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Verse
Context
Samuel Anoints Saul
4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. 5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The hill of God - The Targum says, "The hill on which the ark of the Lord was. Calmet supposes it to be a height near Gibeah. The garrison of the Philistines - Probably they kept a watch on the top of this hill, with a company of soldiers to keep the country in check. A company of prophets - A company of scribes, says the Targum. Probably the scholars of the prophets; for the prophets seem to have been the only accredited teachers, at particular times, in Israel; and at this time there does not appear to have been any other prophet besides Samuel in this quarter. Probably the teacher of this school was not an inspired man, but one acting under the direction of Samuel. Mr. Harmer thinks that the following custom among the Mohammedans greatly illustrates this obscure place: "When the children have gone through the Koran, their relations borrow a fine horse and furniture, and carry them about the town in procession, with the book in their hand, the rest of their companions following, and all sorts of music of the country going before. Dr. Shaw, in p. 195, mentions the same custom; adding the acclamations of their school-fellows, but taking no notice of the music. We have no reason, however, to doubt the fact on account of the doctor's silence; especially as it relates to another part of Barbary, and is given us by those who resided some years in that country. The doctor makes no use of this circumstance relating to the education of youth in Barbary; but the account of the procession above given seems to be a lively comment on that ancient Jewish custom mentioned in these verses. That the word prophet often signifies sons or scholars of the prophets, and that prophesying often implies singing, has been already remarked; but no author that I know of has given any account of the nature of this procession, or its design. We are sometimes told that high places were used for sacrifices; and in one case music, it is certain, played before them when they went up to worship, Isa 30:29. But did they not also return from sacrifice with it? We are told that music was used by the prophets to calm and compose them, and to invite the Divine influences; which is indeed very true. But is it to the purpose? Did they go forth in this manner from their college into the noise and interruptions of the world, to call down the prophetic impulse? But if we consider them as a company of the sons of the prophets, going in procession with songs of praise and music playing before them, and recollect that it is usual in this day for young scholars to go in procession with acclamations and music, the whole mystery seems to be unravelled. To which may be added, that Saul was to meet them, and find himself turned into another man; into a man, perhaps, who is instantaneously made as knowing in the law of God as the youth to whom they were doing the above honors, or any of his convoy; which acquaintance with the law of God was very necessary for one who was to judge among his brethren as their king. For this reason the Jewish kings were to write out a copy of the law of God, and read it continually, that they might be perfect masters of it, Deu 17:18, Deu 17:20, which accomplishment some youth had gained whom Saul met with, and who was honored with the solemnity the sacred historian speaks of, if the customs of South Barbary may be supposed to be explanatory of those of Judea." On the word prophet, and the general account given here, I shall introduce the following illustrations from another work: - "The word prophet generally conveys the idea of a person so far acquainted with futurity as to discern some purpose of the Divine Being relative to his government of the natural and moral world, but which is not sufficiently matured by the economy of Providence to make, as yet, its public appearance among men, and to prophesy is usually understood to imply the foretelling such an event, the time of its appearance, and the place of its operation, with some preceding and subsequent circumstances. But that this was the original and only meaning of the word prophet or prophesy, is very far from being clear. The first place the word occurs in is Gen 20:7, where the Lord says of Abraham to Abimelech, He is a prophet, (נביא הוא nabi hu), and will pray (ויתפלל veyith-pallel, will make earnest intercession) for thee. In the common acceptation of the word it is certain Abraham was no prophet; but here it seems to signify a man well acquainted with the Supreme Being, capable of teaching others in Divine things, and especially a man of prayer - one who had great influence with the God he worshipped, and whose intercessions were available in the behalf of others. And in this sense the original word נביא nabi is used in several places in the Old Testament. "It was through inattention to this meaning of the word, which appears to me to be the true, original, and ideal one, that all the commentators and critics that I have met with have been so sadly puzzled with that part of the history of Saul which is related Sa1 10:9-13; Sa1 19:20-24. In these