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1 Samuel 10

BLIVRE · Chapter 10/31

1Tomando então Samuel um frasco de azeite, derramou-o sobre sua cabeça, e beijou-o, e disse-lhe: Não foi o SENHOR que te ungiu para que sejas líder sobre sua propriedade?

2Hoje, depois que te tenhas apartado de mim, acharás dois homens junto ao sepulcro de Raquel, no termo de Benjamim, em Zelza, os quais te dirão: As asnas que havias ido a buscar, se acharam; teu pai pois há deixado já o negócio das asnas, porém está preocupado convosco, dizendo: Que farei acerca de meu filho?

3E quando dali te fores mais adiante, e chegares à campina de Tabor, te sairão ao encontro três homens que sobem a Deus em Betel, levando o um três cabritos, e o outro três tortas de pão, e o terceiro uma vasilha de vinho:

4Os quais, logo que te tenham saudado, te darão dois pães, os quais tomarás das mãos deles.

5De ali virás ao morro de Deus de onde está a guarnição dos filisteus; e quando entrares ali na cidade encontrarás uma companhia de profetas que descem do alto, e diante deles saltério, e adufe, e flauta, e harpa, e eles profetizando:

6E o espírito do SENHOR te arrebatará, e profetizarás com eles, e serás transformado em outro homem.

7E quando te houverem sobrevindo estas sinais, faze o que te vier à mão, porque Deus é contigo.

8E descerás antes de mim a Gilgal; e logo descerei eu a ti para sacrificar holocaustos, e imolar sacrifícios pacíficos. Espera sete dias, até que eu venha a ti, e te ensine o que hás de fazer.

9E foi que assim quando virou ele seu ombro para partir-se de Samuel, mudou-lhe Deus seu coração; e todas estes sinais aconteceram naquele dia.

10E quando chegaram ali ao morro, eis que a companhia dos profetas que vinha a encontrar-se com ele, e o Espírito de Deus o arrebatou, e profetizou entre eles.

11E aconteceu que, quando todos os que o conheciam de antes viram como profetizava com os profetas, o povo dizia o um ao outro: Que sucedeu ao filho de Quis? Saul também entre os profetas?

12E algum dali respondeu, e disse: E quem é o pai deles? Por esta causa se tornou em provérbio: Também Saul entre os profetas?

13E cessou de profetizar, e chegou ao alto.

14E um tio de Saul disse a ele e a seu criado: Aonde fostes? E ele respondeu: A buscar as asnas; e quando vimos que não apareciam, fomos a Samuel.

15E disse o tio de Saul: Eu te rogo me declares que vos disse Samuel.

16E Saul respondeu a seu tio: Declarou-nos expressamente que as asnas haviam aparecido. Mas do negócio do reino, de que Samuel lhe havia falado, não lhe revelou nada.

17E Samuel convocou o povo ao SENHOR em Mispá;

18E disse aos filhos de Israel: Assim disse o SENHOR o Deus de Israel: Eu tirei a Israel do Egito, e vos livre da mão dos egípcios, e da mão de todos os reinos que vos afligiram:

19Mas vós rejeitastes hoje a vosso Deus, que vos guarda de todas as vossas aflições e angústias, e dissestes: Não, mas sim põe rei sobre nós. Agora pois, ponde-vos diante do SENHOR por vossas tribos e por vossos milhares.

20E fazendo achegar Samuel todas as tribos de Israel, foi tomada a tribo de Benjamim.

21E fez chegar a tribo de Benjamim por suas linhagens, e foi tomada a família de Matri; e dela foi tomado Saul filho de Quis. E lhe buscaram, mas não foi achado.

22Perguntaram pois outra vez ao SENHOR, se havia ainda de vir ali aquele homem. E respondeu o SENHOR: Eis que ele está escondido entre a bagagem.

23Então correram, e tomaram-no dali, e posto em meio do povo, desde o ombro acima era mais alto que todo o povo.

24E Samuel disse a todo o povo: Vistes ao que o SENHOR escolheu, que não há semelhante a ele em todo o povo? Então o povo clamou com alegria, dizendo: Viva o rei!

25Então Samuel recitou ao povo o direito do reino, e escreveu-o em um livro, o qual guardou diante do SENHOR.

26E enviou Samuel a todo o povo cada um a sua casa. E Saul também se foi a sua casa em Gibeá, e foram com ele o exército, o coração dos quais Deus havia tocado.

27Porém os ímpios disseram: Como nos há de salvar este? E tiveram-lhe em pouco, e não lhe trouxeram presente: mas ele dissimulou.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Samuel privately anoints Saul as king over Israel, giving him confirming signs that come to pass exactly as foretold. Publicly, by lot, Saul is chosen before all the people, though he is found hiding among the baggage.

Explanation

Saul's private anointing by Samuel, followed by specific, verifiable signs (meeting certain men, receiving loaves of bread, prophesying with a group of prophets), served to confirm to Saul, in a personal and unmistakable way, that his choice was genuinely from God, not merely political. The fact that Saul hid 'among the baggage' at the moment he was to be publicly proclaimed king suggests a genuine hesitation or shyness in the face of the enormous responsibility, a trait of humble reluctance that contrasts with the pride he would develop later in his reign. The expression that became proverbial, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?', shows how Saul's sudden transformation surprised even those who had known him since childhood.

Fun facts

  • The 'hill of God' mentioned (v.5) probably refers to Gibeah, Saul's hometown, which had a Philistine garrison—showing that even before becoming king, Saul lived under partial foreign occupation.
  • The expression 'Is Saul also among the prophets?' would become a recurring proverb in Israel, repeated again later in chapter 19 under very different and more desperate circumstances.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 10:1Pouring oil on someone’s head was the formal rite that made a person anointed — hence the very title messiah (anointed one) that would later apply to David’s royal descendants and, in Christian tradition, to Jesus.
  2. 1 Samuel 10:2Samuel gives Saul a first verifiable, short-term sign — two specific men, in a specific place, saying something specific — so that he can gradually confirm that everything Samuel said is trustworthy.
  3. 1 Samuel 10:3The second sign is also very detailed: three men, with specific items, heading to Bethel for a sacrifice — another concrete confirmation before the final and most dramatic sign.
  4. 1 Samuel 10:4Receiving bread from strangers, though a small gesture, was also part of the agreed sign — each detail that came true reinforced Saul’s confidence in Samuel’s word.
  5. 1 Samuel 10:5Having a Philistine garrison inside Israel’s own territory shows how far foreign oppression had advanced — it is there, under enemy control, that Saul will receive the most striking sign.
  6. 1 Samuel 10:6Bands of prophets who came down playing instruments and fell into prophetic ecstasy were a known phenomenon in the ancient Near East; here the Spirit of the Lord takes hold of Saul in a similar way, visibly changing his behavior in front of everyone.
  7. 1 Samuel 10:7After confirming the signs, Samuel gives Saul freedom to act — “do as occasion serve thee” is a way of saying he can act on his own initiative, knowing God will be with him.
  8. 1 Samuel 10:8This instruction to wait at Gilgal seems secondary here, but it becomes crucial again, and the cause of a serious mistake by Saul, in chapter 13.
  9. 1 Samuel 10:9“God gave him another heart” describes a real inner transformation, not just a passing behavior — Saul leaves that meeting with Samuel a literally different man.
  10. 1 Samuel 10:10The first of the signs Samuel announced comes true exactly as promised — Saul falls into prophetic ecstasy in front of everyone, public and visible proof of the change God worked in him.
  11. 1 Samuel 10:11The people’s astonished question shows how shocking this change was to anyone who knew Saul before — no one expected this kind of behavior from him.
  12. 1 Samuel 10:12The people’s astonishment at seeing Saul seized by the same trance as the prophets became a popular saying about being “among the prophets” — it comes up again later, in chapter 19, when the same scene happens a second time.
  13. 1 Samuel 10:13After the prophetic episode, Saul returns to the normal road, going up to the sacrifice site, as if nothing unusual had happened that day.
  14. 1 Samuel 10:14Saul tells his uncle only the part of the story about the lost donkeys — deliberately leaving out, as the next verse confirms, the most important part of the conversation.
  15. 1 Samuel 10:15Saul’s uncle’s curiosity about the visit to Samuel shows that this kind of consultation with a recognized seer was seen as noteworthy news within the family.
  16. 1 Samuel 10:16Keeping the anointing secret, even from a close relative, shows Saul’s discretion — or perhaps his uncertainty about how to reveal something so momentous before the right time.
  17. 1 Samuel 10:17After the private anointing in the previous chapter, Samuel now organizes a public ceremony at Mizpeh to officially reveal who has been chosen as king.
  18. 1 Samuel 10:18Samuel opens the ceremony by recalling God’s history of delivering Israel without needing a human king — an introduction that already sets up the criticism in the next verse.
  19. 1 Samuel 10:19Even after already granting the request, Samuel still makes sure to state publicly that asking for a king was, at its core, a way of rejecting God as direct ruler.
  20. 1 Samuel 10:20The selection process uses lot casting, probably by Urim and Thummim, narrowing from tribe to family and then to person — a method seen as a direct revelation of God’s will.
  21. 1 Samuel 10:21Ironically, at the decisive moment of the public selection, the very man chosen is missing — without knowing it, Saul hides himself right as the lot falls on his name.
  22. 1 Samuel 10:22Consulting God again, now about Saul’s whereabouts, shows the selection process kept being guided by direct revelation, step by step, until the hidden chosen one was found.
  23. 1 Samuel 10:23Saul’s height, already mentioned in his introduction in chapter 9, is highlighted again here as the first thing the people saw when they found him hiding among the baggage.
  24. 1 Samuel 10:24“God save the king” is the first time this acclamation appears in the Hebrew Bible — a shout that would become the standard formula for popular recognition of kings from then on.
  25. 1 Samuel 10:25Recording in writing “the manner of the kingdom” and laying it up before the Lord suggests a formal document establishing the limits and duties of the new monarchy — a contract between king and God, not unchecked power.
  26. 1 Samuel 10:26Not everyone accepts the choice right away — only “a band of men whose hearts God had touched” go with Saul, a voluntary and still small group of supporters at the very start of the reign.
  27. 1 Samuel 10:27Bringing a gift to the new king was a sign of loyalty — refusing to do so was a deliberate insult. Saul’s response, pretending not to hear rather than reacting with violence, shows restraint right at the start of his reign.

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