I Samuel 10:3
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Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We left Samuel and Saul walking together, probably some private way over the fields down from Ramah, perhaps in the paths of the vineyards, and Saul expecting to hear from Samuel the word of God. Now here we have, I. The anointing of Saul then and there (Sa1 10:1). The signs Samuel gave him (Sa1 10:2-6). And instructions (Sa1 10:7-8). II. The accomplishment of those signs to the satisfaction of Saul (Sa1 10:9-13). III. His return to his father's house (Sa1 10:14-16). IV. His public election by lot, and solemn inauguration (Sa1 10:17-25). V. His return to his own city (Sa1 10:26, Sa1 10:27). It is a great work that is here a doing, the setting up not only of a monarch, but of monarchy itself, in Israel; and therefore in all the advances towards it much of God is seen.
Open source ↗10:3 oak of Tabor: This location, somewhere in Benjamin, is not to be confused with the village of the same name in Zebulun (1 Chr 6:77). • Bethel: See study note on 1 Sam 7:16.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen cities, along with their villages.
If one’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD.
Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”
When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,
Along with his peace offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of leavened bread.
She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.