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1 Samuel 10 Bible study: Another heart
"God gave him another heart" (10:9): in Hebrew gave is the verb of "turned into another man" (10:6). And at Mizpah Samuel says both things at once: the people "rejected your God" (10:19), and the king is "him whom the LORD has chosen" (10:24).
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“It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.”
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“In 1 Samuel 10, the chapter says all the signs Samuel spoke of happened that day.”
Is that in 1 Samuel 10, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Prince over his inheritance
A day before Saul came (9:15), the LORD had told Samuel, "you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel" (9:16). Now "Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, then kissed him" (10:1), and his first words are a question: "Hasn’t the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?" (10:1) (tap anointed and prince). Samuel says the LORD did the anointing. In 9:16 the LORD said my people Israel; here Samuel says his inheritance. In Moses' prayer Israel is "your people and your inheritance" (Deuteronomy 9:29), with the same Hebrew word. Samuel doesn't say king in 10:1. In this chapter the word comes from the people: "Set a king over us!" (10:19), and "Long live the king!" (10:24). The Hebrew Bible has the word for vial only three times: here, and when Elisha sends one of the sons of the prophets to Jehu (2 Kings 9:1): "take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head" (2 Kings 9:3).
Where it leads to Jesus
Among those who knew him
1 Samuel 10:11leads toMark 6:4
When Saul prophesied, "all who knew him before" saw it, and "the people said to one another", "What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" (10:11); one from the same place asked, "Who is their father?" (10:12). When Jesus taught in the synagogue in his own country (Mark 6:1-2), many said, "Where did this man get these things?" (Mark 6:2), and "Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3). "So they were offended at him" (Mark 6:3). Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house" (Mark 6:4). No New Testament passage cites 1 Samuel 10, and Mark doesn't mention Saul, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some see the same thing in both: those who knew a man before wonder at what has come on him, and place him by his family. Others read each in its own setting: at the hill the people wondered, and the chapter doesn't say they dishonored Saul or took offense, while in Jesus' own country "they were offended at him" (Mark 6:3), and "He could do no mighty work there" (Mark 6:5).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 10
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Samuel 10 is waiting in Favor
- Three places, one day
- Another man, another heart
- Rejected, and chosen
- Written in a book
- Brought near by tribes
- Wait seven days
- 9 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
הָפַךְhaphakhsay ha-FAKH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "turn, overturn", with senses including "turn = change, transform", and for the form in 10:6, "be turned, changed". Samuel said, "Then the LORD’s Spirit will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man" (10:6). Three verses later, "God gave him another heart" (10:9): in Hebrew gave is this verb, and another is the same word as in 10:6, acher. The turned of "when he had turned his back" (10:9) is a different verb. In Genesis it is the verb of Sodom's end: "He overthrew those cities" (Genesis 19:25).
For your group
1 Samuel 10 Bible study questions
- 1"God gave him another heart" (10:9). Where in your life would you most want God to give you another heart right now?
- 2When Saul was chosen, "he could not be found" (10:21); he had "hidden himself among the baggage" (10:22). What do you tend to hide behind when God puts something in front of you?
- 3Some despised Saul and asked, "How could this man save us?" (10:27), and "he held his peace" (10:27). When people doubt you or look down on you, what helps you hold your peace?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Samuel 10 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
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Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home