(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 9:18–27, “Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house? And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? 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. And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.”
It is interesting to note, again, that Saul had no idea of who Samuel was. Samuel was the Judge of Israel but Saul hadn’t even heard of him, let alone know what he looked like. This is a sad commentary on the state of the nation at that time. We do know that Samuel followed a circuit from year to year and should have been well known and that Benjamin, as a tribe, didn’t want to be part of the structure of greater Israel so the fact that Saul didn’t know Samuel was more likely to be because Saul’t tribe tried to stay away from the rest of the nation. It is also important to remember that the people asked Samuel to give them a king like the nearby nations. These people selected their kings, or perhaps the kings selected themselves, on their size and their ability to lead the nation in battle. Saul was good looking and a big man so he was selected on the criteria used by the nearby nations like Israel had asked. When Saul asked Samuel about the seer, Samuel told Saul that he was the seer. As Samuel had been warned by the Lord of Saul’s arrival he was prepared to meet him. In fact, Samuel had already arranged a civic reception for Saul to attend and had selected the choicest cut of meat for him. Saul’s most pressing issue was the whereabouts of the donkeys so Samuel put his mind at ease and told him that the donkeys had been found. Saul was surprised at the attention given to him because he wasn’t from an important tribe or family so he was surprised. Never the less, he attended the civic reception where he was put in the place of honour. Later Samuel called Saul for a private meeting and told him to come alone, without his servant.
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