In this chapter we read of Saul’s being anointed king by Samuel, 1 Sam. 10:1, and of certain signs given as confirming the same, which should come to pass, and did, before Saul got to his father’s house, 1 Sam.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil Out of his pocket very probably, which he brought along with him on purpose for the use he made of it: this, as the Jews [[23]] say, was not the anointing oil that was in the tabernacle, which was at another and distant place, and with which only the kings of the…

When thou art departed from me today Not as soon as he was departed, for he had some few miles to go from Ramah to Rachel’s grave near Bethlehem: thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah; the Jews move a difficulty here, that Rachel’s sepulchre should be…

Then shall thou go on forward from thence From Zelzah and Rachel’s sepulchre there: and thou shall come to the plain of Tabor; not that which lay at the bottom of the famous and well known mountain Tabor; for that was in the tribe of Zebulun, at a great distance from hence: but a plain, so called…

And they will salute thee Not as king, of which they knew nothing, but in a common way; and though a stranger and unknown to them, yet finding their hearts disposed and affected towards him, would inquire of his welfare, and wish him all happiness, peace, and prosperity: and give thee two loaves of…

After that thou shall come to the hill of God The Targum is, the hill in which was the ark of the Lord, and that was in the house of Abinadab, on a hill in the city of Kirjathjearim, and so the Jewish commentators generally interpret this hill of God of Kirjathjearim; but rather it was Geba, a city…

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee As a spirit of prophecy, so the Targum; whereby he would be enabled at once to compose psalms and hymns of praise, and sing them in a proper manner, though he had not been trained up in this exercise in the school of the prophets; which made it more…

And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee And are all fulfilled, especially the last: that thou do as occasion shall serve thee: as his circumstances would require, and as he in his great wisdom and prudence, with which he should now be furnished, would see necessary to prepare for his…

And thou shall go down before me to Gilgal Not immediately; for the first summons of the people, and of Saul, and the first meeting of them by Samuel, were at Mizpeh, where Saul was chosen by lot; nor the first time of Saul’s being at Gilgal, when the kingdom was renewed; for Saul had no need to…

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel When he had taken his leave of him, and set forward on his journey: God gave him another heart; not in a moral or spiritual sense, not a new heart, and a new spirit, as in conversion, but in a civil sense, a right heart, a heart fit…

When they came thither to the hill Or, to Gibeah, as the Targum, and so Josephus [[4]]: behold, a company of prophets met him; as foretold, , and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied among them; the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum, and he sung praises among them; he joined with…

And it came to pass, that when all that knew him before time, &c.] As there must be many that personally knew him, and were acquainted with him, since Gibeah, the place he was near to, was his native place: saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets; or praised among them, as the Targum,…

And one of the same place answered, and said One of the same city, and in the same company, that expressed their admiration at what was come to Saul, and at what he did, and wondering how he came into such company, and to have such a gift, who was of so mean an education: but who is their father?…

And when he had made an end of prophesying For, as Procopius Gazaeus observes, he had not the gift of prophecy always; it did not continue with him, but, like that of the seventy elders in the times of Moses, it was designed to make him respectable among the people, and to be taken notice of as a…

And Saul’s uncle said unto him, and to his servant, whither went ye? &c.] Since they had been absent so long a time. This was his father’s brother, as the Targum, and so Aquila; whose name was Ner, the father of Abner, (1 Sam. 14:50, 1 Sam.

And Saul’s uncle said l On hearing he had been with Samuel, and perceiving so great an alteration in Saul, perhaps he began to suspect something about the kingdom; it being what everyone was talking of, and expecting every day to hear from Samuel who should be king, according to the Lord’s…

And Saul said unto his uncle In answer to his question: he told us plainly the asses were found; or “in telling told us” [[7]]; not only plainly in so many words, but he affirmed it with the greatest certainty that the asses were found, and we need not give ourselves further trouble about them: but…

And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord at Mizpeh. ] Not that in Gilead, but in the tribe of Benjamin, where the people had been before convened on a certain occasion, and the people called together could not be every individual of the nation, but the heads and elders of the people,…

And said unto the children of Israel In the name of the Lord, using the phrase which the prophets used when they spoke in the name of the Lord: thus saith the Lord God of Israel; the great Jehovah, the Being of beings, the covenant God of his people Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt; when in…

And ye have this day rejected your God As their king, by desiring another to be set over them; who himself saved you out of all your adversity and your tribulations; that they had been in at any time in Egypt, in their passage through the wilderness to Canaan, and after they were settled there: ye…

And when Samuel had caused all the tribes to come near The heads and representatives of them, to the place where the lots were cast: the tribe of Benjamin was taken; the lot fell upon that tribe for the choice of a king out of it; not the tribe of, Reuben, who was the firstborn, nor the tribe of…

And when he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families By the heads of them, to have lots cast for them, out of which of the families the king should be chosen: the family of Matri was taken; that is, by lot; the lot fell upon that family for the choice of a king out of them:…

Therefore they inquired of the Lord further Or again, by lot, by which they knew who the person was the was chosen king, but they did not know where he was, and therefore inquire further how they must come at him; and this inquiry was made either before the high priest by Urim and Thummim, or by…

And they ran and fetched him thence Being in haste to see their king elect, and proclaim him: and when he stood among the people; being brought among them, and presented to them: he was higher than any of the people, from the shoulders, and upwards; which made him look very graceful and majestic;…

And Samuel said to all the people, see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen For the choice being made by lot, the disposal of which is of the Lord, it is properly attributed to him, and the people could not object to it, but must allow it was the Lord’s doing.

Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, &e.] According to Ben Gersom, he laid before them the power a king had over his people, and the punishment he might inflict upon them, if they rebelled against him; and some think this is the same he delivered in concerning the arbitrary power…

And Saul also went home to Gibeah His native place, where was his father’s house, to which he retired; where were no royal palace, or princely court, nor any of the ensigns of kingly majesty; and whither it does not appear that he was followed by the nobility or princes of the tribes, only…

But the children of Belial said Wicked, dissolute, lawless persons; men without a yoke, as the word signifies, who did not care to be under the yoke of government, at least not under the yoke of Saul; and these might be men of wealth, and of larger tribes, and better families than Saul was of, and…