1 Samuel 10

Signs of Confirmation 1 Samuel 10:3–5

³Verse 3. “Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men will meet you there going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. ⁴Verse 4. They will greet you, and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hand. ⁵Verse 5. “After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.

Empowerment by the Spirit 1 Samuel 10:6–8

⁶Verse 6. Then Yahweh’s Spirit will come mightily on you, and you will prophesy with them, and will be turned into another man. ⁷Verse 7. Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you. ⁸Verse 8. “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you, and show you what you are to do.”

Saul's Transformation 1 Samuel 10:9–10

⁹Verse 9. It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day. ¹⁰Verse 10. When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them.

Public Recognition 1 Samuel 10:11–12

¹¹Verse 11. When all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said to one another, “What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹²Verse 12. One of the same place answered, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Saul's Response to His Calling 1 Samuel 10:13–16

¹³Verse 13. When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. ¹⁴Verse 14. Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” He said, “To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.” ¹⁵Verse 15. Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹⁶Verse 16. Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys were found.” But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he didn’t tell him.

Samuel's Public Declaration 1 Samuel 10:17–27

¹⁷Verse 17. Samuel called the people together to Yahweh to Mizpah; ¹⁸Verse 18. and he said to the children of Israel, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ ¹⁹Verse 19. But you have today rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, ‘No! Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands.” ²⁰Verse 20. So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.

²¹Verse 21. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was chosen. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. ²²Verse 22. Therefore they asked of Yahweh further, “Is there yet a man to come here?” Yahweh answered, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” ²³Verse 23. They ran and got him there. When he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. ²⁴Verse 24. Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” All the people shouted, and said, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Verse 25. Then Samuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Yahweh. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶Verse 26. Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and the army went with him, whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷Verse 27. But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.