as of priceless value; we believe that their possession will elevate and satisfy our best capacities and desires. God plainly tells us that what we desire will prove to be a mockery and a torment; yet, in spite of this revelation, we renew our entreaties, and urge our demands. At length God says, “Take that you desire.” We take it, and, lo, it poisons our life, and turns our future into an intolerable terror.
We should notice solemnly the worthlessness of the success which is founded upon spiritual apostasy: Israel got a king, but Israel had first rejected God! There is a success which is but so much gilt. We get what we want, but the basis is rotten. We give up the spiritual and invisible, and imagine that we are rich because we take in exchange mountains of dust and clouds of mist. Your house is noble, commodious, and extremely inviting; a ruddy light is shining through its windows; sounds of music and delight are filling its every chamber; but what of all this, if your splendid mansion be founded on a bog?
“God save the king” ( 1Sa 10:24 ).
In this act we see the tyrannic and fatal influence which one bad idea may exercise in a man’s life. The case had been stated in a manner which ought to have caused a change of mind on the part of Israel; yet, in the face of Samuel’s distinct charge of practical atheism, Israel persisted in realising a special wish. The desire for a king became a monomania. Everything was looked at through the medium of that idea. It impaired the natural power of human judgment, it silenced every suggestion of conscience and obligation, and drove Israel headlong to the consummation of a dominant purpose. Men should be careful how they allow any single idea to rule them. It is but seldom that an isolated notion can be profoundly true. Ideas are to be compared one with another; they are to be viewed in their mutual relations, and to be modified by the deepest moral consideration. It is often only by throwing an idea into perspective that we get a true conception of its value and importance. To have a king, summed up the whole desire of Israel. This idea, instead of being a light to them, actually dazzled and blinded them by being brought too closely to their vision.
Israel was guilty of a most aggravated violation of decency in this matter. Though the people had, in the language of Samuel, rejected God, yet, in hailing their king, they appealed to the very God they had, with infinite ingratitude and recklessness, cast off! They shouted, “God save the king;” that is, they committed their king to the God whom they had denied; they first deposed God from the government of Israel, and then asked him to bless the king whom they had set up in his stead! Such is the contradictoriness, and such the insanity of selfish and undisciplined life. We fill up impious acts by pious ejaculations: we despise God, and then use his name in wishing blessings for others. Truly we are witnesses against ourselves!
“And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
“But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace” (
All men are made stronger by the fellowship of the good. When we are put into exceptional circumstances, either of elation or depression, we are the better for the sympathy and loving trust of “a band of men, whose hearts God has touched.” The king cannot do without his subjects. Every man must have around him those in whom he has special confidence. There must be favouritism in human association. The selection of friends does not involve the development of enmity or even distrust, in relation to others. The king has his favourite counsellors; the minister has his special advisers; the general, the captain, the leader, whatsoever be his name, must have next to him a man in whose judgment he has entire confidence. It is in this way that society is consolidated. Yet even in the instance of Saul we have not only light, but shadow. The children of Belial looked upon him with an evil eye, and said, “How shall this man save us?” Is not every one of us enclosed by concentric circles? If we are God’s children, there is nearest to us a circle of heavenly guardianship, of Christian defence and sympathy, and such honour as is given by God to faithful men; then farther off there is a circle of evil ones who despise us and constantly seek to upset and destroy us. Saul’s conduct under such circumstances was most instructive: we read, “But he held his peace.” Silence is wisdom; silence is strength. It might gratify a momentary feeling to speak angrily to the men who thus set themselves against us, but it is infinitely better to look as if we saw not, and to ponder many things in our hearts. Who are we, that we should expect to escape the criticism of the children of Belial? Such children are the contemporaries of all ages, and it is impossible for them to change the malignity of their dispositions.
Now danger came. The Ammonite laid his hand upon the sword. The people of Jabesh-Gilead were sore afraid; for Nahash encamped against them. They prayed that he would make a covenant with them; and his answer was: “On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach on all Israel.” The leaders of Jabesh prayed for seven days’ respite, that they might find if in all the coasts of Israel there was a man who had strength and skill to save them. When the condition of the people became known to Saul, the Spirit of God came upon him, and his anger was kindled greatly. The day of battle came, and the men of Jabesh “slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.” So much for the earnestness of one inspired man! We are but ciphers until God finds the unit to set at our head; then we who were nothing in ourselves stand up a living and mighty host. Saul could not have done this work alone, the men of Jabesh could not have done it alone; this is a lesson to the Church; the general and the army are mutually necessary; the teacher and the taught in divine things must honour one another as both being needed to take captive the world in the name of Christ.
We admire Saul’s deliverance of Jabesh-Gilead: we are touched by every element of heroism that we find in the men of history: it is right that we should respond to the efforts and sacrifices made by the splendid leaders who have conducted the battles of truth and justice to a successful issue; but our homage to heroism should be carried into still higher regions. We praise Saul; shall we forget the Son of God? “When there was no eye to pity, and when there was no arm to save, his own eye pitied, and his own arm brought salvation.” What instance is there in all human history to be compared with this for all that is sublime in courage and pathetic in sacrifice?
Selected Note
“And Saul also went home to Gibeah” ( 1Sa 10:26 ). During the time of the Judges, when the country was almost in a state of anarchy ( Jdg 19:1 ), Gibeah became the scene of one of the most abominable crimes, and one of the most awful tragedies, recorded in Jewish history. The story of the unfortunate Levite, the siege and destruction of Gibeah, and the almost total annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin are well known (Judges 19-21). The city soon rose again from its ashes, and had the honour of giving Israel its first king. It was the native place of Saul (1Sa 10:26 ; 1Sa 11:4 ), and the seat of his government during the greater part of his reign (1Sa 14:2 ; 1Sa 22:6 ; 1Sa 23:19 ); hence its appellation “Gibeah of Saul” ( 1Sa 15:34 ). It was in Gibeah the Amorites of Gideon hanged the seven descendants of Saul in revenge for the massacre of their brethren. The city was then the scene of that touching exhibition of maternal love and devotion, when Rizpah, the mother of two of the victims, “took sackcloth and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night” (2Sa 21 ). The last reference to Gibeah in the Bible is by Isaiah in his vision of the approach of the Assyrian army to Jerusalem ( Isa 10:29 ). The city appears to have lost its place and power at a very early period. Josephus mentions it as “a village named Gabath-Saul, which signifies ‘Saul’s hill,’ distant from Jerusalem about thirty furlongs” ( Bell. Jud. v. 2, 1). Jerome speaks of it as “usque ad solum diruta” ( Opp., ed. Migne, i. 883). From that period, until discovered by Dr. Robinson, its very site remained unnoticed, if not unknown.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
VI
SAUL, THE FIRST KING
1Sa 9:1-12:25
I devote an extended discussion to 1 Samuel 9-11 because it is necessary to fix clearly in the mind the nature of the kingdom established in order to interpret correctly the history of the kings which follows. Without this understanding we will break down in the interpretation of even the first rejection of Saul, and with Jehovah’s dealing with every subsequent king. Before entering upon the history of the first king, let us state tersely the salient points which define the Hebrew monarchy:
1. A government by kings was not an afterthought with Jehovah, but was one of the predetermined stages of the national development and a forecast preparatory to the setting up of the messianic spiritual kingdom.
2. Though Jehovah granted Israel’s demand for a kingly government superseding the previous rule by judges, he did not establish such a monarchy as they desired, like that of other nations.
3. The kingdom established had a written charter clearly defining its nature, powers, and limitations, the basis of which was given to Moses (Deu 17:14-20 ) with subsequent enlargements by Samuel. This charter made the written law, the Pentateuch, the constitution of the kingdom. The king must make the law his Vade Mecum, and the rule of his reign. There was not only this unalterable written constitution, but to emphasize the retention of the theocratic idea, the king must at all times hear and obey the fresh messages from Jehovah, coming through his now established order of the prophets, his mouthpieces and penmen. This part of the charter turns a blaze of light on the subsequent history.
4. The monarchy was not elective by the nation, through corporate action of their great congregation or general assembly, but each king must be appointed by Jehovah, and that appointment designated through the prophet, Jehovah’s mouthpiece. Jehovah chooses the king, Jehovah’s prophet anoints him and presents him to the assembly for acceptance.
5. The monarchy was not hereditary in the modern sense. A dynasty might be changed at Jehovah’s sole option, as from the house of Saul to the house of David, and it did not follow that when a king’s son succeeded him he should be the first-born; for example, the case of Solomon. Whether in changing a dynasty, or designating which son of a king should succeed his father, the living prophet was Jehovah’s medium of making known his will.
6. Neither king nor general assembly, nor both cojoined, had the power to declare war, direct it when declared, make peace, or contract alliances, except as Jehovah directed through his living prophet.
7. By the law, and through the living prophet, the people were safeguarded from the tyranny of the king. See the case of Nathan’s rebuke of David for the wrong against Uriah, and Elijah’s denunciation of Ahab concerning Naboth’s vineyard.
8. Particularly, the prophet spoke with all authority from God in matters of religion, hedging not only against idolatry but reliance upon formalism and ritualism, all the time bringing out the spiritual meaning of the law and calling for repentance and reformation. Therefore, no man can interpret any part of the mere history of the Hebrew monarchy apart from the section of the Psalter bearing on it, and the contemporaneous prophets. On this account Wood’s Hebrew Monarchy , though not perfect in its arrangement, excels Crockett’s Harmony as a textbook.
