1 Samuel 9:12

1Sa 9:12 And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, [he is] before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for [there is] a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place:

Ver. 12. And they answered them, and said, He is.] Courtesy to strangers is very commendable. But that these maidens, taken with the beauty of Saul, stayed him a while to look upon him, using more words than needed, is an odd conceit of R. Solomon, cited by Lyra.

For there is a sacrifice.] Or, A feast: first a sacrifice, and then a feast made of part of the peace zofferings, as was usual; and, haply, at this time appointed on purpose by Samuel, for Saul’s better entertainment.

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 9:12-13. He came to-day to the city — He had been travelling abroad, and was now returned to his own house in Ramah. High place — Upon the hill mentioned 1Sa 9:11, and near the altar which Samuel built for this use. Ye shall straightway find him — At home and at leisure. Before he go up to eat — The relics of the sacrifices. Because he doth bless the sacrifice — This was a peace-offering or a thank-offering, and the blessing of it, no doubt, consisted both of thanksgiving to God for mercies received, and of prayer to him that this sacrifice might be accepted. But perhaps it was not what was offered upon the altar, but what the people ate afterward, that he blessed. We may observe here, that by blessing of victuals in Scripture, is meant, chiefly, the giving thanks to God for the food before it be eaten. Instances of which we have in abundance in the New Testament, our Lord and his apostles being continually said to give thanks before any thing was eaten. And here it is said, He doth bless the sacrifice, and afterward they eat that be bidden — It is probable, however, that Samuel both prayed for God’s blessing on what they ate, and gave thanks that they had it to eat. We see here how ancient the custom has been of praying to God, and giving thanks at our meals, and how blameable they are that neglect it.

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

9:12 Leaders of a community would normally convene for business at the town gates (cp. Ruth 4:1-2). • take part in a public sacrifice: Samuel is one of very few individuals in whom prophetic and priestly ministries unite (also Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jesus). • place of worship (literally high place): An open-air altar or platform on a hill near the city gate. High places easily became sites for pagan idolatry (see Num 33:52; 1 Kgs 15:14; 22:43; 2 Kgs 12:3; 14:4; 15:4, 35).

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

That is, a feast after the offering, which should be kept in an high place of the city appointed for that use.

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

Verse 12. He came to-day to the city] Though Samuel lived chiefly in Ramah, yet he had a dwelling in the country, at a place called Naioth, where it is probable there was a school of the prophets. See 1Sa 19:18-24.

A sacrifice of the people] A great feast. The animals used were first sacrificed to the Lord; that is, their blood was poured out before him; and then all the people fed on the flesh. By high place probably Samuel's altar is alone meant; which no doubt was raised on an eminence.

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

(12) He came to-day.—The little scene—in itself in no way remarkable—is recounted by an eye-witness, evidently as introducing momentous consequences.

Every detail of that day’s proceedings was of deep interest to Israel. Some of the maidens of Raman were at the well side, drawing water for their homes. The two strangers accost them with the words, “Is the seer who dwells among you here just now?” and they eagerly reply, “Yes, this very day he came from his house into the town. It is a festival day—you will find him presiding up there,” pointing, no doubt, to the high place, where the sacrifices were being offered. Every word spoken by the girls of Ramah, loving to chatter and exhibit their local knowledge and their interest in their great fellow-citizen, the seer and judge, to whom they, in common with the inhabitants of Ramah, were, no doubt, much attached, was remembered in after time by Saul and his companion.

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

12. he is before you] Before thee, addressing the speaker. It is a direction to go straight forward.

he came to day to the city] If “the city” was Ramah, Samuel may have been absent from home on one of his official circuits.

a sacrifice of the people] Possibly at the New Moon (Num_28:11-15) or upon some special occasion of thanksgiving.

in the high place] Here probably was the altar which Samuel had built (1Sa_7:17). A natural instinct among all nations chooses hill-tops as fitting places of worship. Such “high places” were frequently consecrated to the worship of Jehovah in spite of the prohibition implied in the command that there should be only one sanctuary (Deu_12:11-14). That this was the case in the unsettled period of the Judges is not surprising, but even after the building of the temple the high-place worship continued, though it is condemned in the books of Kings as a blot on the character of otherwise good monarchs.

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 they answered them, and said, he is,.... That is, he is in the city, at home, and to be spoken with:

behold, he is before you; his house is straight before you as you go along, you cannot miss of it. Some Jewish writers say (f) they gave a token to know it by, that there was a cloud at the door, and when they saw that, they might know it was the seer's house:

haste now, for he came today to the city; from the suburbs to it, or from his country house, or from the other Ramah, for there were two of them, one over against the other, see Sa1 1:1, for that he was just now come off a circuit, is not so probable, since he was now old, and past riding his circuits; and indeed the meaning may be no more than as it may be rendered, "today he comes into the city" (g); that is, he comes out of his own house into the city, and was then just coming out; so that, if they made haste, they might meet him in the street before he got to the place of sacrifice and feasting:

for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place; whether it was the new moon, or some festival they observed, though the tabernacle was not there, is not certain; at which, besides the offerings required, freewill offerings and peace offerings were brought by the people, on part of which they feasted with their friends; and very probably, as Samuel was acquainted by the Lord that he who was to be king of Israel would be with him that day, he might add to the sacrifices of the people, to make the entertainment the more grand and liberal; since he had a principal concern in ordering the guests, and dividing the portions, as well as blessing the food, which indeed he might take upon him, as being judge, priest, and prophet: this was an high place where this sacrifice or feast was; for Shiloh being destroyed, and the tabernacle removed elsewhere, and that being in one place, and the ark in another, and they not together, no distinction of places was made, none being yet chosen, all were fit; and particularly high places, which were always reckoned the most proper for divine service and sacrifice.