passages the sacred historian represents Saul, who was neither a prophet nor the son of one, associating with the prophets, and prophesying among them, to which he was led by the Spirit of the Lord which came upon him. "That this can mean no more here than prayer and supplication to God, accompanied probably with edifying hymns of praise and thanksgiving, (for they had instruments of music, Sa1 10:5), needs, in my opinion, little proof. If Saul had prophesied in the common acceptation of the word, it is not likely that we should have been kept absolutely in the dark concerning the subject and design of his predictions, of which, by the way, not one syllable is spoken in the oracles of God. The simple fact seems to have been this: God, who had chosen this man to govern Israel, designed to teach him that the Most High alone is the fountain of power, and that by him only kings could reign so as to execute justice properly, and be his ministers for good to the people. To accomplish this gracious purpose, he gave him another heart (Sa1 10:9)-a disposition totally different from what he had ever before possessed, and taught him to pray. "Coming among the sons of the prophets, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, and who were under the instruction of Samuel, (Sa1 19:20), while they worshipped God with music and supplication, Saul also was made a partaker of the same Divine influence, and prophesied, i.e., made prayer and supplication among them. To see one who did not belong to the prophetic school thus incorporated with the prophets, pouring out his soul in prayer and supplication, was an unusual sight, which could not pass unnoticed, especially by those of Saul's acquaintance who probably knew him in times past to have been as careless and ungodly as themselves, (for it was only now he got that other good Spirit from God, a sufficient proof that he had it not before). These companions of his, being unacquainted with that grace which can in a moment influence and change the heart, would, according to an invariable custom, express their astonishment with a sneer: Is Saul also among the prophets? That is, in modern language, 'Can this man pray or preach? He whose education has been the same as our own, employed in the same secular offices, and formerly companion with us in what he now affects to call folly and sin? Can such a person be among the prophets?' Yes, for God may have given him a new heart; and the Spirit of God, whose inspiration alone can give sound understanding in sacred things, may have come upon him for this very purpose, that he might announce unto you the righteousness of the Lord, and speak unto your ruined souls to edification, and to exhortation, and to comfort. "The history of Elijah and the priests of Baal, mentioned in 18:17-40, throws farther light on this subject. In Kg1 18:26 it is said, 'They (the priests of Baal) took a bullock and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal, from morning to noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! And they leaped upon the altar, and cried aloud, and cut themselves with knives, till the blood gushed out; and they prophesied (ויתנבאו vaiyithnabbeu, and they made supplication) until the time of the evening sacrifice.' From the whole context it is plain that earnest, importunate prayer, is alone what is meant by prophesying in this text. See also Co1 14:3 (note). "And as all the prophets of God, whose principal business it was to instruct the people in the way of righteousness, were men of prayer, who were continually interceding with God in behalf of those to whom they ministered, the term נביא nabi became their proper appellative; and thus a part of their office, intercessors for the people, might have given rise to that name by which the Spirit of God thought proper in after times to distinguish those whom he sent, not only to pray for and instruct the people, but also to predict those future events which concerned the punishment of the incorrigible and the comfort and exaltation of his own servants." See a sermon which I have printed on Co1 14:3, entitled, "The Christian Prophet and his Work;" and see the note on Gen 20:7. A psaltery - נבל nebel. As the word signifies in other places a bottle or flagon, it was probably something like the utricularia tibia or Bag-Pipe. It often occurs both with the Greeks and Romans, and was evidently borrowed from the Hebrews. A tabret - תף toph; a sort of drum or cymbal. A pipe - חליל chalil, from חל chal, to make a hole or opening; a sort of pipe, flute, hautboy, clarionet, or the like. A harp - כנור kinnor; a stringed instrument similar to our harp, or that on the model of which a harp was formed. On these different instruments I shall have occasion to speak more at large when I come to the Psalms.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
the hill of God--probably Geba (Sa1 13:3), so called from a school of the prophets being established there. The company of prophets were, doubtless, the pupils at this seminary, which had probably been instituted by Samuel, and in which the chief branches of education taught were a knowledge of the law, and of psalmody with instrumental music, which is called "prophesying" (here and in Ch1 25:1, Ch1 25:7).