A quotation from a prophet pertinent to the establishment of the monarchy considered in the preceding chapter is Hos 13:9-11 : “It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me against thy help. Where now is thy king, that he may gave thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.” There were several ways by which the people, as well as the king, could get at the will of Jehovah apart from the written Jaw, viz.:
1. By submitting a question to the Oracle abiding in the ark of the covenant, to be answered by the high priest, wearing his ephod, through the Urim and Thummim (1Sa 23:8-12 )
2. By appealing to the prophets (1Sa 9:6-9 )
3. By sacrifice and asking of signs; as in the case of Gideon (Jdg 6:17-21 )
There are two passages, one showing the despair of an individual, and the other showing the deplorable condition of the nation, from whom, on account of aggravated sins, God has cut off all means of communication with him. In one, Saul, the first king, in his later life thus bemoans his condition: “And when ‘Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets,” (1Sa 28:5 ) In the other, Hosea thus describes the pitiable condition of the rebellious Israel: “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without Ephod or teraphim,” (Hos 3:4 )
SAUL, THE FIRST KING
Certain passages bear on part of the foregoing statement of the nature of the kingdom. For instance, Jehovah chose Saul to be the king, privately announcing him to his prophet, and providentially bringing him in touch with this prophet (1Sa 9:15 ) and later before the great assembly at Mizpah he makes known his choice to the people publicly (1Sa 10:17-21 ). Acting under Jehovah’s direction, the prophet prepares the mind of Saul for the high honor (1Sa 9:20-25 ). Then privately the prophet accounts him as king, and then confirms to him his position by signs (1Sa 10:2-7 ). Then by an enduement of the Holy Spirit he is qualified for his office. Not converted, but qualified for his office. Then the prophet brings about the public designation before the people, the general assembly at Mizpah (1Sa 10:17-21 ). Then the prophet arranges for his recognition by the people in a subsequent general assembly at Gilgal (1Sa 10:8 ; 1Sa 11:14-15 ). Then the prophet vacates his own office of judge (1Sa 12 ).
It is easy to see from the text the details of which I need not give, just what Jehovah does, just what the prophet does, just what the people do, just what Saul does, and particularly the text shows how Jehovah prepares the people to accept Saul prepares the prophet first, then prepares Saul, and then the people,
The several stages showing the preparation of Saul are intensely interesting. The first hint which Samuel gives to Saul seemed to him an incredible thing, for he says, “I belong to the smallest tribe, and our family is a subordinate one in that tribe.” But still, it puts him to thinking. Then Samuel gives him the post of honor in entertaining, and that puts him to thinking. Then Samuel privately anoints him as king, and that ceremony impresses him. Then Samuel predicts three signs, the object of which is to satisfy Saul thoroughly and to confirm the kingship in his own mind; and particularly the last of the three, which was that the Spirit of God would come upon him in the gift of prophesying, and he would be changed into another man.
Note Saul’s reticence: First, when his uncle asks him where he had been, and he tells him about the prophet’s informing him that the asses have been found, but does not say a word about the kingship; again, when after he is publicly designated and some of the evil-minded people, children of Belial, declared that they could not accept him as king, because they saw no salvation in him, instead of getting mad and answering in resentful language, Saul holds his peace. He never says a word; he knows how to wait. Again, we notice that notwithstanding all the things that have occurred so far) when at that great gathering at Mizpah where he was to be publicly shown as king, Saul hides, and when the question comes up and when the lot determined Saul as king, they ask where he is, and God said, “He is hiding among the stuff” the baggage.
I once preached a sermon from that text on God’s discovering a number of appointed men hiding with the stuff, more concerned about their farming and the things of the world than about the preaching of his Word. In the army every soldier thought it disgraceful if he had to stay with the baggage when the battle came on. Since he could be pointed at as the soldier who had to stay with the stuff, he wanted to be on the firing line.
I am showing you all these things to mark the progress in Saul’s own mind, and God’s leading him step by step. After a while he is wide awake enough for the kingly honor. Now let us consider the meaning of apostasy, what is essential in a particular case to prove the doctrine, and what the application to Saul, and explain 1Sa 10:5-6 ; 1Sa 10:9-10 . Apostasy means that a regenerated man may be finally and forever lost. In order to prove that doctrine by a particular case, the evidence must be indubitable on two points: First, that in the case selected there was first regeneration, and second, that this regenerated one was finally and forever lost. The proof must be ample and unequivocal at both ends regeneration and damnation,
On these premises, we examine the particular case of Saul, King of Israel. A failure of demonstration that he was a regenerated man, or that he was finally lost, deprives the doctrine of apostasy, as defined above, from any support from the particular case of Saul. If the proof fall short at either point, there is no need to consider the other. Therefore, let us shorten matters by attention to one point only: Was Saul a regenerated man? In the case under consideration, the passages relied upon to establish the contention that Saul was a truly regenerated man, a spiritual child of God, are:
First, Samuel’s promise, “Thou shalt be turned into another man” (1Sa 10:5-6 ).
Second, the historian’s declaration of the fulfilment of the promise, “God gave him another heart” (1Sa 10:9-10 ). A careful examination of both passages (ASV) settles conclusively that in the promise, the Holy Spirit would in some sense come upon Saul, with the result that he would be changed into another man, and that in the fulfilment, the Holy Spirit did come upon him in the sense promised, with the result that God gave him another heart. If we accept the record, there is no doubt here that the Holy Spirit exerted a power on Saul and that consequently there was a change in him.
The questions to be determined are: What was the nature of the power exerted, and of the resultant change? My answer is that the Spirit power promised was the gift of prophesying, which throughout the Scripture is distinguished from the grace of regeneration, and the change was according to the power, and that the end, or purpose, exercised was not to regenerate Saul, but is expressly called a sign, to assure Saul’s doubting mind that Jehovah had chosen him as king. The incredible thing to Saul, which needed confirmation by signs, was not that he would become a child of God by regeneration, but that he whose tribe was so small, and the position of whose family in that tribe was so low, should be chosen of Jehovah to be king of all Israel. The nature of the power exerted and the resultant change effected are thus determined by their purpose.
The difference between the grace of regeneration and the miraculous gift of the Spirit is expressed thus: The grace of regeneration is not a sign, but the miraculous gift of the Spirit is a sign, and is so regarded in both Testaments. In the same way, the gift of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was not to regenerate the apostles, all of whom were already Christians, but to assure their hearts, and, as signs, to accredit them to others.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14 the whole matter is laid bare so that a child can understand it. Very sharply, and at many points, does Paul contrast these miraculous and temporary enduements of the Spirit, given for signs, with the grace of regeneration expressed in the abiding fruits of faith, hope, and love. Regeneration is one thing in all cases. The miraculous gifts of the Spirit were diverse. One of the recipients, like Saul, might prophesy, another work miracles, another speak with tongues, another interpret tongues.
The Spirit power received on Pentecost did change the apostles; did, in an important sense, give them other hearts, as we may learn from the coward, Peter, trembling before a maidservant, and the Peter, bold as a lion, on Pentecost. In the Corinthian discussion (1 Cor. 12-14) Paul makes clear, first, that faith, hope, and love, the evidences and fruits of regeneration, are superior in nature and more edifying in exercise than the gifts of the Spirit, one of which only Saul had; second, that all these signs would cease, but that regeneration, evidenced by faith, hope, and love, would abide.
If we look for evidences of regeneration in Saul’s life, we do not find them. If we look for evidences of a miraculous Spirit gift bestowed on him for assurance to him that Jehovah wanted him to be king, and for a sign to others, we do find them, and we also find that this gift of the Spirit was withdrawn from him when becoming unworthy of office, Jehovah no longer wants him as king. But, perhaps, the strongest evidence in the Bible that Saul was not a regenerated man is to be found in God’s contrast between Saul and Solomon on this very point. (2Sa 7:13-16 and 1Ch 17:11-13 ASV.) Here it is unequivocally taught that Saul was not a regenerated man, but Solomon was. The regeneration of Solomon, as contrasted with Saul, appears in this:
1. God was ‘Solomon’s spiritual Father, and Solomon was God’s spiritual son.
2. Therefore, when he sinned, Solomon was chastised as a child and not as an alien.
3. Being a child, God’s loving-kindness would not be with drawn, as in the case of Saul.
Old John Bunyan was accustomed to say, “Gifts make a preacher, but grace makes a Christian.” Saul had the gift, but not the grace. To this already unanswerable argument we may add that a miraculous, because supernatural, gift may be bestowed by the devil, who in no case can regenerate. This power of Satan can of course be exercised only through God’s permission, and this permission is never granted except to test men, or as a punitive judgment on men who refuse to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
In Saul’s own case, this permission was granted, as we see from the result being as before, that Saul prophesied. Read the passage and see. Later we will find a similar case. The New Testament explains the ground of this permission thus (see 2Th 2:8-13 ) : “And then shall be revealed the lawless one) whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming, even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”
And it is precisely on this account that John says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they be of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (Joh 4:1 ). No miracle can accredit a doctrine contrary to the written Word.
To make evident the application of this line of argument to Saul’s case, we are assured that these miracles) signs, and wonders, wrought by Satan and his demons, no matter how plausible nor how convincing to their dupes, can never possibly deceive the elect (see Mar 13:22 and Mat 24:24 ). But the evil spirit’s miracle causing Saul to prophesy (1Sa 16:14 ; 1Sa 18:10 ) did deceive him and straightway led him to seek the murder of David, led him to the slaughter of the priests of Nob (1Sa 22:9-19 ), and led him to irretrievable ruin, despair, and suicide.
