1 Samuel 9:1

Now there was a man of Benjamin,.... Of the tribe of Benjamin, which had its name from the youngest son of Jacob, and one of this tribe was the first king of Israel: whose name was Kish: whom the

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 9 The genealogy of Kish, . Saul’ s person, . He is sent to seek his father’ s asses, . He travels through the country, and finds them not, ,5. By the counsel of his servant, , and the direction of young maidens, , according to God’ s revelation, , he cometh to Samuel, who meets him; entertaineth him at the feast; telleth him the asses were found, and he should be king, . Saul’ s amazement, . Samuel gives him the highest place, and a peculiar dish; eats with him, . After secret communication leadeth him on the way; the servant goes before; Saul stands still with Samuel, . Whose name was Kish. Object. His name was Ner, 9:39. Answ. Either his father had two names, as was usual among the Hebrews; or Kish was really his father that begot him; and Ner, the brother of Kish, , is called his father, because, upon the death of Kish, he took the care of his education, and brought him up as his own son. A Benjamite, Heb. the son of a man of Jemini, i.e. either of Benjamin, or of a place, or of a man, called Jemini. A mighty man of power, i.e. a man of great courage and strength; which tends to Saul’ s commendation: otherwise, a man of great wealth. But that seems confuted by Saul’ s words below, , and the people’ s contempt of him, .

1 Samuel 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name [was] Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.Ver. 1. Now there was a man of Benjamin.] Here beginneth the second part of this book: and here properly begin the Books of the Kings, saith A. Lapide. A mighty man of power.] Heros fortis, and so the fitter to be father to a king. Mighties beget mighties. “ Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis. ” - Horat.

(1) Saul.—The inspired compiler of these books—having related the circumstances which accompanied the people’s request to the last of the judges for a king—closed the first part of the story of this momentous change in the fortunes of the chosen people with the words of the prophet-judge, bidding the representative elders to return to their homes, and wait the result of his solemn communing with the Eternal Friend of Israel on the subject of this king they so earnestly desired. The Eternal answered His servant either in a vision, or by Urim, or by an angel visitant. We are in most cases left in ignorance respecting the precise method by which God communicated with these highly-favoured men—His elect servante. The chosen Israelite whom Samuel was to anoint as the first king in Israel would meet the prophet—so said the “word of the Lord” to Samuel—on a certain day and hour, at a given place. The ninth chapter begins with a short account of the family of this man chosen for so high an office, and after a word or two of personal description, goes on to relate the circumstances under which he met Samuel. Saul, a man in the prime of manhood, distinguished among his fellows by his great stature, and for his grace and manly beauty, was the son of a noble and opulent Benjamite of Gribeah, a small city in the south of the Land of Promise. The whole of this episode in our ancient book is singularly picturesque. We see the yet unproclaimed king occupied in his father’s business, and throwing his whole powers into the every-day transactions of the farm on the slopes of Mount Ephraim. In a few words the historian describes how the modest and retiring Saul was roused from the quiet pastoral pursuits in which his hitherto uneventful life had been spent. The reverent, perhaps slightly reluctant, admiration with which the seer of God gazed at the future king of Israel; the prophet’s significant address, the symbol gifts, the graceful hospitality, and, above all, the solemn and, no doubt, burning words of the generous old man, woke up the sleeping hero-spirit, and prepared the young Benjamite for his future mighty work. But there was no vulgar elation at the prospect which lay before him, no hurried grasping at the splendid prize which the seer told him the God of his fathers had destined for him. Quietly he took leave of the famous Samuel; the predicted signs of his coming greatness one by one were literally fulfilled; but Saul returned to the ancestral farm in the hills of Benjamin, and was subject to his father, as in old days; and when at last the public summons to the throne came to him, he seems to have accepted the great office for which he had been marked with positive reluctance and shrinking, nor does he appear materially to have altered his old simple way of living until a great national disgrace called for a devoted patriot to avenge it.

CHAPTER IX Saul's lineage and description; he is sent by his father to seek some lost asses, 1-5. Not finding them, he purposes to go and consult Samuel concerning the proper method of proceeding, 6-14. The Lord informs Samuel that he should anoint Saul king, 15, 16. Samuel invites Saul to dine with him, and informs him that the asses are found; and gives him an intimation that he is to be king, 17-21. Saul dines with Samuel, and afterwards he is taken to the house-top, where both commune together, 22-27. NOTES ON CHAP. IX Verse 1. A mighty man of power.] Literally, a strong man; this appears to be the only power he possessed; and the physical strength of the father may account for the extraordinary size of the son. See 1 Samuel 9:2.

Ch. 1 Samuel 9:1-2. Saul’s genealogy 1. Now there was a man] “The sacred historian now tracks as it were another stream of events which were to concur in working out God’s providential purpose of giving a king to Israel.” Speaker’s Commentary. Kish, the son of Abiel] See note on 1 Samuel 14:50. a mighty man of power] The Heb. may mean either (a) a valiant man, as in ch. 1 Samuel 16:18, or (b) a wealthy man as in Rth 2:1. Perhaps the ideas of personal valour and family importance are both included here, as in the Sept. rendering ἀνὴρδυνατός, ‘a powerful man.’

The genealogy of Saul is here given as far as Aphiah (“Abiah,” 1 Chronicles 7:8), who was of the house of Becher the son of Benjamin Genesis 46:21.

THE OF SAUL, 1 Samuel 9:1 to 1 Samuel 10:16.In this chapter we are introduced to him who figures in the following history as the first king of Israel.