1 Samuel · chapter 9 of 31
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1 Samuel 9 introduces Saul, a tall and handsome young man of the tribe of Benjamin, son of Kish, who goes out to look for his father's lost donkeys. His servant urges him to consult a man of God in the city, and there they meet Samuel, whom the Lord had told the day before. Samuel welcomes him to a banquet and announces that all Israel's desire is for him.
After the people's request in chapter 8, the Lord had told Samuel to give them a king. Chapter 9 shows how that king is brought to Samuel in an unexpected way, through some strayed donkeys. It is a simple story in which the hand of the Lord can be seen guiding apparently ordinary events.
Kish, a man of Benjamin, has a son named Saul, a handsome young man who stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Some of Kish's donkeys get lost, and he sends Saul with a servant to look for them. They go through the hill country of Ephraim and other regions without finding them. When they are near the land of Zuph, Saul wants to turn back so his father will not worry about them.
His servant tells him there is a man of God in that city, highly respected, and that he may be able to tell them the way. Saul worries that they have nothing to give him, but the servant has a quarter of a shekel of silver. They go up to the city and meet some girls drawing water; they say the seer is there that day because there is a sacrifice at the high place. As they enter, Samuel comes out to meet them.
A day earlier the Lord had revealed to Samuel that he would send him a man from Benjamin the next day to anoint as prince over his people, one who would save Israel from the Philistines. When Samuel sees Saul, the Lord tells him that this is the man. Samuel tells Saul that the donkeys have been found and that all that is desirable in Israel is for him and his family. Saul answers that he is from the smallest tribe of Israel and that his family is the least of Benjamin.
Samuel takes him to the banquet, seats him in the place of honor among about thirty guests and has the portion he had set aside served to him. Afterward they talk on the roof of the house. At dawn Samuel wakes him and walks with him to the edge of the city, asking that the servant go ahead so that he may announce the word of God to him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Saul is introduced as a handsome young man, taller than everyone else. His appearance makes him look like a king; the narrative sets up the contrast with the later warning that the Lord looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16).
The Lord tells Samuel he will send a man from Benjamin to anoint as prince over his people, who will save Israel from the Philistines because the Lord has seen their affliction. God keeps acting with compassion even as he grants the people's mistaken request.
When Samuel sees Saul, the Lord tells him that this is the man he spoke of. What looked like a chance search for donkeys was an appointment prepared by God.
Saul answers with humility: he is from the smallest tribe of Israel and from the humblest family. That early modesty contrasts with what Saul will become, and recalls that God often chooses people who do not think themselves great.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The son of Kish, a handsome young man of the tribe of Benjamin, taller than all the people. — 1 Samuel 9:1-2
Answer: The lost donkeys of Kish, Saul's father. — 1 Samuel 9:3
Answer: Consulting the man of God in the city, who might tell them the way. — 1 Samuel 9:6
Answer: That the next day he would send him a man from Benjamin to anoint as prince over his people. — 1 Samuel 9:15-16
Answer: That he was from the smallest tribe of Israel and his family the least of Benjamin. — 1 Samuel 9:21
Answer: A seat at the head of the guests and the portion Samuel had told the cook to set aside. — 1 Samuel 9:22-24
Sometimes the Lord directs our lives through paths that look accidental: a failed search, a detour, a conversation. Saul set out for donkeys and ended up before the prophet who would anoint him. In a small group, you can ask each person to recall an apparently ordinary situation in which they later recognized the hand of God.
It is also worth noticing the servant's attitude, who knows where to seek spiritual counsel, and Saul's early humility. We will see later what happens to him, and the lesson is that the humility you begin with does not keep itself: it has to be guarded for a lifetime.
1 Samuel 9 ends with Samuel asking Saul to stop so that he can announce the word of God to him. In chapter 10 Samuel anoints him as prince over Israel and gives him three signs that will confirm his calling.
The text explains that in earlier times in Israel one who is now called a prophet was called a seer. It refers to someone who receives visions and the word of the Lord. Samuel is presented as a prophet and also as a judge, and people come to him to know God's will.
Benjamin had been greatly reduced since the days of the judges (Judges 19-21). Saul did not think himself worthy of so great an honor. The text presents his answer as genuine humility at the start, not false modesty.