QUESTIONS
1. Why devote any extended discussion to 1 Samuel 9-11?
2. Even now, before entering upon the history of the first king, restate tersely the salient points which define the Hebrew monarchy,
3. Cite a quotation from a prophet pertinent to the establishment of the monarchy considered in the preceding chapter.
4. In what ways could the people, as well as the king, get at the will of Jehovah apart from the written law?
5. Cite two passages, one showing the despair of the individual, and the other showing the deplorable condition of the nation, from whom on account of aggravated sins, God has cut off all means of communication with him.
6. Cite, in order, certain passages bearing on part of the foregoing statement of the nature of the kingdom.
7. What did Jehovah do, what did the prophet do, what did the people do, and what did Saul do to prepare the people to accept Saul?
8. Describe Saul’s reticence in accepting this high position of honor.
9. What is the meaning of apostasy, what is the essential feature in a particular case to prove the doctrine, and what the application to Saul, explaining 1Sa 10:5-6 ; 1Sa 10:9-10 ?
10. What is the difference between the grace of regeneration and the miraculous gift of the Spirit? Illustrate by New Testament instances.
11. What, then, do we find in Saul’s life, and what the strongest evidence in the Bible that he was not regenerated?
12. What was Bunyan’s saying, and what added argument?
13. What is the purpose of God’s permission of the devil to bestow miraculous gifts, and what New Testament testimony?
14. What is the difference in effect of these miracles of the devil on the saved and the unsaved, and how does Saul’s case illustrate?
VII
SAUL, THE FIRST KING (CONTINUED)
It is contended by some that the reference to Saul’s “another heart” is equivalent to the “new heart” of Eze 36:26 , to which we may safely reply that the “another heart” given to Saul was not equivalent to the passage cited in Ezekiel. But when we come to Saul’s death, in the history, to sum up his character, we will not be able to classify him with Judas, though there are some points similar, particularly in that both were led by a dominant evil spirit to despair and self destruction. Saul, in many ways, was a finer man than Judas, leaving behind precious memories of some deeds and traits which evoked the gratitude of the men of Jabeshgilead, the unswerving attachment of several tribes, and the beautiful eulogy of David. Nothing like these do we find in the low, avaricious, treacherous life of Judas.
Believers in apostasy use the life of Saul to prove apostasy, and I do not wonder that they take this case as the basis of their argument to sustain the doctrine of apostasy, since it is the most plausible in the Bible, but if this case fails in demonstration they may not hope for support in any other. But they may ask, “What then does Paul mean in Gal 5:4 : ‘Ye are fallen away from grace’ ?” To which we again reply that the scriptural phrase, “Ye are fallen away from grace,” as used by Paul in Gal 5:4 , does not imply that real Christians, the truly regenerate, may be finally lost, but that those once accepting the doctrine of salvation by grace, and then returning to a doctrine of salvation by works, have fallen away from grace. They have turned from one doctrine to the opposite one, as often happens in practical life, without meaning that either the original acceptance was regeneration, or the falling away from it was final. In Paul’s meaning of the phrase, men may fall from grace.
We have now seen how Jehovah prepared his prophet for designation of Saul as king, how he prepared Saul for the great honor, and how he prepared the people to accept Saul. Before advancing in the history, we need to understand more particularly certain matters in the record already so tersely covered, particularly the steps of the people’s preparation to accept Saul, and how gradually the acceptance was, in a glorious climax, made complete:
1. The gift of prophesying came upon Saul, enduing him for service, and this being in the company of the school of the prophets, prepared the mighty prophetic order to recognize him as God’s man. As this enduement of power came on him also in the presence of many of the people) it was designed to accredit him to them. But they were more startled by the prodigy than they were made ready to accept him. There is something scornful in their saying, which became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Their scorn is somewhat mitigated by a bystander’s question: “Who is their father?” meaning, “What in their descent puts the prophets above Saul that you should wonder at the bestowal on him of the prophetic gift?” God bestowed it, and not on account of family position.
2. Jehovah’s choice of him by an extraordinary method in the great congregation at Mizpah as the man for the place out of all Israel. As this method of showing divine selection had availed in Joshua’s time in infallibly pointing out Achan, the one criminal out of millions (Jos 7:14-18 ), and would again avail in David’s time (1Sa 16:12 ), it ought to have been equally convincing in showing Jehovah’s choice of a king. It did convince most of the people, who shouted their acceptance in a phrase that has gone round the world: “God save the King!” But not all were satisfied for certain sons of Belial said, “How shall this man save us?” And they despised him and brought no present. You must note that the phrase, “sons of Belial,” retains the meaning already established (1Sa 1:16 ; 1Sa 2:12 ). Belial is a proper name, meaning the devil, and quite in keeping with their nature, the devil’s children will not accept Jehovah’s choice of a king.
3. The spirit of Jehovah comes upon Saul and demonstrates his fitness for the high honor by leading to the deliverance of Jabeshgilead. It is not enough to shout, “God save the king,” but will you fall in line and follow the king? In his call to war, Saul rightly associates his name with Samuel’s (1Sa 11:7 ) and “the dread of the Lord fell on all the people, and they came out as one man.”
This practical demonstration of Saul’s fitness wrought unanimity in his acceptance, and led the people to demand of Samuel the death of those who had refused Jehovah’s choice, Saul’s wisdom again appearing in refusing to stain the glorious beginning of his reign with the blood of political executions.
4. The people now being prepared in mind to accept Jehovah’s choice, under divine direction, they were formally and officially committed by the ratification at Gilgal in solemn assembly, with appropriate sacrifices, and great rejoicing of both king and people, followed by Samuel’s surrender of the office of judge. This meeting at Gilgal is the dividing official line of separation between the period of the judges and the period of the monarchy.
Before, we have only shown the steps toward transition. The scene of the consummation was most fitting, for at Gilgal the period of the pilgrimage ended and the period of the conquest commenced, and at Gilgal the distribution of a part of the land took place officially, ending, in part, the conquest period of the judges.
5. Jehovah, king, prophet, and general assembly are in full accord, the functions of all clearly distinguished and defined. Happy beginning of the monarchy I The later history will show wherein, when, and how the glorious charter of the kingdom is violated by prophet, king, or people. We will find a sad history, enlivened here and there by deeds of heroes and song of bards. But the picture will gather deepening shadows until the eclipse is completed by the downfall of the monarchy. The chief heroes will be the prophets, a few kings will be illustrious, and very rarely, a priest.
The distinction in the meaning of the words “seer” and “prophet,” used as synonymous in 1Sa 9:7 , is this: “Prophet” has the larger meaning, including all the import of “seer.” Strictly speaking, the word “seer” refers only to one method of receiving revelation, i.e., in vision. A prophet not only had the gift of vision) but was in all respects the mouthpiece, or penman, of Jehovah in teaching, reforming, or recording. He was by inspiration God’s direct legatee, ambassador, or representative, with authority above king or people.
There is a humorous play on the common version of 1Sa 10:14 which a deacon once made to an indiscreet preacher, saying, “My dear sir, if you keep on shooting off your mouth half-cocked, you will presently find yourself where Saul perceived his father’s asses to be.” The words of the text in that version are: “We saw they were nowhere.”
SAUL’S REIGN AFTER THE RATIFICATION IN GILGAL 1Sa 13:1 says, “Saul was forty years old when he began to reign, and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel,” etc. His personal appearance is described in 1Sa 10:23-24 : “From his shoulders upward he was higher than the people. None of them were like him.” Hence the proverb: “Head and shoulders above his fellows.” We will find later that his armor was too large for David. The conditions of his reign were hard. At this time Israel was dominated by the Philistines on the Southwest, assailed by Amalek on the South, by Ammon. Moab, and Edom on the Southeast, and by Zobah, or Syria, on the Northeast, but against all these at times Saul waged a victorious war. Besides this his resources were limited. He had no standing army, no arms, no equipment, no public treasury except spoils gathered in battle, and the whole country was impoverished by raids and invasions of his many enemies, 1Sa 13:19-23 shows the pitiable condition of the people as to artificers, implements of industry and arms: “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.” This statement has its great lessons.
No people can become or remain safe and prosperous who are dependent on other nations for mechanicians, manufactured goods, and their means of transportation. This was illustrated in the great controversy and War Between the States. During the controversy there appeared a book by a renegade North Carolinian, entitled: Helper’s Impending Crisis, in which he thus pictured the South’s unpreparedness for war, and the certain disasters which would, in the case of war, necessarily overtake it. I never read it but one time, and that was when I was a child, but it was burned into my mind so that I can repeat it now:
“A Southern man gets up in the morning from between Northern sheets, having slept on a Northern mattress, resting on a Northern bedstead, washes his face in a Northern bowl, dries his face on a Northern towel, brushes his hair and teeth with Northern brushes, puts on Northern clothes; goes into his dining room and site down at a Northern dining table covered by a Northern table-cloth, on which are Northern cups, saucers, plates, knives, forks, and in a Southern hog-country eats Northern bacon. Then he goes out and hitches his horse to a Northern plow; or to a Northern buggy; or having tied around his neck a Northern cravat, he goes to pay his address to his girl, who is dressed in Northern dimity and calicoes, and when he comes to die, he is wrapped in a Northern shroud, his grave is dug with a Northern spade and mattock, and the only thing he has which is Southern is the hole in the ground where be is buried.”
