48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore they inquired of the Lord further,.... Or again, by lot, by which they knew who the person was the was chosen king, but they did not know where he was, and therefore inquire further how they must come at him; and this inquiry was made either before the high priest by Urim and Thummim, or by Samuel the prophet of the Lord: and the inquiry...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they ran and fetched him thence,.... Being in haste to see their king elect, and proclaim him: and when he stood among the people; being brought among them, and presented to them: he was higher than any of the people, from the shoulders, and upwards; which made him look very graceful and majestic; height of stature, and a comely form, as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Samuel said to all the people, see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen,.... For the choice being made by lot, the disposal of which is of the Lord, it is properly attributed to him, and the people could not object to it, but must allow it was the Lord's doing. Eupolemus (k), an Heathen writer, says, that Saul was made king by Samuel by the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, e.] According to Ben Gersom, he laid before them the power a king had over his people, and the punishment he might inflict upon them, if they rebelled against him and some think this is the same he delivered in 1 Samuel 8:10 concerning the arbitrary power of their kings, and how they would be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul also went home to Gibeah,.... His native place, where was his father's house, to which he retired; where were no royal palace, or princely court, nor any of the ensigns of kingly majesty; and whither it does not appear that he was followed by the nobility or princes of the tribes, only accompanied by a few men, as next observed: and there...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the children of Belial said,.... Wicked, dissolute, lawless persons; men without a yoke, as the word signifies, who did not care to be under the yoke of government, at least not under the yoke of Saul; and these might be men of wealth, and of larger tribes, and better families than Saul was of, and therefore envied him, and thought themselves...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 11 This chapter relates the distress the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead were in on account of the Ammonites, 1 Samuel 11:1 upon which they sent messengers to Saul, whose spirit was immediately stirred up to help them, 1 Samuel 11:4, and prepared for it, and came up soon enough for their relief, and slew their enemies, 1...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead,.... A month after, as in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, that is, a month after Saul was chosen king; so Josephus (p): this prince was preparing for war against Israel before, which they hearing of, requested they might have a king to go before them in battle, 1 Samuel...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have the first-fruits of Saul's government, in the glorious rescue of Jabesh-Gilead out of the hands of the Ammonites. Let not Israel thence infer that therefore they did well to ask a king (God could and would have saved them without one); but let them admire God's goodness, that he did not reject them when they rejected him,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Nahash the Ammonite answered them,.... In a very haughty and scornful manner: on this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes; some Jewish writers go into a mystical and allegorical sense of these words, as that Nahash ordered the book of the law to be brought, which was their right eye, that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the elders of Jabesh said,.... The magistrates and principal men of the city: give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel; that is, cease from besieging them, from throwing in darts into the city, or any other missive weapons, and from attempting to break open the gates, or break down the walls of it,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul,.... Where he was born, and brought up, and now dwelt; and he being elected king, it brought an honour to the place; and from hence had this name, to distinguish it from the others, and this is the first time it was so called. Now the messengers from Jabesh came hither directly, because they knew that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And, behold, Saul came after the herd out the field,.... Where he had been to look after the and take care of them, and see what condition they were in, and followed them on their return home; for though he was elected king, he was not inaugurated, and did not take upon him any state; and being despised by some, and no provision as yet made for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,.... And filled him with pity and compassion to the inhabitants of Jabesh, and with wisdom and prudence, and set his thoughts at work to contrive ways and means for their relief, and with fortitude, courage, and resolution, to attempt their deliverance; so the Targum, "the spirit of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he took a yoke of oxen,.... Of his own or his father's, which he had just followed out of the field, and for which chiefly that circumstance is mentioned: and hewed them in pieces; as the Levite did his concubine, Judges 19:29 and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers; some carrying a piece one way, and some...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he numbered them at Bezek,.... Which was the place appointed to meet at, the same with that in Jude 1:4, [See comments on Jude 1:4] though some take the word to be an appellative, and not, the proper name of a place, and render it, "with a stone"; with which he numbered, taking a stone from each, and laying them on a heap, and then...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said unto the messengers that came,.... From Jabeshgilead, that is, Saul and Samuel said to them, as follows: thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead: when they returned unto them, as they were now upon the departure: tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot; when it smites with the greatest heat, as at noon: this morrow seems not to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore the men of Jabesh said,.... To Nahash the Ammonite: tomorrow we will come out unto you; meaning if they had no help, which they were well assured they should have; but this condition they expressed not, which they were not obliged to, but left him to conclude they had no hope of any, the messengers being returned, and the next being the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was so on the morrow,.... After the messengers were returned, and delivered their message, and the men of Jabeshgilead had given the Ammonites reason to expect that they would come out to them according to their agreement: that Saul put the people into three companies; or "heads" (a), under so many commanders, assigning to each their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the people said unto Samuel,.... By which it seems that Samuel accompanied Saul in this expedition; though it is somewhat difficult to account for it, that a man of his years should be able to attend so quick a march that Saul made; it may be, therefore, that he might follow after him gently, and meet him quickly after the battle was fought,...