1 Samuel 9:7 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:3-10

Here is, I. A great man rising from small beginnings. It does not appear that Saul had any preferment at all, or was in any post of honour or trust, till he was chosen king of Israel. Most that are advanced rise gradually, but Saul, from the level with his neighbours, stepped at once into the throne, according to that of Hannah, He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, to set them among princes, 1 Sam. 2:8. Saul, it should seem, though he was himself married and had children grown up, yet lived... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:7

Then Saul said to his servant, but behold, if we go ,.... The Targum is,"if he receives money,'which it seems Saul was not clear in; some sort of persons that set up for prophets, and a sort of diviners and fortune tellers, did; but he could not tell whether so eminent and honourable a person as Samuel was, did; in as much he was not better known by him, who had been so many years a judge in Israel: what shall we bring the man ? it being usual, when persons addressed great men for a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 9:7

There is not a present to bring to the man of God - We are not to suppose from this that the prophets took money to predict future events: Saul only refers to an invariable custom, that no man approached a superior without a present of some kind or other. We have often seen this before; even God, who needs nothing, would not that his people should approach him with empty hands. "It is very common in Bengal for a person, who is desirous of asking a favor from a superior,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:1-10

Divine consideration. The facts are— 1 . Saul the son of Kish, a wealthy Benjamite, and remarkable for stature and goodliness, seeks his father's asses. 2 . Not finding them, he fears lest his father should be anxious about his own safety, and suggests a return home. 3 . His servant advises a recourse to a distinguished man of God then in those parts. 4 . Obtaining a small present, Saul resolves to consult the man of God concerning the lost asses. A great crisis has come in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:7

The bread is spent in our vessels. In the East a great man is always approached with a present, and offerings of food were no doubt the most usual gifts ( 1 Samuel 16:20 ). Those made to the false prophets are contemptuously described in Ezekiel 13:19 as "handfuls of barley and pieces of bread." A present. The word is rare, and apparently is the technical name for a fee of this kind, half payment and half gift. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 9:7

Presents of bread or meat were as common as presents of money. (Compare Ezekiel 13:19; Hosea 3:2.) read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 9:7-8

1 Samuel 9:7-8. Behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man It was a part of the honour they did great men, in those countries, to make them a present when they had occasion to address themselves to them. Particularly their prophets were thus honoured; being men of God, before whom they judged they ought not to appear empty, but to bring them presents, either as a testimony of respect, or as a grateful acknowledgment, or for the support of the prophets themselves, or of the sons of the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 9:1-27

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 9:7

present . Hebrew. teshurah. Occurs only here. It is from shur, to behold. Hence, that which procures and secures an interview, or sight of the person sought. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Samuel 9:7

1 Samuel 9:7. But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man?— Such as are prejudiced against the sacred history, and unacquainted with eastern customs, may be ready, from the donations to the prophets, to imagine that they were a mercenary set of people, and rudely to rank them with cunning men and fortune-tellers, who will not from principles of benevolence reveal those secrets, or foretel those future events, of the perfect knowledge of which they are supposed to be possessed, without... read more