Verse 4. Mount Ephraim.'-Ephraim adjoined Benjamin on the north, which indicates the direction of Saul's journey. Mount Ephraim' is rather extensively used in Scripture, and does not denote any particular mountain, but appears to be applied to all that part of the central range which passes through this tribe, including its ramifications and inferior heights.

'Land of Shalisha.-This is usually supposed to be the same with the Baal-Shalisha of 2 Kings iv. 42. But this, under the name of Beth-Shalisha, is placed by Eusebius and Jerome in the Thamnitic canton, about fifteen miles to the north of Diospolis-a position which cannot be well made to agree with any probable estimate of the route taken by Saul. See the note on v. 14.

-'Land of Shalim.'-Some make this Jerusalem, which is sometimes called Shalem or Salem; and others think it the same mentioned in Gen. xxxiii. 18, as 'Shalem, a city of Shechem.' But, in fact, the names have very considerable difference. Jerusalem and the city of Shechem' are called Shalem; whereas the present is hy Shaalim. In its present form, the name does not elsewhere occur; but it is supposed to be the same as the Shaalbim (y) of Judges i. 35, and 1 Kings iv. 9; and the Shaalabbin of Josh. xix. 42, which lay in the tribe of Dan, and which usually occur in connection with Aijalon and Beth-shemesh. Jerome also speaks of the existence of a village called Shalim, in his time about seven miles west of Eleutheropolis, and which was therefore in the tribe of Dan, and not far from the places which the Scripture associates with Shaalbim. Although this may not be so much as the former beyond the probable range of Saul's excursion, it is difficult to connect these positions with those subsequently indicated; but it is useless to speculate from probabilities of route in a random journey in search of strayed asses.

5. Land of Zuph.'-Compare ch. i. 1, from which, and from what follows, it seems clear that this land of Zuph was a canton or district of Mount Ephraim, in which was situated Ramah, the native place and usual residence of Samuel. It derived its name from Zuph, the great-greatgrandfather of Elkanah, the father of Samuel. This Zuph was the head of the Levitical family of Zuphim; and it is interesting to discover, from 1 Chron. vi., that he, and consequently Samuel, was descended from Korah, the ambitious Levite, whose awful doom is recorded in Num. xvi.

7. There is not a present to bring to the man of God.'In this passage the points that claim attention are:-that Saul and his servant thought it necessary to offer Samuel a present; that they would have given some victuals if any had been left; but that, having none, they determined to offer him about sevenpence in money. All this would be unintelligible if merely compared with any usages current among ourselves. We should, by this standard, either regard Saul and his servant as very silly, or else infer that Samuel was very rapacious. This one text alone would, therefore, render manifest the importance of illustrating many of the usages described in Scripture, by a reference to analogous usages still prevalent in the East. Such a reference shews that the proceeding of Saul, in offering, and of Samuel, in receiving, a present, is perfectly regular and common. The usages concerning presents which here, and elsewhere, come under our notice, are among the most diffused customs of the East. It is everywhere the common practice for an inferior to offer a present of some kind or other to a superior with whom he desires an interview, or of whom he seeks a favour. Maundrell has well discriminated the character of this usage. After mentioning that, before visiting the pasha of Tripoli, he sent his present to procure a propitious reception, he says: It is counted uncivil to visit in this country without an offering in hand. All great men expect it as a kind of tribute due to their character and authority, and look upon themselves as affronted, and even defrauded, when this compliment is omitted. Even in familiar visits among inferior people, you shall seldom have them come without bringing a flower, an orange, or some other such token of their respect to the

person visited.' Being therefore received and offered as a token of respect, the humblest present which the poorest labourer can bring is never refused by the most exalted personages; on the contrary, they account such presents highly honourable to themselves, and therefore like them to be offered before company. To refuse the humblest offering is no less an incivility and insult to the person by whom it is offered, than it is to approach the presence of a superior without any offering.

