1 Samuel 9

There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin named Kish. He was the son of Abiel, who was the son of Zeror, who was the son of Becorath, who was the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite. Kish was a strong and important man.

1Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

NoteThe King James "a mighty man of power" translates a Hebrew phrase (gibbor hayil) that covers several kinds of standing at once: physical strength, fighting ability, wealth, and social importance. Here it most likely means Kish was a substantial landowner of good standing rather than a soldier. The chain of fathers is given because a man's identity in ancient Israel was fixed by his clan and tribe, which determined where he lived, whom he could marry, and what land he inherited.

2Kish had a son named Saul. Saul was a fine-looking young man. No one among the people of Israel was better looking than he was. He stood a full head taller than anyone else.

2And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

3One day the donkeys that belonged to Saul's father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you, and go look for the donkeys."

3And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

NoteDonkeys were the main pack and riding animals of ordinary life, and a herd of them was valuable property, losing them was a serious loss, not a minor inconvenience, which is why the search goes on for three days across a wide stretch of country.

4So Saul went through the hill country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find the donkeys. They went through the land of Shalim, and the donkeys were not there either. Then he went through the land of the Benjamites, and still they did not find them.

4And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

5When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant with him, "Come, let's go back home. Otherwise my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

5And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.

NoteZuph is also the name of one of Samuel's ancestors, and Samuel's home town is called Ramathaim-zophim earlier in the book, so the district is associated with his family.

6The servant said to him, "Listen, there is a man of God in this city, and people respect him greatly. Everything he says really happens. Let's go there now. Maybe he can tell us which way we should go."

6And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go.

Note"Man of God" was a standard title for someone recognized as speaking on God's behalf. It says nothing about the man's own nature; it identifies his role, roughly as we might say "a holy man."

7Saul said to his servant, "But if we go, what can we bring the man? The bread in our bags is gone. We have no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?"

7Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?

NoteBringing a gift was the normal courtesy when approaching anyone of standing to ask a favor, including a seer. Saul's worry is about etiquette and obligation, not about buying an answer. The bread they set out with would have been their whole travel supply.

8The servant answered Saul again, "Look, I have a quarter of a shekel of silver right here. I will give it to the man of God so he will tell us which way to go."

8And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.

NoteBefore coins were minted, silver was weighed out by the shekel, a unit of about eleven or twelve grams. A quarter shekel is a small piece of metal, perhaps two or three grams, a modest courtesy gift, not a large payment.

9(In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to ask God about something, he would say, "Come, let's go to the seer." The man we now call a prophet used to be called a seer.)

9(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

NoteThis verse is an aside from a later editor, inserted for readers of his own day who no longer recognized the older word "seer" used in the story. It is the kind of explanatory note a copyist adds inside the text itself.

10Saul said to his servant, "Good idea. Come on, let's go." So they went to the city where the man of God was.

10Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.

11As they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to get water. They asked the women, "Is the seer here?"

11And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?

NoteThe well or spring usually lay outside the city walls, and fetching water was work done by women, generally in the morning and evening. Travelers arriving at a town would meet the local women there before meeting anyone else.

12The women answered, "Yes, he is. In fact, he is just ahead of you. Hurry, because he came to the city today. The people are offering a sacrifice today at the high place.

12And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place:

NoteA "high place" was an open-air worship site, usually on a hill or raised ground outside or above the town, with an altar and often a hall for the shared meal. Before the temple in Jerusalem was built these were ordinary places of worship throughout Israel. A sacrifice of this kind was also a feast: an animal was killed, a portion was burned on the altar, and the rest was cooked and eaten by the invited worshipers. So "there is a sacrifice today" means, in practical terms, that a large communal dinner is about to happen.

13As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he has to bless the sacrifice. After that, the invited guests eat. So go up now, and you will find him about this time."

13As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him.

NoteThe blessing was spoken over the food before anyone could begin, which is why the whole company waits for the one who will pronounce it. Guests were formally invited to such a meal, so the crowd is a defined list of people, not whoever happened to be passing.

14So they went up to the city. Just as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

14And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.

15Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had told Samuel privately,

15Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

NoteThe Hebrew idiom is literally "the LORD had uncovered Samuel's ear", the picture is of pushing aside someone's hair or headcloth to speak where only they can hear. It means a private disclosure.

16"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. You are to pour oil on his head to set him apart as leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have looked on my people, because their cry has reached me."

16To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.

NoteAnointing meant pouring olive oil over the head. It was the public ceremony that installed someone in an office, kings and priests both, and marked them as set apart for it. The Hebrew word for such a person, mashiach, "anointed one," is the word that comes into English as "messiah." The title given here is not the ordinary Hebrew word for "king" but a different word (nagid) meaning something like "designated leader" or "the one appointed in front." The story keeps the two words distinct, and the difference between them is left unresolved. The Philistines were a people settled along the coastal plain south-west of Israel, organized around five cities. They were Israel's dominant military rival at this period, better equipped and holding territory that pressed in on the Israelite hill country.

17When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I told you about. He is the one who will rule over my people."

17And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "reign over" or "rule" here normally means "restrain" or "hold in check." Its exact force in this sentence is uncertain; it may carry the sense of governing, or of keeping the people in order.

18Saul walked up to Samuel in the gateway and said, "Please tell me where the seer's house is."

18Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is.

NoteThe gateway of a walled city was a deep structure with chambers and benches, and it served as the town's public space, where legal cases were heard, business settled, and news exchanged. Meeting someone "in the gate" means meeting them in the busiest public place.

19Samuel answered Saul, "I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, because you will eat with me today. In the morning I will send you on your way, and I will tell you everything that is on your mind.

19And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart.

20As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, don't worry about them. They have been found. And who is it that all Israel wants? It is you and your father's whole family."

20And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?

Note"The desire of Israel" points back to the people's demand, in the previous chapters, for a king to rule them like the nations around them. Samuel is telling Saul, without yet saying it plainly, that this demand now rests on him.

21Saul answered, "But I am a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe in Israel. And my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Benjamin. Why are you saying this to me?"

21And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?

NoteBenjamin was the smallest of the twelve tribes, and the book of Judges records a war that had nearly destroyed it. Saul's reply is the conventional protest of unworthiness, but it also states a real fact about his family's standing.

22Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the dining hall. He seated them at the head of the table, ahead of the guests, who numbered about thirty.

22And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons.

Note"Parlour" in 1611 English meant a hall or large room for receiving people, not the small front room the word suggests today. This is the dining hall attached to the worship site. Seating at a formal meal was ranked, and the place nearest the host was the position of honor. Putting an unknown young man there in front of thirty invited guests is a deliberate public statement.

23Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion of meat I gave you, the one I told you to set aside."

23And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee.

24So the cook picked up the leg and what was attached to it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what was saved back. It was set aside for you. Eat it. It has been kept for you for this very time, ever since I said, 'I have invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

24And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

NoteThe thigh or upper leg was the choice cut, and by law it was normally the portion reserved for the priest. Setting it aside in advance for a guest, and then giving it to him in front of everyone, is a mark of high honor. Samuel's words in this verse are difficult in the Hebrew and the ancient versions differ; the general sense is that the portion was deliberately kept back for Saul, but the exact wording is uncertain.

25After they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel talked with Saul on the flat roof of his house.

25And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.

NoteHouses had flat roofs reached by an outside stair, used for sleeping, drying produce, and private conversation. Going up to the roof is going somewhere to talk out of earshot, and it is also where a guest would be given a bed.

26They got up early. Just as day was breaking, Samuel called up to Saul on the roof, "Get up, and I will send you on your way." So Saul got up, and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside together.

26And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.

27As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us." The servant went on. "But you stay here a moment, so I can tell you a message from God."

27And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.