I Samuel 10, Saul Prophesies

Samuel has retained Saul at his home, telling him that there is a message from God for him.

I Samuel 10: 1-4, Anointment

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, `The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?"'

"Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

Samuel predicts some events that are to come.  The NIV translation in verse 1 follows ancient Hebrew Masoretic manuscripts. But the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate manuscripts replace the question

"Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?" 

with a longer statement

"Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his people Israel? You will reign over the LORD's people and save them from the power of their enemies round about. And this will be a sign to you that the LORD has anointed you leader over his inheritance."

Samuel attempts to convince Saul that this annointing is divinely planned and so provides events that will occur after Saul heads home. At the "great tree of Tabor", he will meet three men, carrying three goats, three loaves of bread and one wineskin of wine. In addition to the specificity of this prophesy, we might note that once again, in this dry and desert land, a great tree can be a distinctive landmark (unlike east Texas or Michigan!)

I Samuel 10: 5-7, Prophesy

"After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

The next sign Samuel gives Saul will occur at Gibeah, Saul's home.  (Gibeah is the same town where the woman was raped and killed in Judges 19.) In Gibeah, Saul is free to join the prophets and the Holy Spirit will take over him then. When that occurs, Saul is to follow his instincts in his next action.

Commentators point out the three stages of Saul's coronation: (1) He is anointed, secretly, by Samuel in the previous chapter. (2) He is chosen by lot (later in this chapter) and then (3) he is chosen by public proclamation in the next chapter. If one wonders why some of this is being done in secrecy, we might note that the Philistines have an outpost in Gibeah and so appear to be currently occupying the region.  The Philistine occupiers would not take lightly a decision by Israel to appoint a king.

I Samuel 10: 8, "Wait seven days"

"Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."

 

Samuel gives an important instruction to Saul about waiting seven days after he arrives at Gilgal

I Samuel 10: 8-12, "Is Saul among the prophets?"

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"

A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

A strange thing happens to Saul as he searches out the prophets -- he, himself, begins to prophesy! (The saying, "Is Saul among the prophets?" is probably asked in awe here.  Later it will be a sign of mockery.) Schools of prophets show up a few times in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 2, for example and 2 Kings 4: 38-41.  Some schools had a "father" leader, but Saul did not. 

I Samuel 10: 13-16, "Just donkeys"

 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place. Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?" 

"Looking for the donkeys," he said. 

"But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."

Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."

Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

 

Saul is suddenly reticent and does not want his uncle to know what has happened.  All of this may be a bit overwhelming!

I Samuel 10: 17-19, Samuel summons Israel

Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, `No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."

Samuel claims that choosing a king is rejecting YHWH -- but a king will indeed be chosen.

(The Hebrew word eleph at the end of this paragraph is here translated "clans".  Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is often translated "thousands" and the King James Version uses the word "thousands" here, instead of "clans".  The ambiguity of this ancient Hebrew word is discuss in The Problem of Large Numbers in the Old Testament.)

I Samuel 10: 20-23, Among the baggage

When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.

So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?" 

And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage." They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.

 

Suddenly shy Saul hides among the luggage! Saul is not eager to be king and has no ambitions for power at this time.

I Samuel 10: 24-27, "Long live the king!"

Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." 

Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"

Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

Saul is introduced as king and Samuel writes down basic regulations regarding kingship within the covenant of God.  These regulations are written on a scroll (made of papyrus or sheepskin) and most likely placed in the ark.  

Most of the people are exciting and enthusiastic to have a king introduced to them.  But there are always scoffers and trolls.