Neither is there any thing extraordinary in Saul's first intention to present Samuel with a piece of bread. Articles of provision are the most usual presents which the rural population offer to their patrons and superiors; as such are the things which they can the most readily furnish from the produce of their field or orchard, or from their stock of poultry, or their goats or sheep. A fruit, a flower, a fowl, a kid, or a lamb, suffices to testify his respect, and to introduce him to the person whose favour he desires. On the same principle a merchant offers something from that in which he deals, and an artisan from the products of his skill. Nothing more is expected from him, under the fair operation of this usage, than that which his circumstances or temporary emergencies enable him to furnish. Plutarch relates an anecdote, which is in exact conformity with Oriental ideas. He says, that when Artaxerxes Longimanus was on a journey, he fell in with a peasant, who, being at a distance from his cottage, and therefore unprovided with anything which he could offer to his sovereign, in testimony of his homage and respect, ran to the river and filled both his hands with water, which he presented to the king, who received it with the most gracious complacency. This handful of water offered to the great king' matches very well with a piece of bread which Saul wished to offer to Samuel. Bread was among the presents of eatables which Jesse sent, by the hand of his son David, to Saul, when the latter reigned as king (ch. xvi. 20).

As to money, there is not in all the East any of that peculiar feeling about money which prevails among ourselves. To receive money is there considered quite as good and graceful as to receive money's worth. Indeed, money is rather preferred; and it is usually offered by those who have no particular profession or pursuit from which a suitable offering might be derived: and a poor person who finds it more convenient to offer sixpence in money, finds it quite as acceptable as the basket of fruit which sixpence would purchase. European travellers in the East, unprovided with what they consider a suitable present to a great man, are often led, by their home ideas, to hesitate about offering money, lest the offer should be regarded as an insult. But they are soon instructed in the difference be tween the customs of the East and West, by receiving very intelligible hints that money is expected or will be accepted; and they are often astonished to find how small a sum a very great man is satisfied to receive.

9. Beforetime in Israel.'-This parenthetical verse interrupts the narrative here, and has no connection with what precedes it. Houbigant puts it after the 11th verse, which is obviously its proper place.

11. They found young maidens going out to draw water.— The subject which this indicates has been largely illustrated in the note to Gen. xxiv. 11. We shall here add the following appropriate passage from Mariti's Travels, iii. 141 :— "When I was here' (at Ain in Palestine), 'a young Arab woman, at whose wedding I had been present on the first day of our arrival at the village, came hither to draw water. She was accompanied by some other women, who were singing a song allusive to her marriage. When she arrived at the well she filled her vessel, after which the rest of the women did the same. It is customary for women to do this not only in the villages of Palestine, but likewise in those of Galilee and other parts of Syria. That simplicity of life which prevailed amongst the patriarchs is a good deal preserved among the country people in these provinces.'

was the native place and ordinary residence of Samuel (ch. i. 1). There is confessedly great difficulty in working out the site of this place, as well as in tracing the course of Saul's journey. In dismissing Saul from the place subsequently, Samuel predicts an adventure which would befal him near Rachel's sepulchre, on his way home. Now Saul's home was in Benjamin, the southern border of which tribe is several miles north of that sepulchre; and it is therefore manifest that if Saul in going home were to pass by this sepulchre, the place from which he started must have been to the south thereof. Gesenius contends that if we allow weight to this mention of Rachel's sepulchre, we can only look for Samuel's Ramah in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem; where also Eusebius speaks of a Ramah. Not far south-east of Bethlehem is the Jebel Fureidis, or Frank Mount, which Robinson has identified as the site of the ancient city and fortress of Herod, called Herodium; and Gesenius contends that if we fix here the site of Ramah, all the circumstances mentioned in 1 Sam. ix. 10, are sufficiently explained. But then the Ramathaim Zophim of 1 Sam. i. must have been a different place (Thesaurus, p. 1276). To this Dr. Robinson himself, in his edition of Gesenius, objects that the difference assumed in the last sentence is inadmissible. Besides, no one who had seen the Frank Mountain would suppose for a moment that a eity ever lay upon it. It was indeed occupied by Herod's fortress; but the city Herodium lay at its foot.' He adds that Eusebius, in the passage referred to, obviously places Ramah of Benjamin near Bethlehem, for the purpose of helping out a wrong interpretation of Matt. ii. 18. Another, and the most recent hypothesis in this vexed question, would place this Ramah at a site of ruins now called er-Rameh, two miles north of Hebron (Biblioth. Sacra, No. I., pp. 46-51). But this also assumes that the Ramathaim Zophim, the place of the prophet's birth, was different from the place of his residence and burial, contrary to the testimony of Josephus (Antiq., vi. 4, 6; vi. 13, 5), and to the conclusion deducible from a comparison of 1 Sam. i. 1, with verses 3, 19. In the midst of all this uncertainty, Dr. Robinson thinks that interpreters may yet be driven to the conclusion that the city where Saul found Samuel (1 Sam. ix. 10) was not Ramah, his home.

