1 Samuel 9 is the ninthchapter of the First Book of Samuel in theOld Testament of theChristianBible or the first part of theBooks of Samuel in theHebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophetSamuel, with additions by the prophetsGad andNathan,[2] but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE.[3][4] This chapter describes the meeting betweenSaul and Samuel which led to Saul's first anointing as king (1 Samuel 10:1–16),[5] within a section comprising 1 Samuel 7–15 which records the rise of the monarchy in Israel and the account of the first years of King Saul.[6]
This chapter introduces Saul, who was to be the first king of Israel, as a resolution to the request for a king left unfinished in theprevious chapter.[14] The narrative bears some features of folk-tales: a young man setting out to find his father's missing donkeys comes out as designated king.[15] Saul's search led him to the prophet Samuel, who privately anointed Saul as king and provided three signs as confirmation to its legitimacy,[14] all of which were fulfilled in 1 Samuel 10:2–7.[16] Throughout the account, Saul appeared to be humble, but also showed lack of confidence and perhaps doubts about his calling to kingship.[14]
The listing of Saul's ancestry in the beginning of this chapter recalls the opening of the Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1) which delineates Samuel's genealogy.[14] In both genealogies Samuel and Saul are listed in the sixth position.[17] The connection of Samuel's name to the word "asked" (Hebrew:shaul) in 1 Samuel 1:28 may also relate to the name of Saul (Hebrew:shaul)[17] Saul's genealogy has two noteworthy features:[17]
Saul's father has an attribute of a "man of standing" (see 1 Samuel 9:1), so Saul came from a well-to-do family.
Saul is from thetribe of Benjamin, which descended fromJacob's youngest son,Benjamin, and not long before this time had almost been annihilated because of their horrific actions (Judges 19–21).[17]
These may emphasize God's direct participation in the events that Saul, a youth belonging to the smallest of the Israel tribes and the humblest of families (9:21) was endowed with extraordinary characteristics (9:2) to be elected as the first king of Israel.[16]
Now 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.[18]
"A mighty man of power": attributed toKish, Saul's father; translated from Hebrewגבור חיל,gi-bōrḥā-yil,[20] which may mean (1) a valiant man, as in1 Samuel 16:18, or (2) a wealthy man as inRuth 2:1, or the combined idea of personal valor and family importance ("a man of standing" inNIV), rendered in theSeptuagintἀνὴρ δυνατός, "a powerful man",[21]
Some ancestors seem to be omitted, among whom are Matri, mentioned in 1 Samuel 10:21;and Jehiel, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 9:35 (cf. 1 Chronicles 8:29), who was described as the first settler and coloniser of Gibeon, and as the husband of Maachah, a daughter or granddaughter of Caleb.[22] An ancestor of Saul could have been among the 600 men of Benjamin who escaped to the rock Rimmon during the slaughter of the whole tribe by the other tribes of Israel (Judges 20:47–21:1).[22]
Saul was told by his father, Kish, to look for their stray donkeys, so he and a servant went through thehill country of Ephraim until they arrived in the land of Zuph (9:5).[16] The servant persuaded Saul to visit a nameless seer (9:6–10), who was unfamiliar to them (cf. 9:18),[15] and turned out to be Samuel (9:14, 19).[17] A day before Samuel had been told by YHWH that the chosen man would come to him (9:16).[16] God commanded Samuel to anoint Saul not as "king" (Hebrew:melek), but "ruler" (Hebrew:nagid; "prince"), in contrast to the instruction for Samuel to anoint David as "king" in1 Samuel 16:1.[23] After God clearly pointed Saul to Samuel ("Behold the man";1 Samuel 9:17), the prophet introduced himself to Saul as the seer and demonstrated his credentials by accurately speaking about Saul's donkeys.[23] Saul was invited by Samuel to a meal and given a choice of meat which had been set aside for Saul beforehand, again indicating that the meeting was not coincidental.[24] This "pre-coronation meal" was similar to the one organized later when Samuel anointed David (a meal and invited guests; 9:22).[24] Samuel did not use the occasion of the dinner to anoint Saul, but waited instead until the next morning (as described in1 Samuel 10).[24]
Now the donkeys of Kish, the father of Saul, were lost. And Kish said to his son Saul, "Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go find the donkeys."[25]
"Donkeys" the Hebrew word denotes "female donkeys", can be used for riding (Judges 10:4) and kept for breeding; they were not as confined as the males, so they could stray away.[19]
"Servants": translated from a Hebrew plural noun derived from the root wordnaar, which literally means "young boy",[26] but in this context, it implies "servants" and need not to be young of age.[5]
The SyriacPeshitta version has additional words: "So Saul arose and went out. He took with him one of the boys and went out to look for his father's donkeys."[27]
When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.[28]
As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” And he went on. “But you stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”[30]
"And he went on": This statement is found in Masoretic Text, as well as an Old Latin manuscript, and the Syriac Peshitta, but generally missing from GreekSeptuagint version, except ofOrigen.[31]
^abExell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors).On "1 Samuel 9". In:ThePulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Zuph".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.