1 Samuel 10:2

_WHEN THOU ART DEPARTED FROM ME TO DAY, THEN THOU SHALT FIND TWO MEN BY RACHEL'S SEPULCHRE IN THE BORDER OF BENJAMIN AT ZELZAH; AND THEY WILL SAY UNTO THEE, THE ASSES WHICH THOU WENTEST TO SEEK ARE FOUND: AND, LO, THY FATHER HATH LEFT THE CARE OF THE ASSES, AND SORROWETH FOR YOU, SAYING, WHAT SHALL I DO FOR MY SON?_ When thou art departed from me today. The design of these specific predictions of what should be met with on the way, and the number and minuteness of which would arrest attention, was to confirm Saul's reliance on the prophetic character of Samuel, and lead him to give full credence to what had been revealed to him as the word of God (see the notes at 1 Samuel 2:34: cf. 1 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 19

1-8 The sacred anointing, then used, pointed at the great Messiah, or Anointed One, the King of the church, and High Priest of our profession, who was anointed with the oil of the Spirit, not by measure, but without measure, and above all the priests and princes of the Jewish church. For Saul's further satisfaction, Samuel gives him some signs which should come to pass the same day. The first place he directs him to, was the sepulchre of one of his ancestors; there he must be reminded of his own mortality, and now that he had a crown before him, must think of his grave, in which all his honour would be laid in the dust. From the time of Samuel there appears to have been schools, or places where pious young men were brought up in the knowledge of Divine things. Saul should find himself strongly moved to join with them, and should be turned into another man from what he had been. The Spir...

Verse 1 Samuel 10:2. _RACHEL'S SEPULCHRE_] This was nigh to Bethlehem. See Genesis 35:19. _AT ZELZAH_] If this be the name of a _place_, nothing is known of it. The Hebrew בצלצח _betseltsach_ is translated by the _Septuagint_ ἁλλομενους μεγαλα, _dancing greatly_: now this may refer to the _joy_ they felt and expressed on finding the asses, or it may refer to those _religious exultations_, or _playing on instruments of_ _music_, mentioned in the succeeding verses....

How should Saul know that what Samuel said was the word of the Lord? Samuel gives him a sign, “Thou shalt find two men,” etc. (Compare Judges 6:36; Isaiah 7:11; John 6:30; Mark 11:2; Mark 14:13, etc.) ZELZAH - A place absolutely unknown....

EXPOSITION SAUL ANOINTED TO BE KING, AND SIGNS GIVEN HIM CONVINCING HIM OF THE TRUTH OF HIS APPOINTMENT (1 Samuel 10:1). 1 SAMUEL 10:1 A VIAL OF OIL. Hebrew, "the vial of oil," because it was that same holy oil with which the priests were anointed (Exodus 29:7). Throughout Holy Scripture the office of king appears as one most sacred, and it is the king, and not the priest, who is

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 was by Bethlehemephrath, in the tribe of Judah, Genesis 35:19 and which they solve by observing, that these men were now, at the time Samuel was speaking, by the grave of Rachel, but as they were coming on he would meet them at Zelzah, in the border of Benjamin z; but there is no need of this, Rachel's grave was not at Bethlehem, but in, the way to it; and besides, as these two tribes were contiguous, and this city being on the borders of both, it might be said at one time to be in the border of Benjamin, and at another in the b

2. THE STORY OF SAUL AND HIS ANOINTING Chapter S 9:1-10:16 _ 1. Saul the son of Kish and the lost asses (1 Samuel 9:1)_ 2. Samuel and Saul (1 Samuel 9:11) 3. Saul anointed King (1 Samuel 9:25; 1 Samuel 10:1) And now the Lord gives them a king according to their choice. “He should possess all the natural attractions and martial qualities which the people could desire in their king; he should reflect their religious standpoint at their best; but he should also represent their national failings and the inmost defects of their religious life; that of combining zeal for the religion of Jehovah, and

1 SAMUEL 9:1 TO 1 SAMUEL 10:16. SAMUEL ANOINTS SAUL AS KING. (J), taken from one of the oldest narratives (see Introduction, p. 273). Note the absence of any connexion with the Deuteronomic narrative in the previous chapter also the inconsistencies; in 1 Samuel 7:13 the Philistines were permanently disposed of; in 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:5, they are oppressing Israel and have a garrison in the heart of the country; in our present narrative we have no trace of hostility to the Monarchy. This section preserves important features of primitive religious l

THOU SHALT FIND. Three signs given (compare Mark 14:3) to indicate the coming change. MEN. Hebrew. _'enosh._ App-14. RACHEL'S SEPULCHRE. Compare Genesis 35:20. LO. Figure of speech _Asterismos._ App-6....

_Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah_ In Genesis 35:16-20; Genesis 48:7, Rachel's grave is described as on the road from Bethel to Ephrath which is Bethlehem, a little way from Ephrath. This agrees with the site now marked by a tomb called _Kubbet Rahil_(dome of Rachel) a mile N. of Bethlehem. But if this is the true site of Rachel's sepulchre, it is not easy to reconcile it with the notice here. (_a_) It is at least 4 miles S. of the southern border of Benjamin. (_b_) Supposing "the city" to be Ramah (see note on 1 Samuel 9:4-5), it is hard to see why Saul should be sent so far out of his way home. Various attempts have been made to explain the difficulty. (1) Thenius thinks that