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1 Kingdoms 8-10 - Israel Asks for a King and Saul Is Anointed

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The people reject the Lord as King, yet the Lord hears their suffering and sends them a deliverer. Both truths belong to Saul’s beginning. Israel’s demand for security must be judged; Saul’s anointing, changed heart, and calling must be received as real gifts. These chapters lead from a request that refuses to listen to a king commanded to listen. The question is whether visible authority will become obedient service or another power that takes possession of God’s people.

Historical and Scriptural Context

After the repentance and deliverance of chapter 7, Samuel’s old age raises the question of Israel’s future. His sons corrupt justice, while hostile powers remain a real danger. Chapters 8–10 belong together because the public demand, God’s private preparation of Saul, and the public recognition of the king reveal different sides of one beginning. This guide uses the Septuagint title 1 Kingdoms for the book commonly called 1 Samuel. Brenton’s forms Armathaim, Massephath, and Gabaa correspond to Ramah, Mizpah, and Gibeah.

Samuel is a faithful prophet whose appointments now require scrutiny. The elders bring a genuine grievance but seek an answer shaped by the surrounding nations. Saul begins as an obedient son who needs help, and his unnamed servant supplies knowledge the future king lacks. Above them all, the Lord both exposes faithlessness and acts mercifully toward the afflicted.

A true grievance and a deeper rejection (1 Kingdoms 8:1-9)

  1. And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
  2. And these are the names of his sons; Joel the first-born, and the name of the second Abia, judges in Bersabee.
  3. And his sons did not walk in his way; and they turned aside after gain, and took gifts, and perverted judgments.
  4. And the men of Israel gather themselves together, and come to Armathaim to Samuel,
  5. and they said to him, Behold, thou art grown old, and thy sons walk not in thy way; and now set over us a king to judge us, as also the other nations have.
  6. And the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us: and Samuel prayed to the Lord.
  7. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hear the voice of the people, in whatever they shall say to thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me from reigning over them.
  8. According to all their doings which they have done to me, from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day, even as they have deserted me, and served other gods, so they do also to thee.
  9. And now hearken to their voice; only thou shalt solemnly testify to them, and thou shalt describe to them the manner of the king who shall reign over them.

Samuel once grew up beside Eli’s corrupt sons; now his own sons turn justice into a source of profit. The opening sentence makes his responsibility concrete: he made them judges. Faithfulness in his own life did not make his sons fit to govern. The elders are right to name bribery and perverted judgment. The passage calls office-holders to examine whom they appoint and how they answer misconduct. It does not make every parent’s character the cause of every adult child’s choices, nor does it authorize blaming a household for another person’s wrongdoing.

Samuel’s first response to the painful demand is prayer. He brings the wound before God rather than defending his family by silencing the complaint. The Lord then distinguishes the grievance from the proposed cure. Israel has repeatedly deserted Him since the Exodus, and the demand now continues that history: they want a king in place of the One who has delivered them. Their need for justice is sound; their transfer of ultimate trust is not.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 already anticipates a king and even the wish to resemble the surrounding nations. It places the king under God’s choice and God’s law, restrains his accumulation of horses, wives, and wealth, and forbids his heart to rise above his brothers. The Law therefore prevents a simplistic anti-monarchy reading. Israel needs righteous authority, but no institution can relieve it of obedience to God.

The Lord tells Samuel to hear the people and solemnly warn them. Being heard is not the same as having every desire endorsed. Christ’s words in Luke 10:16 likewise join the hearing of His messengers to the hearing of Himself. That connection gives faithful ministry its gravity; it cannot turn every leader’s preference into God’s command or make the reporting of corruption a rejection of God.

