1 Samuel 9:1-14

Saul's Search

1 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ¹Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite *, a mighty man of valor.

2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a ²choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; ³from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, "Take now with you one of the servants, and arise, go search for the donkeys."

4 He passed through ⁴the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ⁵Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ⁶Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

5 When they came to the land of ⁷Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come, and let us return, ⁸or else my father will cease to be concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious for us."

6 He said to him, "Behold now, there is ⁹a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ¹⁰all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there, ¹¹perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out."

7 Then Saul said to his servant, "But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is ¹²no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?"

8 The servant answered Saul again and said, "Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ¹³tell us our way."

9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, "Come, and let us go to the seer "; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called ¹⁴a seer.)

10 Then Saul said to his servant, "Well said; come, let us go." So they went to the city where * the man of God was.

11 As they went up the slope to the city, ¹⁵they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, "Is the seer here?"

12 They answered them and said, "He is; see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for ¹⁶the people have a sacrifice on ¹⁷the high place today.

13 "As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because ¹⁸he must bless the sacrifice; afterward * those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once."

14 So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

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1 Samuel 9:1-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 9

This chapter gives an account of Saul, the person the Lord had appointed to be king of Israel; it relates his descent, and describes his person, 1Sa 9:1,2 and how seeking his father's asses, which were lost, he providentially came to the place where Samuel dwelt, 1Sa 9:3-5 and being advised by his servant, and approving of his advice, he concluded to go to him, and inquire the way he should go, 1Sa 9:6-10 and being directed by some young maidens, they found him presently in the street going to a feast, 1Sa 9:11-14 and Samuel having some previous notice from the Lord of such a person's coming to him that day, when he met him invited him to dine with him, and obliged him to stay with him that day, 1Sa 9:15-19 satisfied him about his asses, and gave him a hint of the grandeur he was to be raised to, to which Saul made a modest reply, 1Sa 9:20,21 and Samuel treated him at the feast in a very respectable manner, 1Sa 9:22-24 and privately communed with him of things preparatory to what he was about to make known unto him, 1Sa 9:25-27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. 1 Samuel 14:51; 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:36-39
2. 1 Samuel 10:24
3. 1 Samuel 10:23
4. Joshua 24:33
5. 2 Kings 4:42
6. Joshua 19:42
7. 1 Samuel 1:1
8. 1 Samuel 10:2
9. Deuteronomy 33:1; 1 Kings 13:1; 2 Kings 5:8
10. 1 Samuel 3:19
11. Genesis 24:42
12. 1 Kings 14:3; 2 Kings 5:15; 2 Kings 8:8, 9; Ezekiel 13:19
13. 1 Samuel 9:6
14. 2 Samuel 24:11; 2 Kings 17:13; 1 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Chronicles 26:28; 1 Chronicles 29:29; Isaiah 30:10; Amos 7:12
15. Genesis 24:11, 15; Genesis 29:8, 9; Exodus 2:16
16. Genesis 31:54; Numbers 28:11-15; 1 Kings 3:2
17. 1 Samuel 7:17; 1 Samuel 10:5
18. Luke 9:16; John 6:11

Footnotes 2

[a]. Or "wealth" or "influence"
[b]. Or "behold"