1 Samuel 10

Pouring olive oil on the head of people was an ancient Jewish tradition known as anointing. It was a way of showing people that they had a connection with God. The ritual sounds messy, but the olive oil would have felt refreshing poured onto someone living without air-conditioning in the ancient Middle Eastern heat. Samuel used olive oil to anoint Saul and David (1 Samuel 16:13). Christians picked up that tradition and used it in a ritual that included praying for the sick and placing hands on them. “Do you have any sick people there? If so, ask the church leaders to pray over them and to anoint them with oil. Do this in the name of the Lord, invoking the Lord’s authority” (James 5:14).

An ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew text adds: “You’ll rule the LORD’s people and save them from enemies that surround them. When you do this, you’ll prove what I’m telling you is the truth—that the LORD picked you to rule Israel.

The oak of Tabor was apparently a well-known landmark in a region without a lot of trees. Tabor’s location is a mystery today.

Bethel is where the Israelites, centuries earlier, had pitched their tent worship center (Judges 20:27). This worship center was where they went to consult God through the priest, and to offer sacrifices. In Samuel’s day, the tent seemed to be gone, perhaps destroyed by Philistines when they captured the sacred box containing the Ten Commandments.

The name is literally Gibeah-elohim, which means Hill of God. This may refer to Gibeah, Saul’s hometown (10:26). But it may simply refer to a hill known at the time as the Hill of God.

A “burnt offering” is one that consumes the entire animal and pays the price for sin. It atones for sin. Laws related to the burnt offering are in Leviticus 1. It was perhaps ancient Israel’s most used sacrifice.

A peace offering, described in Leviticus 3, is one of several prescribed offerings in Jewish tradition. When Jewish people wanted to give thanks to God for something, such as good health or safety, they would sacrifice a sheep, goat, cow, or bull. They would burn part of the animal, including the kidneys and fat covering the intestines. They would eat the rest in celebration, often with family and friends. It takes a fair number of hungry people to eat a cow. But people were eager to eat meat because it was rare in Bible times for common folks to eat meat, many Bible scholars say.

This man’s question and the saying or proverb that follows are both puzzling. Perhaps the man who raised the first question was implying Kish’s son had as much right to prophecy as anyone else’s son or daughter. As for the second question, often described as a proverb or saying, it’s unclear if the intention was to criticize Saul or promote him.

More literally, he used “lots.” The lots may have been stones or animal bones marked in a way that produced random outcomes for “yes” or “no” answers. But many at the time taught that God controlled the outcome. So, they seemed to believe the dice spoke for God.

Saul the donkey herder hides by baggage—objects donkeys carry for their owners. Donkeys may have been nearby, giving Saul a sense of comfort and normalcy, something his kingship would not.