26 And also Saul hath gone to his house, to Gibeah, and the force go with him whose heart God hath touched;
And the messengers come to Gibeah of Saul, and speak the words in the ears of the people, and all the people lift up their voice and weep;
And Samuel goeth to Ramath, and Saul hath gone unto his house -- to Gibeah of Saul.
And his lord saith unto him, `Let us not turn aside unto the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel, thither, but we have passed over unto Gibeah.' And he saith to his young man, `Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.' And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goeth in upon them near Gibeah, which is to Benjamin; and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goeth in and sitteth in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge. And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man `is' of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he `is' a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place `are' Benjamites.
and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel.
And heads of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin rise, and the priests and the Levites, even every one whose spirit God hath waked, to go up to build the house of Jehovah, that `is' in Jerusalem;
Thy people `are' free-will gifts in the day of Thy strength, in the honours of holiness, From the womb, from the morning, Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 10
Commentary on 1 Samuel 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
We left Samuel and Saul walking together, probably some private way over the fields down from Ramah, perhaps in the paths of the vineyards, and Saul expecting to hear from Samuel the word of God. Now here we have,
1Sa 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.
1Sa 10:9-16
Saul has now taken his leave of Samuel, much amazed, we may well suppose, at what has been done to him, almost ready to question whether he be awake or no, and whether it be not all a dream. Now here we are told,
1Sa 10:17-27
Saul's nomination to the throne is here made public, in a general assembly of the elders of Israel, the representatives of their respective tribes at Mizpeh. It is probable that this convention of the states was called as soon as conveniently it might, after Saul was anointed, for, if there must be a change in their government, the sooner the better: it might be of bad consequence to be long in the doing. The people having met in a solemn assembly, in which God was in a peculiar manner present (and therefore it is said they were called together unto the Lord, v. 17), Samuel acts for God among them.