Anointed in Private, Found Among the Baggage

The “vial” is a pakh, a small flask, the same vessel Elisha’s servant uses to anoint Jehu in secret (2 Kings 9:1). David will be anointed from a horn (16:13). The Greek expands Samuel’s question into an explicit statement that Saul will rule and save the people from their enemies.

Rachel’s tomb lay on the border of Benjamin, the tribe of her son; Genesis 35:19 places it on the way to Ephrath. Zelzah is otherwise unknown. Kish’s worry, “What shall I do for my son?”, is exactly what Saul foresaw in 9:5.

The plain of Tabor is literally “the oak of Tabor”, a landmark tree, not the mountain in Galilee. The three men carry the makings of a sacrifice to Bethel: kids, loaves, wine. The number three runs through the sign: three men, three kids, three loaves.

They “salute thee”, literally “ask of thy peace”. Two of the loaves meant for God’s house at Bethel are handed to Saul, bread from an offering given to the anointed man, a small sign of his new standing.

“The hill of God” is Gibeah-elohim, probably Saul’s own town of Gibeah or nearby Geba. A Philistine garrison, netsiv, which may mean a governor or a pillar marking their rule, sits in Saul’s home district. Psaltery, tabret, pipe and harp are lyre, hand drum, flute and a second stringed instrument, music that accompanied ecstatic prophecy.

“Come upon” is tsalach, to rush upon, the verb used of the Spirit seizing Samson (Judges 14:6). “Turned into another man” uses hapakh, to overturn or change completely, the verb for the overthrow of Sodom (Genesis 19:25).

“Do as occasion serve thee” is literally “do what thy hand finds”, act as the moment gives opportunity. Ecclesiastes 9:10 uses the same phrase: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do.” The permission is broad because “God is with thee”.

Gilgal lay in the Jordan valley near Jericho, where Israel first camped in Canaan (Joshua 4:19). The seven days’ wait is set out here, and it is the command Saul will break in 13:8, when Samuel is late and Saul offers the sacrifice himself.

“Turned his back” is the moment of leaving, and the change comes at once. “Gave him another heart” is literally “turned him another heart”, hapakh again, the verb of verse 6. The Book of 1 Samuel reports all the signs fulfilled in a single line, and describes only the third.

“Came thither to the hill” is literally “to Gibeah”, which may be the town’s name rather than a hill. The Spirit of God “came upon him”, tsalach, as Samuel foretold in verse 6, and Saul joins the band whose music he met on the road down from the shrine.

“All that knew him beforetime” are Saul’s neighbours in his hometown, which fits Gibeah. “The son of Kish” is a slightly dismissive way to name a man, by his father, as if to say, “Kish’s boy?”. The proverb will be repeated when Saul prophesies again at Naioth (19:24).

“Who is their father?” may mean that prophets have no pedigree, prophecy not being inherited, so why should a man’s family matter? Or it may ask who leads these bands, since “father” was a title for a prophet’s master (2 Kings 2:12). The Greek reads “Who is his father?”, pointing back at Kish.

Some scholars read “he came home”, habbaytah, for “to the high place”, habbamah, a small change of letters that fits the uncle’s questions that follow. Either way the ecstatic episode ends, and Saul steps back into ordinary life.

The uncle is not named here; tradition identifies him with Ner, father of Abner, Saul’s future commander (14:50–51). He asks both Saul and the servant where they went, but only Saul answers.

The uncle’s interest is in Samuel, not the donkeys. He asks what the famous seer said, which suggests he suspects the visit was more than a search for livestock.

“The matter of the kingdom” uses melukhah, royal rule, the first time the word is spoken of Saul. Saul tells half the truth. “He told him not” is set at the end, and the verse shifts from Saul’s own speech to the Book of 1 Samuel’s report of what he withheld.

Mizpeh is the town where Israel confessed and won in chapter 7. “Called together” is tsa’aq, the verb of crying out, used here of a summons. The assembly is “unto the LORD”, a religious gathering before a political one.

Samuel opens with the formula of a prophet, “Thus saith the LORD”. The Exodus is recounted as it is in Judges 6:8–9, where an unnamed prophet used the same words: “I brought you up from Egypt… and delivered you out of the hand of all that oppressed you.”

“Adversities and tribulations” are ra’oth and tsaroth, evils and distresses. “Nay, but set a king over us” is quoted from 8:19. “Thousands” here means clans, the subdivisions of a tribe, as in Judges 6:15.

The choosing by lot works as it did when Achan was found in Joshua 7:16–18: tribe, family, household, man. “Taken” is lakad, to capture, the word used of a lot falling on the guilty. Benjamin, the smallest tribe, is taken first.

The family of Matri appears nowhere else. The Greek adds a step, that the household was brought man by man, which fills a gap in the Hebrew between the family and Saul. Chosen, the man is missing.

“Enquired of the LORD further” probably means by the Urim and Thummim, which gave yes or no answers. “The stuff” is kelim, the baggage and equipment of the assembled tribes. The LORD answers with a location.

“Ran and fetched him” shows how eager the crowd was. The note of his height repeats 9:2 in the same words, “from his shoulders and upward”, the one thing the whole assembly can see for itself.

“None like him” is said of Saul by Samuel in a phrase used elsewhere of God himself (2:2, “there is none holy as the LORD”). “God save the king” is literally “let the king live”, yechi hammelekh, the cry that greets Solomon (1 Kings 1:39).

“The manner of the kingdom” is mishpat hammelukhah, close to but not the same as the “manner of the king” in 8:11. The written book “laid up before the LORD” recalls the law of the king in Deuteronomy 17:18, which the king was to copy, and the covenant document kept beside the ark (Deuteronomy 31:26).

“A band of men” is chayil, a force or company of worth. “Whose hearts God had touched” is naga, the verb for a hand laying hold on something. The first loyalty to the new king is credited to God, not to Saul.

“Children of Belial” is the phrase used of Eli’s sons (2:12) and the men of Gibeah (Judges 19:22), now in Saul’s own Gibeah. “Presents” is minchah, tribute due to a king. “He held his peace” is literally “he was as one deaf”; a Qumran scroll and the Greek read “about a month later”, joining the verse to chapter 11.