1 Samuel 9:3

3 Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha'ul's father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha'ul, "Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys."

1 Samuel 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 9:3

And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost
Had got out of the stables or fields, in which they were kept, and strayed from thence:

and Kish said to Saul his son, take now one of the servants with thee,
and arise, go seek the asses;
he chose not to send his servants only, who might not be so careful and diligent in searching for them, but his son, and not him alone, but a servant with him to wait upon him, and assist him. And it was quite agreeable to the simplicity of those times for persons of equal or greater substance to be employed in such an affair; asses made a considerable part of the wealth and riches of men, were rode upon by persons of quality, and were fed and taken care of by the sons of dukes and princes; see ( Job 1:3 ) ( Judges 5:10 ) ( Genesis 36:24 ) . The Jews

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 have a tradition, that this servant was Doeg the Edomite.

F23 Hieron. Trad. Heb. in Paralip, fol. 83. A.

1 Samuel 9:3 In-Context

1 There was a man from Binyamin named Kish the son of Avi'el, the son of Tz'ror, the son of B'khorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a man from Binyamin. He was a man of substance and brave as well.

2 He had a son named Sha'ul who was young and good-looking; among the people of Isra'el there was no one better-looking than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Isra'el.

3 Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha'ul's father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha'ul, "Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys."

4 He went through the hills of Efrayim and the territory of Shalishah, but they didn't find them. Then they went through the territory of Sha'alim, but they weren't there. They went through the territory of Binyamin but didn't find them there either.

5 On reaching the territory of Tzuf, Sha'ul said to his servant with him, "Come, let's go back; otherwise my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."