(f) Midrash Schemuel & Pesikta apud Abarbinel in loc. (g) "venit", Pagninus, Montanus.

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

A sacrifice. The law did not allow of sacrifices in any other place, but at the tabernacle, or temple, in which the ark of the covenant was kept; but Samuel, by divine dispensation, offered sacrifices in other places. For which dispensation this reason may be alleged, that the house of God in Silo, having lost the ark, was now cast off; as a figure of the reprobation of the Jews, Psalm lxxvii. 60, 67. And in Cariathiarim, where the ark was, there was neither tabernacle, nor altar. (Challoner) --- At least that of Moses was in the tabernacle. See chap. vi. 21. (Haydock) --- Samuel was just come up to the city, from a place called Naiot, where he instructed some of the prophets, chap. xix. 19. The maids point him out to Saul; and God, at the same time, reveals to his prophet, that the person who addressed him should be king. (Calmet) --- The high place. Excelsum. The excelsa, or high places, so often mentioned in Scripture, were places of worship, in which were altars for sacrifice. These were sometimes employed in the service of the true God, as in the present case: but more frequently in the service of idols, and were called Excelsa, which is commonly (though perhaps not so accurately) rendered high places; not because they were always upon hills, for the very worst of all, which was that of Topheth, or Geennom, (Jeremias xix.) was in a valley; but because of the high altars, and pillars, or monuments erected there, on which were set up the idols, or images of their deities; (Challoner) so that they might be called "the high things." (Haydock) --- Before Solomon built the temple, from the time that the tabernacle was deprived of the honour of having the ark, people immolated on such heights, 3 Kings iii. 2. (Menochius) --- On one of these, at Ramatha, Samuel was going to offer a peace-offering, and to feast with the heads of the city, (Calmet) or perhaps of the nation, who were expecting the result of his consultation of the Lord, respecting their petition of a king. (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).

He came today to the city: she so speaks, though this was his own constant habitation, because he had been travelling abroad, possibly in his circuit, described 1Sa 7:16,17, and was now returned to his own house in Ramah, as he used to do, and so she implies they come in a good and seasonable time to meet with him.

There is a sacrifice, otherwise feast; but it seems to be understood of a sacrifice. First, Because so the Hebrew word signifies most properly, and most frequently. Secondly, Because this eating was in the high place, which was the common place for sacrifices, but not for private feasts. Thirdly, The prophet’s presence was not so necessary for a feast as for a sacrifice. Of the people; so this sacrifice is called, because this was a public solemnity, and possibly the new moon, when the people brought several sacrifices, to wit, peace-offerings, whereof part fell to the offerer’s share; and of those parts united together, they here made a common feast; not without Samuel’s direction, who being forewarned the day before by God, of Saul’s coming, made this feast more solemn for his entertainment, 1Sa 9:22-24.

In the high place; upon the hill mentioned 1Sa 9:11, and near the altar which Samuel built for this kind of use, 1Sa 7:17, by Divine dispensation, as was there noted; otherwise to sacrifice in high places was forbidden by the law, after the building of the tabernacle.

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

12. Make haste now — For if ye do not see him before he goes up to the high place to bless the sacrifice and eat, ye may not be able to hold any private interview with him at all. See on 1Sa_9:6.

Sacrifice… in the high place — The law ordained, (Lev_17:3-9; Deu_12:5-14,) and it was remembered in the days of Joshua, (Jos_22:29,) that all burnt offerings must be offered upon one common altar. But the tribes of Israel failed both to drive out their heathen foes from the land, and to ascertain that central seat of worship where it would please Jehovah to record his name. And hence the practice of sacrificing in other places sprang up almost of necessity. The acts of Gideon (Jdg_6:25-26) and of Elijah (1Ki_18:30-32) received the divine approval, for they were to serve special purposes in bringing judgments upon the worship of Baal. But in the days of Samuel, Shiloh was desolate, the ark of the covenant was in Kirjath-jearim, and as yet there was no single place where Jehovah had recorded his name, and which he had designated as the one sole place where he would be pleased with sacrifice. Accordingly Samuel and the people are not to be censured for sacrificing in the high place. See 1Ki_3:2.

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

Came today to the city - He had been travelling abroad, and was now returned to his own house in Ramah. High place - Upon the hill mentioned ver. 11, and near the altar which Samuel built for this use.

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

the people are sacrificing today

These are likely the feast or first-fruit sacrifices, not the sin sacrifices, which must be held at the tabernacle.

translationWords

sacrifice

high place

bless

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.