Bible Strands
1 Samuel 19:22
Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Saul travels to Ramah and stops at the large cistern at Secu to ask unnamed locals where Samuel and David are. He receives a direct reply that they are located at Naioth in Ramah.
The words — The Hebrew וַיֵּלֶךְ (va.ye.lekh) literally means "he went," and בּוֹר הַגָּדוֹל (bor ha.gadol) translates to "the great cistern." These terms anchor Saul’s physical pursuit to a specific landmark before his spiritual encounter.
The thread — This geographic movement from Secu to Naioth continues the sequence of failed capture attempts initiated by Saul’s messengers (1 Samuel 19:21). The motif of divine interruption at prophetic sites appears in 1 Kings 22:11–12 and 2 Kings 2:3–5.
Why it lands — The text documents the exact moment human authority reaches a physical boundary before encountering divine protection. It requires a reader to accept that institutional pursuit cannot dictate outcomes when sovereign intervention occurs.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah.