1 Samuel 10:24

24 And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

1 Samuel 10:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 10:24

And Samuel said to all the people, see ye him whom the Lord
hath chosen
For the choice being made by lot, the disposal of which is of the Lord, it is properly attributed to him, and the people could not object to it, but must allow it was the Lord's doing. Eupolemus ^F11, an Heathen writer, says, that Saul was made king by Samuel by the counsel or will of God; and Samuel appeals to their eyes for the goodness of the choice, a better could not have been made:

that there is none like him among the people?
so graceful, so stately, so prince like and majestic; they wanted to have a king like such the nations had; and Saul was such an one, had all the outward appearance of grandeur that could be wished for, and which in other nations recommended persons to the imperial dignity:

and all the people shouted;
made a general ado:

and said, God save the king;
or "let the king live" ^F12; they owned and saluted him as their king, and prayed he might live long to reign over them; the Targum is, "let the king prosper"; let his reign be prosperous and glorious, and let him enjoy all health and happiness, peace and prosperity.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.
F12 (Klmh yxy) "vivat rex", Pagninus, Montanus

1 Samuel 10:24 In-Context

22 And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.

23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.

24 And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

25 And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.

26 Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.