1 Samuel 9:25

25 When they went down from the place of worship to the town, they fixed up a bed for Saul on the roof,

1 Samuel 9:25 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 9:25

And when they came down from the high place into the city,
&c.] After the feast was ended; and though Ramah itself was situated on an eminence, yet it seems this high place was higher than that, being without the city upon an hill, and therefore they are said to come down from the one to the other; or they came down from the high place, and then ascended the hill to the city:

Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house:
of Samuel's house; when they were come thither, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of his house, which was flat, as the roofs of houses in this country were; see ( Deuteronomy 22:8 ) on which they could walk to and fro, and converse together; hence you read of preaching and praying on housetops, ( Matthew 10:27 ) ( Acts 10:9 ) what they communed about is not said, but may be guessed at, that it was about Saul's being made king; of the certainty of it, by divine designation; of the manner of executing that office wisely and justly; about the objections Saul had made of the smallness of his tribe and family; and of Samuel's willingness to resign the government to him, with other things of the like kind.

1 Samuel 9:25 In-Context

23 Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, which I told you to set aside."
24 So the cook brought the choice piece of the leg and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, "Look, here is the piece that was kept for you. Eat it. I saved it for you to eat at this time with the people I invited." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 When they went down from the place of worship to the town, they fixed up a bed for Saul on the roof,
26 and he slept there. At dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get up, and I will send you on your way." Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out to the street together.
27 When they arrived at the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us." The servant left, and Samuel continued, "Stay here a minute, and I will tell you what God has said."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. [One ancient translation] they fixed up a bed for Saul; [Hebrew] he spoke with Saul.
  • [b]. on the roof: [At that time houses had flat roofs, and it was common for people to sleep on them.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.