to approach (causatively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
tribe
שֵׁ֥בֶטShe.vet
H7626
a scion · noun, common masculine singular construct
Benjamin
בִּנְיָמִֽןbin.ya.Min
H1144
Binjamin · proper noun, a man's name
taken
וַיִּלָּכֵ֖דvai.yi.la.Khed
H3920
to catch (in a net · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Joshua 7:16-18 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
1 Samuel 14:41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.
Acts 1:24-26 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 10:17–end
Saul's nomination to the throne is here made public, in a general assembly of the elders of Israel, the representatives of their respective tribes at Mizpeh. It is probable that this convention of the states was called as soon as conveniently it might, after Saul was anointed, for, if there must be a change in their government, the sooner the better: it might be of bad consequence to be long in the doing. The people having met in a solemn assembly, in which God was in a peculiar manner present (and therefore it is said they were called together unto the Lord, Sa1 10:17), Samuel acts for God among them.
I. He reproves them for casting off the government of a prophet, and desiring that of a ca…
Samuel called the people together . . . at Mizpeh--a shaft-like hill near Hebron, five hundred feet in height. The national assemblies of the Israelites were held there. A day having been appointed for the election of a king, Samuel, after having charged the people with a rejection of God's institution and a superseding of it by one of their own, proceeded to the nomination of the new monarch. As it was of the utmost importance that the appointment should be under the divine direction and control, the determination was made by the miraculous lot, tribes, families, and individuals being successively passed until Saul was found. His concealment of himself must have been the result either of in…
Present yourselves - by your tribes - It appears that, in order to find out the proper person who should be made their king, they must determine by lot:
1. The tribe.
2. The thousands or grand divisions by families.
3. The smaller divisions by families. And,
4. The individual.
When the lot was cast for the tribe, Benjamin was taken; when for the thousand, the division of Matri was taken; when for the family, the family of Kish was taken; when for the individual, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken.
The Church Fathers
34. He made them all stand by tribes and families, so that he might consider them all, and having considered all, might choose the more suitable one. But since he himself had already known the king by the Lord's revelation, and had anointed him as ruler at His command, why is it that he is still sought out as one to be chosen through tribes and families? But the king had been found by the prophet alone. Therefore, the one already found is sought, so that he who had not been found by the people might be found by them. He is also sought by lot, so that the people could not doubt that the one whom the prophet chose had been provided by divine dispensation. What then is signified in this event, if not that the rulers of the holy Church must be chosen with great deliberation? For the highest preachers, from the interior grace of the Holy Spirit which they possess, are full of the great light of providence. And because they are deeply humble, they do not presume upon the greatness of their inner illumination. Therefore, what they rightly determine within themselves, they also test before others. For the prophet alone knows the future king, when the supreme ruler of the holy Church perceives the character and merits of the one to be ordained as ruler. He also anoints him as ruler when he declares him to be full of spiritual gifts. Nevertheless, he still convenes the people, divides them by tribes and kindreds, casts lots, and finds, as if by a method, the one whom he already knows. The tribes and families stand, as it were, divided, when in the state of virtues the diverse orders of the holy Church are examined. For when we behold the many perfections of the elect—when we see the purity of virgins, the strength of the continent, the honorable ministries of clerics, the devotion of monks—we observe, as it were, tribes standing before us. And because there is great variety among these in the service of God, when we likewise observe the varieties that exist within each order, we see standing before us not only tribes, as it were, but also kindreds. And the lot falls upon a tribe, because better men are often found in one order than in another. For a tribe receives, as it were, the lot, when those who are more perfect than others are seen to be suited for the ministry of preaching. But the lot does not yet fall upon a person, but upon a tribe, when there are many…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Divination — Of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of divination are…
Lot — (Heb. goral, a “pebble”), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Benjamin · .Saul, the first king of Israel, from — .Saul, the first king of Israel, from
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Furnished the first king to Israel — Furnished the first king to Israel
King · By lot — By lot
Lot, The · Saul chosen king by — Saul chosen king by
Mizpah · .They crown Saul king of Israel at — .They crown Saul king of Israel at
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 10:20
And when Samuel had caused all the tribes to come near,.... The heads and representatives of them, to the place where the lots were cast:
the tribe of Benjamin was taken; the lot fell upon that tribe for the choice of a king out of it; not the tribe of, Reuben, who was the firstborn, nor the tribe of Judah, to whom the kingdom was promised, but the tribe of Benjamin, the least of all the tribes, and which sprung from the youngest son of Jacob, contrary, as it were probable, to the expectation of all.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 10:17–end
Saul's Election by Lot. - After Samuel had secretly anointed Saul king by the command of God, it was his duty to make provision for a recognition of the man whom God had chosen on the part of the people also. To this end he summoned the people to Mizpeh, and there instructed the tribes to choose a king by lot. As the result of the lot was regarded as a divine decision, not only was Saul to be accredited by this act in the sight of the whole nation as the king appointed by the Lord, but he himself was also to be more fully assured of the certainty of his own election on the part of God. -
(Note: Thenius follows De Wette, and adduces the incompatibility of 1 Samuel 8 and Sa1 10:17-27 with Sa1…