John Gill Bible Commentary
After that thou shall come to the hill of God,.... The Targum is, the hill in which was the ark of the Lord, and that was in the house of Abinadab, on a hill in the city of Kirjathjearim, Sa1 7:1 and so the Jewish commentators generally interpret this hill of God of Kirjathjearim; but rather it was Geba, a city of Benjamin, partly because by this time he must have got out of the tribe of Judah into the tribe of Benjamin, and even almost to the end of his journey, and among those that were his relations, Sa1 10:11 and partly because it is certain there was a garrison of the Philistines at Geba, Sa1 13:3 as there was at this place, as follows: where is the garrison of the Philistines; which they were allowed by the terms of peace made between Israel and them; or which through their growing power over them in the latter days of Samuel they placed there, and which yet they kept, without giving the people any molestation in their worship and service: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city; to the city Geba, or near it: that thou shall meet a company of prophets; of Scribes, as the Targum; which were, as Kimchi observes, disciples; for the disciples of the wise men were called Scribes, and these were the disciples of prophets, the same with the sons of the prophets; and the prophets that were at this time, as he says, from Eli to David, were Elkanah, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun; here was a school or college of young prophets, where they were trained up, under the care and tuition of one or other of the above prophets, in the knowledge of the word of God, in psalmody, and other religious exercises; for though the word of the Lord was scarce and precious in the beginning of Samuel's time, yet through his industry, influence, and encouragement, divine knowledge was greatly promoted, and many were trained up and qualified to instruct the people; who, though they had not the gift of foretelling future events, or of the vision of prophecy, yet had gifts qualifying for the edification of the people; and out of these schools and colleges God sometimes raised up prophets in the highest sense, who foretold things to come, and to whom the Lord appeared in dreams and visions. And this company Saul would meet coming down from the high place; where they had been to worship, to sacrifice, or to pray, for here was an high place for such service, as well as at Ramah: with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; which were several instruments of "music" used in singing praises to God in those times: and they shall prophesy; or praise, as the Targum, sing praises at the same time they played on their instruments of music; and singing praises is one sort of prophesying, see Ch1 25:1, and in which sense it seems to be used in Co1 11:4.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
10:5 Gibeah of God, Saul’s hometown (10:26), had been a lawless city (Judg 19–21). Nowhere else is it described as being “of God.” This description might point to God’s ownership of the town despite the occupation of the Philistines. • band: Prophets often lived in groups (e.g., 2 Kgs 2:3). • harp . . . lyre: Ancient prophets sometimes used musical instruments to stimulate and accompany prophesying (e.g., 2 Kgs 3:15).
Samuel Anoints Saul
4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. 5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The hill of God - The Targum says, "The hill on which the ark of the Lord was. Calmet supposes it to be a height near Gibeah. The garrison of the Philistines - Probably they kept a watch on the top of this hill, with a company of soldiers to keep the country in check. A company of prophets - A company of scribes, says the Targum. Probably the scholars of the prophets; for the prophets seem to have been the only accredited teachers, at particular times, in Israel; and at this time there does not appear to have been any other prophet besides Samuel in this quarter. Probably the teacher of this school was not an inspired man, but one acting under the direction of Samuel. Mr. Harmer thinks that the following custom among the Mohammedans greatly illustrates this obscure place: "When the children have gone through the Koran, their relations borrow a fine horse and furniture, and carry them about the town in procession, with the book in their hand, the rest of their companions following, and all sorts of music of the country going before. Dr. Shaw, in p. 195, mentions the same custom; adding the acclamations of their school-fellows, but taking no notice of the music. We have no reason, however, to doubt the fact on account of the doctor's silence; especially as it relates to another part of Barbary, and is given us by those who resided some years in that country. The doctor makes no use of this circumstance relating to the education of youth in Barbary; but the account of the procession above given seems to be a lively comment on that ancient Jewish custom mentioned in these verses. That the word prophet often signifies sons or scholars of the prophets, and that prophesying often implies singing, has been already remarked; but no author that I know of has given any account of the nature of this procession, or its design. We are sometimes told that high places were used for sacrifices; and in one case music, it is certain, played before them when they went up to worship, Isa 30:29. But did they not also return from sacrifice with it? We are told that music was used by the prophets to calm and compose them, and to invite the Divine influences; which is indeed very true. But is it to the purpose? Did they go forth in this manner from