1 Samuel 9:20 Komentář

Samuel had promised Israel, from God, that they should have a king; it is strange that the next news is not of candidates setting up for the government, making an interest in the people, or recommending themselves to Samuel, and, by him, to God, to be put in nomination. Why does not the prince of the tribe of Judah, whoever he is, look about him now, remembering Jacob's entail of the sceptre on that tribe? Is there never a bold aspiring man in Israel, to say, "I will be king, if God will choose me?" No, none appears, whether it is owing to a culpable mean-spiritedness or a laudable humility I know not; but surely it is what can scarcely be paralleled in the history of any kingdom; a crown, such a crown, set up, and nobody bids for it. Most governments began in the ambition of the prince to rule, but Israel's in the ambition of the people to be ruled. Had any of those elders who petitioned for a king afterwards petitioned to be king, I should have suspected that person's ambition to have been at the bottom of the motion; but now (let them have the praise of what was good in them) it was not so. God having, in the law, undertaken to choose their king (Deu 17:15), they all sit still, till they hear from heaven, and that they do in this chapter, which begins the story of Saul, their first king, and, by strange steps of Providence, brings him to Samuel to be anointed privately, and so to be prepared for an election by lot, and a public commendation to the people, which follows in the next chapter. Here is, I. A short account of Saul's parentage and person (Sa1 9:1, Sa1 9:2). II. A large and particular account of the bringing of him to Samuel, to whom he had been before altogether a stranger. 1. God, by revelation, had told Samuel to expect him (Sa1 9:15, Sa1 9:16). 2. God, by providence, led him to Samuel. (1.) Being sent to seek his father's asses, he was at a loss (Sa1 9:3-5). (2.) By the advice of his servant, he determined to consult Samuel (Sa1 9:6-10). (3.) By the direction of the young maidens, he found him out (Sa1 9:11-14). (4.) Samuel, being informed of God concerning him (Sa1 9:17), treated him with respect in the gate (Sa1 9:18-21), in the dining-room (Sa1 9:22-24), and at length in private, where he prepared him to hear the surprising news that he must be king (Sa1 9:25-27). And these beginnings would have been very hopeful and promising if it had not been that the sin of the people was the spring of this great affair.

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 9 This chapter gives an account of Saul, the person the Lord had appointed to be king of Israel; it relates his descent, and describes his person, Sa1 9:1 and how seeking his father's asses, which were lost, he providentially came to the place where Samuel dwelt, Sa1 9:3 and being advised by his servant, and approving of his advice, he concluded to go to him, and inquire the way he should go, Sa1 9:6 and being directed by some young maidens, they found him presently in the street going to a feast, Sa1 9:11 and Samuel having some previous notice from the Lord of such a person's coming to him that day, when he met him invited him to dine with him, and obliged him to stay with him that day, Sa1 9:15 satisfied him about his asses, and gave him a hint of the grandeur he was to be raised to, to which Saul made a modest reply, Sa1 9:20 and Samuel treated him at the feast in a very respectable manner, Sa1 9:22 and privately communed with him of things preparatory to what he was about to make known unto him, Sa1 9:25.

And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago,.... Which, according to Kimchi, is to be understood not of the time from whence they were lost, but to be reckoned from the time that Saul had been seeking of them; so the Targum,"as to the business of the asses, which are lost to thee, and thou art come to seek them today, these three days:''though it is probable enough that the same day they were lost Saul set out to seek them, Now Samuel telling him of the asses that were lost, and of the time of their being lost, or of his seeking them, so exactly, before ever he said a word to him about them, must at once convince him that he was a true prophet, and which must prepare him to give credit to all that he should hereafter say to him: set not thy mind on them, for they are found; of the truth of which he could not doubt, after he had said the above words; and which he said to make his mind easy, that he might the more cheerfully attend the feast, and be the more willing to stay all night: and on whom is all the desire of Israel? which was to have a king; in this they were unanimous, and who so fit and proper as Saul, it is intimated, whom Samuel knew God had chosen and appointed to be king over them? is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house? not that the Israelites had their eye on Saul, and their desire after him to be their king, though he was such an one as they wished for; but that as this desire of theirs was granted, it would issue and terminate in him and his family; he should be advanced to the throne, which would be attended with the promotion of his father's house, as Abner particularly, who was his uncle's son, and was made the general of the army.

