to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
home
לְבֵית֖וֹle.vei.To
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Gibeah
גִּבְעָ֑תָהgiv.'A.tah
H1390
Gibah · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
went
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
men
הַחַ֕יִלha.Cha.yil
H2428
probably a force · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hearts
בְּלִבָּֽםbe.li.Bam
H3820
the heart · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
God
אֱלֹהִ֖ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
touched
נָגַ֥עna.Ga'
H5060
properly · verb, qal perfect, 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
1 Samuel 11:4 Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and w…
Joshua 18:28 And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the…
1 Samuel 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
Acts 7:10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor…
Judges 19:12-16 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass…
Judges 20:14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
2 Samuel 21:6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the…
Psalms 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy yout…
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…
And Saul also went home to Gibeah--near Geba. This was his place of residence (see Jdg 20:20), about five miles north of Jerusalem.
there went . . . a band of men, whose hearts God had touched--who feared God and regarded allegiance to their king as a conscientious duty. They are opposed to "the children of Belial."
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 10:26
A band of men - Not a military band, as I imagine, but some secret friends, or companions, who were personally attached to him. Others think that all the men fit to bear arms are intended; but this seems inconsistent with the life that Saul led for some time afterwards; for he appears to have gone into his agricultural concerns, and waited for a call from the Divine providence. See Sa1 11:5.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 10:26
And Saul also went home to Gibeah,.... His native place, where was his father's house, to which he retired; where were no royal palace, or princely court, nor any of the ensigns of kingly majesty; and whither it does not appear that he was followed by the nobility or princes of the tribes, only accompanied by a few men, as next observed:
and there went with him a band of men; an army, or part of one they seem to be military men, at least men of strength, valour, and courage; gallant men, who, in honour to their king elect, freely offered themselves to be his body guard, however, until he was come to his house at Gibeah; the Targum is only, "some of the people"
whose heart God had touched;…
The Church Fathers
In vain also do they object that what we have established from Scripture in the books of Kings [which includes Samuel] and Chronicles—that when God wills the accomplishment of something which ought not to be done except by people who will it, their hearts will be inclined to will this, with God producing this inclination, who in a marvelous and ineffable way works also in us that we will—is not pertinent to the subject with which we are dealing. What else is this but to contradict without saying anything? Unless perhaps they gave you some explanation of why it seems this way to them, but you have chosen not to mention it in your letters. But what that explanation could be, I do not know. Do our brothers perhaps think that because we have shown that God so acted in the human hearts and led the wills of those whom it pleased him to lead, that Saul or David was established as king, these examples are not pertinent to the subject, since it is one thing to reign temporally in this world and another to reign eternally with God? Do they suppose, accordingly, that God moves the wills of those whom he has wished to the creation of earthly kingdoms but that he does not move them to the attainment of a heavenly kingdom?
Accordingly, there is no doubt that human wills cannot resist the will of God, "who has done whatever he pleased in heaven and on earth," and who has even "done the things that are to come." Nor can the human will prevent him from doing what he wills, seeing that even with human wills he does what he wills, when he wills to do it. Take, for instance, the case of Saul. When God willed to give the kingdom to Saul, was it in the power of the Israelites to subject themselves to him or not to subject themselves? In a sense, yes; but not in such a way that they were able to resist God himself. As a matter of fact, God carried the matter through by means of the wills of people themselves, having, as he undoubtedly does, the almighty power to bend human hearts in whatever direction he pleases. So it is written: "And Samuel sent away all the people, everyone to his own house. Saul also departed to his own house in Gibeah; and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched. But the children of Belial said, 'Shall this fellow be able to save us?' And they despised him, and brought him no presents." Surely, no one will say that any of the children of Belial, whose hearts God had not so touched, did go with him.
Dictionary and topics
Gibeah — A hill or hill-town, “of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as “Gibeah of Saul” (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite’s concubine which led to the…
Gibeah · .The city of Saul — .The city of Saul
Heart · .Graciously affected of God — .Graciously affected of God
Heart, The · God: Influences — God: Influences
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).
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…
Saul proved his capacity for leadership by tolerating opposition and rescuing the town of Jabesh-gilead.
10:26 whose hearts God had touched: God gave people confidence in Saul’s ability to lead (cp. 10:9).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 10:26
God had touched. [Targum renders], 'men who fear sin, in whose heart 'ה has instilled fear.'
39. If a plain historical narrative is sought, what could ever have been stated more clearly? But if we attend to the force of each individual word, great things are enclosed within this simplicity of words. For the people are said to have been dismissed to their home, but the king is reported not to have been dismissed to his home, but to have gone away. Separately also it speaks of the homes of the people and of the home of the king: because the people are reported as dismissed to their home, and the king as having gone away to his own. Yet the people were dismissed before the king went away. Concerning the departing people it is also carefully indicated that they did not go all at once, but each one is reported to have gone away to his own home. But concerning those who followed the king it does not say: "A part of the army went away, each one after the king," but: "A part of the army went with him." Finally, those who follow the king are reported to have had their hearts touched by God; those who despise the king are called sons of Belial. This manner of speaking is certainly not simple, but is very subtle for one who knows how to consider not what merely sounds on the surface, but what is wisely intimated within. What does it mean, then, that the king is said to go away to his home, but the people to be dismissed? We have shown that the king designates the pastor of the Church, and the people designate his subjects. Now to go is the act of one who is free; to be dismissed belongs to one who can be held back. The king is therefore said to go away so that in the person of the preacher, freedom of spirit may be proclaimed. Teachers can indeed go when they wish and return, because they are strong in good work and wise in their inner disposition. They come, indeed, when they go out to their subjects either by the example of good work or by the word of preaching. They go away when they return to the secret place of the mind and inwardly arrange what they are about to do outwardly. Inasmuch as they remain daily in this contemplation, they are, as it were, hidden within their home. The king is therefore said to go away to his home because the preacher, proven by the work of eternal life and secure in the teaching of wisdom, is free to go out to his labors and to enter into the counsels of the mind. 40. But the people is sent to its own house, because faithful…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