their college into the noise and interruptions of the world, to call down the prophetic impulse? But if we consider them as a company of the sons of the prophets, going in procession with songs of praise and music playing before them, and recollect that it is usual in this day for young scholars to go in procession with acclamations and music, the whole mystery seems to be unravelled. To which may be added, that Saul was to meet them, and find himself turned into another man; into a man, perhaps, who is instantaneously made as knowing in the law of God as the youth to whom they were doing the above honors, or any of his convoy; which acquaintance with the law of God was very necessary for one who was to judge among his brethren as their king. For this reason the Jewish kings were to write out a copy of the law of God, and read it continually, that they might be perfect masters of it, Deu 17:18, Deu 17:20, which accomplishment some youth had gained whom Saul met with, and who was honored with the solemnity the sacred historian speaks of, if the customs of South Barbary may be supposed to be explanatory of those of Judea." On the word prophet, and the general account given here, I shall introduce the following illustrations from another work: - "The word prophet generally conveys the idea of a person so far acquainted with futurity as to discern some purpose of the Divine Being relative to his government of the natural and moral world, but which is not sufficiently matured by the economy of Providence to make, as yet, its public appearance among men, and to prophesy is usually understood to imply the foretelling such an event, the time of its appearance, and the place of its operation, with some preceding and subsequent circumstances. But that this was the original and only meaning of the word prophet or prophesy, is very far from being clear. The first place the word occurs in is Gen 20:7, where the Lord says of Abraham to Abimelech, He is a prophet, (נביא הוא nabi hu), and will pray (ויתפלל veyith-pallel, will make earnest intercession) for thee. In the common acceptation of the word it is certain Abraham was no prophet; but here it seems to signify a man well acquainted with the Supreme Being, capable of teaching others in Divine things, and especially a man of prayer - one who had great influence with the God he worshipped, and whose intercessions were available in the behalf of others. And in this sense the original word נביא nabi is used in several places in the Old Testament. "It was through inattention to this meaning of the word, which appears to me to be the true, original, and ideal one, that all the commentators and critics that I have met with have been so sadly puzzled with that part of the history of Saul which is related Sa1 10:9-13; Sa1 19:20-24. In these passages the sacred historian represents Saul, who was neither a prophet nor the son of one, associating with the prophets, and prophesying among them, to which he was led by the Spirit of the Lord which came upon him. "That this can mean no more here than prayer and supplication to God, accompanied probably with edifying hymns of praise and thanksgiving, (for they had instruments of music, Sa1 10:5), needs, in my opinion, little proof. If Saul had prophesied in the common acceptation of the word, it is not likely that we should have been kept absolutely in the dark concerning the subject and design of his predictions, of which, by the way, not one syllable is spoken in the oracles of God. The simple fact seems to have been this: God, who had chosen this man to govern Israel, designed to teach him that the Most High alone is the fountain of power, and that by him only kings could reign so as to execute justice properly, and be his ministers for good to the people. To accomplish this gracious purpose, he gave him another heart (Sa1 10:9)-a disposition totally different from what he had ever before possessed, and taught him to pray. "Coming among the sons of the prophets, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, and who were under the instruction of Samuel, (Sa1 19:20), while they worshipped God with music and supplication, Saul also was made a partaker of the same Divine influence, and prophesied, i.e., made prayer and supplication among them. To see one who did not belong to the prophetic school thus incorporated with the prophets, pouring out his soul in prayer and supplication, was an unusual sight, which could not pass unnoticed, especially by those of Saul's acquaintance who probably knew him in times past to have been as careless and ungodly as themselves, (for it was only now he got that other good Spirit from God, a sufficient proof that he had it not before). These companions of his, being unacquainted with that grace which can in a moment influence and change the heart, would, according to an invariable custom, express their astonishment with a sneer: Is Saul also among the prophets? That is, in modern language, 'Can this man pray or preach? He whose education has been the same as our own, employed in the same secular offices, and formerly companion with us in what he now affects to call folly and sin? Can such a person be among the prophets?' Yes, for God may have given him a new heart; and the Spirit of God, whose inspiration alone can give sound understanding in sacred things, may have come upon him for this very purpose, that he might announce unto you the righteousness of the Lord, and speak unto your ruined souls to edification, and to exhortation, and to comfort. "The history of Elijah and the priests of Baal, mentioned in 18:17-40, throws farther light on this subject. In Kg1 18:26 it is said, 'They (the priests