1 Samuel 9:2

And he had a son whose name was Saul,.... Of this name was the great apostle of the Gentiles before his conversion, and was of the same tribe also; but very different in stature; he was a little man,

And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

And a goodly, Heb. good, i.e. comely and personable, as that word is used, ; as evil is put for deformed, . He was higher than any of the people: a tall stature was much valued in a king in ancient times, and in the eastern countries.

1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son, whose name [was] Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and [there was] not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward [he was] higher than any of the people.Ver. 2. And he had a son, whose name was Saul.] Which signifieth desired or sought after: Nomen, Omen. A choice young man, and a goodly.] Heb., Good. That is of a good nature and disposition, saith Lyra. So perhaps he was at first: as was also Nero for the first five years of his reign, so that Seneca sets him forth for a singular example of clemency. Saul proved to be the reigning hypocrite, by whom "the people were ensnared." It is threatened as a heavy curse, "If you still trespass against me, I will set princes over you that shall hate you." There was none … a goodlier person than he.] This won him much respect with the vulgar, that he was Os humerosque Deo similis, proper and comely, looking like a prince, as the tragedian noteth of Priamus: for want of which, Agesilaus, that gallant man, was much slighted by the Persians. The French had a Philip the Fair: and Artaxerxes Longimanus was omnium hominum pulcherrimus, saith Emilius Probus, the comliest man alive. αξιονειδοςτυραννιδος - Eurip.

(2) A choice young man, and a goodly.—The Hebrew word which is rendered in English by “a choice young man” cannot signify both these epithets. The translators were probably influenced by the Vulg. (Latin) Version, which translates the Hebrew word by electus, “chosen, or choice,” the more common signification of the Hebrew word being avoided, owing to the fact that at this time Saul appears to have had a son (Jonathan) who must have well-nigh reached his maturity. But the term young was not inappropriate to Saul, who was still in the full vigour of manhood as contrasted with the old age of Samuel, being about forty to forty-five years old. Translate then simply, “a young man,” &c. In the childhood of nations heroic proportions were highly valued, and the gigantic stature and the remarkable beauty of the king, no doubt contributed to the ready acceptance on the part of the still semi-barbarous Israel of the young man Saul. (Comp. Herodotus, 3:20, 7:187; Aristotle, Polit., 4:29; and Virgil’s description of Turnus, Æneid, 7:650, 783; and Homer’s words about Ajax, Iliad, iii. 226.) The asses.—Literally, And the she-asses. At this period of Jewish history asses were much used by the people. The horse was forbidden by the Law. Asses were used not only for purposes of agriculture, but also for riding; so in the song of Deborah we find, “Speak, ye that ride on white asses” (Judges 5:10); and again we read of the thirty sons of Jair, the Gileadite judge, each one ruler of a city, who rode on thirty ass colts (Judges 10:4). These belonging to the farm of Kish, being probably kept for breeding purposes, were untethered, and so strayed from the immediate neighbourhood, and were lost. The whole of this chapter and part of the following is full of picturesque details of the pastoral life of the people. In many of the little pictures we see how strongly at this early period the religion of the Eternal coloured almost all parts of the every-day life of Israel. One of the servants.—The “servant,” not “slave;” the Hebrew word for the latter would be different. The servant was evidently a trusty dependant of the house of Saul’s father, and was on familiar terms with his young master. We hear of his giving wise advice in the course of the search (1 Samuel 9:6); he was the one in charge of the money (1 Samuel 9:8); and this servant, we are especially told, was treated by Samuel the judge as an honoured guest at the sacrificial feast at Ramah. He was traditionally believed to have been Doeg the Edomite, afterwards so famous as one of the most ruthless of the great captains of King Saul. (See 1 Samuel 22:18.)

Verse 2. From his shoulders and upwards] It was probably from this very circumstance that he was chosen for king; for, where kings were elective, in all ancient times great respect was paid to personal appearance.

2. whose name was Saul] Heb. Shβϋl = “asked.” It occurs as the name (a) of an Edomite prince (Genesis 36:37-38); (b) of a son of Simeon (Genesis 46:10); (c) of a Kohathite in the genealogy of Samuel (1 Chronicles 6:24); (d) of Saul of Tarsus, “who is also called Paul” (Acts 7:58, &c.); and thus it became “the most distinguished name in the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin,” in the N.T. as well as in the O.T. (Philippians 3:5). a choice young man, and a goodly] Choice and goodly. Cp. 1 Samuel 10:24. Physical qualifications of stature, strength and beauty are a natural commendation for the dignity of a king, especially in warlike ages. Euripides speaks of εῖδοςἄξιοντυραννίδος, ‘form worthy to rule.’ Ajax appears in Homer (Il. III. 227) as “Towering o’er all with head and shoulders broads;”and Turnus, in Virgil (Aen. VII. 784), “Out-tops the foremost chieftains by a head.”

2. A choice young man, and a goodly — In the vigour and prime of early manhood, and of a beautiful countenance. Higher than any of the people — Great respect was paid by the ancients to a noble presence.