to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cook
לַטַּבָּ֔חla.ta.Bach
H2876
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Bring
תְּנָה֙te.Nah
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
portion
הַמָּנָ֔הha.ma.Nah
H4490
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
gave
נָתַ֖תִּיna.Ta.ti
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
said
אָמַ֣רְתִּי'a.Mar.ti
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
Set
שִׂ֥יםsim
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd 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
Genesis 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were…
1 Samuel 1:5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 9:18–end
Providence having at length brought Samuel and Saul together, we have here an account of what passed between them in the gate, at the feast, and in private.
I. In the gate of the city; passing through that, Saul found him (Sa1 9:18), and, little thinking that he was Samuel himself, asked him the way to Samuel's house: Tell me where the seer's house is; for there he expected to find him. See how mean a figure Samuel made, though so great a man: he took not any state, had no attendants, no ensigns of honour carried before him, nor any distinguishing habit, no, not when he went to church, but appeared, in all respects, so much a common person that Saul, though he was told he should meet him, ne…
Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour--The toil-worn but noble-looking traveller found himself suddenly seated among the principal men of the place and treated as the most distinguished guest.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 9:23
Said unto the cook - טבח tabbach, here rendered cook; the singular of טבחות tabbachoth, female cooks, Sa1 8:13, from the root tabach, to slay or butcher. Probably the butcher is here meant.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 9:23
And Samuel said unto the cook,.... That dressed and prepared the food for the entertainment of the guests:
bring the portion which I gave thee; to dress; for part of the provisions of the feast was Samuel's, and the other part the people's that brought the peace offerings:
of which I said unto thee, set it by thee; do not bring it in with the rest, but keep it in the kitchen till called for.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 9:18-24
The thread of the narrative, which was broken off in Sa1 9:15, is resumed in Sa1 9:18. Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and asked him for the seer's house. The expression השּׁער בּתוך is used to define more precisely the general phrase in Sa1 9:14, העיר בּתוך בּאים; and there is no necessity to alter העיר in Sa1 9:14 into השּׁער, as Thenius proposes, for העיר בּתוך כּוא does not mean to go (or be) in the middle of the town, as he imagines, but to go into, or enter, the town; and the entrance to the town was through the gate.
Sa1 9:19-21
Samuel replied, "I am the seer: go up before me to the high place, and eat with me to-day; and to-morrow I will send thee away, and make known to thee a…
The Church Fathers
And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion which I gave you," etc. John spoke in his own language, which was accustomed to provide the audience with the food of life, saying: "Preach the power of the singular virtue, which I commanded you to say was given to no pure man." And she, immediately obeying with a prophetic heart, brought forth words suitable solely to divine power and majesty. And she testified that these belonged to the Mediator of men, to the name of Jesus Christ, saying: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; and he who comes from above is above all" (John 3). And again: "For God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand" (ibid.).
And since great things, and not small ones, are now shown to him to accomplish, it is added: Samuel said to the cook: Give the portion which I gave to you, and which I commanded you to set aside with you. So the cook took up the shoulder and placed it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what remains, set it before you and eat, because it was purposely kept for you when I called the people. And Saul ate with Samuel on that day. What is signified by the shoulder of the breast, if not the strength of action? This is bestowed by Samuel's cook, when it is demonstrated to lesser ones by the greatest preachers. For the cooks are priests, because while they speak to the chosen faithful in the fervor of the spirit, they cook the foods of the mind, as it were through fire. But the portion that is given is said to have been set apart, because the strength of good work in a preacher ought to be singular. Saul places this before him, when he commands the one to be ordained as pastor of holy Church to consider how great a strength he ought to possess. But concerning what the cook had set aside, Samuel says to Saul: "Behold that which is left, set it before you." It remained indeed, because Christ did not fulfill all things that are ours; through His cross He indeed redeemed all, but something remained, so that whoever strives to be redeemed and to reign with Him must be crucified. He who said the following had surely seen this remainder: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12). As if to say: What Christ fulfilled avails nothing unless one also fulfills that which remained. Hence the blessed apostle Peter says: "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). Hence Paul says: "I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh" (Col. 1:24).
Dictionary and topics
Cook — A person employed to perform culinary service. In early times among the Hebrews cooking was performed by the mistress of the household (Gen. 18:2-6; Judg. 6:19), and the process was very…
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…
Entertainments · A choice portion reserved in, for principal guests — A choice portion reserved in, for principal guests
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).
the smallest tribe: Saul tried to downplay Benjamin’s prominence, but they were powerful warriors (Judg 20:14-31; cp. study note on 1 Sam 10:17). What better tribe to lead in battle? • least important of all the families: Cp. 9:1.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 9:23
About which I told you. Because Shmuel knew that Shaul would come, he ordered to give him a fine portion for his benefit.12When the special portion that Shmuel had set aside was placed before Shaul, it publicized the honor that Shmuel as giving him.