1 Samuel 10:27

1Sa 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.

Ver. 27. But the children of Belial.] Aweless, lawless, yokeless.

Despised him.] Vilified and nullified him, as a king of clouts. {a} So they were never content. Thus they slighted manna and the Messiah.

But he held his peace.] Or, He heard them not. This was kingly indeed. What could great Alexander have done more? or Augustus Caesar? or Queen Elizabeth? whose motto was, Video, Taceo, I see and say nothing.

“ Qui nescit dissimulare, nescit imperare. ”

{a} Quid faciet hic longolius? Quid praestabit turris haec carnea? Non est in tanto corpore mica salis.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa_10:27

But the children of Belial said.

The sons of Belial

The word Belial is found but once in the New Testament (2Co_6:15). In the Hebrew of the Old Testament it is found twenty-seven times. It is several times translated wicked (Deu_15:9; Job_34:18; Psa_101:3; Neh_1:11; Neh_1:15). It is also rendered ungodly (Pro_16:17; Pro_19:28). It is twice rendered ungodly men (2Sa_22:5; Psa_18:4). In Psa_12:8, it is rendered evil, and in Pro_6:12, naughty. In all other places it is simply transferred from the original to the common version; and so we read of a man of Belial, men of Belial, a son of Belial, the sons of Belial, and children of Belial. As a designation of character the word always points to the vile--those who draw iniquity with a cart rope. Indeed, the word Belial itself seems to mean worthlessness, nothingness, or destruction. That vile men are worthless, and can at last be put to no good purpose, but to be burned, is argued at length in Eze_15:1-8. See Pro_10:20; Mat_25:30; Rom_3:12; Rom_3:16. A man of Belial is one who destroys much good, but he restores nothing; scatters much wretchedness, but makes no one happy, and is dead while he lives, because he lives to himself. He is a vain, naughty, worthless, wretched being. The Anakims are an extinct race; but the sons of Belial live on, and are many. This is strange, for but few of them live out half their days. Their vices are very wasting. But still they are numerous. David speaks of floods of them in his time. Where wicked laws prevail and wicked men are in power, they are spawned by the thousand. When Ahab and Jezebel have sway the dogs will be licking up the blood of innocent men. (W. L. Plumer, D. D.)

The importance of self-command in a leader

Said Napoleon concerning his success as a military leader: My extreme youth when I took command of the army of Italy made it necessary for me to evince great reserve of manner, and the utmost severity of morals. This was indispensable to enable me to sustain authority over men so greatly superior in age and experience. I pursued a line of conduct in the highest degree irreproachable and exemplary. In spotless morality I was a Cato, and must have appeared such to all. I was a philosopher and a sage. My supremacy could be retained only by proving myself a better man than any other in the army. Had I yielded to human weaknesses, I should have lost my power.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 10:27. But the children of Belial said, &c. — Some wicked men, who hated all government, and being, it is probable, men of some rank and quality, were proud, and despised a person of such a mean family. How shall this man save us? — They would not vouchsafe so much as to call him by his name, but insolently contemned him, as a person of no note, who had no power to deliver them. They brought him no presents — As subjects in those times, and in the eastern countries, used to do to their kings when they first tendered their service to them. But he held his peace — Which was an evidence both of his great humility, and of the mercifulness of his disposition. At the same time, to dissemble his knowledge of the scorn they put upon him was an act of great prudence; for if he had taken notice of it, he must have punished it, and it would not have been safe to have begun his reign with an act of severity. Thus Christ held his peace in the day of his patience, but there is a day of recompense coming.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:27 These men were scoundrels (cp. 2:12) because they scorned God’s chosen king. • Gifts were given to show homage (Gen 32:13, 18, 20), political friendship (2 Kgs 20:12), or submission (Judg 3:15, 17). • ignored them: Saul’s self-restraint while being insulted was a sign of maturity. In contrast, Proverbs 16:14 speaks of a king’s potentially explosive rage when somebody crosses him. See also 1 Sam 11:12-13. • [Nahash . . . Jabesh-gilead]: See NLT note. Whether this paragraph was part of the original text is uncertain, but it provides historical context for 11:1-15 (e.g., 11:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Both to avoid sedition, and also to win them by patience.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents--In Eastern countries, the honor of the sovereign and the splendor of the royal household are upheld, not by a fixed rate of taxation, but by presents brought at certain seasons by officials, and men of wealth, from all parts of the kingdom, according to the means of the individual, and of a customary registered value. Such was the tribute which Saul's opponents withheld, and for want of which he was unable to set up a kingly establishment for a while. But "biding his time," he bore the insult with a prudence and magnanimity which were of great use in the beginning of his government.

Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 11

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 27. Brought him no presents] They gave him no proofs that they acknowledged either the Divine appointment or his authority. The Arab chiefs are, to this day, when on a march or excursion of any kind, supplied with every necessary by the free-will offerings or presents of the people in the villages or places where they encamp. Saul was now a public character, and had a right to support from the public. These sons of Belial refused to bear their part; they brought him no presents. He marked it, but at present held his peace; he was as if he were deaf: so says the text. He was prudent, and did not immediately assume all the consequence to which his office entitled him. It is probable, however, that tribute is meant by the word present. The people in general finding they had now a king, took it for granted that they must pay tribute or taxes to him. This was a part of the manner of the king which Samuel had shown them; the great majority had done so, but certain refractory people refused to pay any thing, on the pretence that such a person as Saul could not be a deliverer of Israel. How, say they, shall this man save us?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) The children of Belial.—More accurately, worthless men. (See Note on 1Sa_2:12.)

And they despised him.—As above suggested, these malcontents were probably princes and leading men of the great tribes of Judah and Ephraim, displeased that the new king should be selected from the small unimportant tribe of Benjamin. It will be remembered that the tribe of Benjamin had been almost entirely destroyed in the civil war related in the concluding chapters of Judges. “They despised him,” because in no way had he made his mark, either in the arts of war or peace. From what has gone before (see 1Sa_10:11-12 of this 1Sam) it is evident that Saul was a man of no special culture; his early years had been spent in agriculture and work on his father’s lands in the neighbourhood of Gibeah.

And brought him no presents.—These gifts were, in the East, the token of submission and homage; not to offer them to Saul was almost the same thing as to ignore his authority. Although not stated, it is clear that these malcontents were among the chiefs of the greater tribes who had assisted at the election.

But he held his peace.—Literally, he was a deaf man, acting as though he had not heard the murmurs. This prudent conduct showed great self-control and self-denial on the part of the new king and his counsellors.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. the children of Belial said] Certain worthless fellows (see note on 1Sa_1:16) spoke disparagingly of him, and despised him.

and brought him no presents] Cp. 1Ki_10:25; 2Ch_17:5. The refusal of the customary offerings of homage was tantamount to a deliberate and contemptuous rejection of his authority.

But he held his peace] Or, And he was as one deaf, refusing to take notice of this studied insult. See however the note on 1Sa_11:1.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Presents - The מנחה mı̂nchāh was the token of homage and acknowledgment from the subject to the sovereign, and from the tributary nation to their suzerain. (See 2Sa 8:2, 2Sa 8:6; Jdg 3:17-18; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ki 17:4, etc.; Psa 72:10; Isa 16:1.) Saul dissembled his resentment, and waited for the favorable tide which soon came with the invasion of Nahash.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER X.

Belial; seditious men, perhaps of the tribe of Ephraim, (Judges xii.) or of Juda, to whom the regal power seemed to belong, Genesis xlix. (Salien) --- Presents, in testimony of their submission. See Judges iii. 15., and 3 Kings iv. 21. The eastern kings still expect that ambassadors should bring noble presents, otherwise they deem themselves insulted. (P. Martyr.) --- Subjects dare not appear before their king, in Thrace, without some such offering. (Xenophon, Anab. vii., &c.) (Calmet) --- Not. He knew that the throne is established by mercy, Proverbs xx. 28. Hence he chose to pardon these discontented people after he had obtained the victory, and was even solicited to make an example of them. (Salien, the year of the world 2962) --- Severity might have alienated the minds of many, as he was hardly yet confirmed in his dignity, and the war against Ammon was threatening. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This man; so mean a person, and of the weakest of all the tribes.

Brought him no presents; as subjects in those times and places used to do to their kings; see 1Ki 10:25; 2Ch 17:5; Mat 2:11; and as Saul’s mean condition, herewith they upbraided him, required.

He held his peace; thereby manifesting his prudence and clemency, which was of great use in the beginning of his government.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Children of Belial — Worthless, envious persons. See on chap. 1Sa_1:16.

Brought him no presents — The marginal references here show how uniform a custom it was for persons to show their obedience or respect to one of high position, particularly to a king, by bringing him a present. To neglect such token of honour would be to treat a monarch with contempt.

He held his peace — Literally, he was as being deaf. He maintained a prudent reserve, deeming it inexpedient and unwise to begin his reign by using his royal power to crush a few worthless fellows, who were unworthy, at present, of so much attention. But while, perhaps, only a few were outspoken in their disloyalty, it seems from what followed that there was quite a widespread disaffection; and Saul’s public inauguration and solemn consecration as the Lord’s anointed were reserved for a more suitable occasion. See on 1Sa_11:14.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No presents - As subjects in those times used to do to their kings. This was an evidence both of his humility, and the mercifulness of his disposition. So Christ held his peace, in the day of his patience. But there is a day of recompense coming.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.