Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 19:18
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
David fled to Samuel at Ramah, and reported to him all that Saul had done, partly to seek for further advice from the prophet who had anointed him, as to his further course, and partly to strengthen himself, by intercourse with him, for the troubles that still awaited him. He therefore went along with Samuel, and dwelt with him in Naioth. נוית (to be read נוית according to the Chethibh, for which the Masoretes have substituted the form ניות, Sa1 19:19, Sa1 19:23, and Sa1 20:1), from נוה or נוה, signifies dwellings; but here it is in a certain sense a proper name, applied to the coenobium of the pupils of the prophets, who had assembled round Samuel in the neighbourhood of Ramah. The plural נוית points to the fact, that this coenobium consisted of a considerable number of dwelling-places or houses, connected together by a hedge or wall. Sa1 19:19-20 When Saul was told where this place was, he sent messengers to fetch David. But as soon as the messengers saw the company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon them, so that they also prophesied. The singular ויּרא is certainly very striking here; but it is hardly to be regarded as merely a copyist's error for the plural ויּראוּ, because it is extremely improbable that such an error as this should have found universal admission into the MSS; so that it is in all probability to be taken as the original and correct reading, and understood either as relating to the leader of the messengers, or as used because the whole company of messengers were regarded as one body. The ἁπ. λεγ. להקה signifies, according to the ancient versions, an assembly, equivalent to קהלה, from which it arose according to Kimchi and other Rabbins by simple inversion. Sa1 19:21 The same thing happened to a second and third company of messengers, whom Saul sent one after another when the thing was reported to him. Sa1 19:22-24 Saul then set out to Ramah himself, and inquired, as soon as he had arrived at the great pit at Sechu (a place near Ramah with which we are not acquainted), where Samuel and David were, and went, according to the answer he received, to the Naioth at Ramah. There the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying, until he came to the Naioth at Ramah; and there he even took off his clothes, and prophesied before Samuel, and lay there naked all that day, and the whole night as well. ערום, γυμνός, does not always signify complete nudity, but is also applied to a person with his upper garment off (cf. Isa 20:2; Mic 1:8; Joh 21:7). From the repeated expression "he also," in Sa1 19:23, Sa1 19:24, it is not only evident that Saul came into an ecstatic condition of prophesying as well as his servants, but that the prophets themselves, and not merely the servants, took off their clothes like Saul when they prophesied. It is only in the case of ערם ויּפּל that the expression "he also" is not repeated; from which we must infer, that Saul alone lay there the whole day and night with his clothes off, and in an ecstatic state of external unconsciousness; whereas the ecstasy of his servants and the prophets lasted only a short time, and the clear self-consciousness returned earlier than with Saul. This different is not without significance in relation to the true explanation of the whole affair. Saul had experienced a similar influence of the Spirit of God before, namely, immediately after his anointing by Samuel, when he met a compan…
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