John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 10

Then Samuel took a vial of oil
Out of his pocket very probably, which he brought along with him on purpose for the use he made of it: this, as the Jews ^F25 say, was not the anointing oil that was in the tabernacle, which was at another and distant place, and with which only the kings of the house of David were anointed; but common oil, or, as they say, oil of balsam; and this was not an horn, but a vial, which held a small quantity, and was brittle; and they observe that Saul and Jehu, who were anointed with a vial, their reigns were short, whereas David and Solomon, who were anointed with a horn, their reigns were long;

and as oil is a symbol of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, it may denote a smaller measure conferred on Saul than on David and Solomon:

and kissed him ;
congratulating him on the dignity he was raised to, and in reverence and respect to him, because of the high office he was arrived to; and as a token of subjection and homage, and to testify his well pleased in his being king, and that he readily, willingly, and with pleasure resigned the government to him:

and said, is it not because the Lord has anointed you to be
captain over his inheritance ?
the people of Israel, so called, (Deuteronomy 32:9) and which is observed here to show, that though Saul was anointed king over them, they were the Lord's possession still, and he was accountable to him for his government and usage of them, over whom he was to be a captain, leader, and commander, to go before them, and fight their battles for them, of which his being anointed with oil was a token; and therefore it is said, "is it not?" or do you not see by this? or know you not, as R. Isaiah supplies it, that this is of the Lord? for it was the Lord that anointed him, or Samuel by his orders; and such questions as these, as Kimchi observes, are for the greater confirmation of what is spoken; and if Saul had any doubt upon his mind, as perhaps he might because of his meanness, and the high honour designed hereby, not only this question is put, but three following signs are given him, whereby he might be assured of the truth of it.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 11. 2. & 12. 1.

When you are departed from me today
Not as soon as he was departed, for he had some few miles to go from Ramah to Rachel's grave near Bethlehem:

you shall find two men by Rachel's sepulchre, in the border of
Benjamin, at Zelzah ;
the Jews move a difficulty here, that Rachel's sepulchre should be said to be in the border of Benjamin, when it was by Bethlehemephrath, in the tribe of Judah, (Genesis 35:19) (Micah 5:2) and which they solve by observing, that these men were now, at the time Samuel was speaking, by the grave of Rachel, but as they were coming on he would meet them at Zelzah, in the border of Benjamin ^F26 ;

but there is no need of this, Rachel's grave was not at Bethlehem, but in, the way to it; and besides, as these two tribes were contiguous, and this city being on the borders of both, it might be said at one time to be in the border of Benjamin, and at another in the border of Judah, or in Judah, without any contradiction. Of Zelzah we nowhere else read, but it is plain it was near the sepulchre of Rachel, and perhaps nearer than Bethlehem. The Arabic geographer ^F1 speaks of Rachel's grave as in the midway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem; and says there were twelve stones upon it, and a stone arched vault over it; and the same is affirmed by Benjamin of Tudela ^F2 , who makes it to be but half a mile from Bethlehem. Jarchi would have Zelzah to be the same with Jerusalem, which is not probable:

and they will say unto you, the asses which you went to seek are
found ;
as Samuel had before told Saul they were, (1 Samuel 9:20)

and, lo, your father has left the care of the asses ;
or had left all thoughts about them, and concern for them, not minding whether he heard of them or not, and this before they were found; or otherwise it would have been no strange thing to drop all thoughts about them, when they were found:

and sorrows for you ;
for Saul, and his servant; such was the anxiety and distress of his mind lest any evil should befall them, having been gone so long in quest of the asses, that he had as it were forgot them, and lost all care and concern about them, in comparison of his son and servant; but especially his sorrow rose high for his son, as follows:

saying, what shall I do for my son ?
though he was concerned for his servant, yet most for his son; he might have another servant, and not another son, and Saul seems to be his only one, which made his grief for him the greater, see (1 Chronicles 8:33) (9:39) .

Now as these were contingent events here foretold, as meeting with two men at a certain place described, the words related expressly they should say to him when he met them, and these exactly coming to pass, would most clearly prove Samuel to be a true prophet, and confirm Saul in the belief of what he had said and done to him concerning the kingdom. Another sign follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: Bereshit Rabba, sect. 82. fol. 71. 4. R. Isaiah, Jarchi, Kimchi, Abarbinel, & Abendana in loc.
• F1: Chinat. 3. par. 5.
• F2: ltinerar. p. 47.

Then shall you go on forward from there
From Zelzah and Rachel's sepulchre there:

and you shall come to the plain of Tabor ;
not that which lay at the bottom of the famous and well known mountain Tabor; for that was in the tribe of Zebulun, at a great distance from here: but a plain, so called perhaps from the name of the owner of it:

and there shall meet you three men going up to God to Bethel :
the same with Luz, where Jacob built an altar, and called upon God; and so Elohimbethel here is the same with Elbethel, (Genesis 35:6Genesis 35:7) . Here was an high place as at Ramah, to where in those times, when there was no fixed place for worship, the tabernacle at one place, and the ark at another, the people went up to worship; and they might the rather choose this, because it was a place devoted to the worship and service of God by their father Jacob; so the Targum paraphrases it, ``going up to worship God in Bethel;''

so Josephus ^F3 , they were going there to pray, and, as it seems by what follows, to sacrifice: one carrying three kids; which were used in sacrifice, and were a pretty heavy load if carried far; though, according to Josephus ^F4 , it was but one kid:

and another carrying three loaves of bread ;
for the minchah, the meat offering, or rather bread offering, (Leviticus 2:4)

and another carrying a bottle of wine ;
for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin of wine being required for each kid, (Numbers 15:5Numbers 15:11) . This bottle, Ben Melech says, was a bottle made of skin, a leathern bottle or bag, or a potter's vessel or pitcher; the Targum renders it, a flagon of wine.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 2.
• F4: lbid.

And they will salute thee
Not as king, of which they knew nothing, but in a common way; and though a stranger and unknown to them, yet finding their hearts disposed and affected towards him, would inquire of his welfare, and wish him all happiness, peace, and prosperity:

and give thee two [loaves] of bread ;
which was pretty much that they should give him two out of three, and leave but one for themselves, and especially if they were going to sacrifice; but perhaps they knew they could buy more bread at Bethel, and so were disposed to give two of their loaves to Saul, one for himself and another for his servant; though Kimchi thinks that these are not the same before called loaves; and indeed the word "loaves" is not in the text, but cakes of bread, which were lesser than loaves, and which they carried for their own use, besides three loaves of bread:

which thou shall receive of their hands ;
being sent out by Samuel early that morning without eating any food, and having travelled some miles, might become weary and faint, and which the three men might discern, and so had compassion on them, and relieved them; and Saul was not to refuse the offer of them, but take them at their hands, though he was anointed to be king; and this was to teach him humility, and to be kind to the poor and needy, and relieve them when he was in more elevated circumstances. All these actions also were contingent, and when they came to pass, as they did, must be still more confirming than the former sign.

After that you 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, (1 Samuel 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, (1 Samuel 10:11 1 Samuel 10:14) and partly because it is certain there was a garrison of the Philistines at Geba, (1 Samuel 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 you are come thither to the city ;
to the city Geba, or near it:

that you 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 (1 Chronicles 25:1–3) , and in which sense it seems to be used in (1 Corinthians 11:4 1 Corinthians 11:5) .