In chapters 9-11 the writer painted Saul as the ideal man to serve as king from the human viewpoint. This pericope (9:1-10:16) sets forth his personal conduct.100
Saul ("Asked [of God],"cf. 8:10) came from good Benjamite stock. His father was a man of property and influence. The same Hebrew expression, gibbor hayil, translated "valor,"describes Boaz in Ruth 2:1 and King Jeroboam I in 1 Kings 11:28 (cf. 1 Sam. 16:18). Saul himself was physically impressive, tall, and handsome. At this time he would have been in his late 20s (cf. 13:1). God gave the people just what they wanted.
Saul's concern for his father's peace of mind was commendable. It shows a sensitivity that would have been an asset in a king (v. 5). Likewise his desire to give Samuel a present for his help was praiseworthy (v. 7; cf. 1 Kings 14:3; 2 Kings 8:8-9). Saul had some appreciation for social propriety. He was also humble enough to ask directions from a woman (vv. 11-14).
The high place (v. 12) was a hilltop on which the people offered sacrifices and may have been Mizpah (cf. 7:9) or probably Ramah, Samuel's hometown (cf. v. 6).
Even though God had broken the Philistines' domination at the Battle of Mizpah (7:10-11) they still threatened Israel occasionally and did so until David finally subdued them (v. 16).
". . . after the victory of Mizpeh [sic], the Philistines no longer totally controlled Israel and . . . did not again make a full-scale invasion."101
God referred to Saul as a "prince"(Heb. negid, v. 16), a king-designate. Notwithstanding Yahweh was Israel's true "king."Also in verse 17 the Hebrew word translated "rule"(asar) usually means "restrain."Saul would not rule as most kings did but would restrain the people as God's vice-regent.
Samuel gave preference to Saul by inviting him to go up before him to the high place (v. 19). Samuel promised Saul that not only his lost donkeys but all that was desirable in Israel would soon come into his possession (v. 20). Saul's humble response to Samuel was admirable (v. 21; cf. Exod. 3:11; 4:10; Jer. 1:6).
"On the one side Saul was a man hunting for donkeys who instead found a kingdom; and on the other side there was Samuel, who was looking for a suitable king and found a young man of remarkable political unawareness."102
Evidently a dining hall stood near the high place (v. 22). It may have been a room in a larger religious building.103Giving the special leg of meat to Saul was a sign of special honor (vv. 23-24). Before retiring for the night, Samuel and Saul continued their conversation on the typically flat roof of the house, perhaps for privacy (v. 25; cf. Acts 10:9).
Anointing with oil was a symbolic act in Israel that pictured consecration to service. The only things anointed with oil before this anointing were the priests and the tabernacle. The oil symbolized God's Spirit, and anointing with oil represented endowment with that Spirit for enablement (cf. 1 John 2:27). In the ancient Near East a representative of a nation's god customarily anointed the king whom the people from then on viewed as the representative of that god on earth.104Thus Saul would have understood that Samuel was setting him apart as God's vice-regent and endowing him with God's power to serve effectively. Beginning with Saul kings were similar to priests in Israel as far as representing God and experiencing divine enablement. Samuel's kiss was a sign of affection and respect since now Saul was God's special representative on the earth. Samuel reminded Saul that the Israelites were the Lord's inheritance, another comment that Saul unfortunately did not take to heart (cf. 9:13).
Samuel then gave Saul three signs that would verify to the new king that Samuel had anointed him in harmony with God's will. The first of these would have strengthened Saul's confidence in God's ability to control the people under his authority (v. 2).105The second would have helped Saul realize that the people would accept him and make sacrifices for him (vv. 3-4). The third would have assured him that he did indeed possess supernatural enablement from God (vv. 5-6).106
Since God chose and equipped Saul to rule His people it seems most likely that he was a genuine believer. Samuel gave Saul his first orders as God's vice-regent (v. 8). Unfortunately he disobeyed them (13:8-14). Perhaps the tabernacle now stood at Gilgal since Samuel planned to offer burnt and peace offerings there. However, Samuel may have sacrificed at places other than the tabernacle. Again we can see that the tabernacle was not one of the writer's main concerns.
We should probably not interpret the reference to God changing Saul's heart (v. 9) to mean that at this time Saul experienced personal salvation. This always takes place when a person believes God's promise, and there is no indication in the context that Saul did that at this time. Probably it means that God gave him a different viewpoint on things since he had received the Holy Spirit.107In Old Testament psychology the heart was the seat of the will.
God's Spirit also gave Saul the ability to prophesy (v. 10). This was the outward evidence that God was with Saul. It apparently involved the Holy Spirit controlling these men and their manifesting His control with ecstatic behavior (cf. 19:20-24). The evidence of this new gift surprised people who knew Saul, and they took note of it (v. 11).
The question, "Who is their father?"(v. 12) inquired about the source of the ecstatic behavior of all the prophets including Saul. It was indeed an evidence of God's presence and working in their lives.108The proverb that evolved from this incident (cf. 19:24) was derogatory. Some of the people felt that the strange behavior of prophets was inappropriate, especially for their king (cf. 2 Sam. 6:13-16). Ironically their question did not express doubt that Saul was a prophet but confidence that God had empowered him.109
The high place referred to in verse 13 is probably the same one mentioned earlier (vv. 5, 10), namely, Geba. Geba was only four miles from Saul's hometown, Gibeah. Saul's uncle may have been Abner (9:1; 14:50-51) or some other uncle.110
"These passages in 1 Samuel indicate that the writer of Samuel had no problem with high places so long as they were dedicated to Yahweh.
"In Kings, however, the attitude of the historian is clearly hostile to high places. He conceded the necessity of the people worshiping there (and by inference Solomon also) because of the lack of a temple. However, the historian was writing from a later perspective when religion had become syncretistic, and the high places were a snare to the people."111
This section closes with another reference to Saul's humility (v. 16; cf. Phil 2:8; James 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6).
