1 Samuel 9:1-11

1 And there was a man of Benjamin, that was called Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man that was called Benjamin (a Benjamite), a strong man in bodily might.
2 And to him was a son, Saul by name, chosen and good(ly); and no man of the sons of Israel was better than he; (and) from the shoulder(s) and above, he appeared over all the people.
3 And the she-asses of Kish, the father of Saul, were lost (And one day the female donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, went missing). And Kish said to Saul his son, Take with thee one of the servants, and rise thou, and go seek the she-asses.
4 And when they had gone forth by the hill (country) of Ephraim, and by the land of Shalisha, and they had not found them, they passed forth also by the land of Shalim, and they were not there; but also they passed by the land of Benjamin, and yet they found (them) not.
5 And when they had come into the land of Zuph, and had not found (them), Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come thou, and turn we again; lest peradventure my father hath left (off caring about) the female asses, and is busy for us (and is now concerned about us).
6 And the servant said to him, Lo! a man of God is in this city, a noble man; all thing that he speaketh, cometh without (a) doubt. Now therefore go we thither, if peradventure he show to us of our way, for which we came (And so now let us go there, perhaps he can show us the way that we should go).
7 And Saul said to his servant, Lo! we shall go (there); (but) what shall we bear to the man of God? Bread hath failed in our scrips, and we have no present, that we (can) give to the man of God, neither any other thing.
8 Again the servant answered to Saul, and said, Lo! the fourth part of a stater, that is, a shekel, of silver is found (here) in mine hand; give we it to the man of God, that he show to us our way (so that he will show us the way that we should go).
9 Sometime in Israel each man going to counsel with God spake thus, Come ye, and go we to the seer; for he, that is said now a prophet, was called sometime a seer (for he, who now is called a prophet, before was called a seer).
10 And Saul said to his servant, Thy word is the best; come thou, go we. And they went into the city, in which the man of God was (And they went to the city, where the man of God was).
11 And when they went up into the highness of the city, they found damsels going out to draw water, and they said to the damsels, Whether the seer is here? (Is the seer here?)

1 Samuel 9:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 9

This chapter gives an account of Saul, the person the Lord had appointed to be king of Israel; it relates his descent, and describes his person, 1Sa 9:1,2 and how seeking his father's asses, which were lost, he providentially came to the place where Samuel dwelt, 1Sa 9:3-5 and being advised by his servant, and approving of his advice, he concluded to go to him, and inquire the way he should go, 1Sa 9:6-10 and being directed by some young maidens, they found him presently in the street going to a feast, 1Sa 9:11-14 and Samuel having some previous notice from the Lord of such a person's coming to him that day, when he met him invited him to dine with him, and obliged him to stay with him that day, 1Sa 9:15-19 satisfied him about his asses, and gave him a hint of the grandeur he was to be raised to, to which Saul made a modest reply, 1Sa 9:20,21 and Samuel treated him at the feast in a very respectable manner, 1Sa 9:22-24 and privately communed with him of things preparatory to what he was about to make known unto him, 1Sa 9:25-27.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.