The king who takes possession (1 Kingdoms 8:10-18)

  1. And Samuel spoke every word of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king.
  2. And he said, This shall be the manner of the king that shall rule over you: he shall take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and among his horsemen, and running before his chariots,
  3. and his manner shall be to make them to himself captains of hundreds and captains of thousands; and to reap his harvest, and gather his vintage, and prepare his instruments of war, and the implements of his chariots.
  4. And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and cooks, and bakers.
  5. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your good oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
  6. And he will take the tithe of your seeds and your vineyards, and give it to his eunuchs, and to his servants.
  7. And he will take your servants, and your handmaids, and your good herds and your asses, and will take the tenth of them for his works.
  8. And he will tithe your flocks; and ye shall be his servants.
  9. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen to yourselves, and the Lord shall not hear you in those days, because ye have chosen to yourselves a king.

Samuel describes the price of the protection Israel imagines. Sons become military manpower and labor for the royal harvest; daughters serve the court; fertile land passes to the king’s servants. The tithe of produce and flocks supports his household. A tenth already belongs within Israel’s sacred obligations, as Numbers 18:21-24 explains, but here the royal claim redirects resources toward the court. The warning concerns the king’s appetite, not a proof that every public levy is theft.

The repeated English phrase “he will take” makes the speech feel like a hand closing around one thing after another. Its repetitions require care: Brenton uses forms of “take” six times in verses 11–16, while the Rahlfs-based Greek has four instances of “λήμψεται”, “he will take”, in verses 11, 13, 14, and 16. Verses 15–17 also use the different verb “ἀποδεκατώσει”, “he will take a tenth”. The warning gains force from both actions, taking and taxing, rather than from an invented Greek count.1

The final cost is personal: “ye shall be his servants”. The people brought out of Egypt can create another bondage for themselves. In Exodus 2:23-25 their cry rose to God and He heard; here the warning says their cry will not be heard in those days. This is a severe consequence of choosing domination after being warned. It is not permission for a ruler to mistreat subjects, nor a reason to tell an abused person that God will ignore a plea for help. The Lord’s merciful hearing in 9:16 and the promise in 12:22 keep the warning from becoming a doctrine of permanent abandonment.

Later kings make the danger recognizable. Rehoboam inherits a people burdened by his father’s heavy yoke in 3 Kingdoms 12:4. Ahab’s acquisition of Naboth’s vineyard shows power seizing an inheritance it cannot rightly buy, in 3 Kingdoms 20:1-16, the account numbered 1 Kings 21:1-16 in Hebrew-based Bibles.

Christ gives the decisive contrast in Mark 10:42-45. Rulers lord authority over others; among His disciples greatness becomes service, because the Son of Man gives His life as a ransom for many. The contrast, “earthly kings take; Christ the King gives”, is fulfilled here with a Gospel text. It judges a parish servant’s hunger for control as surely as a ruler’s tyranny. Christian authority becomes credible when those entrusted to it are served rather than used.

A request heard without being approved (1 Kingdoms 8:19-22)

  1. But the people would not hearken to Samuel; and they said to him, Nay, but there shall be a king over us.
  2. And we also will be like all the nations; and our king shall judge us, and shall go out before us, and fight our battles.
  3. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and spoke them in the ears of the Lord.
  4. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice, and appoint them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let each man depart to his city.

The people have heard the warning, but they will not hearken to Samuel. They repeat their demand for resemblance to the nations and explain what they expect: a king to judge them, go before them, and fight their battles. A visible champion seems easier to trust than the Lord whose help must be received in obedience. The danger reaches beyond politics. We can want a parish, career, or household to look successful enough that we no longer need to ask whether its methods are faithful.

Samuel again carries their words to God. The Lord commands him to appoint a king. Permission is not the same as approval: Hosea 13:10-11 will speak of a king given in anger. Yet this verdict must remain beside God’s mercy in the next chapter. Saul will be sent to save the Lord’s people, not merely to demonstrate how foolish they were. Divine judgment does not exhaust divine purpose.

