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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 10
Samuel anoints Saul to be captain over the Lord's inheritance—Samuel
manifests gift of seership—Saul prophesies among the prophets, and the
Lord gives him a new heart—He is chosen king at Mizpeh.
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Saul as King
Why the Lord had Samuel select the
first king of Israel out of Benjamin is not readily clear. It may be out of
respect unto Benjamin. Benjamin would have been Jacob's chosen after the
supposed death of Joseph to succeed him to head the family. Yet when Joseph
was found in Egypt, Joseph's blessings are generally thought to be returned
to him. And yet Jacob seems to skip over both Benjamin and Joseph, taking
Ephraim as his adopted firstborn and heir of the covenant. Perhaps the Lord
chose to honor Benjamin in the eyes of all the tribes first before any other
in light of that time when Benjamin was Jacob's selection to succeed him.
And when Saul failed then the birthright fell to Ephraim, and in David was
it found by God's law of adoption (See
Messiah ben
David ~ Messiah ben Joseph). And yet even David chose Judah over Israel
(Ephraim) though Israel (Ephraim) had the greater claim in David.
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1 THEN Samuel took a vial of
oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said,
Is it not because the LORD hath aanointed thee
to be captain over his inheritance?
2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou
shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at
Zelzaha; and they will say unto
thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father
hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I
do for my son?
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2a by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of
Benjamin at Zelzah Zelzah may not be a place name but rather the
stipulation of the time Saul would meet the two men. Zelzah has been given to
mean noontide or shadow, perhaps at the point of time when the shadow changes
from the one side to the other of the noon hour. However this is not the
point here. The point is that Rachel's tomb was in the borders of Benjamin.
This would be appropriate as Rachel was Benjamin's mother. There is also
reason to suppose that the lands of Ephraim upon a narrow reach did also come
to and was about the site of Rachel's tomb also, Rachel being the mother of
Joseph or Israel as Ephraim was so named after Jacob by adoption.
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Inheritances of Israel's Tribes
The various maps developed to show
the territories of the tribes of Israel vary as to scholarly deduction from the
Biblical descriptions and also depending upon 'when', that is what age of Israel's
history they were based upon. Of all such mappings, this mapping of the tribe of
Benjamin's lands seems more correct than many others which I have seen. Many
mappings do not include Jerusalem as a part of Benjamin's lands nor do they extend
Benjamin's lands far enough south to include as a part of Benjamin's lands such as
Zelzah, the land of Rachel's sepulchre as recorded in 1 Samuel 10:2. As Benjamin's
lands did so include Rachel's sepulchre 'in the border of Benjamin' at Zelzah,
then indeed the lands of Benjamin did extend as far south as Bethlehem, at least
as much as that Rachel's tomb/sepulchre is at Bethlehem. In fact in the Old
Testament there is reason to consider that Bethlehem and the region of Rachel's
tomb had 'multiple trible claims' upon it. Here is evidence of Benjamin's Zelzah
by Rachel's sepulchre. There is also Bethlehem-Ephrathah (Micah 5:2) or Bethlehem-Ephraim, as well as Bethlehem-Judah. And this would seem logical as Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, Ephraim being the son of the birthright of Joseph and Jacob. So why would not the descendants of Rachel hold a claim in, at and upon that site of Rachel's tomb? This leaves further consideration that not
only the Ephrathite/Ephraimite family of Elimelech had inheritance lands there
which via Boaz fell to Obed and the Jesse and the house of David; but also why
not such as Lehi, being descendant of Joseph's other son Manasseh and Ishmael of
the Book of Mormon who is also a descendant of Ephraim?
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The tribe of Benjamin not only held right to Jerusalem (Joshua 18:28 (21-28)), but apparently Benjamin also held an inheritance at Zelzah (Bethlehem) about Rachel's sepulchre.
[Note: Dan never settled in the south but traveled and settled north (Judges 18 & see map).]
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3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
4 And they will asalute thee, and
give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their
hands.
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5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where
is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when
thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets
coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a
apipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and
thou shalt aprophesy with them, and shalt be
bturned into another man.
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7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee,
that thou do aas occasion serve thee; for God
is with thee.
8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and,
behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer aburnt
offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days
shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
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9 ¶ And it was so, that when he had turned
his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another aheart:
and all those signs came to pass that day.
10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a
company of aprophets met him; and the
bSpirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among
them.
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11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
12 And one of the same place answered and said, But
who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is
aSaul also among the prophets?
13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
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14 ¶ And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel.
15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.
16 And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.
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17 ¶ And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh;
18 And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:
19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who
himself saved you out of all your aadversities and your
btribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but
set a cking over us. Now therefore present yourselves
before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.
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20 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.
21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.
22 Therefore they aenquired of the
LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered,
Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.
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23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he
stood among the people, he was ahigher than any of the
people from his shoulders and upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the
akingdom, and bwrote it in a
cbook, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
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26 ¶ And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this
man asave us? And they despised him, and brought him no
presents. But he bheld his peace.
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