1 Samuel 10:17

17 Samuel called the people to assemble before God at Mizpah.

1 Samuel 10:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 10:17

And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord at
Mizpeh.
] Not that in Gilead, but in the tribe of Benjamin, where the people had been before convened on a certain occasion, ( 1 Samuel 7:5 ) and the people called together could not be every individual of the nation, but the heads and elders of the people, their representatives, and who were summoned by the orders of Samuel; perhaps by an herald making proclamation and cry of the same, as the word signifies; and these were gathered together to the Lord, to have the following affair transacted before him, and under his guidance and direction; the priest perhaps being here with the Urim and Thummim, as Kimchi thinks, and who also conjectures that the ark might be brought hither at this time, the symbol of the divine Presence; though wherever the church and people of God were gathered together in his name, in a solemn manner, there the Lord was.

1 Samuel 10:17 In-Context

15 "So," said Saul's uncle, "what did Samuel tell you?"

16 Saul said, "He told us not to worry - the donkeys had been found." But Saul didn't breathe a word to his uncle of what Samuel said about the king business.

17 Samuel called the people to assemble before God at Mizpah.

18 He addressed the children of Israel, "This is God's personal message to you:

19 And now you want nothing to do with your God, the very God who has a history of getting you out of troubles of all sorts. "And now you say, 'No! We want a king; give us a king!' "Well, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get! Present yourselves formally before God, ranked in tribes and families."