Now, as a consequence, just as soon as the war broke out, having no factories, having no railroads running east and west, having no control of the land and water transportation, in six months they were on the verge of starvation. I saw several companies of Sibley’s brigade start to New Mexico armed with lances old-fashioned lances, a long, dressed pole with a rude point to it. They took the old-fashioned flint and steel muskets, and fixed them so they could use percussion caps; they did not have a breech-loading gun. Having no paper factories, the newspapers were being printed within six months on wallpaper the printing on one side and coloring on the other. I paid $22 in Mexican silver for a hatful of coffee that was smuggled over from Mexico (I could not bear to see my mother do without coffee), but all over the South they were drinking parched sweet potatoes for coffee, and using sassafras tea, and catnip tea, and when they were sick they used boneset tea, and woe to the man who had to take it I
If all this is true among nations, you can understand what I mean when I said woe to the South, where the people have the views of sound doctrine, when it sends its preaching implements to a Northern radical-critic grindstone in order to put on point or edge. I tell you, we ought never to cease praying that God will bless our Southwestern Seminary, and establish it in the hearts of the people.
From a comparison of 1Sa 13:1-2 , and 1Sa 14:47-52 we must suppose:
1. That the text of 1Sa 13:1 is defective. Note the difference in the rendering between the common version and the revised version a very considerable difference.
2. That according to the summary given in 1Sa 14:47-52 , there is no record of the details of many of Saul’s campaigns.
3. As Saul was a young man when made king, and now comes before us with a grown son, Jonathan, already a hero, we must suppose that for years after he became king his reign was prosperous and according to the charter of the kingdom. In this prosperous part of his reign must always be placed to Saul’s credit the fact that under the most trying conditions he proved himself a great hero in war against mighty odds, while possessing amiable characteristics which endeared him to his family, to the people, and to Samuel. According to David’s eulogy, he found the women of his people in rags and clothed them in scarlet, and put on their apparel ornaments of gold. He taught an unwarlike, undisciplined militia to become mighty warriors. His whole life was one series of battles, beating back the enemies who were pouring in on every side. Then considering these odds against him, his only hope lay in strict obedience to the charter of his kingdom, thus keeping Jehovah as his friend. He never began to fall until he made God his enemy.
QUESTIONS
1. Is the reference to Saul’s “another heart” equivalent to the “new heart” of Eze 36:26 ? In what was Saul like Judas, and in what was he unlike him?
2. Why do believers in apostasy use the life of Saul to prove apostasy?
3. What does Paul mean in Gal 5:4 : “Ye are fallen away from grace”?
4. What, particularly, were the steps of the people’s preparation to accept Saul, and how gradually was the acceptance, in glorious climax, made complete?
5. Distinguish in meaning the words “seer” and “prophet,” used as synonymous in 2Sa 9:7 .
6. What humorous play on the common version of 1Sa 10:14 did a deacon once make to an indiscreet preacher?
7. How old was Saul when he began to reign?
8. What was his personal appearance?
9. What were the hard conditions of his reign?
10. What are his limited resources?
11. Recite the passage that shows the pitiable condition of the people as to artificers, implements of industry, and arms.
12. What great lessons are derivable from this statement?
13. What must we suppose from a comparison of chapters 1Sa 13:1-2 and 1Sa 14:47-52 ?
14. In this prosperous part of his reign, what must always be placed to Saul’s credit?
15. Considering these odds against him, wherein lay his only hope?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1Sa 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured [it] upon his head, and kissed him, and said, [Is it] not because the LORD hath anointed thee [to be] captain over his inheritance?
Ver. 1. Then Samuel took a vial of oil. ] Not a horn, as when David and his posterity were anointed, but a vial made of earth, or glass; brittle matter, to signify, say some, the short continuance of his kingdom. He was anointed with oil, as to set forth his superiority and eminency above his subjects, – oil will ever be on the top of other liquors, – so to admonish him of lenity, clemency, and bounty – whereof oil is a symbol – to be exercised toward them.
And kissed him.
And said, Is it not because the Lord, &c.
a Consentaneum est iniecta manu Ioan. conatum vetare Iesum. – Erasm.
a vial = flask. Not “the”.
Is it not . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. Note the Jehovah relationship. Here is another Homceoteleuton, which is preserved in the Septuagint and Vulgate, “the LORD [and thou shalt rule among the people of Jehovah, and thou shalt save them out of the hand of their enemies, and this shall be a sign unto thee, that] the LORD hath, &c. The eye of some ancient scribe evidently went back to the latter of these two words “the LORD” and accidentally omitted the words between them.
captain: “a” captain; not “the”.
Chapter 10
Samuel took a vial of oil, and he poured it over Saul, over his head, and he kissed him, and he said, Is it not because the Lord has anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? Now when you depart from me today, when you get by Rachel’s tomb, you’re going to see two men; and they will say to you, The donkeys that you were looking for have been found: and, your father’s no longer worried about the donkeys, but he’s worried about you. Then as you go on forward from there, you’re gonna come to the plain of Tabor, and there you’re gonna meet three men that are going up to God to Bethel, and one is carrying three kids, and another’s carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: They’re gonna greet you, they’re gonna give you to loaves of bread; which you shall receive. And then when you come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines are: it shall come to pass, that when you’re come near the city, that you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a harp, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man. And so let it be, when these signs are come to thee, that you do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee ( 1Sa 10:1-7 ).
So here the prophet is laying out, it’s the trip for him. “When you go out, when you get to Rachel’s tomb, there will be a couple fellows there that are gonna tell you, ‘Hey man the donkeys that you’re looking for were found. Your dad’s really worried about you. He doesn’t know what’s happened to you.’ As you go on a little further, you’re gonna meet three men that are going up to Bethel to worship God. One will have three goats, one will have three loaves of bread, and the other will have a jug of wine. They’re gonna offer you a couple loaves of bread, take them. Then when you go just a little further, when you get near the city, there’s gonna be a bunch of prophets coming down. They’re gonna have some instruments, they’re gonna be playing and singing. As you join them God’s Spirit is going to come upon you. You’re gonna be changed into another man. So at that time do as the occasion seems best, for the Lord is with you.”
And you will go down before me to Gilgal; to offer the burnt offerings, and to sacrifice offerings and the peace offerings: and seven days shalt you wait, till I come to thee, and shew thee what you’re to do. And so it was, that when he had turned his from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all of those signs came to pass that day. And when they came near the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he was prophesying before the prophets, the people said one to another, What is this that’s come to the son of Kish? is Saul among the prophets? And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became proverb, Is Saul among the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant, Where in the world did you go? And he said, To seek the donkeys: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, what did Samuel say to you. And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found. But Saul didn’t reveal to his uncle the other things that Samuel had said about him being the choice of God and the people, to be the king. And so Samuel called the people together before the Lord there at Mizpeh; And he said to the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, out of the hand of all of the kingdoms, of those that oppressed you: And you have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands. And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the families of Matri were taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore he inquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he’s hid himself over there in the stuff ( 1Sa 10:8-22 ).
Now the time has come to present to Israel their king. All of the children of Israel are gathered at Mizpeh, this great day, the coronation of the king. And so Samuel is out there, big ceremonies, and he has the various tribes pass forth. And he takes the tribe of Benjamin. He has the families of Benjamin pass forth. He takes the family of Matri. Then out of the family of Matri, he takes Saul, and he says, “All right you’re king. Where is he?”
So he says, “Lord what’s going on here? What’s happening?”
Lord said, “Oh the guy’s hid himself over there in the stuff.”
So they went over there in the stuff and they got Saul out: and they fetched him: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders upward. [He just stood out in the crowd.] And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like unto him among all the people? And the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 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. And Saul went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and did not bring him any presents. But he held his peace ( 1Sa 10:23-27 ).
Now there are a couple of things here in this latter portion that interest me and fascinate me. Number one is that anointing of Saul where the Spirit of God came upon him, and he turned into another man, a real kind of conversion kind of an experience. God’s Spirit upon him, and his prophesying, and the heart was changed, a real work of God within his life.
The second thing that interests me is that there went with him a band of men whose hearts God had touched. This scripture always excites me because of its potential. Not that I’m a chauvinist, but I think that there’s nothing more exciting and fraught with possibility than to get a bunch of men whose hearts have been touched by God. To me the potential of a band of men, hearts touched by God, is just incomprehensible. What God can do when He touches the hearts of men!
Now for a long time, Christianity was looked on as almost a sissy, effeminate thing. The women were usually those who were committed to the Lord and trying to drag their husbands along. But that isn’t God’s order. God intended that the man be the head and spiritual leader in the house, of spiritual things. Now if the man isn’t then I believe that the woman needs to take that place. But that is not God’s divine order. It is God’s divine order that the man lead the house in spiritual things. How strong and how blessed is the house where the man assumes the spiritual role of leadership.
But with the church there was sort of an effeminate idea involved in Christianity. Even the ministers talked and acted like a bunch of sissies. You know they sought to be so proper and sweet, and sissified, that it gave Christianity sort of an effeminate kind of a feel to it.
I believe that Jesus Christ challenges the manhood of a man. I think that one of the greatest challenges to any man to really assert the fullness of his manhood is to commit your life completely and fully to following Jesus Christ. I think that’s one of the most manly things you can do. I think it’s powerful. I think it’s dynamic. When you get a bunch of fellows together, who have really committed their lives to Jesus Christ, whose hearts have really been touched by God, you’ve got a potential of turning the world upside down. Men fully committed unto the Lord, unto Jesus Christ, what an exciting potential.
