What does 1 Samuel chapter 9 mean?

The story of Saul, Israel's first king, begins here. This chapter is meant to build suspense and withhold what is really happening for several key moments of revelation.

At the end of the previous chapter, the Lord commanded Samuel to make Israel a king, according to the will of the people (1 Samuel 8:22). The reader might expect to find Samuel conducting that search. Instead, 1 Samuel 9 opens by introducing a man who goes out looking for lost donkeys.

Saul is described as a man from the tribe of Benjamin, the tall and handsome son of a wealthy man named Kish. Some of Kish's donkeys have wandered away and are lost. Kish sends Saul and a servant to go out into the hill country of Ephraim to find the donkeys and bring them back. After three days and many miles, however, the pair still have not found the donkeys (1 Samuel 9:1–4).

When they come to the land of Zuph, Saul says it is time to give up the search. He is concerned his father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about them. The servant, though, tells Saul that a man of God lives in a nearby city (Ramah). That man is famous for never saying anything that does not turn out to be true. The servant proposes they go and ask him about the donkeys (1 Samuel 9:5–6).

Saul's only objection is that they do not have a gift for this man of God. The servant realizes he has a quarter of a shekel of silver for a gift. Saul agrees to go and try it (1 Samuel 9:7–10).

As the pair approach the city that evening, they meet some young women coming out to draw water from the well. The women tell them the seer, or prophet, is shortly ahead of them, about to leave the city to attend a special sacrificial meal at the high place outside of town. As soon as Saul and his servant enter the gate area, they see Samuel (1 Samuel 9:11–14).

The writer inserts a flashback into the story. About twenty-four hours earlier, the Lord told Samuel that a man from Benjamin would come the next day at about the same time. The Lord said that Samuel would anoint the stranger to be prince over Israel and that the man would save Israel from the Philistines as God's answer to their cry for help. Narrating back in the present moment, the Lord now tells Samuel that the man approaching is the one about whom He had spoken (1 Samuel 9:15–17).

When Saul asks where the house of the seer is, Samuel tells him that he is the seer and that Saul should go up with him to eat the meal at the high place. Samuel will let Saul go home in the morning then tell him his own thoughts. Samuel also tells Saul that he can stop worrying about the donkeys because they have been found. Then Samuel adds, mysteriously, that everything desirable in Israel is for him and his father's house (1 Samuel 9:18–20).

Saul objects to being honored in this way. After all, he tells Samuel, he is from the tribe of Benjamin, least among all the tribes. In that tribe, also, his clan is the lowliest of all the clans. Why is Samuel talking like this? Instead of answering Saul, Samuel takes him to dinner in the sanctuary hall. Saul is given the seat of honor at the head of the table, and Samuel gives him the best portion of the meat, saying that it has been reserved for Saul (1 Samuel 9:21–24).

Later, Saul spends the night at Samuel's house. As they are walking out of the city the next morning, Samuel stops Saul and says that the time has come to reveal the word of God (1 Samuel 9:25–27).