Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 10:2
When thou art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s 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?
2. Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah ] In Gen 35:16-20; Gen 48:7, Rachel’s grave is described as on the road from Bethel to Ephrath which is Bethlehem, a little way from Ephrath. This agrees with the site now marked by a tomb called Kubbet Rahil (dome of Rachel) a mile N. of Bethlehem. But if this is the true site of Rachel’s sepulchre, it is not easy to reconcile it with the notice here. ( a) It is at least 4 miles S. of the southern border of Benjamin. ( b) Supposing “the city” to be Ramah (see note on 1Sa 9:4-5), it is hard to see why Saul should be sent so far out of his way home. Various attempts have been made to explain the difficulty. (1) Thenius thinks that the Ephrath mentioned in Genesis was not Bethlehem, but a town in the neighbourhood of Ramah and Gibeah, so that Rachel’s sepulchre would be on the northern frontier of Benjamin. This involves rejecting ( a) the statement in Genesis that Ephrath was Bethlehem, as a mistaken gloss, ( b) the modern site of the tomb. (2) Keil supposes that the city from which Saul started was not Ramah, but some unknown city in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. But the general impression given by the whole chapter is that the city was the seer’s usual residence. (3) The most plausible explanation seems to be that Samuel purposely sent Saul out of his way in order that he might meet the two men; and that the expressions “ near Rachel’s sepulchre” and “in the border of Benjamin” must be understood as applied to Zelzah, which lay between the two, with considerable latitude.
In our uncertainty as to the exact sites, the true solution must remain uncertain.
at Zelzah ] This place is mentioned nowhere else and cannot be identified. The Sept. does not regard it as a proper name, but translates it “two men leaping vigorously.” The Vulg. renders “ in the south.”
and sorroweth ] And is anxious, the same word as in 1Sa 9:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
How should Saul know that what Samuel said was the word of the Lord? Samuel gives him a sign, Thou shalt find two men, etc. (Compare Jdg 6:36-40; Isa 7:11-14; Joh 6:30; Mar 11:2; Mar 14:13, etc.)
Zelzah – A place absolutely unknown.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Rachel’s sepulchre] This was nigh to Bethlehem. See Ge 35:19.
At Zelzah] If this be the name of a place, nothing is known of it.
The Hebrew betseltsach is translated by the Septuagint , dancing greatly: now this may refer to the joy they felt and expressed on finding the asses, or it may refer to those religious exultations, or playing on instruments of music, mentioned in the succeeding verses.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the borders of Benjamin; in the way to Bethlehem, Gen 35:19, which city was in Judah; and her sepulchre might be either in Judah or in Benjamin; for the possessions of those two tribes were bordering upon one another, and oft intermixed together: see Jos 18:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. When thou art departed from meto-dayThe design of these specific predictions of what shouldbe met with on the way, and the number and minuteness of which wouldarrest attention, was to confirm Saul’s reliance on the propheticcharacter of Samuel, and lead him to give full credence to what hadbeen revealed to him as the word of God.
Rachel’s sepulchrenearBeth-lehem (see on Ge 35:16).
Zelzahor Zelah, nowBet-jalah, in the neighborhood of that town.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When thou art departed from me today,…. Not as soon as he was departed, for he had some few miles to go from Ramah to Rachel’s grave near Bethlehem:
thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah; the Jews move a difficulty here, that Rachel’s sepulchre should be said to be in the border of Benjamin, when it was by Bethlehemephrath, in the tribe of Judah, Ge 35:19 and which they solve by observing, that these men were now, at the time Samuel was speaking, by the grave of Rachel, but as they were coming on he would meet them at Zelzah, in the border of Benjamin z; but there is no need of this, Rachel’s grave was not at Bethlehem, but in, the way to it; and besides, as these two tribes were contiguous, and this city being on the borders of both, it might be said at one time to be in the border of Benjamin, and at another in the border of Judah, or in Judah, without any contradiction. Of Zelzah we nowhere else read, but it is plain it was near the sepulchre of Rachel, and perhaps nearer than Bethlehem. The Arabic geographer a speaks of Rachel’s grave as in the midway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem; and says there were twelve stones upon it, and a stone arched vault over it; and the same is affirmed by Benjamin of Tudela b, who makes it to be but half a mile from Bethlehem. Jarchi would have Zelzah to be the same with Jerusalem, which is not probable:
and they will say unto thee, the asses which thou wentest to seek are found; as Samuel had before told Saul they were, 1Sa 9:20
and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses; or had left all thoughts about them, and concern for them, not minding whether he heard of them or not, and this before they were found; or otherwise it would have been no strange thing to drop all thoughts about them, when they were found:
and sorroweth for you; for Saul, and his servant; such was the anxiety and distress of his mind lest any evil should befall them, having been gone so long in quest of the asses, that he had as it were forgot them, and lost all care and concern about them, in comparison of his son and servant; but especially his sorrow rose high for his son, as follows:
saying, what shall I do for my son? though he was concerned for his servant, yet most for his son; he might have another servant, and not another son, and Saul seems to be his only one, which made his grief for him the greater, see 1Ch 8:33. Now as these were contingent events here foretold, as meeting with two men at a certain place described, the words related expressly they should say to him when he met them, and these exactly coming to pass, would most clearly prove Samuel to be a true prophet, and confirm Saul in the belief of what he had said and done to him concerning the kingdom. Another sign follows.
