to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֑לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
ear
אֹ֣זֶן'O.zen
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular construct
a
אֶחָ֔ד'e.Chad
H259
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
day
י֣וֹםYom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Saul
שָׁא֖וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
came
בֽוֹאVo'-
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal infinitive construct
saying
לֵאמֹֽרle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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
Acts 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voi…
2 Samuel 7:27 For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found…
Job 33:16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
1 Samuel 20:2 And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me:…
Mark 14:13-16 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of wat…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 9:11-17
Here, I. Saul, by an ordinary enquiry, is directed to Samuel, Sa1 9:11-14. Gibeah of Saul was not twenty miles from Ramah where Samuel dwelt, and was near to Mizpeh where he often judged Israel, and yet, it seems, Saul had lived so very privately, and had taken so little notice of public affairs, that he had never seen Samuel, for when he met him (Sa1 9:18) he did not know him, so that there was no cause to suspect any secret compact or collusion between them in this matter. I knew him not, says John Baptist concerning Christ, Joh 1:31. Yet I do not think it any commendation to Saul that he was a stranger to Samuel. However,
1. The maid-servants of Ramah, whom they met with at the places of…
GOD REVEALS TO SAMUEL SAUL'S COMING, AND HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE KINGDOM. (Sa1 9:15-27)
Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before--The description of Saul, the time of his arrival, and the high office to which he was destined, had been secretly intimated to Samuel from heaven. The future king of Israel was to fight the battles of the Lord and protect His people. It would appear that they were at this time suffering great molestation from the Philistines, and that this was an additional reason of their urgent demands for the appointment of a king (see Sa1 10:5; Sa1 13:3).
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 9:15
Now the Lord had told Samuel - How this communication was made, we cannot tell.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 9:15
Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear,.... In a private manner, whispering in his ear, telling him in a free, familiar, friendly way, as a secret:
a day before Saul came; that he might prepare for the entertainment of him, and not be surprised at his coming, as well as hereby be assured he was the person designed to be king of Israel, when he should come:
saying; as follows.
Keil & Delitzsch
The Church Fathers
But the Lord had revealed Samuel's ear, etc. And God the Father had revealed the secrets of His mystery to John, while the state of the Mosaic law was still standing, saying: Because after you have manifested to the world the day of the new grace compared in all respects to the legal figures as almost equal in the span of hours, I will send to you a man from the land of the son of the right hand, that is, who bears flesh not conceived by male seed, but sacred singularly by divine work, who according to his name will save the people who believe in me, eager to see God, from the power of darkness; this man baptizing and seeing anointed with the Holy Spirit, you will begin to proclaim him as the leader of my people to all.
But from where he knows this is added: "But the Lord had revealed to Samuel's ear one day before Saul came, saying: At this very hour which now is, tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him as leader over my people Israel, and he shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines." He went out therefore to meet him, in order to lead him to the high place: because he who is sought for the governance of the holy Church must both be shown forth by divine gift and called to a lofty manner of life. The ear of Samuel, because it is said in the diminutive, what does it signify if not the humble understanding of the spiritual teacher? The ear therefore is opened by the Lord, when the humble understanding of the preacher is instructed by the Holy Spirit, so that he may hear what he is to do, and arrange what he has heard. But we must carefully consider what is said: "The day before." For the day is the life of the just, as Paul attests when he says: "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8). When the life of the chosen one is revealed, the hidden day is made known. For man sees the outward show of good works, but God sees the light of the heart. Because therefore both the elect and the reprobate are hidden as regards the intention of the heart, the Lord makes known the coming king the day before; when through his grace the holy preachers recognize in those who are to be promoted that the testimony of good works is preceded by purity of intention. For there is no light of works that is not preceded by rightness of intention. Rightly therefore the king who is to be appointed is recognized the day before. But they do not perceive the following day unless it is born from the preceding one: so that they may consider the day before the day, that is, the intention before the action, and may perceive as sent by God in the light of holy works the one whom divine grace shows to shine through the purpose of the heart. And because at the very hour when he is promised, he is presented: what does this give us to understand, if not that he who is chosen must be perfect, not only in body but in mind? For when God speaks to holy men, it is the full light of day. For a day has its beginning, and it has its end. At the end he reproves sinners, saying: "Adam, where are you?" (Gen. 3:9). And because neither…
Dictionary and topics
Herdsman — In Egypt herdsmen were probably of the lowest caste. Some of Joseph’s brethren were made rulers over Pharaoh’s cattle (Gen. 47:6, 17). The Israelites were known in Egypt as “keepers of cattle;” and…
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Furnished the first king to Israel — Furnished the first king to Israel
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).
on 1 Samuel 9:14-16
When they went into the town, Samuel met them on his way out to go to the high place of sacrifice. Before the meeting itself is described, the statement is introduced in Sa1 9:15-17, that the day before Jehovah had foretold to Samuel that the man was coming to him whom he was to anoint as captain over his people. אזן גּלה, to open any one's ear, equivalent to reveal something to him (Sa1 20:12; Sa2 7:27, etc.). אשׁלח, I will send thee, i.e., "I will so direct his way in my overruling providence, that he shall come to thee" (J. H. Mich. ). The words, "that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, for their cry is come unto me," are not at all…
to eat: Part of a sacrifice made during worship was burned on the altar, while the remainder was eaten in a ceremonial feast by the guests (see also 1:4). • to bless the food: As a Levite, Samuel’s priestly role included offering blessings (see Deut 10:8; 21:5).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 9:13
As you enter the city you… They prolonged their conversation in order to gaze upon Shaul's handsomeness.7Maseches Berachos 48b. The girls gave an extraordinarily long answer to a relatively simple question. The fact that the entire conversation was recorded in Scripture makes it likely that they were struck by Shaul’s handsome appearance and wanted to gaze at him a few moments longer.
The high place. Targum Yonoson renders, 'to the banquet hall.' When Shiloh was destroyed, it became permissible [to offer sacrifices on] the high places, and they would sacrifice peace-offerings on the high place and eat together.
Because he blesses the offering. Targum Yonoson renders, אֲרֵי הוּא פָּרִיס עַל…
