Ramah · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
Spirit
ר֣וּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִ֗ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
went
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
on
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְvai.Ye.lekh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
prophesied
וַיִּתְנַבֵּ֔אvai.yit.na.Be'
H5012
to prophesy · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
came
בֹּא֖וֹbo.'O
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Naioth
בְּנָי֥וֹתbe.noit
H5121
Navith · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Ramah
בָּרָמָֽהba.ra.Mah
H7414
Ramah · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place 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
Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
1 Samuel 10:10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among…
Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
1 Samuel 19:20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over the…
Numbers 23:5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done…
John 11:51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 19:18–end
Here is, I. David's place of refuge. Having got away in the night from his own house, he fled not to Bethlehem to his relations, nor to any of the cities of Israel that had caressed and cried him up, to make an interest in them for his own preservation; but he ran straight to Samuel and told him all that Saul had done to him, Sa1 19:18. 1. Because Samuel was the man that had given him assurance of the crown, and his faith in that assurance now beginning to fail, and he being ready to say in his haste (or in his flight, as some read it, Psa 116:11), All men are liars ("not only Saul that promised me my life, but Samuel himself that promised me the throne"), whither should he go but to Samuel,…
DAVID FLEES TO SAMUEL. (Sa1 19:18-23)
David fled, . . . and came to Samuel to Ramah--Samuel was living in great retirement, superintending the school of the prophets, established in the little hamlet of Naioth, in the neighborhood of Ramah. It was a retreat congenial to the mind of David; but Saul, having found out his asylum, sent three successive bodies of men to apprehend him. The character of the place and the influence of the sacred exercises produced such an effect on them that they were incapable of discharging their commission, and were led, by a resistless impulse, to join in singing the praises of God. Saul, in a fit of rage and disappointment, determined to go himself. But, befor…
He went on, and prophesied - The Divine Spirit seemed to have seized him at the well of Sechu; and he went on from that prophesying - praying, singing praises, etc.; till he came to Naioth.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 19:23
And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah,.... He went on from the well towards the place:
and the Spirit of God was upon him also; as well as upon his messengers; even the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum:
and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah: in this he differed from his messengers; they did not prophesy till they came to that place, but Saul began to prophesy before he came thither, as he was in his way from the well to it.
The Church Fathers
Since Saul was powerful, having a multitude to help him wickedly against David, while the two alone were pursued — Samuel and David — the grace of God makes Saul prophesy not only whatever was against him, but also the things on David's behalf; and it casts him down naked, signifying beforehand that he would be stripped of the kingdom.
For all who do not love God are strangers, are antichrists. And though they come to the churches, they cannot be numbered among the children of God. That fountain of life does not belong to them. To have baptism is possible even for a bad person; to prophesy is possible even for a bad person. We find that king Saul prophesied: he was persecuting holy David, yet he was filled with the spirit of prophecy and began to prophesy.
And the Spirit of the Lord also came upon him, etc. Indeed, the Jewish persecutor of the Church recognized that holy men of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke; but knowing how to utter their words with his mouth, yet not knowing how to understand them rightly, he did not fear to enter furiously against Him by whom or about whom the words were spoken. However, he prophesied insanely, and indeed still prophesies today; that is, not understanding the true words of the prophets, he recites, reads, loves them, and extends the office of such prophecy to narrating the glory of that same higher beauty which we hope for in the heavens, giving sound without sense, and he reaches the mysteries of the height.
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
Music — Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the…
Naioth — Dwellings, the name given to the prophetical college established by Samuel near Ramah. It consisted of a cluster of separate dwellings, and hence its name. David took refuge here when he fled from…
Prophet — (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning “to bubble forth, as from a fountain,” hence “to utter”, comp. Ps. 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of…
Schools of the Prophets — (1 Sam. 19:18-24; 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 12, 15) were instituted for the purpose of training young men for the prophetical and priestly offices. (See PROPHET; SAMUEL.)
Tongues, Gift of — Granted on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), in fulfilment of a promise Christ had made to his disciples (Mark 16:17). What this gift actually was has been a subject of much discussion. Some have…
David · Naioth, where Saul pursues him — Naioth, where Saul pursues him
Jealousy · .Saul, of David — .Saul, of David
Prophecy · Gift of, sometimes possessed by unconverted men — Gift of, sometimes possessed by unconverted men
Synagogues · Probably originated in the schools of the prophets — Probably originated in the schools of the prophets
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 19:18–end
David fled to Samuel at Ramah, and reported to him all that Saul had done, partly to seek for further advice from the prophet who had anointed him, as to his further course, and partly to strengthen himself, by intercourse with him, for the troubles that still awaited him. He therefore went along with Samuel, and dwelt with him in Naioth. נוית (to be read נוית according to the Chethibh, for which the Masoretes have substituted the form ניות, Sa1 19:19, Sa1 19:23, and Sa1 20:1), from נוה or נוה, signifies dwellings; but here it is in a certain sense a proper name, applied to the coenobium of the pupils of the prophets, who had assembled round Samuel in the neighbourhood of Ramah. The plural נ…
other troops . . . a third time: Each time Saul sent troops, David’s would-be captors were captured by the Spirit. Prophesying diverted them from pursuing David.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 19:20
A group of. A company.3The letters לַהֲקַת are transposed from קהלת [=a group or company]; קָהָל includes the entire group and חֶבֶל [Above 10:5] means only part of the group—Malbim.
