Shmuel Alef 11:5

5 And, hinei, Sha’ul came after the bakar out of the sadeh; and Sha’ul said, What aileth HaAm that they weep? And they told him the divrei anshei Yavesh.

Shmuel Alef 11:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:5

And, behold, Saul came after the herd out the field
Where he had been to look after the and take care of them, and see what condition they were in, and followed them on their return home; for though he was elected king, he was not inaugurated, and did not take upon him any state; and being despised by some, and no provision as yet made for his support and maintenance as a king, and no business as such for him to do, Samuel still acting in his office, he returned to his father's house, and employed himself in rustic affairs, as he used to do: though some think this was casual, that he had been in the field to recreate himself, or to meditate on the affairs of government, and happened to return just as the herd came out of the field, and so followed them; thus Jarchi interprets it not of his coming after the herd, but of his coming after the fixed and usual time of the herd's coming out of the field; but Josephus ^F18 is clear for it, that he had been about some rustic business, some part of husbandry in the field, and returned to the city; nor has it been unusual for emperors and kings, and persons in high offices among Greeks and Romans, and other nations, in times of peace, to employ themselves in husbandry; so did the judges of Israel, as Shamgar, and Gideon, and Boaz, ( Judges 3:31 ) ( 6:11 ) ( Ruth 3:2 ) so Quinctius Cincinnatus being taken from the plough and made dictator, after he had conquered his enemies, returned to his husbandry ^F19:

and Saul said, what aileth the people, that they weep?
he supposed some evil had befallen them, and desired to know what it was, that, if it lay in his power to help them, he might:

and they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh;
the message they brought, and the account they gave of the distressed case of their city.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 2.
F19 Flor. Hist. Roman. l. 1. c. 11. Aurel. Victor. de Vir. Illustr. c. 20. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 11.

Shmuel Alef 11:5 In-Context

3 And the Zekenim of Yavesh said unto him, Give us shivat yamim that we may send malachim unto all the territory of Yisroel; and then, if there be no moshi’a to save us, we will come out and surrender to thee.

4 Then came the malachim to Giveat Sha’ul, and told the devarim in the oznayim of HaAm; and kol HaAm lifted up their kol (voices), and wept.

5 And, hinei, Sha’ul came after the bakar out of the sadeh; and Sha’ul said, What aileth HaAm that they weep? And they told him the divrei anshei Yavesh.

6 And the Ruach Elohim came upon Sha’ul when he heard those devarim, and his anger was kindled greatly.

7 And he took a tzemed bakar, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Yisroel by the hands of malachim, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Sha’ul and after Shmuel, so shall it be done unto his bakar. And the pachad Hashem fell on HaAm, and they came out as ish echad.