1 Samuel 9:27 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 9:27
And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.
to descend (literally · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
end
בִּקְצֵ֣הbik.Tzeh
H7097
an extremity · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
city
הָעִ֔ירha.'Ir
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Samuel
וּשְׁמוּאֵ֞לu.she.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
said
אָמַ֣ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Saul
שָׁא֗וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
Bid
אֱמֹ֥ר'e.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
servant
לַנַּ֛עַרla.Na.'ar
H5288
(concretely) a boy (as active) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
on
וְיַעֲבֹ֥רve.ya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לְפָנֵ֖ינוּle.fa.Nei.nu
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
on
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֑רvai.ya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
stand
עֲמֹ֣ד'a.Mod
H5975
to stand · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
while
כַּיּ֔וֹםkai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
shew
וְאַשְׁמִיעֲךָ֖ve.'ash.mi.'a.Kha
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
word
דְּבַ֥רde.Var
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִֽים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · 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
John 15:14-15 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
1 Samuel 20:38-39 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
2 Kings 9:5-6 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which…
1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
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 communed with Saul upon the top of the house--Saul was taken to lodge with the prophet for that night. Before retiring to rest, they communed on the flat roof of the house, the couch being laid there (Jos 2:6), when, doubtless, Samuel revealed the secret and described the peculiar duties of a monarch in a nation so related to the Divine King as Israel. Next morning early, Samuel roused his guest, and conveying him on his way towards the skirts of the city, sought, before parting, a private interview--the object of which is narrated in the next chapter.
Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 10
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 9:27
As they were going down - So it appears that Saul arose immediately, and Samuel accompanied him out of the town, and sent the servant on that he might show Saul the word, the counsel or design, of the Lord. What this was we shall see in the following chapter, 1 Samuel 10 (note).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 9:27
And as they were going down to the end of the city,.... That end of it that led the way to the place where Saul was going. As this city was built on an hill, going to the end of it was a declivity, a descent:
Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us; being another man's servant, he did not choose of himself to bid him go on, but desired his master to order him to go before them, that he might not hear what Samuel had to say to Saul, or see what he did unto him; for as the choice of Saul to be king was to be declared by lot, as coming from the Lord, all those precautions were taken of rising early, and going abroad, and sending the servant before them, that it might not be thou…
The Church Fathers
And when they descended to the outermost part of the city, Samuel said to Saul, etc. When the Lord was sitting, having assumed humility and poverty for us, revealing Himself as the most despised and last of men, and among the citizens of the world as the lowest, He also taught His followers to be poor in spirit, yet He did not immediately face death at the hands of the often impious plotters; but according to the prophecies, of which John is a part, He commanded His obedient servants to go before Him, and to pass from vices to virtues, from death to life. But He Himself remained in the world for a little while after they departed until He completed the word about Him foretold by the prophets to His faithful.
But what was done next follows: "And as they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Tell the servant to go ahead of us and pass on; but you stand still for a moment, that I may make known to you the word of the Lord. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him." For what does it mean that the king is led to the farthest part of the city and anointed? But the farthest part of the city is the lowest part of the subject people. Those who therefore hold the last place in the holy Church are, as it were, in the farthest part of the city. Moreover, in the lowest part of the Church itself, converted sinners appear to be. For all the righteous are in the upper or first part. Or perhaps virginity holds the first place, continence the second, the married life the third, and the conversion of sinners the last. In the farthest part of the city, therefore, the king is anointed: because the ruler of the holy Church is ordained for sinners, not for the righteous. For hence Truth says of Himself: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). Hence again He says: "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" (ibid., 12).
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
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…
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).
When the sacrificial meal was over, Samuel and Saul went down from the high place into the town, and he (Samuel) talked with him upon the roof (of the house into which Samuel had entered). The flat roofs of the East were used as placed of retirement for private conversation (see at Deu 22:8). This conversation did not refer of course to the call of Samuel to the royal dignity, for that was not made known to him as a word of Jehovah till the following day (Sa1 9:27); but it was intended to prepare him for that announcement: so that O. v. Gerlach's conjecture is probably the correct one, viz., that Samuel "talked with Saul concerning the deep religious and political degradation of the people o…
A typical house had a flat roof that was used for a variety of purposes, such as sleeping in warm weather (see Deut 22:8; 2 Kgs 4:10).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 9:27
To pass ahead of us. To go at a distance from us so that he will not hear our conversation.
And he went ahead. The youth went ahead of them, but to Shaul he said, 'And you stand with me.'