John 19:15 contains another terrible exchange of allegiance when the chief priests declare that they have no king but Caesar. That is a Christian reader’s warning about choosing power over the true King, not a verdict on Jewish people as a whole. Jesus, His Mother, and His apostles belong to Israel; the Church receives Israel’s Scriptures and shares the same temptation to secure itself through domination. The passage asks every reader whom he actually trusts.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil’s prayer for the peace of the Church asks God to “Crown with peace the head of our nation, the rulers and the chiefs”. In the same prayer He is addressed as the King of peace and the provider of all things.2 Earthly authority is included in the Church’s intercession because people need peace, protection, and justice. It remains within prayer to the true King. The Church neither worships public power nor refuses to pray for those who exercise it.

The future king needs a servant’s help (1 Kingdoms 9:1-14)

  1. And there was a man of the sons of Benjamin, and his name was Kis, the son of Abiel, the son of Jared, the son of Bachir, the son of Aphec, the son of a Benjamite, a man of might.
  2. And this man had a son, and his name was Saul, of great stature, a goodly man; and there was not among the sons of Israel a goodlier than he, high above all the people from his shoulders and upward.
  3. And the asses of Kis the father of Saul were lost; and Kis said to Saul his son, Take with thee one of the young men, and arise ye, and go and seek the asses.
  4. And they went through mount Ephraim, and they went through the land of Selcha, and found them not: and they passed through the land of Segalim, and they were not there: and they passed through the land of Jamin, and found them not.
  5. And when they came to Siph, then Saul said to his young man that was with him, Come and let us return, lest my father leave the asses, and take care for us.
  6. And the young man said to him, Behold now, there is a man of God in this city, and the man is of high repute; all that he shall speak will surely come to pass: now then let us go, that he may tell us our way on which we have set out.
  7. And Saul said to his young man that was with him, Lo, then, we will go; but what shall we bring the man of God? for the loaves are spent out of our vessels, and we have nothing more with us that belongs to us to bring to the man of God.
  8. And the young man answered Saul again, and said, Behold, there is found in my hand a fourth part of a shekel of silver; and thou shalt give it to the man of God, and he shall tell us our way.
  9. Now beforetime in Israel every one in going to enquire of God said, Come and let us go to the seer; for the people beforetime called the prophet, the seer.
  10. And Saul said to his servant, Well said, come and let us go: and they went to the city where the man of God was.
  11. As they went up the ascent to the city, they find damsels come out to draw water, and they say to them, Is the seer here?
  12. And the virgins answered them, and they say to them, He is: behold, he is before you: now he is coming to the city, because of the day, for to-day there is a sacrifice for the people in Bama.
  13. As soon as ye shall enter into the city, so shall ye find him in the city, before he goes up to Bama to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes in, for he blesses the sacrifice, and afterwards the guests eat; now then go up, for ye shall find him because of the holiday.
  14. And they go up to the city; and as they were entering into the midst of the city, behold, Samuel came out to meet them, to go up to Bama.

Saul arrives through a household errand. His father has lost the asses, and Saul obeys the instruction to search for them. The journey fails to recover the animals, but his concern in verse 5 is tender and ordinary: his father may stop worrying about them and begin worrying about his son. This is a real beginning with real human strengths. His height and beauty attract attention, but the account first lets us see a son who works and cares.

The servant knows of the man of God and proposes the visit. Saul does not even recognize Samuel when he meets him later in verse 18. That contrast shows how much the future king depends on someone beneath him in social standing. It does not establish hostility to prophecy or a hidden corrupt motive. Saul’s concern about a gift, after their bread has run out, also need not mean that he thinks divine guidance can be bought. The narrative supplies no such accusation. He accepts the servant’s practical answer and says, “Well said”.

The women drawing water direct the travelers to the sacrifice, where Samuel will bless the meal before the guests eat. The errand has brought Saul into a gathering whose meaning exceeds his original concern. God’s preparation does not excuse us from ordinary duties; it can meet us through them. Saul has to receive guidance from a servant and from women before he can receive a king’s calling. A person entrusted with leadership must still be able to learn.

Benjamin and Gibeah will recall the wounded end of Judges, especially chapters 19–21. Saul comes from a people whose history includes shame and near-destruction, not from an untroubled line of royal greatness. David will later be introduced tending his father’s sheep in 1 Kingdoms 16:11. That later contrast can sharpen our reading, but losing the trail of asses is not itself a sin, and Saul’s failed search must not be made into proof that his whole future was inevitable.

