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From: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1
Saul Meets Samuel
[3] Now the asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son,
“Take one of the servants with you and arise, go and look for the asses. [4] And
they passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of
Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Sha-
alim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin,
but did not find them.
[17] When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I
spoke to you! He it is who shall rule over my people.” [18] Then Saul approached
Samuel in the gate, and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” [19] Sa-
muel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to the high place for today
you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that
is on your mind.”
Saul is Anointed
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Commentary:
9:1-10:16 This section focuses on Saul, who will be the first king of Israel. The
writer makes it clear that God is the one who plans things, who selects Saul
and who sets him up over the people.
This account (which may have been made up by combining earlier, separate
traditions) forms a simple literary piece in which each episode stands on its own
and is neatly linked to the one that follows. The figure of Saul is the connecting
thread, but the Lord is the true protagonist. We can say that there are seven
scenes here, in seven settings: 1) Saul’s family is introduced; it belongs to the
tribe of Benjamin, based in the south of the country (9:1-2). 2) Saul and his ser-
vant, in search of lost asses, go north, where the “man of God” lives (9:3-10). It
is all so unplanned that the hand of God seems to be at work. 3) Saul and the
young maidens who have come out of the city to draw water (9:11-13): the
scene is evocative of episodes where Jacob (Gen 24:11ff) and Moses (Ex 2:16ff)
have casual meetings which change the course of their lives. 4) Saul and Samuel
meet for the first time in the city of Ramah (9:14-27). The sacrifice (v. 13), the sa-
crificial meal and the conversation between Saul and Samuel show the religious
nature of the event and the Lord’s initiative in raising Saul to the dignity of prince
(”naguid”) over the people (v. 16), but not yet that of king (”melek”). 5) Saul is a-
nointed at the outskirts of the city (9:27-10:9): this is the central scene in the ac-
count. In a private but solemn rite Samuel anoints Saul king and kisses him as
a mark of reverence. 6) The meeting between Saul and the pro- phets on the way
to Gibeah (10:10-12): this scene acts as a contrast with the previous one, for it
cuts down to size the figure of Saul (cf. 19:24) who so ridiculously sought to iden-
tify with these “prophets” who used to work themselves into trances by means
of music and gestures (cf. 10:5). 7) The conversation between Saul and his uncle
at Gibe-ah (10:14-16): Saul’s calling to be king is reasserted by the writer, but it
must be kept secret.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.