Thus, we see that Saul has many advantages. Comes from a good home, security, love, he knows his dad’s gonna be worried about him when he doesn’t show up. The natural physique, handsome, big all means nothing compared with the Spirit of God coming upon his life, and anointing him, changing his heart, turning him into another man. Then God puts around him a bunch of fellows who are just turned on for God. A band of men whose hearts God had touched. You have now here the potential of marvelous things for God. You’ve got all the ingredients that you need for a real spiritual explosion. But we’ll go on and see how it fizzled and why it fizzled.
When we were kids it used to be we could have legalized firecrackers here in California. We used to light the Black Panthers because they were good loud ones. But every once in awhile, you know, you set the firecracker in the tin can, and you light the fuse, and you go back and you’d wait, and you’d wait, and you’d wait, no explosion, a fizzler. Course we learned when we were kids that you can take the fizzler, break it in two, pour the powder out, light the powder and as it starts to shoot out, if you stop it, gets your foot ajar, but you can really make the thing explode. But we used to always be disappointed with those fizzlers, had the potential, they’d blow and that tin can didn’t do anything, fizzled out.
I look at some people’s lives again, and you see that potential. You see all the ingredients are there, fizzlers. They never make it. What a disappointment the fizzlers are. God help us not to be fizzlers. That’s your lesson for tonight.
Shall we stand?
I pray that God will be with you this week, bless you at your work, that He’ll give you wisdom and guidance. That His love will just really flow through your life in those difficult and adverse circumstances. May the Spirit of God rest upon you, the anointing of His Spirit and power. May you become the man God wants you to be, doing the work God wants you to do for the glory of Jesus Christ. “
1Sa 10:1-2. Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me to day,
He gave Saul some signs by which he could confirm the truth of all that he had spoken to him: When thou art departed from me today,
1Sa 10:2. Then thou shalt find two men by Rachels sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah;
It was well for Samuel to send Saul, with brilliant prospects opening before him, to the sepulcher of the mother of his tribe. Oh, that we were all wise enough to think often of our last hours! Communion with the grave might even help us to communion with heaven. Samuel said to Saul, Thou shalt find two men by Rachels sepulcher,
1Sa 10:2-3. And they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
Going to offer to God a meat offering and a thank offering. How could Samuel have known all this if God had not anointed his eyes, and made him a seer who could see what others saw not?
1Sa 10:4. And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hand.
Thou shalt take from them thy first tribute as a king. They shall give thee two loaves of bread, to teach thee to avoid all luxury, and not to be a king who delighteth in delicate and dainty fare. Thou shalt fare as the people do.
1Sa 10:5-6. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them, and they shall prophesy: and the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them,
Thou shalt speak with enthusiasm about God; moved with a holy passion, thou shalt speak like a man inspired.
1Sa 10:6. And shalt be turned into another man.
Note that Samuel did not say to Saul, Thou shalt be turned into a new man, for that is what he never was. He become, for awhile, another man, a different man from what he had been before, but he never became a gracious man.
1Sa 10:7-8. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee. And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 9, and 1Sa 10:1-8.
On the morning of the day following Saul’s meeting with and eating with Samuel, Samuel told him of his election by God to be king of the nation. This communication was made when they were quite alone, even the servant in attendance on them having been sent on before. The terms of the appointment were definite and solemn. It is easy to understand how startling a thing it must have been to this man. Three signs ratifying the authority of the appointment were promised, and all were granted. Thus no room was left for doubt in the mind of Saul as to this being the definite call of God.
This took place at Mizpah. How long a time elapsed between this divine appointment and Saul’s formal presentation to the people we have no means of knowing. Right here, at the beginning of the story, we have the first manifestation of that weakness of character which eventuated in his ultimate failure. Notwithstanding that he had received so clear a demonstration of the will of God, on the day when he was to be presented to the people he was found hiding away among the baggage. Some have treated this as an evidence of modesty, and as manifesting an excellent trait in his character.
It is well that we remember that modesty becomes sin when it prevents any man from stepping at once into a place to which he knows that God is calling him. It is by no means an uncommon failure, and the very fact that modesty is in itself a virtue makes the peril all the more subtle. The standard by which conduct is ever to be measured is the standard of simple loyalty to the will of God. If even a virtue interpose, it thereby becomes a vice.
Anointed with Oil and the Spirit
1Sa 10:1-13
In the gray dawn the prophet sketched to Saul the events which were to happen on that day and succeeding days. All were made known to the designated king ere they arrived, and in each case he was to act as the occasion demanded. Thus our life-course, day by day, lies open before God. He has planned or permitted the incidents, but leaves us to will and enact the appropriate response. If we turn to Him to ask how we shall act, He will guide us with His eye; but alas, all too seldom do we turn to Him. We lean too much to our own understanding and follow the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have been created unto good works, which He has before ordained that we should walk in them. Instead of prying into the future, let us wait for Him to unveil it as we advance. Let us most eagerly seek the sacred anointing of the Holy Spirit at the spring of the day. His sacred unction will teach us all things that we need to know. We must have the clean, new heart created, and the right spirit renewed, 1Sa 10:9.
a vial: 1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 9:16, 1Sa 16:13, 1Sa 24:6, 1Sa 26:11, 2Ki 9:3-6, Act 13:21, Rev 5:8
kissed him: 2Sa 19:39, 1Ki 19:18, Psa 2:12, Hos 13:2, 1Th 5:26
captain: 1Sa 8:9, 1Sa 8:19, 1Sa 13:14, Jos 5:14, Jos 5:15, 2Sa 5:2, 2Ki 20:5, Heb 2:10
his inheritance: Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, Deu 32:9, Psa 78:71, Psa 135:4, Jer 10:16
Reciprocal: Gen 20:7 – a prophet Gen 41:40 – be ruled Gen 45:15 – Moreover Exo 4:14 – cometh 1Sa 12:1 – have made 1Sa 12:3 – his anointed 1Sa 15:1 – The Lord 1Sa 15:17 – the Lord 1Sa 20:41 – and they kissed 2Sa 1:21 – anointed 2Sa 7:8 – ruler 2Sa 21:6 – whom the Lord did choose 1Ki 1:34 – Zadok 2Ki 9:1 – box of oil 2Ki 11:12 – anointed him 2Ch 23:11 – anointed him Zec 4:14 – These Mat 26:49 – kissed him
1Sa 10:1. And poured it upon his head We do not read of any order of God, given for the anointing of kings. But it was the usual rite in the designation, as of prophets and priests, so also of kings, as appears from the parable of Jotham, recorded Jdg 9:8, and delivered two hundred years before this time. By using this ceremony Samuel signified the pouring forth of the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit upon Saul, to fit him for the administration of his office. These sacred unctions then used, pointed at the great Messiah, or anointed One, the King of the church, and High-Priest of our profession, who was anointed with the oil of the Spirit without measure, above all the priests and princes of the Jewish Church. Kissed As a testimony of his sincere friendship and affection to him. His inheritance That is, over his own peculiar people. Whereby he admonisheth Saul, that this people were not so much his, as Gods; and that he was not to rule them according to his own will, but according to the will of God. This sudden and unexpected elevation of Saul to the royal dignity was a thing not easy to be believed, and therefore Samuel gives him three or four signs in the following verses to assure him that God called him to this high office, and to confirm his faith in the divine appointment.
1Sa 10:1. Captain. This refers to his command, as a fighting captain. The title of king was superior to that of nagid, or captain.
1Sa 10:3. To Bethel. The people would, and did worship at this hallowed altar, where God had spoken to Jacob their father. Genesis 28.
1Sa 10:5. A company of prophets, called in other places, the sons of the prophets. They were returning from a sacrifice at the hill, where the ark was placed, and gladdened the road with music and sacred songs. Samuel, no doubt, encouraged those schools, which were superintended by some inspired man. Ministers should all be trained and learned for their Masters work. An illiterate man must labour under the greatest difficulties, in the exercise of his ministry.Psaltery, that is, a harp of a smaller kind.
1Sa 10:12. But who is their father? All the copies of the Septuagint read, But who is his father? Is it not Kish?
1Sa 10:21. And Saulwas taken. They proceeded as in the case of Achan, Jos 7:14; where the Vulgate reads lot. Others think the oracle was by voice.
REFLECTIONS.
Saul entered on the high duties of a king, though in afflictive times, under the highest auspices that could possibly attend a favourite of heaven. He was designated by revelation, and anointed as Moses anointed Aaron. So also the holy prophets were sometimes anointed. 2Ki 19:16. From the moment that this oil came on a mans head, whether prophet, priest, or king, their persons were sacred as the Lords anointed.
God realized the exterior anointing in the gifts of grace. When Saul saw the young prophets, and heard them sing, he caught the spirit. His heart was renovated by gratitude, devotion, and love. He was endowed with talents for the administration of justice, and with an elevation of soul becoming the dignity of the throne. His faith was confirmed; for he received the loaves, and met this messenger of his father as Samuel had foretold. Hence we learn the duty of praying for the king; for his ministers, and for magistrates; as no man can adequately fill those high stations without the aid and direction of heaven.
Samuel, faithful to his God, even in a duty to which his feelings were disinclined, and faithful as the tutor of Saul, proceeded to convene the people in Mizpeh. Obedience in these circumstances, marks the integrity of the soul, and confers on virtue the purest lustre.
The divine lot corresponded with the secret revelation. Look on the eager faces of the tribes, when the twelve lots or tickets were cast into the urn or lap; for precedence had long been a subject of contention among them: and behold, Benjamin the youngest, Benjamin the weakest was taken. Now let Reuben the eldest, Judah the strongest, and Ephraim the haughtiest, hold their peace. Presently Saul was taken by name; and when they wished to contemplate the person of their king, no Saul could be found. The harmony however of all these circumstances demonstrates that God was never defective in extending his promised care over his people.
