Chapter Ten
Saul Anointed as King
10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
Some Bible versions include a longer version of this verse as found in the Septuagint, including the ESV, GNB, NET, and NRSV. The text “to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you” is not in the Hebrew manuscripts.
Samuel pulls out a flask of oil and pours it over Saul’s head and kissed him saying that YHWH has anointed him to be the prince (Hebrew nā·ḡîḏ’, ruler, leader) over His heritage (Hebrew nǎ·ḥǎlāṯ’, possession, inheritance). In the Septuagint’s version he notes that the following three events that Samuel has prophesied to happen are given to Saul as signs that what he pronounced, that he will indeed be king, is true.
10:2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’
The first sign will be that after he leaves Samuel he will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb and they will tell him that the donkeys have been found, and that his father was beginning to get worried about Saul.
10:3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.
The next sign was that when they approach the oak of Tabor, they will encounter three men that are one their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three goats, one carrying three loaves of bread, and the other carrying a skin of wine. And they will give you two of the loaves, which he is to accept.
10:5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
The third sign will occur when they come to Gibeath-elohim (Hill of God) a location where there is a garrison of Philistines, once entering the city they will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place playing various musical instruments while prophesying. At that time the Holy Spirit will come upon him and will then begin to prophesy along with them and be transformed into a different man spiritually (see verses 9-10).
10:7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”
Samuel tells Saul that after these signs have been fulfilled to do whatever he wants to do as God is now with him. He is then to go to Gilgal and wait for Samuel for seven days at which time they will offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings followed by Samuel showing Saul what he is to do.
10:9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.
The moment that Samuel turned to leave Saul, God gave Saul a new heart, not one of regeneration as what we see in the New Testament, but one of a new attitude, one that desires to serve God and be a leader of a nation. We see that all three of the signs Samuel prophesied came true on the same day, giving evidence that what Samuel said about him being king will come true.
10:10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
After the Holy Spirit came upon (Hebrew ‛āl, over, by, go up) Saul began to prophesy among the other prophets. Those that knew Saul noticed that he was prophesying and coined the phrase, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (see also 1 Samuel 19:24) In what appears to be a parenthetical statement we are told that a man of the place asked, “And who is their father?” is likely a question inquiring Saul’s lineage as some prophets came from a lineage of prophets (see 2 Kings 2:7, 15-16; Amos 7:14) and would be nothing more than someone asking who is the new guy?
10:14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.
It is unclear if Saul’s uncle was at the “high place,”or if the location is now somewhere else. When asked by his uncle where did they go, Saul replied that they started out looking for the donkeys and when they couldn’t find them they went to see Samuel. The uncle seemed to be eager to hear what Samuel said, and so questioned Saul to tell him what Samuel told to him. Saul replied that the only thing he said was that the donkeys had been found, nothing more.
Considerations
Prophesying
There are several places in the Bible where a person (or a group of people) have encountered the Holy Spirit and to authenticate that occurrence, they begin to prophesy offering evidence of an otherwise invisible event (see Numbers 11:25-27). In these situations we are not told what the prophecies were about, but in each case the words spoken were recognized as being prophetic (from God). We are not told the contents of the message because it is not relevant to the narrative or message (click here to read the role of written prophecy in the Bible).
Philistine Garrison
This is the second time in the Bible where we encounter the Hebrew word “neṣi·ḇê’, translated here as ‘garrison’ (see verse five), it is used to describe a post or a fortified structure. In Genesis 19:26 it is usually translated as a ‘pillar’, one made of salt (as in Lot’s wife becoming a ‘pillar’ of salt after disobeying God), it can also refer to an officer. In context, the word used here implies that the Philistines had some form of military outpost in Gibeath-elohim. The reference to the garrison seems to be used only as a landmark identification as it does not play a role in the events recorded here. But it does raise the question why was there a Philistine garrison there? And was it being manned? While we are not given much details about the Philistine overlord presence, we do know that the oppression was significant based on God’s words after announcing that Saul would be king, “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” (1 Samuel 9:16, ESV) Much of Israel was occupied by the Philistines and the military presence was to keep the peace and to prevent any insurrection or revolt, setting the stage for the events that unfold in chapter thirteen.
Saul Proclaimed as King
10:17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.
Samuel calls the people of Israel to gather at Mizpah. Some believe that with the wording “together to the LORD” refers to being near an altar or near the Ark, but it is more likely that the people are being gathered for the selection of a king by God, much like how Achan was identified as culprit after their defeat at Ai (see Joshua 7:16-21).
10:18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
Samuel then proclaims to the people what YHWH told him, He tells them that He brought them out of Egypt, delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians, as well as from the hands of all kingdoms that came against them. But now they have rejected Him, the one who saves from all of their calamities and troubles, and have asked that He set a king over them. So He tells them to present themselves before Him, by tribal affiliation and then by clan. The selection for a king would be done by lot (see Proverbs 16:33).
10:20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 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.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
The tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot, and then the clan of Matrites was selected from all of the clans of Benjamin, and Saul, the son of Kish was taken by lot, but no one could find him. They went back to YHWH and asked if there was someone else, He replied that Saul was hiding among the baggage. Some of them ran over to the baggage and pulled Saul out, and when he stood up everyone could see that he was taller than anyone else. Samuel asks the people, “Do you see the one that YHWH has chosen?” Samuel added, “There is none like him among all the people.” The people all cheered, “Long live the king!”
10:25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
Samuel then told the people the “rights and duties” (one Hebrew word, miš·p̄ǎṭ’, legal decision, process of government), union exactly what this book contained it undoubtedly contained God’s rules and instructions for the king (see Deuteronomy 17:14-20) and possibly outline some basic ‘rights’ for the people. Samuel then dismissed everyone to go home.
10:26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.
Saul went back home to Gibeah as being the first king there was no capital established yet and no palace for the king to occupy. Several “men of valor” who God had touched, went with Saul to Gibeah as he will need valiant men around him for protection as well as men to carry out the various affairs of state and national defense.
10:27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
The author notes that not everyone liked the idea of Saul being king, he describes the men as “worthless fellows” (Hebrew ḇenë’ ḇeliy·yǎ’·‛ǎl, sons of Belial, see 1 Samuel 1:16). They ask, “How can this man save us?” and despised him. While others brought gifts for the king as homage to him, these men did not. Saul could have reacted to their sneers, but wisely held his peace
Considerations
If a king was known to come what was the problem?
Many ask if God had already laid out the fact that there would be a king over Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, why is He ‘pulling out’ as their God? First, He is not pulling out, He will continue being their God, as we see in those verses in Deuteronomy each involve YHWH’s involvement, but nonetheless they have been, since the day they crossed over into the Promise Land, engaged in seeking and worshiping other gods. Seemingly enamored with their surrounding neighbor’s pantheons, they had become envious of their monarchies. God was preparing a king that would be known as a man after His heart that would be the start of the royal lineage of the Savior, but he wasn’t ready to be king yet, his time will come soon. Does that mean that God was surprised by this request for a king? No, God cannot be surprised! His ways are beyond our comprehension, Saul was always going to be the first king. We also need to remember that just because something was prophesied, doesn’t mean that it is endorsed or favored by God when it occurs!
Missing Books?
There are a number of non-biblical books referenced in the Bible that have never been found or are considered not to be God-inspired (click here to read more). Does that mean that our Bibles are incomplete? No, we have what God has deemed important for us to know. As David Guzik puts it, He simply did not want books, like the “rights and duties of the kingship,” to be preserved in His eternal Word.[1]
[1] Guzik, D. (2013). 1 Samuel (1 Sa 10:25–27). David Guzik.