1 Samuel 9:6

6 And he saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, a man of God [is] in this city, and the man is honoured; all that he speaketh doth certainly come; now, we go there, it may be he doth declare to us our way on which we have gone.'

1 Samuel 9:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 9:6

And he said unto him
That is, the servant of Saul:

behold, now, there is in this city a man of God;
a prophet of the Lord, as the Targum; such were called men of God, because not only partakers of the grace of God, but of extraordinary gifts, which qualified them for the office of prophets. The city near to which they now were was Ramah, the place where Samuel lived, and he is the man of God here meant:

and he is an honourable man;
of great esteem among men for his wisdom and knowledge, integrity and faithfulness, and particularly for his gift of prophecy, being a true prophet of the Lord; so the Targum,

``and he is a man that prophesies truth,''

and that made him honourable, and gave him great credit:

all that he saith cometh surely to pass;
as his prophecies concerning Eli's family, and other things, which were well known to have had their accomplishment, and this had gained him universal esteem, see ( 1 Samuel 3:19 ) ,

now let us go thither;
being very near it, within sight of it, insomuch that the servant could point at it, and say "this city", as in the preceding part of the verse:

peradventure he can show us our way that we should go;
to find the asses; he was not certain he could or would, but thought it possible and probable he might.

1 Samuel 9:6 In-Context

4 And he passeth over through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passeth over through the land of Shalisha, and they have not found; and they pass over through the land of Shaalim, and they are not; and he passeth over through the land of Benjamin, and they have not found.
5 They have come in unto the land of Zuph, and Saul hath said to his young man who [is] with him, `Come, and we turn back, lest my father leave off from the asses, and hath been sorrowful for us.'
6 And he saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, a man of God [is] in this city, and the man is honoured; all that he speaketh doth certainly come; now, we go there, it may be he doth declare to us our way on which we have gone.'
7 And Saul saith to his young man, `And lo, we go, and what do we bring in to the man? for the bread hath gone from our vessels, and a present there is not to bring in to the man of God -- what [is] with us?'
8 And the young man addeth to answer Saul, and saith, `Lo, there is found with me a fourth of a shekel of silver: and I have given to the man of God, and he hath declared to us our way.'
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.