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1 Samuel 9 Bible study: Their cry has come to me
Saul went looking for lost donkeys, but the LORD had told Samuel the day before, and the reason he gave was his people: "their cry has come to me" (9:16). In Hebrew those are the same three words as at the burning bush, "the cry of the children of Israel has come to me" (Exodus 3:9).
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“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“It was Saul's servant, not Saul, who suggested going to the man of God and who had silver to give him.”
Is that in 1 Samuel 9, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Looking for donkeys
The chapter opens like the book did, with a family line: "Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor" (9:1). Kish "had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people" (9:2) (tap young man, handsome and taller). Then something ordinary: "The donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost" (9:3). Saul and a servant go looking through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the land of Shaalim and the land of the Benjamites, "but they didn’t find them" (9:4). In the land of Zuph, Saul is ready to give up: "Come! Let’s return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys and be anxious for us" (9:5).
Where it leads to Jesus
God gave them Saul
1 Samuel 9:2leads toActs 13:38
This chapter brings in "a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish" (9:1), and his son Saul (9:2). The New Testament names him. In the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14), Paul tells Israel's story: "Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin" (Acts 13:21). "When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king" (Acts 13:22). The sermon says no more of Saul the son of Kish. "From this man’s offspring, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise" (Acts 13:23). Paul brings "good news of the promise made to the fathers" (Acts 13:32), "that God has fulfilled this to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus" (Acts 13:33). And the sermon comes to this: "Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins" (Acts 13:38).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 9
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Samuel 9 is waiting in Favor
- The servant's idea
- A day before
- "Kept for you"
- The cry, again
- Words that come back
- 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
נָגִידnagidsay na-GEED
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "leader (lit. prob. one in front), ruler, prince". Strong's: "a commander (as occupying the front), civil, military or religious". "You shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel" (9:16) is the first time the Hebrew Bible uses the word. It is not melekh, the word for king the people used (8:5). 1 Samuel has it four times: here; when Samuel anoints Saul, "prince over his inheritance" (10:1); of the man after the LORD's own heart, "the LORD has appointed him to be prince over his people" (13:14); and in Abigail's words to David, "has appointed you prince over Israel" (25:30). The LORD uses it again for David: "to be prince over my people, over Israel" (2 Samuel 7:8).
For your group
1 Samuel 9 Bible study questions
- 1Saul was ready to go home, and his servant said, "Perhaps he can tell us which way to go" (9:6). Who has pointed you toward God when you were ready to give up?
- 2Saul asked Samuel, "Why then do you speak to me like this?" (9:21). When have you felt too small for what God might be asking of you?
- 3The LORD said, "I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me" (9:16). What would you want to cry out to God about right now, for yourself or for others?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Samuel 9 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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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