What shall Israel now do to find their king? Nobody knew where he was. Confident of his election, from the accomplishment of the three tokens Samuel had given him a week before, he was hid among the stuff: nor could even Samuel say where he was without a revelation. Surely God had given him a spirit of meekness, modesty, and abasement. Conscious of his weakness, and trembling at the greatness of the duty, he shunned the public eye, and all the plaudits of the crowd. So it used to be with the primitive bishops. The trembling presbyter was sometimes dragged from his closet to be inaugurated into the sacred office. But modesty of this kind seems scarcely to have reached beyond the ages of Greece and Rome. Our numerous candidates for civil and religious preferment, conscious of their own superior merits, never blush to obtrude themselves in newspapers on the notice of the public. What times: what manners!
Sauls modesty was productive of the greatest good to his cause. A choice band of men followed him, surrounding his person as guards, from the purest principles of loyalty and affection. The monarch who reigns in the hearts of good men, and who is revered as the father of his people, finds in that attachment the surest supports of his throne.
The elevations of rank and honour are invariably counterpoised by afflictions. No sooner had the multitude saluted the Lords anointed, than the sons of Belial despised his humble birth, and want of military skill. So it is, that greatness is peculiarly exposed to calamities, as high towers and lofty mountains are most exposed to the anger and fury of the tempest. This should be a gratifying consideration to the poor, and make every man thankful for the peaceful retreat of a cottage, and the purer happiness of private life.
1Sa 9:1 to 1Sa 10:16. Samuel Anoints Saul as King.(J), taken from one of the oldest narratives (see Introduction, p. 273). Note the absence of any connexion with the Deuteronomic narrative in the previous chapteralso the inconsistencies; in 1Sa 7:13 the Philistines were permanently disposed of; in 1Sa 9:16, 1Sa 10:5, they are oppressing Israel and have a garrison in the heart of the country; in our present narrative we have no trace of hostility to the Monarchy. This section preserves important features of primitive religious life and faith; the local seer, taking fees for fortune-telling, standing in some relation to the ecstatic prophet, nabhi; Samuel, seer, and possibly also prophet, but yet an outstanding inspired personality, far more than the mere professional seer or prophet, a forerunner of Elijah, Elisha, and the canonical prophets. At the same time the ecstatic prophets, in conjunction with Saul, had their share in keeping Israel loyal to Yahweh and in rousing the people to the patriotic struggle with the Philistines (pp. 66, 85). Note also how the Spirit of Yahweh leaps upon a man, takes violent possession of him, and moves him to violent acts, especially deeds of warlike prowess (Jdg 3:10*), as in the story of Samson. 99, 108 are editorial additions (see below).
1Sa 9:1-14. Kish, a Benjamite chief, had a son Saul, exceptionally tall and handsome. Kish had lost some asses, and sent Saul and a slave to look for them. After a long and futile search, they found themselves at Ramah, the home of Samuel. Saul proposed to abandon the search, but adopted a suggestion of the slave that they should consult Samuel. They learnt that Samuel was about to preside over a sacrificial feast at the local sanctuary, high place, bama (see 1Sa 7:17, Lev 26:30, p. 98). As they went to the high place, they fell in with Samuel, who was also on his way thither.
1Sa 9:1. mighty man of valour: rather man of wealth and position.
1Sa 9:2. Saul: Shaul, asked (of God) (cf. 1Sa 1:20).
1Sa 9:4. Shalishah . . . Shaalim: sites unknown
1Sa 9:5. Zuph, see 1Sa 9:11.
1Sa 9:8. shekel: Gen 23:15*.
1Sa 9:9. An explanatory note; perhaps originally seers and prophets were two distinct classes, afterwards merged in one under the title prophet.
1Sa 9:14. within the city: read probably within the gate (cf. 1Sa 9:18).
1Sa 9:15-21. Yahweh had prepared Samuel for this meeting; He would send to him the future king. When they met, Samuel recognised the man chosen by Yahweh and made himself known to Saul; invited him to the feast; told him the asses were found, and that all that Israel could offer of wealth and honour were at his disposal, thus practically offering him the throne. According to the formula of Oriental etiquettewhich is no more to be taken literally than Your obedient servant at the end of a letterSaul protested his unworthiness.
1Sa 9:16. upon my people: read with LXX. upon the affliction of my people.
1Sa 9:22 to 1Sa 10:12. Samuel brings Saul to the sacrificial feast, gives him the place of honour and the portion reserved for the chief guest. Saul spends the night on the housetop of Samuels housea usual guest-chamber. In the morning he leaves, and Samuel sets him on his way. Before they part, Samuel keeps him with him, while the slave goes on. Then Samuel anoints him, and tells him plainly that he is to be king; and that certain things are to happen to him as signs. After he leaves Samuel, these duly come to pass. The last sign is Sauls encounter with a band of ecstatic prophets, i.e. men who excited themselves by music (2Ki 3:15) to wild singing and dancing, like the Mohammedan dervishes. When Saul left Samuel God gave him another heart; when he met the prophets, the Spirit of God leaped upon him; he caught the contagion of their ecstasy and prophesiedjoined in the singing and dancing, to the astonishment of his friends: Is Saul also among the prophets? (1Sa 19:24). Respectable people, of good family, with a father, did not join in the antics of these mad fanaticsthat would be the common view (cf. 2Ki 9:11). Then Saul went home.
1Sa 9:24. that which was upon it: read the fat tailof the sheep, a special delicacy.
1Sa 9:25 f. he communed . . . arose early: read with LXX, RVm, They spread a couch for Saul on the housetop, and he lay down.
1Sa 10:2. Rachels sepulchre: see Gen 35:16*.Zelzah: unknown.
1Sa 10:3. going up to God: i.e. to the sanctuary.
1Sa 9:7. The occasion or opportunity which actually presents itself is the appeal from Jabesh-gilead, 1Sa 11:4-7 (p. 66).A. S. P.
1Sa 10:8. An editorial insertion, to connect this narrative with 1Sa 13:7 b 1Sa 13:15 a, an excerpt from another document.
1Sa 10:14-16. Sauls uncle tells him that the asses are found. Saul tells of his visit to Samuel, but says nothing as to the kingship.
No one else was present when Samuel anointed Saul. This contrasts with David’s anointing in Chapter 16:3, “in the midst of his brethren,” then by “the men of Judah” in 2Sa 2:4; and later by the elders of Israel in 2Sa 5:3. For God could have David publicly anointed because he was God’s specific choice, being a type of Christ. On the other hand, Saul was really the people’s preference for king, yet behind the scenes God anointed him (by His servant) so that the people could not depose him as they pleased. Democracy is not to be allowed in Israel. This reminds us that “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom 13:1), even though those powers have no intention of honorably carrying out God’s will; whereas the only government that God actually approves is that in which His Son is given full pre-eminence.
The anointing oil speaks of the Holy Spirit, who alone can give power to enable a king to rightly rule in Israel. Did Saul discern in this that he could be enabled only by God? Samuel also kisses him, an indication that God’s kindness and love was fully available to Saul if he would receive it. Then Samuel gives him three signs of an unusual character that were intended also to speak to his soul. How plain is the fact here that though Saul was to be king, yet Samuel was in practical authority over him, the representative of a higher kingdom than that of Israel. First, Saul was to meet two men by Rachel’s grave. We remember that Rachel died in giving birth to Benjamin (Gen 35:16-19). Saul should then remember the sorrow and death from which his very tribe had sprung. This ought to subdue the pride of the flesh. More than that, the men would tell him that the lost donkeys had been found, and now Saul’s father was sorrowing for him. Saul could have learned from this that the rebellious house of Israel (typified by the donkeys) will be recovered by God apart from man’s help, so that Saul’s being king was not a thing in which the flesh had any right to boast.
The second sign given to Saul (v.3) was to take place at the plain of Tabor, where he would meet three men going up to God to Bethel. There is of course special significance in the number three, for one was to be carrying three kids, another three loaves of bread. It was the triune God they were going to meet at Bethel, “the house of God.” They had full provision with them for a blood-sacrifice, for the meal offering and for a drink offering (a bottle of wine). All of this was surely a reminder that Saul too would have to deal with God, and ought to be prepared with proper sacrifices and a genuine concern for the house of God. They would greet Saul and give him two loaves of bread, which he was to receive. Would this not tell Saul that the king’s sustenance would actually come from God by His moving the hearts of His people? for these loaves were what was really offered to God. Moreover, the liberality of the people ought to have been an example to Saul that he would take to heart, rather than to have an attitude of merely expecting from others, as those in authority often do.
The third sign (v.5) was to be at “the hill of God,” where the army of the Philistines was then garrisoned. But no suggestion of conflict is made. Rather, Saul would meet a company of prophets coming from the high place, following a band of musical instruments, and they themselves would prophesy. The lesson here is most significant. Though Saul would be required to lead Israel in battle against the Philistines, yet the way of victory is only in giving God His place first. The music is of course symbolical of joyful worship of God, and prophesying is the declaring of God’s message to the people where this order is observed, then the victory in battle will follow, for God will have directed the battle. In going to fight against Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, Jehoshaphat first appointed singers to praise the Lord and beauty of holiness (2Ch 20:21). This resulted in a resounding victory of Israel. But we read nothing like this in Saul’s history in spite of his having this early sign.