24. The cook took up the shoulder, and . . . . set it before Saul. It was an ancient, and is a still existing, eastern custom to distinguish at table the person whom the host intends to honour, by the quantity or choice of the victuals set before him. As to the quantity, see the note on Gen. xliii. 34. From the present text it seems that the shoulder was considered the choice and distinguishing portion. Josephus calls it the royal portion; and some symbolical association with the idea of royalty does indeed seem to be indicated in Isaiah ix. 6: The government shall be upon his shoulder.' Harmer, in his valuable Observations, quotes from Ockley's History of the Saracens an anecdote, which shews the high estimation in which the shoulder of a lamb was (and we may add, still is) regarded in the East. Abdalmelick, the Caliph, upon his entering into Cufah, made a splendid entertainment. When he was set down, Amrou, the son of Hareth, an ancient Mechmuzian, came in; he called him to him, and, placing him by him upon his sofa, asked him what meat he liked best of all that he had ever eaten. The old Mechmuzian answered, an ass's neck, well seasoned and well roasted. You do nothing, said Abdalmelick; what do you say to a leg or shoulder of a sucking lamb, well roasted, and covered over with butter and milk?' The history adds, that while he was at supper he said, 'How sweetly we live, if a shadow would last! Perhaps that which was upon the shoulder,' in the text, may have been the butter and milk with which the caliph recommended a shoulder of lamb to be covered.

It seems to have been an ancient practice to consider some portion of meat as particularly appropriated to do honour to a distinguished guest. The chine is made to serve this purpose in Homer. Thus, at an entertainment given by Agamemnon,—

"They feasted, and no want

Of his due portion any guest sustain❜d. But Ajax most was favour'd, whom the king, The son of Atreus, with the whole huge chine Distinguish'd, as the hero of the day.'-CowPER. Here we see that, as among the Hebrews, the host assigned to the guests their several portions. [APPENDIX, No. 31.]

CHAPTER X.

1 Samuel anointeth Saul. 2 He confirmeth him by prediction of three signs. 9 Saul's heart is changed, and he prophesieth. 14 He concealeth the matter of the kingdom from his uncle. 17 Saul is chosen at Mizpel by lot. 26 The different affections of his subjects.

THEN Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by 'Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son ?

3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of

Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, "that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said 'one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

10

12 And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. 15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.

16 And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

17 And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh ;

18 And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the

hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you:

19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

20 And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.

21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

22 Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.

23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.

24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, "God save the king.

25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

26 ¶ And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

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.

9 Heb. a man to his neighbour.
10 Chap. 19. 24.
13 Or, he was as though he had been deaf.

Verse 1. Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head.'-See the notes on Exod. xxx. 25, and Levit. viii. 12. The act of anointing was a sign of investiture with royal authority, among the Hebrews, and some other Oriental nations, from whom it has descended to ourselvesthe act being part of the coronation ceremonies in our own and other European kingdoms. Among the Hebrews, however, it was the principal, not a subordinate, act of inauguration. We must distinguish two sorts of unction; one was private, by some prophet, and does not appear to have conveyed any distinct right to the throne. They were,' says Jahn, only prophetic symbols or intimations that the persons who were thus anointed should eventually govern the kingdom.' Thus Saul himself did not become king until some time after this anointing, when the kingdom

was renewed at Gilgal: and thus David, though anointed in Saul's lifetime, did not at all pretend to the kingly dignity, on any occasion, while Saul lived, nor afterwards until, first the men of Judah, and, seven years after, the other tribes, called him to the throne. In fact, no king, at any period, alleges a right to the throne as proceeding from the previous anointing by a prophet; nor did the people consider themselves bound to nominate him in consequence of such anointing; though the knowledge of the fact that he had been anointed had the effect of a prophecy in directing the attention of the people towards him, as one who would, at some time or other, be a king. The other anointing, which took place after the new king had been solemnly recognized by the people, formed the actual inauguration ceremony; and that it was repeated, even when the person

