27 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines,.... Not a word of comfort does he speak unto him, it being the business of this foul spirit to drive him to despair by the permission of God; had he been the true Samuel, he would have directed him to have altered his course of life, and especially his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth,.... Fell at his full length at once, as if he had been thunderstruck, or pierced through with a dart or sword: and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel; as he supposed they were, whose words never failed: and there was no strength in him: to rise up again, he was quite dispirited and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the woman came unto Saul,.... Having left him and the apparition in a room by themselves to converse together, and perhaps on hearing him fall to the ground came in: and saw that he was sore troubled: by his lying on the ground, and the agonies he seemed to be in, and the uneasiness that sat upon his countenance: and said unto him, behold,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid,.... She argues, that as she had hearkened unto him to the endangering of her life, it was but reasonable, and might be expected, that he would hearken to her in a case that would be to the preservation of his life: and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he refused, and said, I will not eat,.... Choosing rather to die with famine than by the sword of the Philistines; though perhaps his meaning is, he could not eat, his stomach loathed it, being overwhelmed with grief and trouble: but his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; not by force, but by arguments; they reasoned with him,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the woman had a fat calf in the house,.... This was reckoned a very dainty dish in those countries, and fit for any guests, see Genesis 18:7; Josephus says (l), she vouchsafed to feed and take care of it in her house, and it was very familiar with her; and he highly commends the liberality of the woman, and as worthy of imitation: and she...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she brought [it] before Saul, and before his servants, and they did eat,.... Of the fatted calf, and unleavened bread, which she set upon a table before them, in the best manner she could: then they rose up, and went away that night; that it might not be seen in what house they had been, and that they might get to the camp without being...