Added to this sign was Saul’s having the Spirit of the Lord come upon him to virtually turn him into another man in his prophesying among the prophets. God was thereby signifying His own willingness to lead Saul by the power of His Spirit in Saul’s taking the kingdom. It was left to Saul to realize, however, that only in his submitting to the Spirit of God could he expect this guidance, though this is implied in Samuel’s telling him, when this happened, to do as occasion serves him. Sad to say, this spirit of submission to God was ignored by Saul in his ruling Israel. But what can we expect? “The mind of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom 8:7-8). Saul did, for a brief time, make a fair show, but the flesh very soon exposed itself in his pathetic failure.
Yet on this occasion God gave him another heart, so that he would act differently than usual. All the signs given him came to pass, including his meeting the company of prophets and the Spirit of God endowing him with power to prophesy also. This surprised his former acquaintances, who incredulously asked the question, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” One person, however, who was resident there, asks a discerning question, “But who is their father?” The source of the prophecy was the important thing, for the questioner evidently knew that this was not Saul’s normal character, but that if it was a true prophecy it came from God.
Coming then to the high place Saul is met by his uncle, who asks him and his servant where they had been, and when knowing that they had sought Samuel’s help, was interested to learn what Samuel had said to them. Saul informed them only that Samuel had told them that the donkeys were found, and said nothing of Samuel’s words to him in reference to the kingdom. At least at this time he showed no inclination to boast in his anticipated greatness. The effect of the signs he had witnessed had not yet worn off: he seemed in some measure rightly subdued by them, though later it appears that he forgot them entirely, or at least forgot their significance.
The time comes for the king to be presented to Israel. It is Samuel who gathers the people to Mizpah, and there addresses them with a message from God. They are reminded that it was God who had brought them out of Egypt, delivering them from that bondage and from subsequent enemies who opposed them in coming into the land of Israel. He had done this without the help of a king. Therefore, their demanding a king was their virtual rejection of God who had before saved them out of all their adversities and tribulations.
Since it was God who had so graciously dealt with Israel in bringing them from Egypt and delivering them from all their enemies, then for Israel to demand a king to virtually take God’s place was actual rejection of Him. This must be pressed upon their consciences before the king is given them. Then Samuel tells them to present themselves together before the Lord, that He might indicate who was to be king.
The method Samuel used was evidently the same as seen in Jos 7:16-18 in the exposing of Achan as the man whose sin had been a curse to Israel. The tribes come first, and Benjamin is taken. We are not told exactly how this took place. It may have been by the casting of lots, for we are told in Pro 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.” From the families of Benjamin, that of Matri was taken, and from his family Saul was designated. This whole process at least tells us that all Israel was considered, but Saul was the one whom God discerned to be the people’s general preference.
But Saul was not to be found, which cause further enquiry of God, who told them that Saul had hid himself among the baggage. Evidently at this time Saul was still “little in his own sight,” and no doubt apprehensive of being given a place of such prominence and honor in Israel. He is then found and brought before all the people, and seen to be in height head and shoulders above all. The head of course speaks of intelligence, and the shoulders of strength to bear responsibility. These human qualities, great intelligence and strength, are considered the essentials in men’s governments, but the more important matter of faith in and dependence upon the living God, is largely overlooked and forgotten by men.
Presenting him then to the people, Samuel told them that there was not another like this man whom the Lord had chose. To all outward appearances this was true, though Samuel had to be told by God later, “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (Chapter 16:7). The people respond with a great shout, “Let the king live.” It is a great mercy of God in any culture when at least some measure of respect is shown for God-appointed authority.
Samuel then in addressing the people lays down the principles of the kingdom, after which he writes these in a book. Manifestly the government at its inception was not top heavy with ordinances, as is the case with virtually every government now. Of course the laws of God had been already given to Israel in scripture, and these remained in force just as before.
Of course there was no palace in which the king was privileged to live: the people went back to their homes and Saul did the same, though a band of men accompanied him “whose hearts God had touched.” No doubt they were capable men, which was practically a necessity if Saul was to have the support he needed in his new office. On the other hand, we read of “children of Belial” who despised him and gave him no allegiance. These were the class of people who would “despise dominion and speak evil of dignities” (Jud 1:8), no matter who is placed in authority. Though believers know that the only ruler who can ever satisfy God is the Lord Jesus Christ, yet they recognize that at present “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom 13:1) and for this reason we are told to submit to them. The two books of Samuel give excellent instruction as to this question of proper subjection to government. On this occasion Saul’s silence in bearing the despite of the men of Belial is commendable. At least at first he did not take advantage of his authority to act rigorously: he resorted to this only after he was established in the kingdom.
10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of {a} oil, and poured [it] upon his head, and kissed him, and said, [Is it] not because the LORD hath anointed thee [to be] captain over his inheritance?
(a) In the Law this anointing signified the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were necessary for those who would rule.
CHAPTER XIII.
SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL.
1Sa 10:1-16.
THERE is a remarkable minuteness of detail in this and other narratives in Samuel, suggesting the authenticity of the narrative, and the authorship of one who was personally connected with the transactions. The historical style of Scripture is very characteristic; sometimes great periods of time are passed over with hardly a word, and sometimes events of little apparent importance are recorded with what might be thought needless minuteness. In Genesis, the whole history of the world before the flood is dispatched in seven chapters, less than is occupied with the history of Joseph. Enoch’s biography is in one little verse, while a whole chapter is taken up with the funeral of Sarah, and another chapter of unusual length with the marrying of Isaac. Yet we can be at no loss to discover good reasons for this arrangement. It combines two forms of history – annals, and dramatic story. Annals are short, and necessarily somewhat dry; but they have the advantage of embracing much in comparatively short compass. The dramatic story is necessarily diffuse; it occupies a large amount of space; but it has the advantage of presenting a living picture – of bringing past events before the reader as they happened at the time. If the whole history of the Bible had been in the form of annals, it would have been very useful, but it would have wanted human interest. If it had been all in the dramatic form, it would have occupied too much space. By the combination of the two methods, we secure the compact precision of the one, and the living interest of the other. In the verses that are to form the subject of the present lecture, we have a lively dramatic picture of what took place in connection with the anointing of Saul by Samuel as king of Israel. The event was a very important one, as showing the pains that were taken to impress him with the solemnity of the office, and his obligation to undertake it in full accord with God’s sacred purpose in connection with His people Israel. Everything was planned to impress on Saul that his elevation to the royal dignity was not to be viewed by him as a mere piece of good fortune, and to induce him to enter on the office with a solemn sense of responsibility, and in a spirit entirely different from that of the neighbouring kings, who thought only of their royal position as enabling them to gratify the desires of their own hearts. Both Saul and the people must see the hand of God very plainly in Saul’s elevation, and the king must enter on his duties with a profound sense of the supernatural influences through which he has been elevated, and his obligation to rule the people in the fear, and according to the will, of God.
Though the servant that accompanied Saul seems to have been as much a companion and adviser as a servant, and to have been present as yet in all Samuel’s intercourse with Saul, yet the act of anointing which the prophet was now to perform was more suitable to be done in private than in the presence of another; consequently the servant was sent on before (1Sa 9:27). It would seem to have been Samuel’s intention, while paying honour to Saul as one to whom honour was due, and thus hinting at his coming elevation, not to make it public, not to anticipate the public selection which would follow soon in an orderly way. It was right that Saul himself should know what was coming, and that his mind should be prepared for it; but it was not right at this stage that others should know^ it, for that would have seemed an interference with the choice of the people. It must have been in some quiet corner of the road that Samuel took out his vial of sacred oil, and poured it on Saul to anoint him king of Israel. The kiss which he gave him was the kiss of homage, a very old way of recognizing sovereignty (Psa 2:12), and still kept up in the custom of kissing the sovereign’s hand after elevation to office or dignity. To be thus anointed by God’s recognized servant, was to receive the approval of God Himself. Saul now became God’s messiah – the Lord’s anointed. For the term messiah, as applied to Christ, belongs to His kingly office. Though the priests likewise were anointed, the title derived from that act was not appropriated by them, but by the kings. It was counted a high and solemn dignity, making the king’s person sacred, in the eyes of every God-fearing man. Yet this was not an indelible character; it might be forfeited by unfaithfulness and transgression. The only Messiah, the only Anointed One, who was incapable of being set aside, was He whom the kings of Israel typified. Of Him Isaiah foretold: “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever.” And in announcing the birth of Jesus, the angel foretold: “He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”
It is evident that Saul was surprised at the acts of Samuel. We can readily fancy his look of astonishment after the venerable prophet had given him the kiss of homage, – the searching gaze that asked, ”What do you mean by that?” Samuel was ready with his answer: “Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over His heritage?” But in so momentous a matter, involving a supernatural communication of the will of God, an assurance even from Samuel was hardly sufficient. It was reasonable that Saul should be supplied with tangible proofs that in anointing him as king Samuel had complied with the will of God. These tangible proofs Samuel proceeded to give. They consisted of predictions of certain events that were about to happen – events that it was not within the range of ordinary sagacity to foresee, and which were therefore fitted to convince Saul that Samuel was in possession of supernatural authority, and that the act of consecration which he had just performed was agreeable to the will of God.
The first of these proofs was, that when he had proceeded on his journey as far as Rachel’s tomb, he would meet with two men who would tell him that the lost asses had been found, and that his father’s anxiety was now about his son. It must be owned that the localities here are very puzzling. If the meeting with Samuel was near Ramah of Benjamin, Saul, in returning to Gibeah, would not have occasion to go near Rachel’s tomb. We can only say he may have had some reason for taking this route unknown to us. Here he would find a confirmation of what Samuel had told him on the day before; and his mind being thus relieved of anxiety, he would have more freedom to ponder the marvellous things of which Samuel had spoken to him.