The Lord looks upon His people’s humiliation (1 Kingdoms 9:15-27)

  1. And the Lord uncovered the ear of Samuel one day before Saul came to him, saying,
  2. At this time to-morrow I will send to thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel, and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon the humiliation of my people, for their cry is come unto me.
  3. And Samuel looked upon Saul, and the Lord answered him, Behold the man of whom I spoke to thee, This one shall rule over my people.
  4. And Saul drew near to Samuel into the midst of the city, and said, Tell me now which is the house of the seer?
  5. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am he: go up before me to Bama, and eat with me to-day, and I will send thee away in the morning, and I will tell thee all that is in thine heart.
  6. And concerning thine asses that have been lost now these three days, care not for them, for they are found. And to whom does the excellency of Israel belong? does it not to thee and to thy father’s house?
  7. And Saul answered and said, Am not I the son of a Benjamite, the least tribe of the people of Israel? and of the least family of the whole tribe of Benjamin? and why hast thou spoken to me according to this word?
  8. And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them to the inn, and set them there a place among the chief of those that were called, about seventy men.
  9. And Samuel said to the cook, Give me the portion which I gave thee, which I told thee to set by thee.
  10. Now the cook had boiled the shoulder, and he set it before Saul; and Samuel said to Saul, Behold that which is left: set it before thee, and eat; for it is set thee for a testimony in preference to the others; take of it: and Saul ate with Samuel on that day.
  11. And he went down from Bama into the city; and they prepared a lodging for Saul on the roof, and he lay down.
  12. And it came to pass when the morning dawned, that Samuel called Saul on the roof, saying, Rise up, and I will dismiss thee. And Saul arose, and he and Samuel went out.
  13. As they went down to a part of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Speak to the young man, and let him pass on before us; and do thou stand as to-day, and hearken to the word of God.

The Lord has already spoken to Samuel before Saul arrives. From Saul’s side the meeting is unexpected; from God’s side the man is being sent. The purpose in verse 16 is explicit: he shall save God’s people from the Philistines. The Lord sees their humiliation and hears their cry. These words recall Exodus 3:7-9, where He sees Israel’s affliction and comes to deliver it. He can judge the people’s request and still have compassion on the suffering that lies beneath it.

The Greek also reaches back to the book’s first prayer. Hannah asks the Lord to look upon “τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῆς δούλης σου”, “the humiliation of your servant”, in 1:11; in 9:16 He says that He has looked upon “τὴν ταπείνωσιν τοῦ λαοῦ μου”, “the humiliation of my people”. The shared word “ταπείνωσις” means humiliation or low estate, and both passages use forms of the verb for looking upon. The phrases are related, not identical.1 The God who answered one woman’s affliction now attends to His people’s distress. Mercy has been at work since the beginning of the book.

Saul answers Samuel by naming his tribe and family’s smallness. Samuel responds with a seat of honor and a portion reserved before he arrived. Brenton gives about seventy guests, as does the Rahlfs-based Greek and NETS, rather than the thirty familiar from Hebrew-based translations. The prepared portion is a testimony that the appointment precedes Saul’s self-assessment. Humility receives what God gives; it must not become a refusal to believe that He can strengthen a weak person.

Brenton calls the portion the “shoulder”. NETS renders the Greek “κωλέαν”, the thigh or leg portion, as “thigh”; the sacrificial shoulder in the Greek of Leviticus 7:32-34 and Numbers 18:18 is called “βραχίων”, an arm or shoulder.3 A connection with honored portions at a sacrificial meal is fitting, but the wording does not establish that Saul receives a priestly office. The clear point is Samuel’s prepared honor for the man God has sent.

After the meal and rest, Saul must stand and hearken to the word of God. This answers the earlier repetitions of hearing the people’s voice. The king’s honor will be safe only if he remains a hearer. In 1 Kingdoms 15:24 Saul will confess that fear led him to hearken to the people instead. The future failure is a warning about freedom and obedience, not a reason to erase the mercy offered here.

Oil, three signs, and the command to wait (1 Kingdoms 10:1-8)

  1. And Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said to him, Has not the Lord anointed thee for a ruler over his people, over Israel? and thou shalt rule among the people of the Lord, and thou shalt save them out of the hand of their enemies; and this shall be the sign to thee that the Lord has anointed thee for a ruler over his inheritance.
  2. As soon as thou shalt have departed this day from me, thou shalt find two men by the burial-place of Rachel on the mount of Benjamin, exulting greatly; and they shall say to thee, The asses are found which ye went to seek; and, behold, thy father has given up the matter of the asses, and he is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
  3. And thou shalt depart thence, and shalt go beyond that as far as the oak of Thabor, and thou shalt find there three men going up to God to Bæthel, one bearing three kids, and another bearing three vessels of bread, and another bearing a bottle of wine.
  4. And they shall ask thee how thou doest, and shall give thee two presents of bread, and thou shalt receive them of their hand.
  5. And afterward thou shalt go to the hill of God, where is the encampment of the Philistines; there is Nasib the Philistine: and it shall come to pass when ye shall have entered into the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the Bama; and before them will be lutes, and a drum, and a pipe, and a harp, and they shall prophesy.
  6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
  7. And it shall come to pass when these signs shall come upon thee, - then do thou whatsoever thy hand shall find, because God is with thee.
  8. And thou shalt go down in front of Galgal, and behold, I come down to thee to offer a whole-burnt-offering and peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou wait until I shall come to thee, and I will make known to thee what thou shalt do.

Samuel pours oil on Saul, kisses him, and names the Lord’s appointment. The longer Septuagint form of verse 1, retained by Brenton and NETS, states the task of ruling and saving before announcing the confirming sign.1 Saul is consecrated to serve the Lord’s inheritance. The people belong to God before they are entrusted to their king.

The three encounters carry him from his former errand into his calling. At Rachel’s burial-place, two men will tell him that the asses are found and his father is concerned for him. The first sign releases him from the search while keeping his family relationship in view. The second encounter is with men going to God at Bethel, carrying kids, bread, and wine. They will give Saul two gifts of bread. The one who worried that his provisions were exhausted receives what he needs. The third sign is a band of prophets with musical instruments near the Philistine presence. The Spirit will come upon him, and he will prophesy with them. God’s help reaches further than recognition or food: He equips Saul inwardly.

The signs do not invite arbitrary symbolic arithmetic. Bread and wine here belong to travelers going to worship; the text does not identify them as the Eucharist. Their generosity and the Spirit’s coming together show Saul receiving rather than taking. Only after this provision is he told to act because God is with him.

Verse 8 immediately places that freedom under a command: go to Gilgal and wait seven days for Samuel, who will make known what to do. “God is with thee” cannot be used to cancel the next sentence. Anointing does not make the king independent of God’s word. The crisis in 1 Kingdoms 13:8-14 will expose the cost of acting as though urgency has abolished obedience. A Christian who has received a gift still needs patience, counsel, and a teachable heart.

Another heart is a real gift (1 Kingdoms 10:9-16)

  1. And it came to pass when he turned his back to depart from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all these signs came to pass in that day.
  2. And he comes thence to the hill, and behold a band of prophets opposite to him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.
  3. And all that had known him before came, and saw, and, behold, he was in the midst of the prophets: and the people said every one to his neighbour, What is this that has happened to the son of Kis? is Saul also among the prophets?
  4. And one of them answered and said, And who is his father? and therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?
  5. And he ceased prophesying, and comes to the hill.
  6. And his kinsman said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? and they said, To seek the asses; and we saw that they were lost, and we went in to Samuel.
  7. And his kinsman said to Saul, Tell me, I pray thee, What did Samuel say to thee?
  8. And Saul said to his kinsman, He verily told me that the asses were found. But the matter of the kingdom he told him not.