of Baal) took a bullock and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal, from morning to noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! And they leaped upon the altar, and cried aloud, and cut themselves with knives, till the blood gushed out; and they prophesied (ויתנבאו vaiyithnabbeu, and they made supplication) until the time of the evening sacrifice.' From the whole context it is plain that earnest, importunate prayer, is alone what is meant by prophesying in this text. See also Co1 14:3 (note). "And as all the prophets of God, whose principal business it was to instruct the people in the way of righteousness, were men of prayer, who were continually interceding with God in behalf of those to whom they ministered, the term נביא nabi became their proper appellative; and thus a part of their office, intercessors for the people, might have given rise to that name by which the Spirit of God thought proper in after times to distinguish those whom he sent, not only to pray for and instruct the people, but also to predict those future events which concerned the punishment of the incorrigible and the comfort and exaltation of his own servants." See a sermon which I have printed on Co1 14:3, entitled, "The Christian Prophet and his Work;" and see the note on Gen 20:7. A psaltery - נבל nebel. As the word signifies in other places a bottle or flagon, it was probably something like the utricularia tibia or Bag-Pipe. It often occurs both with the Greeks and Romans, and was evidently borrowed from the Hebrews. A tabret - תף toph; a sort of drum or cymbal. A pipe - חליל chalil, from חל chal, to make a hole or opening; a sort of pipe, flute, hautboy, clarionet, or the like. A harp - כנור kinnor; a stringed instrument similar to our harp, or that on the model of which a harp was formed. On these different instruments I shall have occasion to speak more at large when I come to the Psalms.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
the hill of God--probably Geba (Sa1 13:3), so called from a school of the prophets being established there. The company of prophets were, doubtless, the pupils at this seminary, which had probably been instituted by Samuel, and in which the chief branches of education taught were a knowledge of the law, and of psalmody with instrumental music, which is called "prophesying" (here and in Ch1 25:1, Ch1 25:7).
John Gill Bible Commentary
After that thou shall come to the hill of God,.... The Targum is, the hill in which was the ark of the Lord, and that was in the house of Abinadab, on a hill in the city of Kirjathjearim, Sa1 7:1 and so the Jewish commentators generally interpret this hill of God of Kirjathjearim; but rather it was Geba, a city of Benjamin, partly because by this time he must have got out of the tribe of Judah into the tribe of Benjamin, and even almost to the end of his journey, and among those that were his relations, Sa1 10:11 and partly because it is certain there was a garrison of the Philistines at Geba, Sa1 13:3 as there was at this place, as follows: where is the garrison of the Philistines; which they were allowed by the terms of peace made between Israel and them; or which through their growing power over them in the latter days of Samuel they placed there, and which yet they kept, without giving the people any molestation in their worship and service: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city; to the city Geba, or near it: that thou shall meet a company of prophets; of Scribes, as the Targum; which were, as Kimchi observes, disciples; for the disciples of the wise men were called Scribes, and these were the disciples of prophets, the same with the sons of the prophets; and the prophets that were at this time, as he says, from Eli to David, were Elkanah, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun; here was a school or college of young prophets, where they were trained up, under the care and tuition of one or other of the above prophets, in the knowledge of the word of God, in psalmody, and other religious exercises; for though the word of the Lord was scarce and precious in the beginning of Samuel's time, yet through his industry, influence, and encouragement, divine knowledge was greatly promoted, and many were trained up and qualified to instruct the people; who, though they had not the gift of foretelling future events, or of the vision of prophecy, yet had gifts qualifying for the edification of the people; and out of these schools and colleges God sometimes raised up prophets in the highest sense, who foretold things to come, and to whom the Lord appeared in dreams and visions. And this company Saul would meet coming down from the high place; where they had been to worship, to sacrifice, or to pray, for here was an high place for such service, as well as at Ramah: with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; which were several instruments of "music" used in singing praises to God in those times: and they shall prophesy; or praise, as the Targum, sing praises at the same time they played on their instruments of music; and singing praises is one sort of prophesying, see Ch1 25:1, and in which sense it seems to be used in Co1 11:4.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
10:5 Gibeah of God, Saul’s hometown (10:26), had been a lawless city (Judg 19–21). Nowhere else is it described as being “of God.” This description might point to God’s ownership of the town despite the occupation of the Philistines. • band: Prophets often lived in groups (e.g., 2 Kgs 2:3). • harp . . . lyre: Ancient prophets sometimes used musical instruments to stimulate and accompany prophesying (e.g., 2 Kgs 3:15).