had been already anointed by a prophet, shews that this previous anointing was only regarded as a prophetic intimation. David, who had been prophetically anointed by Samuel, was twice afterwards anointed when successively called to reign over Judah and Israel. The more formal inaugural anointing was performed by the high-priest, and probably with the holy anointing oil. This solemn anointing does not however appear to have been bestowed on every succeeding king. The first king of a dynasty seems to have been anointed for himself and his successors, and the proper heir succeeded to the rights of his father, without a renewal of the unction. The only exception appears to have been in cases of disputed succession, when the anointing was deemed to give the preference to the person who obtained it. Thus David, as the founder of a new dynasty, was anointed; but none of his successors were, except when the order of succession had been contested or disturbed. Thus, Solomon was anointed, his right being contested by his elder brother Adonijah; Joash was anointed, when his claim was asserted, after the throne of Judah had been usurped and occupied for six years by Athaliah. The case of Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, the only other king in the hereditary kingdom who is said to have been anointed (2 Kings xxiii. 30), seems at first view to be an exception to this rule, but, on further examination, the act is so described as to convey an idea of irregularity: The people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king: and the irregu larity itself is found by comparing his age with that of Jehoiakim (vv. 31 and 36), by which we find that he superseded his elder brother; and this sufficiently accounts for his having been anointed. This is the view which the Hebrew writers entertain of the practice; and it appears to be correct, unless we suppose that other anointings took place in the kingdom of Judah than those which are registered in the sacred books. [APPENDIX, No. 32.]

- Kissed him.'-This is thought to have been a kiss of homage and respect, and intended as an example of obedience to the new king. We do not feel assured that Samuel's kiss was more than one of common regard: but it may be as well to speak of it as a kiss of respectful homage, as it is certain such was in use among the Jews. Thus, in Ps. ii. 12, the kings and judges of the earth are instructed to 'kiss the son, lest he be angry;' doubtless meaning that they should offer the kiss of homage. The kisses of homage and respect, so mentioned or alluded to in the Bible as to erable us to discover the forms in which they were exhibited, are kissing the hands of the superior person, or his feet, or the ground before him, or some part of his dress.

No one will suppose that Samuel's kiss was of this description, since such acts imply the humblest deference that can be shewn. If his kiss were really the kiss of respect, it was probably of that kind which is indicated by kissing the forehead, and which implies respectful consideration mingled with esteem. Such was Antar's salutation of Prince Malik: 'Antar kissed the prince's head, and prayed for a continuance of his glory' (ii. 119). This act has still the same meaning among the modern Bedouins; but the state of the great Oriental sovereigns does not admit of any but the mere abject indications of respect. The shades of meaning, as denoting affection and respect, are so diversified, as connected with the act of kissing, that it is not easy to understand what is intended when the act is simply mentioned without specification. We shall, however, endeavour to discriminate the different significations as they

occur.

2. Zelzah.'-It is stated in the Narrative of the Scottish Deputation, that on the face of a hill to the west of Rachel's tonib stands a large and pleasant-looking village called Bet-Jalah, inhabited entirely by Christians. "May not this,' it is asked, be the ancient Zelzah, 'by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin,' where Saul was told that his father's asses had been found? In other passages of Scripture the place is called Zelah, from which the modern name might easily be formed by prefixing the common syllable Bet' (that is, 'home'), and softening the sibilant letter. If so, then, this is the spot where they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan-in Zelzah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father.' 2 Sam. xxi. 14.

3. Tabor.'-This is not in any way to be confounded with Mount Tabor in its neighbourhood, which lay quite in another direction. The site is not known.

5. Hill of God.'- Some infer from ch. xiii. 3, that this was Geba, where there certainly was a garrison of the Philistines. Wherever it was, we may conclude that this name, hill of God,' was applied to it on account of a school of the prophets being established there, where young men received instruction in the Divine Law. The students in this school (such as are elsewhere called 'sons of the prophets') were doubtless the company of prophets' mentioned in the sequel. This is the first intimation we have concerning the existence of such establishments, and we may, with probability, attribute their origin to Samuel, in his combined character of a prophet and civil ruler of the country. These sons, or pupils, of the prophets, are often afterwards mentioned, and they appear at times to have been numerous. The establishments to which they belonged seem to have been generally presided over by some

