1 Samuel 10:1

SAUL ANOINTED KING; THEN CONFIRMED PUBLICLY

There were three phases in God's appointment of Saul as king of Israel, each one of them absolutely necessary.

(1) There was the private, even secret, anointing of Saul (1 Samuel 10:1-8).

(2) Then there was a public presentation of Saul as king, confirmed by the casting of lots, which was opposed by some of the people.

(3) The Divinely-inspired victory of Saul over the Ammonites propelled him into the universal acceptance of his kingship by all Israel.

The first of these three phases prepared Saul himself for the assignment, especially by his being supernaturally endowed by an infusion of God's Spirit, similar to the manner in which Samson was so endowed.

The second of these phases prepared a general assembly of the people to receive him, via the casting of lots and the presentation of Saul publicly.

The third phase prepared all Israel to accept Saul as king; and this was accomplished by the great victory over the Ammonites. We would like to read from any critic just how any one of these phases could possibly have been omitted.

We find no agreement whatever with the critical nonsense about "early and late sources." "contradictions," and "interpolations." As a universally respected critic (Ewald) stated it (as quoted by Keil), "We find that there is nothing but the simple truth in the whole course of this narrative."[1]

SAMUEL ANOINTS SAUL AS KING OF ISRAEL

"Then Samuel took a viol of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, "Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about."

"Has not the Lord anointed you?" (1 Samuel 10:1). This was essentially an action of God, because Samuel did it in obedience to God's specific commandment. This was an irrevocable action; and from that time forward, Saul was "the Lord's anointed," even after he had been rejected as king of Israel.

"And kissed him." "This is nowhere an act expressive of loyalty to a king, and it should be understood as indicating Samuel's affection for Saul."[2]

"The anointing of kings was not peculiarly an Israelite custom. The Tel el-Amarna Letters indicate that both in Egypt and in Canaan (prior to the Conquest) kings were regularly anointed."[3]

1 Samuel 10:1-8

SIGNS CONFIRMING SAUL'S DIVINE ANOINTING

"And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, `The asses which you went to seek are found, and your father has ceased to care about the asses and is anxious about you, saying, "What shall I do about my son"'? Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines; and there, as you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come mightily upon you, and you shall prophesy with them and shall be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do whatever your hands find to do, for God is with you. And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do."

THE SIGNS GIVEN TO SAUL

Some speak of these "three signs"; but there are more than that.

(1) He would meet two men near the tomb of Rachel who would give him word that the asses had been found.

(2) He would meet three men at the oak of Tabor going up to worship at Bethel; and they would give him two loaves of bread.

(3) He would meet a band of prophets, playing instruments of music and prophesying.

(4) The Spirit of the Lord would come mightily upon Saul, and

(5) Saul himself would prophesy.

Of course, the most important of these was No. 4. Saul's possession of the Spirit of God, evidently in the same manner as in the various Judges, was precisely the event that prepared him to be king of Israel.

"You will meet two men by Rachel's tomb" (1 Samuel 10:2). The exact location of Rachel's tomb is disputed; but it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference where it was. Saul certainly knew where it was, and that is where the two men met him. That is the significant information given here. As R. P. Smith wrote, "The whole geography of Saul's wanderings is very obscure."[4]

"They will give you two loaves of bread" (1 Samuel 10:3). This was a providential supply of provisions for Saul and his servant, because they had already exhausted their food supply (1 Samuel 9:7). There were two things indicated by this gift of bread which evidently had been intended as a sacrifice at Bethel. (1) It was a token of the tribute which all Israel would pay to their king, and (2) it indicated that, "Henceforth Saul would share with the sanctuary the offerings of the people."[5]

"You shall come to Gibeath-elohim" (1 Samuel 10:5). "Usually abbreviated as `Gibeah.'"[6] This was the home town of Saul.

"A garrison of the Philistines" (1 Samuel 10:5). "The word here rendered `garrison' is thus translated in 1 Samuel 13:3; 2 Samuel 8:6; 1 Chronicles 11:16; 18:13; and 2 Chronicles 17:2; it is translated `officer' in 1 Kings 4:19, and `pillar' in Genesis 19:26."[7] All of these different meanings have found scholarly advocates who would variously render the word in this passage. G. B. Caird makes an excellent argument why it should be translated, "a Philistine officer" in this passage. If this is correct, then the passage in 1 Samuel 13:3 would mean that Jonathan assassinated a Philistine officer and not that he defeated "a garrison." Of course, with God's aid, he might have done either.

"You shall be turned into another man" (1 Samuel 10:6). This would follow upon the coming of the Spirit of God mightily upon Saul. Just as Samson was endowed with supernatural strength, so Saul was endowed with all of the qualities that fitted him to be king of Israel, a mighty leader of armies, and a ruler who would rule Israel for forty years. "Thus, Saul would be the true successor of the judges, all of whom were thus directed by God's Spirit."[8]

1 Samuel 10:8 is branded as an outright interpolation having no place whatever in this narrative.[9] Payne understood the verse as a prophetic reference to 1 Samuel 13:7-14, where "Gilgal is mentioned as Saul's ultimate destination and the place of his failure."[10] This writer does not believe that either of these viewpoints is necessarily correct. There is a genuine possibility that the reference is here made to a trip to Gilgal by Samuel (he went there regularly) and that he set up an appointment here with Saul to further instruct him in the kingship. Of course, we know nothing of any such occasion; but there are a thousand other things that happened at that time of which we are totally uninformed. This account is abbreviated.