1 Samuel 9:3

3 One day the donkeys of Saul's father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the attendants with you and go 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 an influential man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite.

2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.

3 One day the donkeys of Saul's father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the attendants with you and go look for the donkeys."

4 Saul and his attendant went through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the region of Shalishah, but they didn't find them. They went through the region of Shaalim-nothing. Then they went through the Benjaminite region but still didn't find them.

5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the attendant who was with him, "Come on, let's go back, or my father will stop [worrying] about the donkeys and start worrying about us."