Samaritan's Purse Is Aiding Communities Devastated by Hurricane Helene. You Can Help

1 Samuel 10:3

3 Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

1 Samuel 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 10:3

Then shall thou go on forward from thence
From Zelzah and Rachel's sepulchre there:

and thou shall come to the plain of Tabor;
not that which lay at the bottom of the famous and well known mountain Tabor; for that was in the tribe of Zebulun, at a great distance from hence: but a plain, so called perhaps from the name of the owner of it:

and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel:
the same with Luz, where Jacob built an altar, and called upon God; and so Elohimbethel here is the same with Elbethel, ( Genesis 35:6 Genesis 35:7 ) . Here was an high place as at Ramah, whither in those times, when there was no fixed place for worship, the tabernacle at one place, and the ark at another, the people went up to worship; and they might the rather choose this, because it was a place devoted to the worship and service of God by their father Jacob; so the Targum paraphrases it,

``going up to worship God in Bethel;''

so Josephus F3, they were going thither to pray, and, as it seems by what follows, to sacrifice: one carrying three kids; which were used in sacrifice, and were a pretty heavy load if carried far; though, according to Josephus F4, it was but one kid:

and another carrying three loaves of bread;
for the minchah, the meat offering, or rather bread offering, ( Leviticus 2:4 )

and another carrying a bottle of wine;
for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin of wine being required for each kid, ( Numbers 15:5 Numbers 15:11 ) . This bottle, Ben Melech says, was a bottle made of skin, a leathern bottle or bag, or a potter's vessel or pitcher; the Targum renders it, a flagon of wine.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 2.
F4 lbid.

1 Samuel 10:3 In-Context

1 Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, "The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage:
2 When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, "The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: What shall I do about my son?'
3 Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
4 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from them.
5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.