Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 10:2

Charles Ellicott Commentary

1 Samuel 10:2

1819–1905
Anglican
Charles Ellicott
Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott Commentary

1 Samuel 10:2

1819–1905
Anglican
SCRIPTURE

"When thou art departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel`s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found; and, lo, thy father hath left off caring for the asses, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?" — 1 Samuel 10:2 (ASV)

You will find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre. — This tomb of the loved wife of the patriarch does not appear to have been very far from Ramah, from where Saul started. The words of Jeremiah 31:15, which speak of the future massacre of the Bethlehem innocents by Herod, connect Ramah and Rachel’s tomb: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children.

At Zelzah. — This locality has never been identified. Some have supposed it was the same as Zela in Benjamin, the place where the bodies of Saul and Jonathan were eventually buried. The Septuagint curiously renders it as though it were a verb, “dancing (literally, springing) vehemently,” or, as Ewald would translate the Greek words, “in great haste,” of course, with reference to the two men who brought Saul the news of the recovered asses.