1 Samuel 15:27

he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle--the moil, upper tunic, official robe. In an agony of mental excitement, he took hold of the prophet's dress to detain him; the rending of the mantle [Sa1 15:27] was adroitly pointed to as a significant and mystical representation of his severance from the throne.

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

1Sa 15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

Ver. 27. He laid hold on the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.] Saul was loath to leave him, lest the people should take notice of a breach betwixt them. But what a madness of malice was that in those Papists in King Edward VI’s time, against Mr Cardmaker, lecturer in Paul’s, that in his reading, cut and mangled his gown with their knives! {a}

{a} Act. and Mon., 1436.

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.

(27) He laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle.—The king’s passionate action indicates a restless, unquiet mind. Not content with intreating words, Saul, perhaps even with some violence, lays hold of the old man as he turns away, to detain him. What Saul laid hold of and tore was not the “mantle” (Authorised Version), but the hem, or outer border, of the “meil,” the ordinary tunic which the upper classes in Israel were then in the habit of wearing. The Dean of Canterbury, in a careful Note in the Pulpit Commentary, shows that the “mantle,” which would be the accurate rendering of the Hebrew addereth, the distinctive dress of the Hebrew prophets, was certainly not used in the days of Samuel, the great founder of the prophetic order. Special dresses came into use only gradually, and Elijah is the first person described as being thus clad. Long before his time the school of the prophets had grown into a national institution, and a loose wrapper of coarse cloth, made of camel’s-hair, fastened round the body at the waist by a leathern girdle, had become the distinctive prophetic dress, and continued to be until the arrival of Israel’s last prophet, John the Baptist (Mar_1:6).

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

27. the skirt of his mantle] Some kind of a lappet or flap hanging down behind, which could be easily torn or cut off, seems to be meant. Cp. 1Sa_24:4. As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized it to detain him, and it was torn off. The accident served Samuel as an emblem of the complete severance of the sovereignty from Saul. Compare Ahijah’s symbolical action (1Ki_11:30-31).

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.

And as Samuel turned about to go away,.... From Saul, a different way from Gilgal, perhaps towards his own city Ramah, with an intention to have nothing more to say to Saul, or to do with him, or to see his face no more; so displeased was he with him:

he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle; in order to detain him, and prevent his departure from him, and his going a different way:

and it rent; Samuel twitching away from him with great vehemence and warmth. The Jewish (f) Rabbins are divided about this, whose skirt was rent; some say it was Samuel that rent the skirt of Saul, and by this signified to him, that he that cut off the skirt of his garment should reign in his stead; whereby Saul knew that David would be king when he cut off the skirt of his robe, Sa1 24:4, others, that Samuel rent the skirt of his own mantle himself, which is the way of good men when things are not right; but the plain sense is, that Saul rent the skirt of Samuel's mantle, which, when Samuel saw, he understood what that rent was a sign of, as expressed in the following verse.

(f) Midrash Schemuel, sect. 18. apud Jarchi, Kimchi & Abarbinel in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rent: a dreadful prognostic that Saul was cast away. (Haydock)

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).

27. He laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle — The solemn words and manner of the seer, and his turning to depart, thrilled Saul with sudden emotions of fear; and that stern image of the mantled Samuel seemed ever after to haunt the monarch’s soul. Compare 1Sa_28:14.

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

And he grabbed the corner of his robe. According to the simple meaning, it seems that when Shmuel turned to leave Shaul, Shaul grabbed the corner of Shmuel's [robe], since Shaul was asking him to return until he would prostate himself in Gilgol, where the Tent of Meeting was. In Midrash Aggadah, however, Amora'im differ; some say that Shaul tore Shmuel's robe, and some say that Shmuel tore Shaul's robe, giving over to him this sign, that whoever will tear a corner of his robe, would reign in his place. And that is what Shaul said to Dovid on the day he tore [Shaul's] robe, 'I know that you will surely reign.'

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.