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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:18 - 9:18
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The thread of the narrative, which was broken off in 1Sa 9:15, is resumed in 1Sa 9:18. Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and asked him for the seer's house. The expression הַשַּׁעַר בְּתֹוךְ is used to define more precisely the general phrase in 1Sa 9:14, הָעִיר בְּתֹוךְ בָּאִים; and there is no necessity to alter הָעִיר in 1Sa 9:14 into הַשַּׁעַר, as Thenius proposes, for הָעִיר בְּתֹוךְ כֹּוא does not mean to go (or be) in the middle of the town, as he imagines, but to go into, or enter, the town; and the entrance to the town was through the gate.
1Sa 9:19-21
Samuel replied, “I am the seer: go up before me to the high place, and eat with me to-day; and to-morrow I will send thee away, and make known to thee all that is in thy heart.” Letting a person go in front was a sign of great esteem. The change from the singular עֲלֵה to the plural אֲכַלְתֶּם may be explained on the ground that, whilst Samuel only spoke to Saul, he intended expressly to invite his servant to the meal as well as himself. “All that is in thine heart” does not mean “all that thou hast upon thy heart,” i.e., all that troubles thee, for Samuel relieved him of all anxiety about the asses at once by telling him that they were found; but simply the thoughts of thy heart generally. Samuel would make these known to him, to prove to him that he was a prophet. He then first of all satisfied him respecting the asses (1Sa 9:20): “As for the asses that were lost to thee to-day three days (three days ago), do not set thy heart upon them (i.e., do not trouble thyself about them), for they are found.” After this quieting announcement, by which he had convinced Saul of his seer's gift, Samuel directed Saul's thoughts to that higher thing which Jehovah had appointed for him: “And to whom does all that is worth desiring of Israel belong? Is it not to thee, and to all thy father's house?” “The desire of Israel” (optima quaeque Israel, Vulg.; “the best in Israel,” Luther) is not all that Israel desires, but all that Israel possesses of what is precious or worth desiring (see Hag 2:7). “The antithesis here is between the asses and every desirable thing” (Seb. Schmidt). Notwithstanding the indefinite character of the words, they held up such glorious things as in prospect for Saul, that he replied in amazement (1Sa 9:21), “Am not I a Benjaminite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family is the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin (בן שִׁבְטֵי is unquestionably a copyist's error for בן שֶׁבֶת); and how speakest thou such a word to me?” Samuel made no reply to this, as he simply wanted first of all to awaken the expectation in Saul's mind of things that he had never dreamt of before.
1Sa 9:22
When they arrived at the high place, he conducted Saul and his servant into the cell (the apartment prepared for the sacrificial meal), and gave them (the servant as well as Saul, according to the simple customs of antiquity, as being also his guest) a place at the upper end among those who had been invited. There were about thirty persons present, no doubt the most distinguished men of the city, whilst the rest of the people probably encamped in the open air.
1Sa 9:23-24
He then ordered the cook to bring the piece which he had directed him to set aside, and to place it before Saul, namely the leg and הֶעָלֶיהָ (the article in the place of the relative; see Ewald, §331, b.); i.e., not what was over it, viz., the broth poured upon it (Dathe and Maurer), but what was attached to it (Luther). The reference, however, is not to the kidney as the choicest portion (Thenius), for the kidneys were burned upon the altar in the case of all the slain sacrifices (Lev 3:4), and only the flesh of the animals offered in sacrifice was applied to the sacrificial meal. What was attached to the leg, therefore, can only have been such of the fat upon the flesh as was not intended for the altar. Whether the right or left leg, is not stated: the earlier commentators decide in favour of the left, because the right leg fell to the share of the priests (Lev 7:32.). But as Samuel conducted the whole of the sacrificial ceremony, he may also have offered the sacrifice itself by virtue of his prophetic calling, so that the right leg would fall to his share, and he might have it reserved for his guest. In any case, however, the leg, as the largest and best portion, was to be a piece of honour for Saul (see Gen 43:34). There is no reason to seek for any further symbolical meaning in it. The fact that it was Samuel's intention to distinguish and honour Saul above all his other guests, is evident enough from what he said to Saul when the cook had brought the leg: “Behold, that which is reserved is set before thee (שִׂים is the passive participle, as in Num 24:21); for unto this time hath it been kept for thee, as I said I have invited the people.” לַמֹּועֵד is either “to the appointed time of thy coming,” or possibly, “for the (this) meeting together.” Samuel mentions this to give Saul his guest to understand that he had foreseen his coming in a supernatural way. לֵאמֹר, saying, i.e., as I said (to the cook).