Bible Strands
1 Samuel 9:17
When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule over My people.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — When Samuel sees Saul at the gateway, the LORD speaks to Samuel to identify Saul as the appointed ruler. This occurs immediately after God’s promise to send a Benjaminite man to save Israel and precedes Saul’s request for directions to the seer’s house.
The words — The phrase הִנֵּה הָ/אִישׁ (hi.Neh ha./'Ish) literally means “here is the man.” It marks a definitive divine identification following God’s prior verbal promise.
The thread — God’s provision of a king through Saul appears in Hosea 13:11 and Acts 13:21, while the judgment on Eli’s house in 1 Samuel 3:13 contrasts divine sovereignty over leadership.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize that human authority derives from divine appointment rather than personal merit. It demands accountability to the One who grants and removes rulership.
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
And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.
Cross-references
- Hosea 13:11 So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.
- Acts 13:21 Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.
- 1 Samuel 3:13 I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.
- 1 Samuel 16:6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”
- 2 Samuel 23:6 But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.
- Nehemiah 13:19 When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.
- Nehemiah 13:25 I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!
- Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.