God gives Saul another heart, and the signs occur. The Spirit comes upon him; those who knew him find the change astonishing. The question “Is Saul also among the prophets?” marks the surprise of a familiar man doing what they had not expected. The response about his father resists treating prophecy as a hereditary possession. The Lord can give what a family name could never supply.

Saul’s gift is real. Calling it an outward performance would contradict the account’s repeated naming of God’s action. Real grace also leaves a real human response: Saul must continue to cooperate with the One who equips him. Orthodox teaching calls this cooperation with grace “synergy”. It means obedient participation in God’s gift, not earning it or becoming self-sufficient. First Corinthians 10:12 warns those who think they stand to take heed lest they fall. It calls us to watchfulness, not to pronouncing Saul’s eternal condemnation or assuming that another person’s final state is ours to know.

Saul tells his kinsman about the asses but keeps the kingdom private. The text records his restraint without explaining his whole interior life. He has received more than he is yet ready to announce. Our reading should leave room for reserve and uncertainty rather than assign malice to silence.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: The Spirit remaining on Christ

St. Cyril of Alexandria, commenting on John 1:32-33, explains why the Spirit’s remaining on Christ is more than the successful perseverance of one gifted man. The eternal Son is holy by nature and gives the Spirit; as man He receives the Spirit for us, restoring in human nature the grace lost through sin. Cyril writes: “Therefore through Himself He receives the Spirit for us, and renews to our nature, the ancient good.”4 Christ is not another Saul whose holiness must first be supplied from outside. He is the divine Son made man, in whom our life with the Spirit is restored. Saul’s later loss of the Spirit in 1 Kingdoms 16:14 makes this contrast poignant; Cyril’s actual exposition here is of John, not a commentary on Saul.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

In Coptic Chrismation, the newly baptized are anointed with Holy Myron, consecrated chrism, as the sealing of the Holy Spirit.5 This is participation in Christ’s life, not a repetition of Saul’s royal office. First John 2:20, 27 and 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 speak of anointing, sealing, and the Spirit in our hearts. The gift is received so that the whole person can live in communion with God.

The third Mystagogical Catechesis, traditionally attributed to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, explains this sacramental reality: “while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.”6 The same lecture tells the newly anointed to keep the gift unspotted through good works. Sacramental grace therefore gives hope and a way of life. It is neither bare ceremony nor a guarantee that subsequent choices do not matter.

A chosen king beneath the written rule (1 Kingdoms 10:17-27)

  1. And Samuel summoned all the people before the Lord to Massephath.
  2. And he said to the children of Israel, Thus has the Lord God of Israel spoken, saying, I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you out of the hand of Pharao king of Egypt, and out of all the kingdoms that afflicted you.
  3. And ye have this day rejected God, who is himself your Deliverer out of all your evils and afflictions; and ye said, Nay, but thou shalt set a king over us: and now stand before the Lord according to your tribes, and according to your families.
  4. And Samuel brought nigh all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin is taken by lot.
  5. And he brings near the tribe of Benjamin by families, and the family of Mattari is taken by lot: and they bring near the family of Mattari, man by man, and Saul the son of Kis is taken; and he sought him, but he was not found.
  6. And Samuel asked yet again of the Lord, Will the man come hither? and the Lord said, Behold, he is hid among the stuff.
  7. And he ran and took him thence, and he set him in the midst of the people; and he was higher than all the people by his shoulders and upwards.
  8. And Samuel said to all the people, Have ye seen whom the Lord has chosen to himself, that there is none like to him among you all? And all the people took notice, and said, Let the king live!
  9. And Samuel told to the people the manner of the king, and wrote it in a book, and set it before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, and each went to his place.
  10. And Saul departed to his house to Gabaa; and there went with Saul mighty men whose hearts God had touched.
  11. But evil men said, Who is this man that shall save us? and they despised him, and brought him no gifts.

Samuel summons Israel at Mizpah, the place where chapter 7 had shown repentance and deliverance. Before the lot identifies Saul, the prophet recalls the Exodus and names the rejection of God. The ceremony will not disguise the people’s sin. Yet Samuel also declares that the Lord has chosen the man who is brought before them. Judgment and appointment stand together.

