1 Samuel 10:22

Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Therefore they enquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come thither.—Saul and Samuel alone, of all the host gathered that day at Mizpeh, knew on whom the lot would fall. So certain was Saul, after the strange signs had sealed the truth of the prophet’s revelation, that he would be designated by the sacred lot, that he shrank from waiting to hear the result, and concealed himself among the baggage and store-tents and waggons of the vast assembly. A second Divine announcement was needed to discover his hiding-place, and draw him forth before the people.

(23–24) He was higher than any of the people.—“How shall this man save us?” was the impatient and angry murmur soon raised by some discontented spirits in Israel, not improbably princes of the leading houses of the great tribes of Judah and Ephraim, who were disgusted at the choice falling on an unknown man of the small and comparatively powerless tribe of Benjamin. But Samuel—whose place in the nation the unknown Benjamite was really to take—with rare nobility and singleness of purpose, had already singled out and called conspicuous attention to the one gift Saul undoubtedly, in an extraordinary degree, possessed—the one gift by which, in that primitive time, a man seemed to be worthy of rule. He was “goodly”: “there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he;” from his shoulders and upward he towered above all the people. When he stood among the people, Samuel could say of him, “See ye him? Look at him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people.” It is in the days of the Judges, as in the Homeric days of Greece; Agamemnon, like Saul, is head and shoulders taller than the people. Like Saul, too, he has that peculiar air and dignity expressed by the Hebrew word which we translate “good,” or “goodly.” This is the ground of the epithet which became fixed as part of his name, “Saul the chosen,” “the chosen of the Lord.” In the Mussulman traditions this is the only trait of Saul which is preserved. His name has there been almost lost; he is known only as Thalût, “the tall one.” In the Hebrew songs of his own time he was known by a more endearing, but not less expressive, indication of the same grace. His stately towering form, standing under the pomegranate-tree above the precipice of Migron, or on the pointed crags of Michmash, or the rocks of Engedi, claimed for him the title of “wild roe,” “the gazelle,” perched aloft, the pride and glory of Israel. Against the giant Philistines a giant king was needed. The time for the little stripling of the house of Jesse was close at hand, but was not yet come. Saul and Jonathan, swifter than eagles and stronger than lions, still seemed the fittest champions of Israel. When Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him unto him. He, in his gigantic panoply, that would fit none but himself, with the spear that he had in his hand, of the same form and fashion as the spear of Goliath, was a host in himself.—Dean Stanley: Lectures on the Jewish Church, 21

Benson Commentary

1 Samuel 10:22. They inquired of the Lord — Either by Urim and Thummim, which was the usual way of inquiry; or by Samuel, who by his prayer procured an answer. He hath hid himself among the stuff — Among the carriages or baggage of the people there assembled. This he probably did from a sense of his own unworthiness.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:17-27 Samuel tells the people, Ye have this day rejected your God. So little fond was Saul now of that power, which soon after, when he possessed it, he could not think of parting with, that he hid himself. It is good to be conscious of our unworthiness and insufficiency for the services to which we are called; but men should not go into the contrary extreme, by refusing the employments to which the Lord and the church call them. The greater part of the people treated the matter with indifference. Saul modestly went home to his own house, but was attended by a band of men whose hearts God disposed to support his authority. If the heart bend at any time the right way, it is because He has touched it. One touch is enough when it is Divine. Others despised him. Thus differently are men affected to our exalted Redeemer. There is a remnant who submit to him, and follow him wherever he goes; they are those whose hearts God has touched, whom he has made willing. But there are others who despise him, who ask, How shall this man save us? They are offended in him, and they will be punished.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Among the stuff - Rather, "the baggage." The assembly was like a camp, and the baggage (impedimenta) of the whole congregation was probably collected in one place, where the wagons were arranged for protection.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17-25. Samuel called the people together … at Mizpeh—a shaft-like hill near Hebron, five hundred feet in height. The national assemblies of the Israelites were held there. A day having been appointed for the election of a king, Samuel, after having charged the people with a rejection of God's institution and a superseding of it by one of their own, proceeded to the nomination of the new monarch. As it was of the utmost importance that the appointment should be under the divine direction and control, the determination was made by the miraculous lot, tribes, families, and individuals being successively passed until Saul was found. His concealment of himself must have been the result either of innate modesty, or a sudden nervous excitement under the circumstances. When dragged into view, he was seen to possess all those corporeal advantages which a rude people desiderate in their sovereigns; and the exhibition of which gained for the prince the favorable opinion of Samuel also. In the midst of the national enthusiasm, however, the prophet's deep piety and genuine patriotism took care to explain "the manner of the kingdom," that is, the royal rights and privileges, together with the limitations to which they were to be subjected; and in order that the constitution might be ratified with all due solemnity, the charter of this constitutional monarchy was recorded and laid up "before the Lord," that is, deposited in the custody of the priests, along with the most sacred archives of the nation.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They inquired of the Lord; either by Urim or Thummim, which was the usual way of inquiry, Numbers 27:21 1 Samuel 23:9 28:6; or by Samuel, who by his prayer procured an answer.

