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the stateliest and finest-looking man in all Israel, the same voice which had led him
to expect, indicated that this was the future leader of God's people.
The bearing of Samuel towards Saul was precisely such as the circumstances
required. Moreover, it was consistent throughout, and dignified. An entirely new
office, involving the greatest difficulties and responsibilities, was most unexpectedly
to be almost thrust upon Saul; an office, besides, the reality of which would not only
be soon tested by such enemies as the Philistines, but to which he had neither family
nor personal claims, and which would be sure to excite tribal jealousies and personal
envies. To prepare Saul, it was necessary to call forth in him expectations, it might
be vague, of great things; to inspire him with absolute confidence in Samuel as the
medium through whom God spake; and finally, by converse on the deepest concerns
of Israel, to bring out what lay inmost in his heart, and to direct it to its proper goal.
Accordingly, Samuel invited Saul first to the feast and then to his house, at the outset
intimating that he would tell him all that was in his heart (ver. 19). This assuredly
could not have reference to the finding of the she-asses, since he immediately
informed Saul about them, as evidence that he was "a seer," whose words must,
therefore, be received as a message coming from God. Mysterious as was the
allusion to what was in Saul's heart, the remark which accompanied his intimation of
the finding of the she-asses sounded even more strange. As if treating such a loss as
a very small matter, he added (ver. 20). "And whose is all that is desirable in Israel?
Is it not thine and thy father's house?"^90
The remark was so strange both in itself and as coming from "the seer," that Saul,
feeling its seeming incongruity, could only answer by pointing to the fact that
Benjamin was the smallest tribe, and his own family among the least influential in it.
Saul was undoubtedly aware that Israel had demanded and were about to receive
from Samuel a king. His reply leaves the impression on us, that, although, probably
he did not exactly formulate it in his own mind, yet Samuel's words had called up in
him thoughts of the kingdom. Else why the reference to the size of his tribe and the
influence of his family? And this was exactly what Samuel had wished: gradually to
prepare him for what was coming. Apparently the "seer" made no answer to what
Saul had said. But at the sacrificial feast he pursued the same course towards his
guest. To the Ephraimites there assembled he was, of course, unknown. But even
they must have been surprised at finding that, while the mass of the people feasted
outside, among the thirty principal guests who were bidden into "the parlor," not
only was the chief place given to this stranger, but that the principal portion of the
sacrifice had, as a mark of special honor, been reserved for him.
The feast was past, and Saul followed his host to his house. There on the flat roof,^91
so often the scene of private converse in the East, Samuel long "communed" with
Saul, no doubt of "all that was in his heart;" not, indeed, of the office about to be
(^)