For there follows: "And all things that are in your heart I will show to you; and as for the donkeys which you lost three days ago, do not be anxious, for they have been found." How preachers strive to conceal themselves is shown above in the word of Samuel, where it is said: "I am the Seer." But now, because he says, "All things that are in your mind, I will declare to you," what else do we understand except that holy men often both hide and bring forth the virtues which they have? But, as I said, they hide them lest they appear great on account of their great virtues; they bring them forth so that the elect may imitate them. And so they declare that they excel in the word of wisdom or the spirit of prophecy, not that they may be venerated, but that they may be heard. Wherefore also the Psalmist, intimating that he possesses the grace of the word, says: "I have understood more than all my teachers" (Ps. 118:99). Therefore, certain of the skill of the spirit, he confidently invites us, saying: "Come, children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Ps. 33:11). For Micah was affirming himself to be a prophet when he said: "Would that I were not a man having the spirit, and that I rather spoke a lie" (Mic. 2:11). Hence Elisha says concerning Naaman the Syrian: "Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel" (4 Kings 5:8). Hence Paul says: "They are Hebrews, so am I; they are the seed of Abraham, so am I; they are ministers of Christ, so am I—I speak as one less wise—I am more so" (2 Cor. 11:22–23). But on the other hand, Amos says: "I am not a prophet, but a herdsman plucking sycamores" (Amos 7:14). Hence also Paul, when he wishes to hide himself for the sake of safeguarding, says: "I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God" (1 Cor. 15:9). Hence John the Baptist, when questioned, said: "I am not a prophet" (John 1:21). For he was not a prophet unto self-exaltation, but he was a prophet and more than a prophet unto ministry. Samuel therefore, in order to guard himself, says: "I am the Seer"; and in order to present himself for the profit of others, says: "I will declare all things to you." And if anyone wishes, he can understand it in the same way: that when he says, "I am the Seer," if he declares himself to be a seer, he says this so that he may share the good that he has with the elect. Therefore, in order to prove what he asserts, he subsequently adds: "I will declare all things to you." This is what the doctors of holy Church do; for while they behold the virtues and vices of minds, they clearly know how to heal vices and to promote virtues. He therefore declares all things that are in the heart when he deigns to set forth by the instruction of manifest teaching the way of virtue which the good hearer desires to hold. And if he is great and has resolved not only to do good things but also to preach them, preachers declare all things that are in his heart when they open to their minds whatever they desire concerning doctrine. But because he signifies to the one to whom he speaks the one who strives for the gains of preaching, he adds and says: "And as for the donkeys which you lost three days ago, do not be anxious, for they have been found." This was explained above in the person of Saul, how it applies to inexperienced preachers. For he lost the donkeys, because he by no means drew to repentance the sinners to whom he offered the word of life. He would indeed have found them, if those who had hidden themselves in the night of wickedness had returned to the light of justice, in which they could have been found as men. Why then does he say, "They have been found," unless because often the great men of salvation consider that good can easily be found in those about whose life the unlearned despair? For even skilled physicians of bodies often presume to cure those whose health the unskilled cannot presume to restore. So indeed, sinners are often drawn to repentance and satisfaction by learned teachers who could not be drawn by unlearned and inexperienced ones. Since therefore, both by the preaching and by the example of the perfect, those return to the Lord through repentance who could not be converted through the ministry of others, Samuel rightly says that the donkeys have been found which Saul could not find. This saying can also be understood with respect to the advancement of the ruler being ordained. As if to say: As you advance in learning and life, you will also be able to win for the Lord those whom you have not yet been able to win. So certain indeed is the virtue of advancement that its fruits, which do not yet stand firm in reality, stand firm in the certainty of hope. And because by these words he is invited to endure the labors of holy preaching, he explains what rewards of gain he should expect, saying: "And for whom shall be all the best things of Israel? Shall they not be for you and for all your father's house?" Israel, which is interpreted "seeing God" — whom does it more fittingly signify in this place than that blessed society of eternal citizens who, from the toil of this life, have arrived at the eternal vision of almighty God? What then are the best things of Israel, if not the gifts of eternal recompense? Paul indeed says: "Each one shall receive his reward according to his own labor" (1 Cor. 3:8). Likewise he says: "There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and of the stars. For star differs from star in brightness" (1 Cor. 15:41). Therefore the recompenses and rewards of all the faithful are the good things of Israel. But because the reward of the elect preachers is the highest, theirs are the best things of Israel. Concerning these best things of Israel the Lord promises to his faithful servant, saying: "Amen I say to you, he will set him over all his goods" (Matt. 24:47). For he who is set not among all things but over all things is declared to possess not merely the good things of Israel, but even the best. Let Samuel therefore say: "To whom shall all the best things of Israel belong, if not to you and to all the house of your father?" As if to say: Even if the labor of preaching is great, it ought to be borne with all the more devotion, the greater the gains of its reward. The teacher of holy Church ought therefore to weigh with anxious mind that not only the good things but even the best things of Israel are his, so that he who awaits things so supreme and excellent may always do what is greater and more excellent. For indeed those supreme rewards are owed not to the supreme rank, but to supreme labor. For the distinguished teacher did not say: "Each one shall receive his reward according to his dignity," but "according to his labor." When therefore the best things of eternal life are assigned to preachers, great toil in this life is enjoined upon them: because surely he who does not strive to be better than the rest cannot prevail in having better things than the rest. And because this is common to all preachers of holy Church, the best things of Israel are said to belong not only to Saul, but to the whole house of his father. For as sons are born from a father, so in the order of preachers new ones are successively raised up in place of others, resplendent with the same nobility of holiness. The house of the preacher is also his spiritual manner of life. Therefore the best things of Israel belong to the whole house of his father: because wherever there is a priestly manner of life, there assuredly it is, and it is so exalted that from the loftiness of its merit, its rewards in eternal life are the very best. In this, therefore, let preachers examine themselves carefully: because the best things of Israel will belong not only to themselves but to his whole house — because if they depart from the house, they will not have the best things. For if they hold only the eminence of preaching, they will not have the best things, because they do not maintain the loftiness of life.

And as for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not be anxious, etc. And concerning the souls which began to perish in the third period of the world, that is, at the beginning of the nascent world, rejoice, because by my preaching they have already learned to repent and hope for the kingdom of heaven. Understand the three periods: before the law, under the law, and under grace.

And whose shall be the best of Israel? etc. And who will be the giver and author of the grace I preach, if not you? To whom it is most rightly confessed that all things whatever the Father has belong. For the best of Israel are the gifts of heavenly joys, which he ministers to the house of his Father who is in heaven.

Am I not the son of Jemini from the least tribe of Israel? etc. And the Lord chose content among proud lineages, poor parents, and humble in spirit, from whom He would be born; and He speaks of Himself: I do not seek my own glory (John VIII). And beautifully Saul is called the son of Jemini, that is, of my right hand, because Christ Himself from the power of His divinity created for Himself the substance of man, which He would assume being born from a virgin; as it is read elsewhere: Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. IX). Beautifully from the latest family among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin, that is, the sons of the right hand. For the Son of the right hand is Christ God, to whose tribe all the elect belong; but the more humble anyone is among the saints, the closer they are as if by kinship; for even Christ as a man, though higher in majesty, is superior to all the saints in the virtue of humility.

Saul's lineage and description; he is sent by his father to seek some lost asses, Sa1 9:1-5. Not finding them, he purposes to go and consult Samuel concerning the proper method of proceeding, Sa1 9:6-14. The Lord informs Samuel that he should anoint Saul king, Sa1 9:15, Sa1 9:16. Samuel invites Saul to dine with him, and informs him that the asses are found; and gives him an intimation that he is to be king, Sa1 9:17-21. Saul dines with Samuel, and afterwards he is taken to the house-top, where both commune together, Sa1 9:22-27.

As for thine asses - Thus he shows him that he knew what was in his heart, God having previously revealed these things to Samuel. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? - Saul understood this as implying that he was chosen to be king.

SAUL, DESPAIRING TO FIND HIS FATHER'S ASSES, COMES TO SAMUEL. (Sa1 9:1-14) a mighty man of power--that is, of great wealth and substance. The family was of high consideration in the tribe of Benjamin, and therefore Saul's words must be set down among the common forms of affected humility, which Oriental people are wont to use.

on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house?--This was a covert and indirect premonition of the royal dignity that awaited him; and, though Saul's answer shows that he fully understood it, he affected to doubt that the prophet was in earnest.