Among the stuff; among the carriages or baggage of the people there assembled. This he might do, because he either had, or at least would be thought to have, a modest sense of his own unworthiness, which was a likely way to commend him to the people.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore they inquired of the Lord further,.... Or again, by lot, by which they knew who the person was the was chosen king, but they did not know where he was, and therefore inquire further how they must come at him; and this inquiry was made either before the high priest by Urim and Thummim, or by Samuel the prophet of the Lord: and the inquiry was:

if the man should yet come thither; whether he was already come, or would come there, and if not, what methods they must take to find him:

and the Lord answered, behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff the word signifies household stuff, vessels, utensils, arms, &c. which the people had brought along with them for their use, and were laid up in some one place; and among these baggages Saul hid himself, hoping that if he was not found they would proceed to another choice, so free from ambition was he, and such was his modesty; nor does this seem to be affected and dissembled, but real; though afterwards, when he was settled in the kingdom, he did not care to part with it, and sought to kill David, whom he looked upon as his rival: there were many things which now concurred, that made him uneasy and unwilling to assume the government of the people; partly the envy and ill will of some of them, which he must expect; chiefly the sense he had of his own unfitness for such an office, being of a mean family, and having had so mean an education, and so little knowledge of the maxims of government; and besides, must at once, as soon as on the throne, enter into a war with the Ammonites; but what might most of all distress him, he perceived by Samuel's speech to the people, that the affair of a king was displeasing to the Lord, though he condescended to grant the people's request; and therefore what comfort and happiness could he expect in such a situation?

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he {i} hath hid himself among the stuff.

(i) As though he were unworthy and unwilling.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. they inquired of the Lord further] The technical phrase for ascertaining God’s will by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate upon the High-priest’s Ephod (Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21). See on 1 Samuel 28:6, and cp. ch. 1 Samuel 14:3, 1 Samuel 22:10, 1 Samuel 23:9, 1 Samuel 30:7.

the stuff] The baggage of the people who had come to Mizpah from a distance. Compare

“Therefore away to get our stuff aboard.”

Shakespeare, Com. of Errors, IV. 4.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - They inquired of Jehovah further, if the man should yet come thither. More correctly, "Is any one as yet come hither?" The Septuagint and Vulgate translate as if there were an article before "any one" (Hebrew, a man), and give, "Is the man coming hither?" But the Hebrew text is the more satisfactory. For the object of the inquiry, made by the Urim and Thummim, was to find Saul, wherever he might be; and the enigmatical way of putting the question, Is any one as yet come? was regarded as more reverential than asking directly, Is Saul come? Among the stuff. I.e. the baggage, as in 1 Samuel 17:22, where it is translated "carriage." The people, collected from all Israel, would come with wagons and provisions, and such arms as they could procure; for very probably the Philistines would interrupt such a meeting, as they had that convened formerly by Samuel (1 Samuel 7:7). Naturally, therefore, they would follow the regulations of an army, and so arrange their baggage as to form a place of defence in case of attack. See on 1 Samuel 17:20. 1 Samuel 10:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Then they inquired of Jehovah, "Is any one else come hither?" and Jehovah replied, "Behold, he (whom ye are seeking) is hidden among the things." The inquiry was made through the high priest, by means of the Urim and Thummim, for which בּיהוה שׁאל was the technical expression, according to Numbers 27:21 (see Judges 20:27-28; Judges 1:1, etc.). There can be no doubt, that in a gathering of the people for so important a purpose as the election of a king, the high priest would also be present, even though this is not expressly stated. Samuel presided over the meeting as the prophet of the Lord. The answer given by God, "Behold, he is hidden," etc., appears to have no relation to the question, "Is any one else come?" The Sept. and Vulg. have therefore altered the question into ει ̓ ἔτι ἔρχεται ὁ ἀνήρ, utrumnam venturus esset; and Thenius would adopt this as an emendation. But he is wrong in doing so; for there was no necessity to ask whether Saul would still come: they might at once have sent to fetch him. What they asked was rather, whether any one else had come besides those who were present, as Saul was not to be found among them, that they might know where they were to look for Saul, whether at home or anywhere else. And to this question God gave the answer, "He is present, only hidden among the things." By כּלים (the things or vessels, Eng. ver. the stuff) we are to understand the travelling baggage of the people who had assembled at Mizpeh. Saul could neither have wished to avoid accepting the monarchy, nor have imagined that the lot would not fall upon him if he hid himself. For he knew that God had chosen him; and Samuel had anointed him already. He did it therefore simply from humility and modesty. "In order that he might not appear to have either the hope or desire for anything of the kind, he preferred to be absent when the lots were cast" (Seb. Schmidt).