1 Samuel 10:10-20

10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting.
11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?"
12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" 1
13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.
14 Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel."
15 "And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked.
16 "He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered - but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
17 Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah
18 and said to them, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says, "I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you.
19 I am your God, the one who rescues you from all your troubles and difficulties, but today you have rejected me and have asked me to give you a king. Very well, then, gather yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.' "
20 Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin.

1 Samuel 10:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 10

In this chapter we read of Saul's being anointed king by Samuel, 1Sa 10:1, and of certain signs given as confirming the same, which should come to pass, and did, before Saul got to his father's house, 1Sa 10:2-13, of his arrival at his father's house, and of what passed between him and his uncle there, 1Sa 10:14-16, of Samuel's calling all Israel together at Mizpeh, and of the election of Saul by lot to be king, and of his being declared such, 1Sa 10:17-25, and of his return to his city, being respected by some, and despised by others, 1Sa 10:26,27.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 10.12 1 Samuel 19.23, 24.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.