z Bereshit Rabba, sect. 82. fol. 71. 4. R. Isaiah, Jarchi, Kimchi, Abarbinel, & Abendana in loc. a Chinat. 3. par. 5. b ltinerar. p. 47.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To confirm the consecration of Saul as king over Israel, which had been effected through the anointing, Samuel gave him three more signs which would occur on his journey home, and would be a pledge to him that Jehovah would accompany his undertakings with His divine help, and practically accredit him as His anointed. These signs, therefore, stand in the closest relation to the calling conveyed to Saul through his anointing.
1Sa 10:2 The first sign: “ When thou goest away from me to-day (i.e., now), thou wilst meet two men at Rachel’s sepulchre, on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses of thy father, which thou wentest to seek, are found. Behold, they father hath given up , the words (i.e., talking) about the asses, and troubleth himself about you, saying, What shall I do about my son? ” According to Gen 35:16., Rachel’s sepulchre was on the way from Bethel to Bethlehem, only a short distance from the latter place, and therefore undoubtedly on the spot which tradition has assigned to it since the time of Jerome, viz., on the site of the Kubbet Rahil, half an hour to the north-west of Bethlehem, on the left of the road to Jerusalem, about an hour and a half from the city (see at Gen 35:20). This suits the passage before us very well, if we give up the groundless assumption that Saul came to Samuel at Ramah and was anointed by him there, and assume that the place of meeting, which is not more fully defined in 1 Samuel 9, was situated to the south-west of Bethlehem.
(Note: As the account of Saul’s meeting with Samuel, in 1 Samuel 9, when properly understood, is not at variance with the tradition concerning the situation of Rachel’s tomb, and the passage before us neither requires us on the one had to understand the Ephratah of Gen 35:19 and Gen 48:7 as a different place from Bethlehem, and erase “ that is Bethlehem ” from both passages as a gloss that has crept into the text, and then invent an Ephratah in the neighbourhood of Bethel between Benjamin and Ephraim, as Thenius does, nor warrants us on the other hand in transferring Rachel’s tomb to the neighbourhood of Bethel, in opposition to the ordinary tradition, as Kurtz proposes; so the words of Jer 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children,” etc., furnish no evident that Rachel’s tomb was at Ramah (i.e., er Rm). “For here (in the cycle of prophecy concerning the restoration of all Israel, Jer 30-33) Rachel’s weeping is occasioned by the fact of the exiles of Benjamin having assembled together in Ramah (Jer 40:1), without there being any reason why Rachel’s tomb should be sought for in the neighbourhood of this Ramah” (Delitzsch on Gen 35:20).)
The expression “in the border of Benjamin” is not at variance with this. It is true that Kubbet Rahil is about an hour and a quarter from the southern boundary of Benjamin, which ran past the Rogel spring, through the valley of Ben-hinnom (Jos 18:16); but the expression must not be so pressed as to be restricted to the actual site of the grave, since otherwise the further definition “ at Zelzah ” would be superfluous, as Rachel’s tomb was unquestionably a well-known locality at that time. If we suppose the place called Zelzah, the situation of which has not yet been discovered,
(Note: Ewald ( Gesch. iii. p. 29) supposes Zelzah to be unsuitable to the context, if taken as the name of a place, and therefore follows the of the lxx, and renders the word “in great haste;” but he has neither given any reason why the name of a place is unsuitable here, nor considered that the Septuagint rendering is merely conjectural, and has nothing further to support it than the fact that the translators rendered , “he sprang upon him,” in 1Sa 10:6 and 1Sa 11:6, and took to be an emphatic form of .)
to have been about mid-way between Rachel’s tomb and the Rogel spring, Samuel could very well describe the spot where Saul would meet the two men in the way that he has done. This sign, by confirming the information which Samuel had given to Saul with reference to the asses, was to furnish him with a practical proof that what Samuel had said to him with regard to the monarchy would quite as certainly come to pass, and therefore not only to deliver him from all anxiety as to the lost animals of his father, but also to direct his thoughts to the higher destiny to which God had called him through Samuel’s anointing.
1Sa 10:3-4 The second sign (1Sa 10:3, 1Sa 10:4): “ Then thou shalt go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the terebinth of Tabor; and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Bethel, carrying one three kinds, one three loaves of bread, and one a bottle of wine. They will ask thee after thy welfare, and give thee two loaves; receive them at their hands.” The terebinth of Tabor is not mentioned anywhere else, and nothing further can be determined concerning it, than that it stood by the road leading from Rachel’s tomb to Gibeah.
(Note: The opinion expressed by Ewald and Thenius, that Deborah’s mourning oak (Gen 35:8) is intended, and that Tabor is either a different form of Deborah, or that Tabor should be altered into Deborah, has no foundation to rest upon; for the fact that the oak referred to stood below (i.e., to the south of) Bethel, and the three men whom Saul was to meet at the terebinth of Tabor were going to Bethel, by no means establishes the identity of the two, as their going up to Bethel does not prove that they were already in the neighbourhood of Bethel. Moreover, the Deborah oak was on the north of Gibeah, whereas Saul met the three men between Rachel’s tomb and Gibeah, i.e., to the south of Gibeah.)
The fact that the three men were going up to God at Bethel, shows that there was still a place of sacrifice consecrated to the Lord at Bethel, where Abraham and Jacob had erected altars to the Lord who had appeared to them there (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:3-4; Gen 28:18-19; Gen 35:7); for the kids and loaves and wine were sacrificial gifts which they were about to offer. , to ask after one’s welfare, i.e., to greet in a friendly manner (cf. Jdg 18:15; Gen 43:27). The meaning of this double sign consisted in the fact that these men gave Saul two loaves from their sacrificial offerings. In this he was to discern a homage paid to the anointed of the Lord; and he was therefore to accept the gift in this sense at their hand.
1Sa 10:5-6 The third sign (1Sa 10:5, 1Sa 10:6) Saul was to receive at Gibeah of God, where posts of the Philistines were stationed. Gibeath ha-Elohim is not an appellative, signifying a high place of God, i.e., a high place dedicated to God, but a proper name referring to Gibeah of Benjamin, the native place of Saul, which was called Gibeah of Saul from the time when Saul resided there as king (1Sa 10:16: cf. 1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 15:34; 2Sa 21:6; Isa 10:29). This is very apparent from the fact that, according to 1Sa 10:10., all the people of Gibeah had known Saul of old, and therefore could not comprehend how he had all at once come to be among the prophets. The name Gibeah of God is here given to the town on account of a bamah or sacrificial height which rose within or near the town (1Sa 10:13), and which may possibly have been renowned above other such heights, as the seat of a society of prophets. are not bailiffs of the Philistines, still less columns erected as signs of their supremacy (Thenius), but military posts of the Philistines, as 1Sa 13:3-4, and 2Sa 8:6, 2Sa 8:14, clearly show. The allusion here to the posts of the Philistines at Gibeah is connected with what was about to happen to Saul there. At the place where the Philistines, those severe oppressors of Israel, had set up military posts, the Spirit of God was to come upon Saul, and endow him with the divine power that was required for his regal office. “ And it shall come to pass, when thou comest to the town there, thou wilt light upon a company of prophets coming down from the high place ( bamah, the sacrificial height), before them lyre and tambourin, and flute, and harp, and they prophesying.” signifies a rope or cord, then a band or company of men. It does not follow that because this band of prophets was coming down from the high place, the high place at Gibeah must have been the seat of a school of the prophets. They might have been upon a pilgrimage to Gibeah. The fact that they were preceded by musicians playing, seems to indicate a festal procession. Nebel and Kinnor are stringed instruments which were used after David’s time in connection with the psalmody of divine worship (1Ch 13:8; 1Ch 15:20; Psa 33:2; Psa 43:4, etc.). The nebel was an instrument resembling a lyre, the kinnor was more like a guitar than a harp. Toph : the tambourin, which was played by Miriam at the Red Sea (Exo 15:20). Chalil : the flute; see my Bibl. Archaeology, ii. 137. By the prophesying of these prophets we are to understand an ecstatic utterance of religious feelings to the praise of God, as in the case of the seventy elders in the time of Moses ( Num 11:25). Whether it took the form of a song or of an enthusiastic discourse, cannot be determined; in any case it was connected with a very energetic action indicative of the highest state of mental excitement. (For further remarks on these societies of prophets, see at 1Sa 19:18.)
1Sa 10:6 “ And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou wilt prophesy with them, and be changed into another man.” “Ecstatic states,” says Tholuck ( die Propheten, p. 53), “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 with 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 ( formed like a verb for ; so again in 1Sa 10:13), and was entirely to transform him. This transformation is not to be regarded indeed 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 ” (1Sa 10:9). Heart is used in the ordinary scriptural sense, as the centre of the whole mental and psychical life of will, desire, thought, perception, and feeling (see Delitzsch, Bibl. Psychol. pp. 248ff., ed. 2). Through this sign his anointing as king was to be inwardly sealed.
1Sa 10:7 “ When these signs are come unto thee (the Kethibh is to be read , as in Psa 45:16 and Est 4:4; and the Keri is a needless emendation), do to thee what thy hand findeth, i.e., act according to the circumstances (for this formula, see Jdg 9:33); for God will be with thee.” The occurrence of the signs mentioned was to assure him of the certainty that God would assist him in all that he undertook as king. The first opportunity for action was afforded him by the Ammonite Nahash, who besieged Jabesh-gilead (1Sa 11:1-15).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(2) When thou art departed from me to day, then . . .Here follows Samuels careful description of the three signs which should meet the future king as he went from Ramah to his fathers home in Benjamin. Each of these tokens, which were to strengthen the young Sauls faith, contained a solemn lesson, the deep meaning of which, as his life went on, the future sovereign would be able to ponder over. Each of the three signs from heaven met him at one of the sacred spots which were so plentifully dotted over these southern districts of Canaan, memorable for the life-stories, first of Abraham and the patriarchs, and then of the warrior-chieftains of the Israel of the conquest. The selection of localities famous as homes of prayer, or sacred as the resting-place of the illustrious dead, taught the eternal truth that help comes from the holy place. At the sepulchre of Rachel, the loved ancestress of the warlike tribe of Benjamin, to which the new king belonged, men should meet him on his homeward journey with the news that the lost asses which he had gone to seek were found again. This showed him that henceforth in his new life he was to dismiss all lower cares, and give himself up alone to higher and more important matters. A king must take counsel and thought for the weal of a whole people; he must put aside now and for ever all consideration for himself and his family, all anxiety for the mere ordinary prosperity of life. God, who had chosen him, would provide for these things, as He had now done in the case of the lost asses. Further on in his journey, when he reached the terebinth-tree of Tabor, three men on a pilgrimage to the great Beth-el sanctuary would meet him, and would offer him some of the loaves which they proposed offering at Beth-el. The signification of this peculiar gift was that some portion of the products of the soil, which had hitherto been appropriated exclusively to the service and support of the sanctuary, in future should be devoted to the maintenance of the anointed of the Lord. The third sign which he should perceive would meet him as he approached his home, which was situated near a famous holy place of prayer, known as the Gibeah, or Hill of God. A number of prophets belonging to one of the schools of the prophets founded by Samuel, coming from the altar on the hill of God, where sacrifice had just been offered, would meet him. They would be plunged in prophetic raptures, he would hear them chanting hymns to the Eternal, accompanied by the music of their instruments. A new and mighty influence, Samuel told the astonished Saul, would, as he met this company of singers, come upon him, and involuntarily he who evidently had never joined before in any of these solemn choruses would sing his part with the rest. The new influence, said the old seer, which would then come upon him would be the Spirit of the Lord, and from that moment he would be a changed man. Never in his after days of glory and might was the king to forget how, in a moment, the Divine power had swept down and given himthe ignorant shepherd, the humble vine-dresser, the heir to a few asses and sheep, to some fields of corn or vineyardswisdom, power, and a mighty kingdom. He must remember that in a moment the same Divine power might wing away from him its solemn flight; that was the lesson of the third sign which was to meet him on his homeward journey.
The LXX. and Vulg. have a somewhat long addition to 1Sa. 10:1. It is, however, manifestly an explanatory gloss, and is made up from 1Sa. 10:16-17 of 1 Samuel 9.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(2) Thou shalt find two men by Rachels sepulchre.This tomb of the loved wife of the patriarch does not thus appear to have been very far from Ramah, whence Saul started. The words of Jer. 31:15, which speak of the future massacre of the Bethlehem innocents by Herod, connects Ramah and Rachels tomb: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children.
At Zelzah.This locality has never been identified. Some have supposed it was the same as Zela in Benjamin. the place where the bodies of Saul and Jonathan were eventually buried. The LXX. curiously render it as though it were a verb, dancing (lit. springing) vehemently, or, as Ewald would translate the Greek words, in great haste, of course, with reference to the two men who brought Saul the news of the recovered asses.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. When thou art departed from me Samuel proceeds, 1Sa 10:2-7, to give Saul three signs by which he shall know that God had chosen him king.
Rachel’s sepulchre See Gen 35:19-20. There is no sufficient reason to question the traditional site of this place, which is at the modern Kubbet Rahil, a little to the northwest of Beth-lehem.
In the border of Benjamin This ran through the valley of Hinnom, just south of Jerusalem. Jos 18:16.
Zelzah Some identify this place with the modern Beit-jala; but this passage would rather imply that it was situated north of Rachel’s tomb, and nearer to the border of Benjamin. It is nowhere mentioned again.
Left the care of the asses Literally, the words of the asses; he has left off talking about them, and says more words about his absent son.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Samuel Indicates Certain Signs That Saul Will Receive That Will Demonstrate That It Is As He Has Said ( 1Sa 10:2-8 ).
Matters were not just to be left there. A deliberately private anointing having taken place it was now necessary for Saul to be assured that God was with him and that Samuel’s assurances could be accepted as being from Him. Samuel was aware of how huge a step this was for the young man Saul. It was one thing to have come of military stock. It was another to be appointed commander-in-chief over all the hosts of Israel, especially at so early an age, and to be able to call on them at need.
Thus prior to his appointment being confirmed before all Israel, it was necessary that Saul himself have his confidence boosted. And even then he would be overwhelmed at the thought of what was to happen to him (1Sa 10:22). He was still only a young man.
The assurances given to him are briefly as follows:
1). He will learn that Samuel’s supernatural knowledge about the finding of the lost asses was true (1Sa 9:20), and this is backed up by a further supernatural revelation of where he will meet his informants (1Sa 10:2).
2). He will be met by men who are going to a high place who will provide him and his servant with necessary provisions, demonstrating that God is able to meet his needs at all times, and to feed His people, and that he must therefore look always to YHWH’s provision (1Sa 10:3-4).
3). He will meet up with the band of prophets and will at that stage become another man because the Spirit of YHWH will come mightily on him. And he will himself prophesy revealing to all that the Spirit of YHWH is with him, thereby demonstrating to the spiritual in Israel that he is truly God’s man (1Sa 10:5-6).
1Sa 10:2
“ When you have departed from me today, then you will come across two men by Rachel’s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The asses which you went to look for are found, and, lo, your father has ceased caring for the asses, and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?” ’
The first sign that is given to Saul in order to confirm what Samuel has told him, will be that he will learn about the recovery of the lost asses, (a recovery which Samuel has already miraculously told him about – 1Sa 9:20), from two men whom he will find by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. The site of Zelzah is unknown. Rachel’s sepulchre was somewhere on the road from Bethel to Bethlehem (Gen 35:19) which passed through Benjamin’s territory. They will also inform him that his father has now become worried about him. ‘Two men’ represent a true witness.
The reference to Rachel’s sepulchre may have in mind a tradition that Rachel wept for her people when they were in trouble (see Jer 31:15). They were certainly in trouble now with a Philistine invasion in progress (1Sa 9:16). To learn near Rachel’s sepulchre that the lost asses had been found would be an encouragement concerning the greater problem.
(If the city they had visited was Ramah, and if the sepulchre of Rachel was the one pointed out by us to today, this would have involved Saul and his servant in going a long way out of their way. However neither of the above facts are certain. There is in fact no indication that the city was Ramah).
1Sa 10:3-4
“ Then shall you go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor, and there will meet you there 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, and they will salute you, and give you two loaves of bread, which you will receive from their hand.”
The second sign will be that at the oak of Tabor he will be met by three men going up to God to Beth-el (or ‘to the house of God’), one carrying three kids (presumably for sacrifice), and another carrying three loaves of bread. The third will be carrying wine. These men will greet Saul and his servant and will give them two loaves of bread, presumably after chatting with them and discovering that they are short of food, which they are to accept. To ‘salute’ a man on the way meant to stop and talk together, and often share food together. Compare how Jesus told his disciples to salute no one on the way because they were in a hurry (Luk 10:4). He was not saying in that case do not even acknowledge them.
This reception of necessary provisions in this way would be an indication for Saul in the future that God could provide all that he needed, and that his eyes must therefore be continually on YHWH.
1Sa 10:5
‘ After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is, and it will come about that when you are come there, to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them, and they will be prophesying,”
After that they would come to the hill (gib‘eah) of God ‘where the garrison of the Philistines is’. This need not mean that the Philistine soldiers were still there. It may simply have been a local landmark called ‘the garrison of the Philistines’ because they had once had a garrison there. But see 1Ch 11:16 where the Philistines did have an actual garrison in that vicinity. That could, however, simply indicate that they had by then reoccupied it. On the other hand we do in fact know from 1Sa 9:16 that there had recently been a Philistine incursion so that it is possible that there was an actual occupied garrison there. The point to bear in mind is that a peaceful gathering of Israel at Mizpah (1Sa 10:17) would have been very unlikely if the Philistines had been in the vicinity in any force. In that situation Gilgal would have been a better choice. Thus the question is an open one.
On arrival at the neighbouring city (possibly the Gibeah of Benjamin (Judges 19; Judges 20; 1Sa 13:2) which was Saul’s home and headquarters – 1Sa 10:26; 1Sa 11:4) they will be met by a band of prophets coming down from the high place, playing music, singing and prophesying (praising God under inspiration, compare 1Ch 11:16). This would suggest that they had been taking part in festal activities.
The psaltery and harp were stringed instruments, the pipes a kind of flute, and the timbrel possibly a hand drum or tambourine.
1Sa 10:6
“ And the Spirit of YHWH will come mightily on you, and you will prophesy with them, and will be turned into another man.”
And then the Spirit of YHWH would come mightily on Saul, and he too would prophesy and would be turned into another man. The purpose of the Spirit of YHWH coming mightily on a man has been especially brought out in the book of Jdg 15:14; compare Jdg 3:10; Jdg 6:34; Jdg 11:29. It was in order that he might ‘judge’ and deliver God’s people. Thus this indicates that Saul was to become the instrument of the Spirit of YHWH in deliverance, and had he remained faithful to God, or had he learned to repent like David did, he would have been wholly successful.
“And will be turned into another man.” That is one who is given the power to accomplish the purpose that YHWH has for him, an inspired leader of men.
1Sa 10:7
“ And let it be, when these signs are come to you, that you do as occasion shall serve you, for God is with you.”
Then once all these signs have come to him he has to hold himself in readiness for doing whatever God requires of him. ‘Do as occasion shall serve you’ (literally ‘do what your hand shall find’) signifies seizing the opportunities that God offers when they come.
1Sa 10:8
“ And you shall go down before me to Gilgal, and, behold, I will come down unto you, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings. Seven days shall you tarry, till I come to you, and show you what you will do.”
Once the signs had been fulfilled Saul was to go down before Samuel to Gilgal. Gilgal was one of Samuel’s three main venues (1Sa 7:16) and furthest from the Philistine menace, being in the Jordan rift valley (the Arabah). Samuel seems regularly to have offered sacrifices there. Saul was to go down to the Sanctuary there and wait before God for seven days, possibly partaking in a seven day festival of worship and praise following the pattern of the regular feasts (compare 1Sa 9:13). This suggests that Gilgal was seen as the equivalent in those times of the old Tabernacle, as the place where Israel were to meet for their regular feasts. Then at the end Samuel would come to him and show him what he had to do.
