1 Samuel 10:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 10:14
And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel.
(figuratively) to love · noun, common masculine singular construct
said
וַיֹּאמֶר֩vai.yo.Mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
servant
נַעֲר֖וֹna.'a.Ro
H5288
(concretely) a boy (as active) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Whither
אָ֣ן'an
H575
where? · interrogative particle
went
הֲלַכְתֶּ֑םha.lakh.Tem
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
said
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
seek
לְבַקֵּשׁ֙le.va.Kesh
H1245
to search out (by any method · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
asses
הָ֣אֲתֹנ֔וֹתha.'a.to.Not
H860
a female donkey (from its docility) · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
saw
וַנִּרְאֶ֣הva.nir.'Eh
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common plural
where
אַ֔יִן'A.yin
H369
a non-entity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
came
וַנָּב֖וֹאva.na.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common plural
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵֽלshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 14:50 And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s…
1 Samuel 9:3-10 And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the…
2 Kings 5:25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 10:9-16
Saul has now taken his leave of Samuel, much amazed, we may well suppose, at what has been done to him, almost ready to question whether he be awake or no, and whether it be not all a dream. Now here we are told,
I. What occurred by the way, Sa1 10:9. Those signs which Samuel had given him came to pass very punctually; but that which gave him the greatest satisfaction of all was this, he found immediately that God had given him another heart. A new fire was kindled in his breast, such as he had never before been acquainted with: seeking the asses is quite out of his mind, and he thinks of nothing but fighting the Philistines, redressing the grievances of Israel, making laws, administering ju…
But who is their father?--The Septuagint reads, "Who is his father?" referring to Saul the son of Kish.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 10:14
Saul's uncle - The word דוד dod signifies a beloved one, love, a lover, friend, etc.; and is the same as David. It is supposed to mean uncle here; but I think it means some familiar friend.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 10:14
And Saul's uncle said unto him, and to his servant, whither went ye?.... Since they had been absent so long a time. This was his father's brother, as the Targum, and so Aquila; whose name was Ner, the father of Abner, 1 Samuel 14:50 who met with him at the high place, or found him in the city, in his father's house it may be. Josephus (g) says, Saul went into the house of his kinsman Abner, whom he loved above all his relations, and that it was he that discoursed with Saul, and asked him, the questions before and after related:
and he said, to seek the asses: he first observes the end of their going, the business they went upon, in which not succeeding, then he answers more directly to the…
And Saul's uncle said to him: Tell me, etc. Saul's uncle who speaks with him here is understood to be Ner, the father of Abner, who was the son of Abiel or Saul. Therefore, the relatives and brothers of the Lord, who were seeking what testimony John had given of him but not yet believing in him, as John the Evangelist testifies; the Lord himself responded, teaching that the entrance of the heavenly kingdom was proclaimed to those repenting by his precursor and promised; but he delayed saying that he was the God and Lord preached by that same precursor, and that he was to be proclaimed king to all nations unsparing and proud. Thus far we have briefly traversed the allegorical exposition of the anointing of Saul concerning the Lord. But also tropologically, that is, according to the rules of moral understanding, each of us keeps simple thoughts and those refreshed by the word of God to bear the burdens of fraternal necessity within the enclosures of our hearts, as if pasturing donkeys prepared for daily work, which namely, the most healthful devotion of thoughts, having been slipped away by some temptation as is usual at the moment, having escaped from watchfulness, broken with the reins of continence, to pursue external and secular things, it is necessary to recall wandering minds with all instant attention and to hasten to return them to the inner manger of heavenly fodder. And because we are not sufficient to do anything of ourselves, as from ourselves, having received the gifts of obedience and humility, let us ascend to hear the word of God, and being raised by his modest consolations, let us acquire that which our weakness could not achieve. And indeed it will come, with the help of divine grace, that not only do we recover the interrupted watchfulness of the mind, but also being enriched with the interest of a more perfect gift, we may begin to hope for the joys of the heavenly kingdom; indeed leading devoted people of God in charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, faith, modesty, continence, and the other fruits of the Spirit, we may be anointed with the oil of heavenly grace as prince over this inheritance of the Lord; and also to kiss with the prophetic mouth, that is, to receive in our manner the exhortatory admonitions of the holy Scripture, by which the hearts of either ourselves or our neighbors may be comforted.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 10:9-16
When Saul went away from Samuel, to return to Gibeah, "God changed to him another heart," - a pregnant expression for "God changed him, and gave him another heart" (see at Sa1 10:6); and all these signs (the signs mentioned by Samuel) happened on that very day. As he left Samuel early in the morning, Saul could easily reach Gibeah in one day, even if the town where he had met with Samuel was situated to the south-west of Rachel's tomb, as the distance from that tomb to Gibeah was not more than three and a half or four hours.
Sa1 10:10
The third sign is the only one which is minutely described, because this caused a great sensation at Gibeah, Saul's home. "And they (Saul and his attendant) ca…
“Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?” Unlike priests and kings, prophets never inherited their office. Possibly the people were asking why Saul, whose well-to-do father was well known, would associate himself with a group of people who had no pedigree.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 10:12
And who is their father? Why do you wonder about the matter as to who is the father of the prophets? Is prophecy hereditary?6Or וּמִי אֲבִיהֶם can mean “Who is their teacher?” for one’s teacher is called his father as in II Melachim 2:12. He implied to the people that ‘ה is their teacher and just as He teaches the other prophets, He can teach Shaul too.—Radak