1 Samuel 10:21-27

1 Samuel 10:22. “They inquired of the Lord … and the Lord answered.” “The inquiry was made through the high priest, by means of the Urim and Thummim. There can be no doubt that in a gathering of the people for so important a purpose, the high priest would also be present, even though this is not expressly stated.” (Keil). “The high-priest’s office was vacant, some other, not Samuel, who presided over the assembly and the election, but a priest, in the high priestly robes, conducted the solemn inquiry, which was exclusively the privilege of the priests.” (Erdmann). “If the man should yet come hither;” rather, has any one else come hither? i.e., besides those here present among whom Saul was not to be found.” (Erdmann). “Among the stuff.” “Rather, the baggage. The assembly was like a camp, and the baggage of the whole congregation was probably collected in one place, where the waggons were arranged for protection.” (Biblical Commentary). “The ground was his diffidence and shyness in respect to appearing publicly before the whole people. Nagelsbach rightly remarks that his hiding behind the baggage during the election is not in conflict with the account of his change of mind. At so decisive a moment, which turns the eyes of all on one with the most diverse feelings, the heart of the most courageous man may well beat.” (Erdmann).

1 Samuel 10:23. “He was higher than any of the people,” etc. “When in battle much less depended on military skill than upon the bodily prowess of the chief in single combats, or in the partial actions with which most battles commenced, it was natural that the people should take pride in the gigantic proportions of their leader, as calculated to strike terror into the enemy, and confidence into his followers; besides, it was no mean advantage that the crest of the leader should, from his tallness, be seen from afar by his people. The prevalence of this feeling of regard for personal bulk and stature is seen in the sculptures of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Persia, and even in the modern paintings of the last-named nation, in which the sovereign is invested with gigantic proportions in comparison with the persons around him.” (Kitto).

1 Samuel 10:24. “God save the king,” Rather, let the king live. The Hebrew is equivalent to the French Vive le Roi.

1 Samuel 10:25. “Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom.” On the first establishment of the kingdom it was possible to make conditions and to impose restrictions, to which any future king, royal by birth, and on whom the crown devolved by hereditary right, would not very willingly submit. There can be no doubt that the people, under the infatuation which now possessed them, would have put themselves under the monarchy without any conditions whatever, and it is entirely owing to the wise forethought of Samuel, acting under the Divine direction, that this evil was averted, and the kings of Israel did not become absolute and irresponsible masters of the lives and properties of their subjects.” (Kitto). “This law of the kingdom is not identical with the manner of the king described by Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:11. The Hebrew word rendered manner in both places is mishpat, which properly means judgment, right, law, that which is strictly de jure; but it also signifies usage, manner, custom, that which is de facto, and the mishpat of the kingdom here expresses the former, but the mishpat of the king in chap. 8 comprehends also the latter.” (Wordsworth). “In content it was no doubt essentially the same with the law of the king in Deuteronomy 17:14, especially 1 Samuel 10:19, and therefore related to the divinely-established rights and duties of the theocratic king, the fulfilment of which the people were authorised to demand from him.” (Erdmann). “Wrote it in a book.” “We find here the first trace, after the written records of Moses, of writing among the prophets, long before the literary activity to which we owe what we have now.” (Erdmann). “Laid it up before the Lord.” “It was, no doubt, placed in the tabernacle, where the law of Moses was also deposited.” (Keil).

1 Samuel 10:26. “A band of men,” etc.; rather, the host; but “here it does not signify a large military force, but a crowd of brave men whose hearts God had touched to give him a royal escort, and show their readiness to serve him.” (Keil).

1 Samuel 10:27. “Children of Belial” (see on 1 Samuel 2:12). “Presents,” Minchah. “The token of homage and acknowledgment from the subject to the sovereign, and from the tributary nation to their suzerain” (see 2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Samuel 8:6; Judges 3:17; 1 Kings 4:21, etc.). (Biblical Commentary). “But he held his peace.” Literally, “He was as being deaf,” i.e., he acted as if he had not heard.