1 Samuel 10:1-16

Saul Anointed King

1 ¹Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head ²and kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over ³his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince^[a] over his heritage.

2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by ⁴Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ⁵'The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now ⁶your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, "What shall I do about my son?"'

3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the ⁷oak of Tabor. Three men ⁸going up ⁹to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.

5 After that you shall come to ¹⁰Gibeath-elohim,^[b]¹¹where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down ¹²from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.

6 ¹³Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, ¹⁴and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

7 Now when ¹⁵these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, ¹⁶for God is with you.

8 Then go down before me ¹⁷to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and ¹⁸to sacrifice peace offerings. ¹⁹Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do."

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.

10 When they came to ²⁰Gibeah,^[c] behold, a group of prophets met him, ²¹and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, "What has come over the son of Kish? ²²Is Saul also among the prophets?"

12 And a man of the place answered, ²³"And who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, ²⁴"Is Saul also among the prophets?"

13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 ²⁵Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, ²⁶"To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."

15 And Saul's uncle said, "Please tell me what Samuel said to you."

16 And Saul said to his uncle, ²⁷"He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found." But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

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1 Samuel 10:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 10

In this chapter we read of Saul's being anointed king by Samuel, 1Sa 10:1, and of certain signs given as confirming the same, which should come to pass, and did, before Saul got to his father's house, 1Sa 10:2-13, of his arrival at his father's house, and of what passed between him and his uncle there, 1Sa 10:14-16, of Samuel's calling all Israel together at Mizpeh, and of the election of Saul by lot to be king, and of his being declared such, 1Sa 10:17-25, and of his return to his city, being respected by some, and despised by others, 1Sa 10:26,27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 27

1. 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 16:13; 2 Samuel 2:4; 1 Kings 1:34, 39; 2 Kgs. 9:1, 3, 6
2. [Psalms 2:12]
3. Deuteronomy 32:9; Psalms 78:71
4. Genesis 35:19, 20
5. 1 Samuel 9:3, 4
6. 1 Samuel 9:5
7. Genesis 13:18
8. [Judges 20:31]
9. Genesis 28:22; Genesis 35:1, 3, 7
10. ver. 10
11. 1 Samuel 13:3, 4
12. [1 Samuel 9:12]
13. ver. 10; 1 Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 16:13; [Numbers 11:25; Judges 3:10; Judges 14:6, 19]
14. ver. 10; 1 Samuel 19:23, 24
15. Exodus 4:8; Judges 6:17; Luke 2:12
16. Joshua 1:5; Judges 6:12
17. 1 Samuel 11:14, 15; 1 Samuel 13:4
18. 1 Samuel 11:15
19. 1 Samuel 13:8
20. ver. 5
21. [See ver. 6 above]
22. 1 Samuel 19:24; [Matthew 13:54, 55; John 7:15]
23. [Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45]
24. [See ver. 11 above]
25. 1 Samuel 14:50
26. See 1 Samuel 9:4-6
27. 1 Samuel 9:20

Footnotes 3

[a]. Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall.... to be prince
[b]. Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God
[c]. Gibeah means the hill

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.