1 Samuel 9:22

1Sa 9:22 And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which [were] about thirty persons.

Ver. 22. And made them sit in the chiefest place.] He envied not Saul’s new dignity, though it were to the diminution of his own: sed excipit eum et tractat humanissime atque honorificentissime; { a} but giveth him the place.

{a} Piscat.

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 9:22. In the chiefest place — Thereby to raise their expectation, and to prepare them for giving that honour to Saul which his approaching dignity required.

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

Where the feast was.

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

Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour--The toil-worn but noble-looking traveller found himself suddenly seated among the principal men of the place and treated as the most distinguished guest.

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 22. Brought them into the parlour] It might as well be called kitchen; it was the place where they sat down to feast.

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

(22) And Samuel took Saul.—The seer gave Saul no answer to this question, in which the young man’s wonderment was expressed that one so insignificant should be chosen for so high a destiny. Samuel merely wished, in the first instance, to awaken new and grander thoughts and aspirations in this young heart, and without reply he proceeded to conduct his guests to the scene of the sacrifice on the high place. In the guest-chamber, where thirty of the most distinguished persons present at the solemn sacrifice were assembled. Samuel places Saul and his companion, no doubt to their great surprise, in the principal seats. “The parlour” is an unfortunate rendering of the Hebrew word here, which signifies the “cell,” or “chamber” attached to the building on the high place, for such purposes as the present. These solemn sacrificial meals were the usual adjuncts of a solemn sacrifice.

Not only was Saul thus highly honoured in public as the future king, but his servant also. If, as tradition tells us, this servant was Doeg the Edomite, he, too, on this occasion had a foretaste of his future position, an earnest of the rank and power which he would receive when one of Saul’s great officers of state.

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

22. the parlour] Or, the chamber, a room at the high place specially used for sacrificial feasts. In later times the word was applied to the “chambers” in the precincts of the temple used for the residence of priests and Levites, and for sacred purposes in general.

made them sit in the chiefest place] Lit. “gave them a place at the head of those who were invited.” “Chiefest” is an instance of the double superlatives common in the E. V. Cp. “most highest.” See the Bible Word Book.

about thirty persons] Only the more distinguished citizens would be specially invited to the chamber. The rest would feast in the open air outside.

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 Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour,.... The dining room of the house, which belonged to the high place:

and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden; and who very probably were the principal persons in the city; and yet Saul was placed at the head of them by Samuel, to convince him that what he had said to him was in earnest, and to do him honour before all the people; and for the sake of him, and to show his respect to him, he placed his servant; his minister, also in the chief place with him; what was reckoned the highest and most honourable places at table; see Gill on Mat 23:6. The guests were placed by the master of the feast according to their rank; and the dignity of the person, as Jarchi observes, was known by his manners and place of sitting:

which were about thirty persons; more or less; Josephus (n) says seventy, disagreeing with the text, the Targum, Syriac and Arabic versions, but agreeing with the Septuagint.

(n) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 1.

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

The parlour - The “hall” or “cell” attached to the chapel on the high place, in which the sacrificial feast was accustomed to be held. (Compare 1Ch 9:26.)

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

At the head. Septuagint, "among the first of those....seventy men," which number Josephus also has instead of 30. Saul’s servant was probably an Israelite, who had hired himself for a time. The first place, at the head of the table, was the most honourable, Luke xiv. 8. The king of Persia placed his most trusty friend at his left hand, and those of the highest dignity, in order at his right. (Cyropæd. vii., &c.) (Calmet)

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 honoured his servant for Saul’s sake; thereby both giving all the guests occasion to think how great that person was, or should be, whose very servant was advanced above the chief persons of the city, who were doubtless present upon this occasion; and showing how far himself was from envying Saul that honour and power, which was to be translated from him to Saul.

Made them sit in the chiefest place; thereby to raise all their expectation, and to prepare them for giving that honour to Saul which his approaching dignity required.

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

22. Parlour — לשׁכה is rendered chamber, 2Ki_23:11; Neh_13:5; Jer_35:4; Eze_40:45-46. Here it means the dining room set apart for Samuel and the thirty distinguished guests — chief citizens of the place — who were invited to eat with him. The rest of the people probably ate of the sacrifice in the open air.

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

Vers. 22, 23. Into the parlour. Strictly the cell or room attached to the chapel of the high place, now used as the guest chamber, wherein the thirty chief men, who came as invited guests, were to dine. The rest of the people would be in the open air. There Samuel not only placed Saul in the seat of honour, but also his servant, as representing the king"s officers of state, and commanded the cook to set before him a portion that had been reserved. This was the shoulder; but whether it was the left shoulder, of which the laity might eat, or the right shoulder, which was sacred, as belonging to the priest, (Lev_7:32) is not mentioned. If the latter, it was Samuel s own share, and he may by his prophetic authority have assigned it to Saul, in token that the priesthood would be subject to the royal power. Be this, however, as it may, it was the portion of honour, and it seems that Samuel, on receiving intimation the previous day of Saul"s visit (ver. 6), had given orders that it should be carefully reserved for him (ver. 24). He now orders it to be set before Saul, with that which was upon it, i.e. all the flesh and the fat not appointed to be burnt upon the altar.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chief place - Thereby to raise their expectation, and to prepare them for giving that honour to Saul, which his approaching dignity required.

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

the hall

The writer assumes that the reader knows that near the place where they would offer sacrifices there was a large building in which people would eat together.

head place

This is the seat of honor.

thirty people

"30 people" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

head

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

At the head of the invited guests. In the place where the important people are seated; by the manner of the seating, it was obvious in which place the most important person was seated.

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.