1 Samuel 19:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 19:24
And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
to spread out (i.e. deploy in hostile array) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
clothes
בְּגָדָ֗יוbe.ga.Dav
H899
a covering · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
also
גַּםgam-
H1571
properly · adverb
prophesied
וַיִּתְנַבֵּ֤אvai.yit.na.Be'
H5012
to prophesy · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
down
וַיִּפֹּ֣לvai.yi.Pol
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
naked
עָרֹ֔ם'a.Rom
H6174
nude · adjective, masculine singular absolute
day
הַיּ֥וֹםhai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night
הַלָּ֑יְלָהha.La.ye.lah
H3915
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
say
יֹֽאמְר֔וּyo.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Saul
שָׁא֖וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
prophets
בַּנְּבִיאִֽםba.ne.vi.'Im
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
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 10:10-12 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…
2 Samuel 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of I…
Isaiah 20:2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from…
Micah 1:8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Numbers 24:4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
Acts 9:21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for…
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,…
SAUL PROPHESIES. (Sa1 19:24)
lay down naked--that is, divested of his armor and outer robes--in a state of trance. Thus God, in making the wrath of man to praise Him, preserved the lives of all the prophets, frustrated all the purposes of Saul, and preserved the life of His servant.
Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 20
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 19:24
He stripped off his clothes - Threw off his royal robes or military dress, retaining only his tunic; and continued so all that day and all that night, uniting with the sons of the prophets in prayers, singing praises, and other religious exercises, which were unusual to kings and warriors; and this gave rise to the saying, Is Saul also among the prophets? By bringing both him and his men thus under a Divine influence, God prevented them from injuring the person of David. See the notes on Sa1 10:6 (note), etc.; and see my sermon on The Christian Prophet and his Work.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 19:24
And he stripped off his clothes also,.... Not all his clothes, but his upper garments, as men in such circumstances used to do, as the prophets sometimes did, and as it seems his messengers had done; according to Jarchi, R. Isaiah, and others (n), he stripped himself of his royal robes, and put on the habit of the scholars, the disciples, and sons of the prophets:
and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, as the messengers had done, singing such like songs, or foretelling such like things as they did; he and they speaking not of themselves, but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; for such gifts have sometimes been bestowed on men that were destitute of the grace of God, as…
The Church Fathers
For, by the arguments wherewith he [Eunomius] endeavours to destroy the truth, he is often himself unwittingly drawn into an advocacy of the very doctrines against which he is contending: Some such thing the history tells us concerning Saul, that once, when moved with wrath against the prophets, he was overcome by grace, and was found as one of the inspired, (the Spirit of prophecy willing, as I suppose, to instruct the apostate by means of himself,) whence the surprising nature of the event became a proverb in his after life, as the history records such an expression by way of wonder, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
From where the proverb emerged, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" The Jews of the Church have become a proverb, who, with a perverted mentality, make use of Holy Scriptures, which they do not believe or understand, while among the faithful attentive to sacred readings. It is also a proverb for those who will say on the last day: "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?" etc. (Matthew VII). And when you see certain unlearned individuals in the Church presumptuously taking the chair of teaching, and under the guise of a faithful teacher, instead of the commands of God, imposing their traditions to be observed, and their doctrines to be followed on deceived listeners, say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
He also stripped himself of his garments, etc. These are clearly the acts of a furious and insane person, to strip oneself, fall down vexed, and lie naked on the ground all day and night. Yet, even through the wrath of such a person, the divine power has something mystical to say for those who hear and discern. For through Balaam, who was of a contrary mind to Him, He foretold so many mysteries beforehand, and through the impious persecutor Caiaphas, He gave the secrets of His saving passion to be prophesied, and through a mute animal speaking with a human voice, He forbade the prophet's folly; and He Himself through the possessed Saul, in the presence of Samuel and the other prophets, revealed whatever mystical things He wished, so that the innocent David might seize the path to salvation; so the madness of the pursuing Saul might be made evident to all everywhere; and finally, it might be understood how much the presence of the perfect confers on the desires of the humble, which could even lift the proud by the power of prophecy; and thus the future fate of the persecuting people might be marked, who by their hatred deserved to strip Christ of the ornament of His unique kingdom, to fall from the state of the ancient righteousness, advancing amidst the prosperity and adversity of the Church, naked of both heavenly and earthly glory, miserable and adhering only to worldly desires, and among these to hold the writings of prophecy, which would support the faith of the Church by word alone. And it is well said that he prophesied with the others before Samuel; for even now the infidel Synagogue meditates and reads the sayings of the Law and the prophets with the Church; yet the Synagogue lacks spiritual understanding, while the Church knows all those things to be understood about the Lord.
Dictionary and topics
Apparel — In Old Testament times the distinction between male and female attire was not very marked. The statute forbidding men to wear female apparel (Deut. 22:5) referred especially to ornaments and…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
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…
Naked — This word denotes (1) absolute nakedness (Gen. 2:25; Job 1:21; Eccl. 5:15; Micah 1:8; Amos 2:16); (2) being poorly clad (Isa. 58:7; James 2:15). It denotes also (3) the state of one who has laid…
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…
Trance — (Gr. ekstasis, from which the word “ecstasy” is derived) denotes the state of one who is “out of himself.” Such were the trances of Peter and Paul, Acts 10:10; 11:5; 22:17, ecstasies, “a…
David · Naioth, where Saul pursues him — Naioth, where Saul pursues him
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…
When Saul tore off his clothes and lay naked, he unwittingly acted out his true spiritual condition of having been stripped of the kingship (13:14; 15:10-11, 23; see “Prophetic Sign Acts” Theme Note). • Is even Saul a prophet? In 1 Sam 10:9-13, Saul was rising as God’s chosen king; here, he is descending under the weight of God’s rejection.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 19:24
He too removed his garments. His royal garments, to put on his students' garments.
He fell down stripped. Targum Yonoson renders וּנְפַל בִּרְשַׁן 'and he fell naked.' And in the name of R. Menachem, who heard from an Arab, בִּרְשָׁן in Arabic [means] insane.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· 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).