The next token was to be found in the plain of Tabor, but this Tabor can have no connection with the well-known mountain of that name in the plain of Esdraelon. Some have conjectured that this Tabor is derived from Deborah, Rachel’s nurse, who was buried in the neighbourhood of Bethel (Gen 35:8), but there is no probability in this conjecture. Here three men, going up to Bethel to a religious festival were to meet Saul; and they were to present him, as an act of homage, with two of their three loaves. This was another evidence that God was filling men’s hearts with a rare feeling towards him.
The third token was to be the most remarkable of any. It was to occur at what is called ”the hill of God.” Literally this is “Gibeah of God” – God’s Gibeah. It seems to have been Saul’s own city, but the name Gibeah may have been given to the whole hill where the city lay. The precise spot where the occurrence was to take place was at the garrison of the Philistines. (Thus it appears incidentally that the old enemy were again harassing the country.) Gibeah, which is elsewhere called Gibeah of Saul, is here called God’s Gibeah, because of the sacred services of which it was the seat. Here Saul would meet a company of prophets coming down from the holy place, with psaltery, and tabret, and pipe, and harp, and here his mind would undergo a change, and he would be impelled to join the prophets’ company. This was a strange token, with a strange result.
We must try, first, to form some idea of Saul’s state of mind in the midst of these strange events.
The thought of his being king of Israel must have set his whole being vibrating with high emotion. No mind can take in at first all that is involved in such a stroke of fortune. A tumult of feeling surges through the mind. It is intoxicated with the prospect. Glimpses of this pleasure and of that, now brought within reach, flit before the fancy. The whole pulses of Saul’s nature must have been quickened. A susceptibility of impression formerly unknown must have come to him. He was like a cloud surcharged with electricity; he was in that state of nervous excitement which craves a physical outlet, whether in singing, or shouting, or leaping, – anything to relieve the brain and nervous system, which seem to tremble and struggle under the extraordinary pressure.
But mingling with this, there must have been another, and perhaps deeper, emotion at work in Saul’s bosom. He had been brought into near contact with the Supernatural. The thought of the Infinite Power that ordains and governs all had been stirred very vividly within him. The three tokens of Divine ordination met with in succession at Rachel’s tomb, in the plain of Tabor, and in the neighbourhood of Gibeah, must have impressed him very profoundly. Probably he had never had any very distinct impression of the great Supernatural Being before. The worldly turn of mind which was natural to him would not occupy itself with any such thoughts. But now it was made clear to him not only that there was a Supernatural Being, but that He was dealing very closely with him. It is always a solemn thing to feel in the presence of God, and to remember that He is searching us and knowing us, knowing our sitting down and our rising up, and comprehending all our thoughts afar off. At such times the sense of our guilt, feebleness, dependence, usually comes on us, full and strong. Must it not have been so with Saul? If the prospect of kingly power was fitted to puff him up, the sense of God’s nearness to him was fitted to cast him down. What was he before God? An insignificant worm, a guilty sinner, unworthy to be called God’s son.
The whole susceptibilities of Saul were in a state of high excitement; the sense of the Divine presence was on him, and for the moment a desire to render to God some acknowledgment of all the mercy which had come upon him. When the company of prophets met him coming down the hill, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied with them.” When in the Old Testament the Spirit of God is said to come on one, the meaning is not always that He comes in regenerating and sanctifying grace. The Spirit of God in Bezaleel, the son of Uri, made him cunning in all manner of workmanship, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass. The Spirit of God, when He came upon Samson, magnified his physical strength, and fitted him for the most wonderful feats. So the Spirit of God, when He came on Saul, did not necessarily regenerate his being; alas 1 in Saul’s future life, there is only too much evidence of an unchanged heart! Still it might be said of Saul that he was changed into another man. Elevated by the prospect before him, but awed at the same time by a sense of God’s nearness, he had no heart for the pursuits in which he would have engaged on his return home had no such change occurred. In the mood of mind in which he was now, he could not look at anything frivolous: his mind soared to higher things. When therefore he met the company of prophets coming down the hill, he was impelled by the surge of his feelings to join their company and take part in their song. They were returning from the high place where they had been engaged in worship, and now they seem to have been continuing the service, sounding out the high praises of God, and thankfully remembering His mercies. It was the same God who had so wonderfully drawn near to Saul, and conferred on him privileges which were as exalted as they were undeserved. No wonder the heart of Saul caught the infection, and threw itself for the time into the service of praise! No young man could well have resisted the impulse. Had he not been chosen out of all the ten thousands of Israel for an honour and a function higher than any Israelite had ever yet enjoyed? Ought he not, must he not, in all the enthusiasm of profoundest wonder, extol the name of Him from whom so suddenly, so unexpectedly, yet so assuredly, this marvelous favour had come?
But it was an employment very different from what had hitherto been his custom. That utter worldliness of mind which we have referred to as his natural disposition would have made him scorn any such employment in his ordinary mood as utterly alien to his feelings. Too often we see that worldly-minded men not only have no relish for spiritual exercises, but feel bitterly and scornfully toward those who affect them. The reason is not far to seek. They know that religious men count them guilty of sin, of great sin, in so neglecting the service of God. To be condemned, whether openly or not, galls their pride, and sets them to disparage those who have so low an opinion of them. It is not said that Saul had felt bitterly toward religious men previous to this time. But whether he did so or not, he appears to have kept aloof from them quite as much as if he had. And now in his own city he appears among the prophets, as if sharing their inspiration, and joining with them openly in the praises of God. It is so strange a sight that everyone is astonished. “Saul among the prophets!” people exclaim. “Shall wonders ever cease?” And yet Saul was not in his right place among the prophets. Saul was like the stony ground seed in the parable of the sower. He had no depth of root. His enthusiasm on this occasion was the result of forces that did not work at the heart of his nature. It was the result of the new and most remarkable situation in which he found himself, not of any new principle of life, any principle that would involve a radical change. It is a solemn fact that men may be worked on by outer forces so as to do many things that seem to be acts of Divine service, but are not so really. A man suddenly raised to a high and influential position feels the influence of the change, – feels himself sobered and solemnized by it, and for a time appears to live and act under higher considerations than he used to acknowledge before. But when he gets used to his new position, when the surprise has abated, and everything around him has become normal to him, his old principles of action return. A young man called suddenly to take the place of a most worthy and honoured father feels the responsibility of wearing such a mantle, and struggles for a time to fulfill his father’s ideal. But ere long the novelty of his position wears away, the thought of his father recurs less frequently, and his old views and feelings resume their sway. Admission to the fellowship of a Church which sustains a high repute may have at first not only a restraining, but a stimulating and elevating effect, until, the position becoming familiar to one, the emotions it first excited die away. This risk is peculiarly incident to those who bear office in the Church. Ordination to the ministry, or to any other spiritual office, solemnizes one at first, even though one may not be truly converted, and nerves one with strength and resolution to throw off many an evil habit. But the solemn impression wanes with time, and the carnal nature asserts its claims. How earnest and how particular men ought ever to be in examining themselves whether their serious impressions are the effect of a true change of nature, or whether they are not mere temporary experiences, the casual result of external circumstances.
But how is this to be ascertained? Let us recall the test with which our Lord has furnished us. “Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name have done many wonderful works? Then will I say unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” The real test is a changed will; a will no longer demanding that self be pleased, but that God be pleased; a will yielding up everything to the will of God; a will continually asking what is right and what is true, not what will please me, or what will be a gain to me; a will over-powered by the sense of what is due in nature to the Lord and Judge of all, and of what is due in grace to Him that loved us and washed us from our sirs in His own blood. Have you thus surrendered yourselves to God? At the heart and root of your nature is there the profound desire to do what is well-pleasing in His sight? If so, then, even amid abounding infirmities, you may hold that you are the child of God. But if still the principle-silent, perhaps, and unavowed, but real – that moves you and regulates your life be that of self-pleasing, any change that may have occurred otherwise must have sprung only from outward conditions, and the prayer needs to go out from you on the wings of irrepressible desire, “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Two things in this part of the chapter have yet to be adverted to. The first is that somewhat mysterious question (1Sa 10:12) which someone asked on seeing Saul among the prophets – “But who is their father?” Various explanations have been given of this question; but the most :natural seems to be, that it was designed to meet a reason for the surprise felt at Saul being among the prophets – viz. that his father Kish was a godless man. That consideration is irrelevant; for who, asks this person, is the father of the prophets? The prophetic gift does not depend on fatherhood. It is not by connection with their fathers that the prophetic band enjoy their privileges. Why should not Saul be among the prophets as well as any of them? Such men are born not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.
The other point remaining to be noticed is Saul’s concealment from his uncle of all that Samuel had said about the kingdom. It appears from this both that Saul was yet of a modest, humble spirit, and perhaps that his uncle would have made an unwise use of the information if he had got it. It would be time enough for that to be known when God’s way of bringing it to pass should come. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. Saul told enough to the uncle to establish belief in the supernatural power of Samuel, but nothing to gratify mere curiosity. Thus in many ways Saul commends himself to us in this chapter, and in no way does he provoke our blame. He was like the young man in the Gospel in whom our Lord found so much that was favourable. Alas, he was like the young man also in the particular that made all the rest of little effect – “One thing thou lackest.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary