Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 10:3
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:
3. the plain of Tabor ] Rather, the oak of Tabor. It has been ingeniously conjectured that this is to be identified with the oak under which Rebekah’s nurse Deborah was buried “under Bethel” (Gen 35:8), and the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel under which Deborah judged Israel (Jdg 4:5), Tabor being either a corruption or dialectic variation for Deborah; but nothing certain is known about the place.
going up to God to Bethel ] On the sanctuary at Bethel see note on 1Sa 7:16. As yet the presence of God was only connected with holy places, or the Ark, and the Omnipresence of God scarcely realised. See Gen 28:16 and 1Sa 14:36.
a bottle of wine ] i.e. a skin bottle: Sept. . Cp. 1Sa 1:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The plain of Tabor – It should be the oak or terebinth of Tabor (Jdg 4:11 note). It has been ingeniously conjectured that Tabor is either a different form of Deborah, or a corruption of it, and that the oak, or terebinth of Tabor, is the same as Allon-bachuth, the oak under which Deborah was buried, and which lay beneath Bethel Gen 35:8. The terebinth, where the three men came upon Saul, must have been at some point previous to that where the road leading northward from Jerusalem branches; when they reached that point they would go on with their offerings to Bethel, he would pursue his journey to Gibeah.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Three men going up to God to Bethel] Jacob’s altar was probably there still, Ge 28:19. However this might be, it was still considered, as its name implies, the house of God; and to it they were now going, to offer sacrifice.
The three kids were for sacrifice; the three loaves of bread to be offered probably as a thank-offering; and the bottle or skin full of wine, for a libation. When the blood was poured out before the Lord, then they feasted on the flesh and on the bread; and probably had a sufficiency of the wine left for their own drinking.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To the plain of Tabor; not that at the foot of Mount Tabor, which was far from these parts; but another belonging to some other place, or man, called Tabor. Beth-el; properly so called, which was in Ephraim, where there was a noted high place, famous for Jacobs vision there, Gen 28:19, where it is probable they offered sacrifices in this confused state of things, when the ark was in one place, and the tabernacle, if not destroyed, in another. Or, to the house of God, i.e. to Kirjath-jearim, where the ark, the habitation of God, now was, 1Sa 7:1,2,16.
Loaves of bread might be offered, either by themselves, as Lev 2:4, or with other sacrifices.
A bottle of wine; which was poured forth in drink-offerings. See Lev 23:13; Num 15:5.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. the plainor, “the oakof Tabor,” not the celebrated mount, for that was far distant.
three men going up to God toBeth-elapparently to offer sacrifices there at a time when theark and the tabernacle were not in a settled abode, and God had notyet declared the permanent place which He should choose. The kidswere for sacrifice, the loaves for the offering, and the wine for thelibations.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then shall thou go on forward from thence,…. From Zelzah and Rachel’s sepulchre there:
and thou shall come to the plain of Tabor; not that which lay at the bottom of the famous and well known mountain Tabor; for that was in the tribe of Zebulun, at a great distance from hence: but a plain, so called perhaps from the name of the owner of it:
and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel: the same with Luz, where Jacob built an altar, and called upon God; and so Elohimbethel here is the same with Elbethel, Ge 35:6. Here was an high place as at Ramah, whither in those times, when there was no fixed place for worship, the tabernacle at one place, and the ark at another, the people went up to worship; and they might the rather choose this, because it was a place devoted to the worship and service of God by their father Jacob; so the Targum paraphrases it,
“going up to worship God in Bethel;”
so Josephus c, they were going thither to pray, and, as it seems by what follows, to sacrifice: one carrying three kids; which were used in sacrifice, and were a pretty heavy load if carried far; though, according to Josephus d, it was but one kid:
and another carrying three loaves of bread; for the minchah, the meat offering, or rather bread offering, Le 2:4
and another carrying a bottle of wine; for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin of wine being required for each kid, Nu 15:5. This bottle, Ben Melech says, was a bottle made of skin, a leathern bottle or bag, or a potter’s vessel or pitcher; the Targum renders it, a flagon of wine.
c Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 2. d lbid.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor.The accurate translation of the Hebrew is to the terebinth or oak of Tabor. There was evidently a history, now lost, connected with the terebinth of Tabor. Ewald suggests that Tabor is a different form for Deborah, and that this historic tree was the oak beneath which Deborah, the nurse of Rachel, was buried (Gen. 35:8).
Going up to God to Beth-el.This since the old patriarchal days had been a sacred spot. Samuel used to visit it as judge, and hold his court there annually, no doubt on account of the number of pilgrims who were in the habit of visiting it. These men were evidently on a pilgrimage to the old famous shrine.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. The plain of Tabor Rather, the oak of Tabor, a spot apparently well known to Saul and Samuel, but now lost from our knowledge. Thenius’s conjecture that the oak of Deborah (Gen 35:8) is meant cannot be correct, for that was at Beth-el, far to the north of Saul’s home.
Three men going up to God to Beth-el That is, going up to worship and sacrifice unto God at Beth-el. This “shows that there was still a place of sacrifice consecrated to the Lord at Beth-el, 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.” Keil. Beth-el was one of the places regularly visited by Samuel in his yearly circuit, (1Sa 7:16,) and here were doubtless priests, and at this time, when the tabernacle was desolate, (see note on 1Sa 9:12,) these three devoted men knew no more appropriate place to sacrifice unto God. Perhaps, too, the tabernacle was at Beth-el at this time, for after the desolation of Shiloh it seems to have become again a movable sanctuary, and appears in later history at Nob and Gibeon. 1Sa 21:1-6; 1Ch 16:39; comp. Jdg 20:27.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 10:3. To the plain of Tabor To the high-oak of Tabor. Hiller, 359.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Sa 10:3 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:
Ver. 3. Going up to God, ] i.e., To ask counsel of God; before whom they might not come empty handed, but were to bring the best of the best.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
plain = oak, or terebinth; growing generally alone, becomes a conspicuous landmark.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
Beth-el = House of God. Evidently a place of worship, in the absence of any “place”, according to Deu 12:5, &c. Compare Exo 20:24.
carrying. Probably their firstfruits. Compare 2Ki 4:42.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Tabor: Jos 19:12, Jos 19:22, Jdg 4:6, Jdg 4:12, Jdg 8:18, Psa 89:12
Bethel: Gen 28:19, Gen 28:22, Gen 35:1, Gen 35:3, Gen 35:6, Gen 35:7
three kids: Lev 1:10, Lev 3:6, Lev 3:12, Lev 7:13, Lev 23:13, Num 15:5-12
Reciprocal: 2Sa 16:1 – a bottle Jer 32:8 – Then I
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 10:3. Thou shalt come to the plain Not that at the foot of mount Tabor, which was far from these parts; but another, belonging to some other place. Beth-el Properly so called, which was in Ephraim, where there was a noted high place, famous for Jacobs vision there, (Gen 28:19,) and where it is probable they offered sacrifices, in this confused state of things, when the ark was in one place, and the tabernacle in another.