82
Critics infer from the name Shaul - "the asked for" - that he was the firstborn. But I rather conclude from
the use of the term in such passages as Genesis 46:10, 1 Samuel 1:17, 27, that Kish had long been childless,
and that Saul was the child of prayer; while from the absence of the mention of any other children, I would
infer that he was the only son of Kish.
83
Most critics render the term by "young." But I prefer the rendering "choice" - not, however, in the sense
of the Vulgate: electus, chosen. From 13:1-3 we know that Jonathan was at the time capable of taking a
command, so that Saul his father must have been at least forty years old.
84
For quotations from the Classics, see the Commentaries.
85
Our Authorised Version renders 1 Samuel 10:5, "the hill of God," and again, ver. 10, "the hill." In both
cases it is Gibeah; and, as we infer from the familiarity of the people with Saul (ver. 11), either the place
where Saul lived or quite close by it.
86
The modern Wady Kurawa (see Keil, p. 66).
87
"The land Yemini" could not have been intended to designate the tribal territory of Benjamin. It is never
so employed, and the analogy of the expressions "land Shalishah," "land Shaalim," "land Zuph," forbids us
to regard it as other than a district. Again, it is said, "he passed through the land of Benjamin." From where,
and whither? Certainly not into Ephraim, for he came thence; and as certainly not into Judah. But the whole
question of the localization of the Ramah of Samuel and of the journey of Saul is amongst the most difficult
in Biblical geography. There is another important consideration in regard to this subject to which we shall
refer in a subsequent Note.
88
There can be no reasonable doubt that this "city" was Ramah, the ordinary residence of Samuel. The
question and answer in vers. 10 and 11 imply this; so does the circumstance that Samuel had a house there.
Lastly, how could Saul's servant have known that the "seer" was in that city, if it had not been his ordinary
residence? These two points, then, seem established: Saul's residence was at Gibeah, and he first met
Samuel in Ramah. But if so, it seems impossible, in view of 1 Samuel 10:2, to identify the Ramah of Samuel
with the Ramah of Benjamin, or to regard it as the modern Neby Samuel, four miles north-west of Jerusalem.
89
We may here give a curious extract from Siphre, all the more readily that this commentary on Numbers and
Deuteronomy, which is older than the Mishnah, is so little quoted even by those who make Rabbinical
literature their study. In Siphre 69a, by way of enforcing the duty of modesty, the expression of Samuel, "I
am the seer" (1 Samuel 9:19), is thus commented on: "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, Art thou the
seer? by thy life, I shall shew thee that thou art not a seer. And how did He shew it to him? At the time when
it was said: Fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehemite," etc. Upon which 1
Samuel 16:6 is quoted, when the Holy One reminded Samuel that he had said: "I am a seer," while
nevertheless he was entirely mistaken on the subject of the choice of Eliab!
90
This is the correct rendering.
91
The LXX. translators in this, as in several other passages in this section, either had a Hebrew text
somewhat varying from ours or else altered it in their translation. Notwithstanding the views of some critics
(notably Thenius), we have seen no reason to depart from the textus receptus.
92
The Hebrew word indicates a narrow-necked vessel from which the oil would come by drops.
93
The traditional site of Rachel's grave near Bethlehem must be given up as wholly incompatible with this
passage. The reasons have been fully explained in my Sketches of Jewish Social Life, p. 60.