1 Samuel 9:1-10

Samuel Anoints Saul

1 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

2 Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

3 Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.”

4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

6 But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.”

7 Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

8 The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel^[a] of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.”

9 (Formerly in Israel, if someone went to inquire of God, they would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)

10 “Good,” Saul said to his servant. “Come, let’s go.” So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

1 Samuel 9:1-10 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.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 18:11-20
• 2. S Ruth 2:1
• 3. 1 Samuel 14:51; 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39; Esther 2:5; Acts 13:21
• 4. S Genesis 39:6
• 5. 1 Samuel 10:24
• 6. 1 Samuel 10:23
• 7. ver 20; 1 Samuel 10:14,16
• 8. S Joshua 24:33
• 9. 2 Kings 4:42
• 10. 1 Samuel 10:2
• 11. 1 Samuel 1:1
• 12. 1 Samuel 10:2
• 13. S Deuteronomy 33:1; S Judges 13:6; 1 Kings 13:1
• 14. 1 Samuel 3:19
• 15. S Genesis 32:20; 1 Kings 13:7; 1 Kings 14:3; 2 Kings 4:42; 2 Kings 5:5,15; 2 Kings 8:8; Jeremiah 40:5
• 16. S Genesis 25:22
• 17. 2 Samuel 15:27; 2 Samuel 24:11; 2 Kings 17:13; 1 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Chronicles 21:9; 1 Chronicles 26:28; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 19:2; Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 30:10; Amos 7:12

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, about 1/10 ounce or about 3 grams