1 Samuel 10:9-27

Context

Saul Becomes King

10:9 As Saul¹ turned² to leave Samuel, God changed his inmost person.³ All these signs happened on that very day. 10:10 When Saul and his servant⁴ arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the spirit of God rushed upon Saul⁵ and he prophesied among them. 10:11 When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?”

10:12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?” 10:13 When Saul⁶ had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

10:14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul⁷ replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost,⁸ we went to Samuel.” 10:15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”⁹ 10:16 Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul¹⁰ did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

10:17 Then Samuel called the people together before the Lord at Mizpah. 10:18 He said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power¹¹ of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 10:19 But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, “No!¹² Appoint a king over us.” Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.’”

10:20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 10:21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found. 10:22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Has the man arrived here yet?” The Lord said, “He has hidden himself among the equipment.”¹³

10:23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he took his position among the people, he stood head and shoulders above them all. 10:24 Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen? Indeed, there is no one like him among all the people!” All the people shouted out, “Long live the king!”

10:25 Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work.¹⁴ He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes. 10:26 Even Saul went to his home in Gibeah. With him went some brave men whose hearts God had touched. 10:27 But some wicked men¹⁵ said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it.¹⁶

[10:9] ¹tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:9] ²tn Heb “turned his shoulder.”

[10:9] ³tn Heb “God turned for him another heart”; NAB, NRSV “gave him another heart”; NIV, NCV “changed Saul’s heart”; TEV “gave Saul a new nature”; CEV “made Saul feel like a different person.”

[10:10] ⁴tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “he” (in which case the referent would be Saul alone).

[10:10] ⁵tn Heb “him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:13] ⁶tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14] ⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14] ⁸tn Heb “And we saw that they were not.”

[10:15] ⁹tc In the LXX and Vulgate the pronoun “you” is singular, referring specifically to Saul. In the MT it is plural, including Saul’s servant as well.

[10:16] ¹⁰tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:18] ¹¹tn Heb “hand” (also later in this verse).

[10:19] ¹²tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading לֹא (lo’, “not”) rather than the MT לוֹ (lo; “to him”). Some witnesses combine the variants, resulting in a conflated text. For example, a few medieval Hebrew mss have לֹא לוֹ (lo lo’; “to him, ‘No.’”). A few others have לֹא לִי (li lo’; “to me, ‘No.’”).

[10:22] ¹³tn Or “baggage” (so many English versions); KJV “stuff”; TEV “supplies.”

[10:25] ¹⁴tn Heb “the regulation of the kingship.” This probably refers to the regulations pertaining to kingship given to Moses (see Deut 17:14-20).

[10:27] ¹⁵tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

[10:27] ¹⁶tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.