1 Samuel 10:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 10:1-8

Samuel is here executing the office of a prophet, giving Saul full assurance from God that he should be king, as he was afterwards, according to these prophecies which went before of him. I. He anointed him and kissed him, 1 Sam. 10:1. This was not done in a solemn assembly, but it was done by divine appointment, which made up the want of all external solemnities, nor was it ever the less valid for its being done in private, under a hedge, or, as the Jews say, by a fountain. God's institutions... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 10:3

Then shall thou go on forward from thence ,.... From Zelzah and Rachel's sepulchre there: and thou 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 hence: but a plain, so called perhaps from the name of the owner of it: and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel : the same with Luz, where Jacob built an altar, and called upon God; and so... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 10:3

Three men going up to God to Bethel - Jacob's altar was probably there still, Genesis 28:19 . However this might be, it was still considered, as its name implies, the house of God; and to it they were now going, to offer sacrifice. The three kids were for sacrifice; the three loaves of bread to be offered probably as a thank-offering; and the bottle or skin full of wine, for a libation. When the blood was poured out before the Lord, then they feasted on the flesh and on the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 10:1-8

Supports to faith and duty. The facts are— 1 . Samuel privately anoints Saul as the chosen of God. 2 . He gives him four signs of the Divine sanction of the act of anointing. 3 . He instructs him on the completion of the signs to act on his own judgment, with the assurance that God is his helper. 4 . He finally directs him to wait at Gilgal for himself, there to receive further guidance. The course taken by Samuel was the natural completion of his protracted intercourse... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 10:3

The second sign was to be the presenting of an offering to him out of their sacrificial gifts by three men going on a pilgrimage to Bethel. He would meet them not in the plain of Tabor, but at the oak, elon, of Tabor. Many attempt to connect this elon-Tabor with the allon, or oak, under which Deborah, Rachel's nurse, was buried ( Genesis 35:8 ), and suppose that Tabor is a corruption of the name Deborah. This is scarcely possible, and it is better to acknowledge that we know nothing... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 10:3

The plain of Tabor - It should be “the oak or terebinth”” of Tabor” (Judges 4:11 note). It has been ingeniously conjectured that “Tabor” is either a different form of “Deborah,” or a corruption of it, and that the “oak,” or “terebinth of Tabor,” is the same as “Allon-bachuth,” the oak under which Deborah was buried, and which lay “beneath Bethel” Genesis 35:8. The terebinth, where the three men came upon Saul, must have been at some point previous to that where the road leading northward from... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 10:3

1 Samuel 10:3. Thou shalt come to the plain Not that at the foot of mount Tabor, which was far from these parts; but another, belonging to some other place. Beth-el Properly so called, which was in Ephraim, where there was a noted high place, famous for Jacob’s vision there, (Genesis 28:19,) and where it is probable they offered sacrifices, in this confused state of things, when the ark was in one place, and the tabernacle in another. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 10:1-16

Samuel’s prediction about Saul (9:1-10:16)Saul, who became Israel’s first king, originally had no desire for political power and little interest in the spiritual ministry of Samuel. As the son of a wealthy landowner, he was more concerned about the loss of his father’s donkeys, and the worry he might cause his father by being away so long in search of them (9:1-5). This concern led him to seek help from Samuel. He thought that Samuel, with his ability to see visions and make predictions, could... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Samuel 10:3

plain = oak, or terebinth; growing generally alone, becomes a conspicuous landmark. God. Hebrew. Elohim . App-4 . Beth-el = House of God. Evidently a place of worship, in the absence of any "place", according to Deuteronomy 12:5 , &c. Compare Exodus 20:24 . carrying . Probably their firstfruits. Compare 2 Kings 4:42 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Samuel 10:3

1 Samuel 10:3. To the plain of Tabor— To the high-oak of Tabor. Hiller, 359. read more

Group of Brands