Saul is missing when his family is selected. The Lord reveals that he is hidden among the belongings, and he is brought into the gathering. The detail can suggest modesty or fear, but the narrator does not give us an explanation. Later Saul will confess fear of the people; that makes this beginning worth remembering without proving that every hidden person is falsely humble. Humility accepts dependence on grace and then undertakes the burden of service. Shame says that exposure itself must be avoided. Those struggling with fear need encouragement to receive help, not a verdict that their anxiety is hypocrisy.

Samuel writes the manner of the kingdom in a book and sets it before the Lord. The text does not reproduce the document, so we cannot claim it is a verbatim copy of Deuteronomy 17. Its placement nonetheless embodies the Law’s demand for kingship answerable to God. The king is publicly honored and publicly bounded. The people cannot make him absolute by acclaiming him.

God also touches the hearts of those who accompany Saul. Some despise him and withhold gifts. His beginning includes grace in other people as well as grace in himself, along with opposition he must learn to bear. The next chapter will show how he answers that contempt when he has the power to retaliate.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The Church acclaims Christ as King on Hosanna Sunday. The Greek hymn “Evlogimenos”, sung in Coptic worship and printed in Coptic script, includes: “Hosanna to the King of Israel; again to the King of Israel.”7 John 12:13-15 joins the royal acclamation to Christ’s riding on a young donkey, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. Saul’s lost asses are an ordinary errand, not a prophecy of that entry. The fitting contrast is the King revealed in humility: He brings God’s salvation without making worldly magnificence the measure of His authority. The Hosanna acclamation lets the longing for a true king become praise of the One who gives Himself.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

  1. Bring the actual grievance to God. Name an injustice truthfully rather than protecting a family, office, or parish image. Seek a just remedy while asking whether fear is making control seem like salvation.

  2. Examine what your authority takes. Notice whose time, attention, money, or silence you assume is yours. Choose one concrete act of service that gives relief to a person entrusted to your care, without demanding recognition.

  3. Receive the servant’s help. Thank someone whose advice you were tempted to dismiss because of age, status, or familiarity. Saul’s calling reaches him through people he did not command.

  4. Remember your anointing through obedience. In prayer and confession, bring one place where giftedness has become an excuse for impatience. Take the next faithful step, especially when waiting is harder than acting.

Lord, You saw Your people’s humiliation even when their desire was disordered. Look upon the fear that makes me demand a visible guarantee before I will trust You. Give me a heart willing to receive help and to hear Your word. Let the grace of Baptism and Chrismation bear fruit in patient service, so that I follow the King who gives Himself.

Footnotes

  1. Rahlfs-based Greek, 1 Kingdoms 1:11; 8:11-17; 9:16, 22; 10:1. 🔗 Actual Greek text. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. The Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil, fourth edition, prayer for the peace of the Church before the prayer for the Church Fathers. 🔗 Printed liturgy. ↩

  3. NETS, 1 Reigns 9:22-24, including the note on verse 24; Rahlfs-based Greek, Leviticus 7:32, 34 and Numbers 18:18. 🔗 NETS passage; 🔗 Leviticus Greek; 🔗 Numbers Greek. ↩

  4. St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Book II, chapter 1, on John 1:32-33, P. E. Pusey translation, pp. 142–143. 🔗 Primary passage. ↩

  5. Br. Antonios the Shenoudian, “The Holy Myron”, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, Confirmation section. 🔗 Coptic sacramental practice. ↩

  6. Mystagogical Catechesis III.3, traditionally attributed to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, E. H. Gifford translation, NPNF, second series, volume 7. 🔗 Primary text. ↩

  7. Tasbeha, “The Hymn of Hosanna Sunday: Evlogimenos”, under Hosanna Sunday, Liturgy. The hymn’s opening stanzas are Greek sung in Coptic worship, not originally Coptic-language composition. 🔗 Printed hymn. ↩

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