inspired prophet, whom the students called their father (2 Kings ii. 12). Samuel was one, and perhaps the first, of these fathers (ch. xix. 20); Elijah was another (2 Kings ii. 2), and was succeeded in his office by Elisha (2 Kings vi. 1). Besides the knowledge of the law, the pupils acquired the art of sacred psalmody, or (as it is called here and in 1 Chron. xxv. 1, 7) of 'prophesying,' that is, of singing sacred hymns to instrumental music. Saul's prophesying' seems to have consisted in his being enabled, in spirit and fact, to join them in their musical acts of praise, without that previous instruction which they had received. The students were employed by the prophets occasionally in prophetical missions, even for the anointing of future kings, and the reproving of those that reigned (2 Kings ix. 1; 1 Kings xx. 35). It seems that God generally selected his inspired prophets from those schools, as Amos (vii. 14, 15) mentions it as extraordinary that, in his case, a herdsman, rather than one of the sons of the prophets, had been called to the prophetic office. The students lived in a society or community, in houses built by themselves, and were accustomed to eat together with the presiding prophet; and their food seems to have been chiefly pottage of herbs; but the people sometimes sent them bread, parched corn, honey, dried fruits, &c. (2 Kings iv. 38-42; vi. 2). This is the substance of what the Scriptures say about the schools of the prophets. [APPENDIX, No. 33.]

23. He was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.'-This circumstance has already been pointed out in v. 2 of the preceding chapter; and, no doubt, the stature of Saul had no small effect in procuring for him the ready acclamations of the people. It is evident that the Hebrews partook fully in the notion, which we find everywhere in the early history of nations, that height of stature and accomplishments of person formed one of the principal recommendations to honour. This was not only the feeling of the people, but of Samuel himself, for, when he was sent to anoint Jesse's sons, the tall figure and fine appearance of Eliab made him hastily conclude that he must be the destined king of Israel; which mistake occasioned the impressive rebuke from the Lord: Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart' (ch. xvi. 7). Antiquity is replete with exhibitions of the same kind of feeling. In the sculptures of Egypt and Persia, the king is usually distinguished by his size and stature from the persons with whom he is associated-not, of course, that the kings were always, or even generally, thus actually distinguished from their subjects; but they were so represented, in conformity with the ideas of dignity as associated with colossal proportions. There is an interesting passage in Homer, where the old king of Troy, viewing the battle-field from the walls, asks Helen the names of the several Grecian chiefs who attract his attention. It is remarkable that Priam's attention is exclusively drawn

towards the tall colossal men, and these, according to Homer, happen to be the most distinguished chiefs of the Grecian host.

Herodotus (iii. 20) speaks of an Ethiopian nation which always elected to the sovereign power the person most distinguished for size and proportionate strength, under the idea (as Diodorus seems to explain it-iii. 1) that monarchy and a fine person, being the two first gifts of Heaven, ought to be associated. The same author (Herodotus), speaking of the vast army mustered by Xerxes for the invasion of Greece, takes notice that, in an assemblage of so many myriads of men, there was not one who, in point of height and beauty of form, might seem more fit than Xerxes to be the master of such a host. It would be tedious to trace the development of the same feeling among the Greeks, Romans, and other nations, who, however widely they differed in other respects, agreed very well in the desire to give the place of authority to persons of superior personal appearance, when no stronger interest intervened. This kind of feeling is not yet wholly extinct, even in Europe, where, although distinguished stature is not expected in persons of authority, state requires its exhibition in the guards and attendants of royalty. This too was very ancient; for, if we may believe Josephus, when king Solomon rode abroad in his chariot, he was escorted by the tallest young men that could be found in the nation, mounted on horseback, and in complete armour. This modern practice is therefore as old as the time of Josephus, if not so old as that of Solomon.

25. The manner of the kingdom.'-See the note on 2 Sam. v. 3.

26. Saul went home to Gibeah.-This was the same place in which the atrocious transaction occurred as related in Judg. xx., which led almost to the utter ruin of the tribe of Benjamin. It was the residence of Saul before he became king, and remained such afterwards; and it was probably on account of his connection with the place that the Gibeonites hanged up here ten of his descendants (2 Sam. xxi. 6). Jerome speaks of Gibeah as being at his time level with the ground; and since then the locality does not seem to have been, until recently, much explored by travellers. Dr. Robinson, who made some valuable observations in this neighbourhood, detected Gibeah in a small and half-ruined village called Jeba, which lies upon a low, conical, or rather round eminence, in the broad ridge which shelves down toward the valley of the Jordan, and spreads out below the village into a fine sloping plain.' The views of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, and of the eastern mountains, are here very extensive. Among the ruins some large hewn stones indicative of antiquity are occasionally seen. The spot is about five miles to the north of Jerusalem.

27. Brought him no presents.'-See the notes on Judg. iii. 15; and ch. ix. 7.

right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.

3 And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

4 ¶ Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

5 And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth