841 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him,.... By which it seems that the house of Samuel was at that end of it at which they entered; and with which agrees what is observed in the preceding verse, that "he was before them", his house was in sight of them: before he go up to the high place to eat; intimating they would, if...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they went up into the city,.... Saul and his servant went up the hill to the city of Ramah: and when they were come into the city; were within it, within the walls of it; behold, Samuel came out against them; came out of a door of his house upon them, just as they came up: or "to meet them" (i); his way to the high place lay where they were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear,.... In a private manner, whispering in his ear, telling him in a free, familiar, friendly way, as a secret: a day before Saul came; that he might prepare for the entertainment of him, and not be surprised at his coming, as well as hereby be assured he was the person designed to be king of Israel, when he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,.... Who without any thought or design of his own, but merely directed by the providence of God, should come to him, not expecting a kingdom; at most only to hear of his father's asses, and which way he should take to find them; missing the finding of which would and did...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Samuel saw Saul,.... Who could not but take notice of him for his height, and which might give him a suspicion he was the man the Lord had spoken of to him; and the rather, because this was the exact time in which he was to be sent to him, and therefore he fixed his eyes upon him: and that he might be assured it was he, and be left at no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate,.... Either at the door of his own house, just as he was coming out of it, or within the gate of the city as Saul entered that, Samuel came to it, in order to go through it to the high place, which it is probable was without the city; wherefore it is very properly said that Samuel came out to meet them, 1...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer,.... For he supposed, by inquiring for his house, that his business was with him; wherefore this he said, not as boasting of his character and office, or in the pride and vanity of his mind, but merely for information sake: go up before me unto the high place; instead of returning home with him, he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago,.... Which, according to Kimchi, is to be understood not of the time from whence they were lost, but to be reckoned from the time that Saul had been seeking of them; so the Targum, "as to the business of the asses, which are lost to thee, and thou art come to seek them today, these three days:''...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul answered and said, am not I a Benjamite,.... Or the son of Jemini, the name of one of his ancestors, see 1 Samuel 9:1 or rather, as the Targum, a son of the tribe of Benjamin: of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? having been greatly reduced, even to the number of six hundred men, by the fatal war between that tribe and the rest, on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour,.... The dining room of the house, which belonged to the high place: and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden; and who very probably were the principal persons in the city; and yet Saul was placed at the head of them by Samuel, to convince him that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samuel said unto the cook,.... That dressed and prepared the food for the entertainment of the guests: bring the portion which I gave thee; to dress; for part of the provisions of the feast was Samuel's, and the other part the people's that brought the peace offerings: of which I said unto thee, set it by thee; do not bring it in with the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it,.... Meaning either, as some think, some sauce that was poured on it, or garnish about it; or the thigh, as the Targum, and so Jarchi, Kimchi, and others; or rather the breast, as a more ancient Jew (o); since this joined to the shoulder before separated, and in sacrifices went along...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when they came down from the high place into the city,.... After the feast was ended; and though Ramah itself was situated on an eminence, yet it seems this high place was higher than that, being without the city upon an hill, and therefore they are said to come down from the one to the other; or they came down from the high place, and then...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they arose early,.... Neither of them being able to sleep, as Abarbinel supposes; not Samuel for thinking what he was to do the next morning, anoint Saul king over Israel; nor Saul for what Samuel had hinted to him about the desire of all Israel being upon him, and for the honour done him at the feast, and because of the conversation they had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as they were going down to the end of the city,.... That end of it that led the way to the place where Saul was going. As this city was built on an hill, going to the end of it was a declivity, a descent: Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us; being another man's servant, he did not choose of himself to bid him go on, but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 10 In this chapter we read of Saul's being anointed king by Samuel, 1 Samuel 10:1, and of certain signs given as confirming the same, which should come to pass, and did, before Saul got to his father's house, 1 Samuel 10:2, of his arrival at his father's house, and of what passed between him and his uncle there, 1...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Samuel took a vial of oil,.... Out of his pocket very probably, which he brought along with him on purpose for the use he made of it: this, as the Jews (y) say, was not the anointing oil that was in the tabernacle, which was at another and distant place, and with which only the kings of the house of David were anointed; but common oil, or, as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When thou art departed from me today,.... Not as soon as he was departed, for he had some few miles to go from Ramah to Rachel's grave near Bethlehem: thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah; the Jews move a difficulty here, that Rachel's sepulchre should be said to be in the border of Benjamin, when it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall thou go on forward from thence,.... From Zelzah and Rachel's sepulchre there: and thou shall come to the plain of Tabor; not that which lay at the bottom of the famous and well known mountain Tabor; for that was in the tribe of Zebulun, at a great distance from hence: but a plain, so called perhaps from the name of the owner of it: and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they will salute thee,.... Not as king, of which they knew nothing, but in a common way; and though a stranger and unknown to them, yet finding their hearts disposed and affected towards him, would inquire of his welfare, and wish him all happiness, peace, and prosperity: and give thee two [loaves] of bread; which was pretty much that they...