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(^81) 1 Samuel 9:1; comp. 14:51. The notice, therefore, in 1 Chronicles 8:33, 9:39,
must probably be a clerical error, though Keil suggests that, as in other places, the
reference is to a "grandfather," or even more remote ancestor.
(^82) Critics infer from the name Shaul - "the asked for" - that he was the firstborn.
But I rather conclude from the use of the term in such passages as Genesis 46:10, 1
Samuel 1:17, 27, that Kish had long been childless, and that Saul was the child of
prayer; while from the absence of the mention of any other children, I would infer
that he was the only son of Kish.
(^83) Most critics render the term by "young." But I prefer the rendering "choice" -
not, however, in the sense of the Vulgate: electus, chosen. From 13:1-3 we know
that Jonathan was at the time capable of taking a command, so that Saul his father
must have been at least forty years old.
(^84) For quotations from the Classics, see the Commentaries.
(^85) Our Authorised Version renders 1 Samuel 10:5, "the hill of God," and again, ver.
10, "the hill." In both cases it is Gibeah; and, as we infer from the familiarity of the
people with Saul (ver. 11), either the place where Saul lived or quite close by it.
(^86) The modern Wady Kurawa (see Keil, p. 66).
(^87) "The land Yemini" could not have been intended to designate the tribal territory
of Benjamin. It is never so employed, and the analogy of the expressions "land
Shalishah," "land Shaalim," "land Zuph," forbids us to regard it as other than a
district. Again, it is said, "he passed through the land of Benjamin." From where,
and whither? Certainly not into Ephraim, for he came thence; and as certainly not
into Judah. But the whole question of the localization of the Ramah of Samuel and
of the journey of Saul is amongst the most difficult in Biblical geography. There is
another important consideration in regard to this subject to which we shall refer in
a subsequent Note.
(^88) There can be no reasonable doubt that this "city" was Ramah, the ordinary
residence of Samuel. The question and answer in vers. 10 and 11 imply this; so
does the circumstance that Samuel had a house there. Lastly, how could Saul's
servant have known that the "seer" was in that city, if it had not been his ordinary
residence? These two points, then, seem established: Saul's residence was at
Gibeah, and he first met Samuel in Ramah. But if so, it seems impossible, in view
of 1 Samuel 10:2, to identify the Ramah of Samuel with the Ramah of Benjamin,
or to regard it as the modern Neby Samuel, four miles north-west of Jerusalem.
(^)