There is nothing here to suggest that Samuel sees this as something to be delayed. It is totally out of place if it is seen as directly referring to 1Sa 13:18 for too much intervenes. The impression that we are given here was that Saul was to do it fairly promptly. It is not unusual in Scripture for a command to be given and the assumption then made that it has been fulfilled without mentioning it in detail. Thus when we learn that ‘he came to the high place’ in 1Sa 10:13 that may be intended to indicate his immediate fulfilment of this command. Note how this is then followed by the casting of lots at Mizpah, which is followed by the deliverance from the Ammonites, which is followed by a visit to Gilgal for the renewal of the kingship. It would therefore appear strange if this clear command had not been fulfilled before then.
It seems very probable therefore that the writer, knowing what he is going to say in 13:18, introduces this statement knowing that it was fulfilled earlier, while wanting readers also to connect it with 1Sa 13:18, and to recognise that this was to be Saul’s regular approach when seeking the mind of YHWH about his planned actions. It may well be therefore that 1Sa 10:13 is to be intended as indicating that that was when it was initially fulfilled without over-emphasising the fact.
It would seem from this verse that Samuel regularly required Saul to experience a similar seven days of waiting on God before he gave him God’s instructions, having the aim in mind of keeping Saul’s heart set firmly on YHWH. The point is that Saul is not to see himself as his own master but very much as the appointed servant of YHWH. Thus 1Sa 13:18 gives us one instance of when he does this. In other words Samuel wanted Saul continually to recognise that he must wait before God prior to the coming to him of the prophetic word which would give him final instructions. In order to receive that word his heart must be in readiness to receive it. Samuel was doing his best to keep Saul on the right track. Israel had two annual seven day feasts, the feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles. But no mention is made of those feasts in connection with this command to Saul, and Samuel would have been present at those from the beginning. Thus Samuel’s point may have been that whenever the tribes were assembled for battle the same procedures had to be followed as at the feasts, seven days of sacrificing and waiting on God, after which he would always come to them to reveal the mind of YHWH. That is why when Saul did not wait it was so unforgivable. He had over-ridden YHWH.
We may certainly see that the regular feasts did provide Saul with a pattern as to what he should do during the seven days of waiting. But this seven day wait was to be a time of preparation of heart. Naturally to a war-leader such waiting could be a bit of a trial. But to Samuel it was important, because it ensured that the war-leader recognised his responsibility to look in faith to YHWH and that in the end the glory was to go to YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
(2) When thou art departed from me today, 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.
All these signs were intended to convince Saul, that in all Samuel did, he had acted under the authority of God. And no doubt they had their effect by way of confirmation.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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?
Ver. 2. When thou art departed. ] Saul is confirmed in his calling to the kingly office by sundry signs, which was dignatio stapenda. Think the same of our sacraments, given to confirm our faith in our high and heavenly calling by Christ.
By Rachel’s sepulchre.] Which stood in the borders of Judah and Benjamin; Gregory here noteth, that this sepulchre should have reminded him of his mortality; a a good allay to his new dignity. b It is reported that heretofore at Constantinople, when the emperor was first placed in his throne, a mason came to him with choice of stones, to ask him which of those he would please to choose for his tombstone.
a Monimenta quasi mentem monentia.
b Samuel sendeth Saul newly anointed to Rachel’s sepulchre, that he might not be glutted with the honour he was entering upon. – Mr Love.
thou shalt find. Three signs given (compare Mar 14:3) to indicate the coming change.
men. Hebrew. ‘enosh. App-14.
Rachel’s sepulchre. Compare Gen 35:20.
lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
Rachel’s: Gen 35:19, Jer 31:15
Zelzah: Jos 18:28
The asses: 1Sa 10:16, 1Sa 9:3-5
care: Heb. business
Reciprocal: Gen 24:14 – thereby Gen 29:17 – Rachel Gen 35:20 – the pillar Gen 48:7 – Rachel 1Sa 9:5 – take thought 1Sa 10:9 – and all those signs 2Sa 21:14 – Zelah Eze 24:24 – when Luk 2:12 – General Luk 19:30 – General Luk 22:10 – General
1Sa 10:2. By Rachels sepulchre In the way to Beth-lehem, which city was in Judah; her sepulchre might be either in Judah, or in Benjamin; for the possessions of those two tribes were bordering one upon another. The first place he directs him to was a sepulchre, the sepulchre of one of his ancestors. There he must read a lecture of his own mortality, and, now he had a crown in his eye, must think of his grave, in which all his honour would be laid in the dust.
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 {b} 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?
(b) Samuel confirms him by these signs, that God has appointed him king.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes