Chapter Ten

Saul’s election to the kingship.

1 Samuel 10:1. And Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: Behold, the Lord anoints you as ruler over His inheritance [over Israel, and you shall reign over the Lord’s people and shall save them from the hand of their enemies, who surround them, and behold this is a sign that the Lord has anointed you as king over His inheritance]: Until now in the Old Testament the anointing with holy oil (to impart God’s spiritual gifts) was mentioned only of the high priest (Exod 30:23). But if a shepherd of human souls requires special divine aid for successful performance of his ministry, no less aid is required by the ruler of the earthly prosperity of the people – the king, who in the theocratic state (see note to 1 Sam 8:6) is also at the same time a helper of the high priest in the work of caring for the souls of the people entrusted to him (Deut 17:14-20). “And behold this is a sign that the Lord has anointed you”: Saul’s mental state required some tangible confirmation of his divine election as king over Israel (1 Sam 9:20-21).

1 Samuel 10:2. When you go from me now, you will meet two men near the grave of Rachel, on the border of Benjamin, in Zelzah, and they will say to you: “The donkeys you went to search for are found, and now your father, having forgotten about the donkeys, is worried about you, saying: What has become of my son? “Near the grave of Rachel.” According to Gen 35:19, the grave of Rachel is located near the city of Bethlehem, to the south of Jerusalem, on the border of the tribe of Judah. It is supposed that “on the border of Benjamin, in Zelzah,” there was a locality also called the Grave of Rachel – out of reverence for the memory of the ancestress of the Benjamites.

1 Samuel 10:3. And you shall go on from there and come to the oak of Tabor, and you will meet there three men going up to God at Bethel: one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and a third carrying a skin of wine; “The oak of Tabor” cannot be the oak of the well-known Mount Tabor, for that mountain (Mount Tabor itself) is located considerably further north than the tribe of Benjamin, completely not on the way to Saul’s native city – Gibeah of Benjamin (1 Sam 10:26). The “oak of Tabor” mentioned here (like the “grave of Rachel”) is, most likely, the name of some locality of the tribe of Benjamin that is unknown at the present time. “Going up to God at Bethel,” that is, going to Bethel to make a sacrifice to the Lord God. See note to 1 Sam 7:9

1 Samuel 10:5. After that you will come to the Hill of God, where the Philistine garrison is; [the captains of the Philistines are there;] and when you enter the city, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, and before them a harp and a tambourine, and a pipe and a lyre, and they will be prophesying; “Hill of God,” that is, one of the sacrificial heights known then among the people (see note 1 Sam 7:9). Besides the purpose noted, the hill also had another – military purpose, serving as a stronghold of Philistine power in Canaan for the Philistines (see note to 1 Sam 9:16). “You will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place.” Companies of prophets – these were religious-educational and instructional prophetic communities, later called prophetic schools, whose initial foundation and organization was made by the prophet Samuel. Study of God’s word, practice in prayer, singing (with musical accompaniment) of sacred hymns were the chief subjects of study in these societies. Members of the latter were called “prophets” for their enthusiastic and inspired praise of God’s name, and also “sons,” or “disciples of the prophets” (1 Kgs 20:35; 2 Kgs 2:3), because they were educated under the guidance of divinely-inspired prophets, called their “fathers” (2 Kgs 2:12). Under Samuel the members of the prophetic community had their dwelling in Ramah of Samuel (1 Sam 19:18-24); in later times, under Elijah and Elisha, we see prophetic disciples in various cities of southern Canaan: in Gilgal (2 Kgs 2:1), in Bethel (2 Kgs 2:3), in Jericho (2 Kgs 2:5). Companies of incorruptible guardians of the law of Jehovah, enthusiastic heralds of His holy, perfect, and good will were to become (and truly were throughout all Old Testament history) a strong counterweight to the people’s tendency toward the dark and destructive paths of pagan lawlessness. Deep conviction of true knowledge, the sacred fire of religious enthusiasm, complete truthfulness and impartiality of the denunciatory speeches of the disciples of prophetic schools made a strong impression on the people and greatly contributed to the divinely-called prophets in their great and difficult mission of spiritual healing of the people. “Harp and tambourine, and pipe and lyre” – musical instruments of the Hebrews of that time: harp and lyre – stringed; pipe – wind; tambourine – something like our modern tambourine or drum. “And they will be prophesying.” “To prophesy” in biblical language does not always mean “to predict.” In this case, as is often the case in the Bible (for example, Num 11:25; 1 Sam 10:6; 1 Sam 19:20 and others), the expression “to prophesy” can be understood to mean – to praise God and His wonderful deeds in enthusiastic songs of praise, which presupposes, of course, a special elevation of a person’s spiritual powers. With the temporary cessation of this elevation ceases also the “prophesying” (Num 11:25; 1 Sam 10:13 and others).

1 Samuel 10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and will become a different man. “And you will prophesy”... See note to the end of 1 Sam 10:5.

1 Samuel 10:8. And you go before me to Gilgal, and I will come to you to make burnt offerings and peace offerings; wait seven days until I come to you, and then I will tell you what you should do. An instruction and at the same time a test for Saul: obtaining a certain freedom of action (1 Sam 10:7), the king-elect of the Hebrews was absolutely not to forget the fact that in matters of the highest order he was only an executor of the will of the Heavenly King of the people; the mediator between God and the people, the interpreter and herald of God’s will – the prophet – is and will be in relation to the king the same as in relation to each of the people. See note to 1 Sam 8:6. Gilgal – a city of sacred memories (Josh 4:4); located to the east of Jericho, near the river Jordan.

1 Samuel 10:9. As soon as Saul turned to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all those signs were fulfilled on that very day. “God gave him another heart”: under the influence of divine anointing Saul was inwardly as if reborn, received the ability to be what he was to become in his new station (see note to 1 Sam 8:6). “And all those signs were fulfilled”: see 1 Sam 10:1-7.

1 Samuel 10:10. When they came to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. “And he prophesied among them”: see note to the end of 1 Sam 10:5, and also to 1 Sam 10:9.

1 Samuel 10:12. And one of those present answered and said: And who is the father of these? Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets? “And who is the father of these?” Pointing to the sons of the prophets, the questioner gives to understand that the manners and condition of their parents are beside the point, since the prophetic gift is not hereditary. Nevertheless, the bewilderment at the sight of “the prophesying Saul” was so great that it was preserved in a proverb. When later they wished to express amazement at some unexpected change, they said: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 10:13. And he ceased prophesying and went up to the high place. See note to the end of 1 Sam 10:5.

1 Samuel 10:17. And Samuel gathered the people to the Lord at Mizpah The city of Mizpah (to the west of Gibeah of Benjamin, to the northwest of Jerusalem) had before been a place of religious and public gatherings of the people (Judg 20:1;1 Sam 7:5).

1 Samuel 10:18. And he said to the children of Israel: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 1 Samuel 10:19. And now you have rejected your God, who Himself saves you from all your troubles and sorrows, and you said to Him: “Set a king over us.” Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans. And now you have rejected your God (compare 1 Sam 8:7-8). See note to 1 Sam 8:6. “Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord,” so that you may know whom the Lord chooses for you as king.

1 Samuel 10:20. And Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. “Was chosen” – by casting lots. “Those living wickedly,” remarks blessed Theodoret, “do not always believe the prophets of God. Therefore, so that they might not think the judgment was made out of human mercy, Samuel ordered lots to be cast” (commentary on 1 Sam., question 22).

1 Samuel 10:22. And they asked the Lord again: “Will he come here?” And the Lord said: “Behold, he is hiding in the baggage. “And they asked the Lord again” – through some sign. If however the expression 1 Sam 10:17: “to the Lord at Mizpah” is to be understood in the sense that by this time the tent had been moved to Mizpah, then the Hebrews could ask the Lord in another way – through the mediation of the high priest and the mysterious breastpiece entrusted to him.

1 Samuel 10:23. And they ran and brought him from there, and he stood among the people and was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. “Taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward,” that is, taller than everyone by a head’s length.

1 Samuel 10:24. And Samuel said to all the people: “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” Then all the people shouted and said: “Long live the king! Physical virtues were valued very highly in antiquity; by them often were measured also his internal virtues (1 Sam 16:7). Where the chief purpose of a given person was seen in the duty to protect the interests entrusted to him through the application of physical strength, the virtues noted above, of course, had decisive significance. According to the testimony of Herodotus (III, 20; XII, 187), the Ethiopians chose as their king the one who was taller than others in stature. The same physical correspondence to his presumed purpose the Hebrews wished to see in their king (1 Sam 8:20). Seeing the tall, mighty figure of Saul, the people with enthusiasm cried out: “Long live the king!” The Lord allowed Saul’s election to come to pass so that the Hebrews might be tangibly convinced that for a theocratic ruler (see note to 1 Sam 8:6) crude physical strength is not the chief required quality (1 Sam 16:1); so that, having learned from experience what their king could not be, they might more consciously regard the divine instruction in the person of Saul’s successor (1 Sam 16:1) as to what he must be.

1 Samuel 10:25. And Samuel told the people the rights of the kingdom, and wrote them in a book, and laid it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house. “The rights of the kingdom,” recorded by Samuel and placed before the Ark of the Lord, must be distinguished from the picture he presented to the people of the conduct customary at that time in the East for a king (1 Sam 8:11-18). In contrast to that picture and in accordance with Deut 17:14-20 Samuel, in all probability, depicted in the “Rights of the Kingdom” the desirable, from the theocratic point of view (see note to 1 Sam 8:6), ideal of a king which the king of the Hebrews should follow. However, the actual content of this important document has not come down to us.

1 Samuel 10:26. Saul also went to his home in Gibeah; and there went with him men whose hearts God had touched. The city of Gibeah of Benjamin is located to the south of Ramah of Samuel and to the north of Jerusalem. “Whose hearts God had touched,” that is, those whose heart joyfully responded to the election as king of the mighty man Saul.

1 Samuel 10:27. But certain worthless men said: “How can he save us?” And they despised him and brought him no gift; but he kept silent. “And brought him no gift” on the occasion of his election to kingship. It is supposed that others made these gifts and thereby expressed their respectful greeting to the newly-chosen one. “But he kept silent”: simple prudence required that he treat calmly the partial outburst of discontent, otherwise it could turn into civil war.