1 Samuel 10:9

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Samuel 10:9-10. God gave him another heart — He immediately fulfilled the last and chief of these signs: for Saul was no sooner gone from Samuel than he felt another spirit coming into him, a spirit of holiness, wisdom, and fortitude, to qualify him for the government of God’s people; which afterward God took from him because of his sins, 1 Samuel 16:14. See Psalm 51:12. He prophesied among them — The accomplishment of the two former signs is supposed, and this only is expressed, because this was more eminent than the former; the others were only transient acts, which passed in private, between two or three persons meeting together; but this was a more permanent and notorious sign, done in a more solemn manner, and before many witnesses.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:9-16 The signs Samuel had given Saul, came to pass punctually; he found that God had given him another heart, another disposition of mind. Yet let not an outward show of devotion, and a sudden change for the present, be too much relied on; Saul among the prophets was Saul still. His being anointed was kept private. He leaves it to God to carry on his own work by Samuel, and sits still, to see how the matter will fall.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Seven days shalt thou tarry ... - The appointment here made is not to be confounded with that mentioned in marginal reference.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-11. when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart—Influenced by the words of Samuel, as well as by the accomplishment of these signs, Saul's reluctance to undertake the onerous office was overcome. The fulfilment of the two first signs [1Sa 10:7, 8] is passed over, but the third is specially described. The spectacle of a man, though more fit to look after his father's cattle than to take part in the sacred exercises of the young prophets—a man without any previous instruction, or any known taste, entering with ardor into the spirit, and skilfully accompanying the melodies of the sacred band, was so extraordinary a phenomenon, that it gave rise to the proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" (see 1Sa 19:24). The prophetic spirit had come upon him; and to Saul it was as personal and experimental an evidence of the truth of God's word that had been spoken to him, as converts to Christianity have in themselves from the sanctifying power of the Gospel.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel,.... When he had taken his leave of him, and set forward on his journey:

God gave him another heart; not in a moral or spiritual sense, not a new heart, and a new spirit, as in conversion, but in a civil sense, a right heart, a heart fit for government; filled with wisdom and prudence to rule a people; with courage and magnanimity to protect and defend them against their enemies, and fight for them; a heart not taken up with the affairs of husbandry, with care for his father's asses, and looking after his herds, but filled with concern for the civil welfare of Israel, and with schemes and contrivances for their good, and with warm resolutions to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies:

and all these signs came to pass that day; the two first, which are not particularly mentioned as fulfilled, being more private, as finding two men at Rachel's sepulchre, and meeting with three others going to Bethel, which came to pass just as they were described; and the third, which was more public, and gave Saul more reverence and respect among the people, is next particularly observed.

Geneva Study Bible

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another {d} heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

(d) He gave him such virtues as were fitting for a king.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9–16. The fulfilment of the signs

9 God gave him another heart] Lit. “turned him another heart.” Cp. 1 Samuel 10:6. The divine inspiration transformed the simple countryman into the King and Deliverer of Israel. The heart in Scripture denotes “the centre of the whole mental and spiritual life of will, desire, thought, perception, and feeling.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - God gave him another heart. The Hebrew is remarkable: "When he turned his shoulder to go from Samuel, God also turned for him another heart," i.e. God turned him round by giving him a changed heart. He grew internally up to the level of his changed circumstances. No longer had he the feelings of a husbandman, concerned only about corn and cattle; he had become a statesman, a general, and a prince. No man could have gone through such marvellous events, and experienced such varied emotions, without a vast inward change. But it might have been only to vanity and self-complacency. Saul's change was into a hero. 1 Samuel 10:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When Saul went away from Samuel, to return to Gibeah, "God changed to him another heart," - a pregnant expression for "God changed him, and gave him another heart" (see at 1 Samuel 10:6); and all these signs (the signs mentioned by Samuel) happened on that very day. As he left Samuel early in the morning, Saul could easily reach Gibeah in one day, even if the town where he had met with Samuel was situated to the south-west of Rachel's tomb, as the distance from that tomb to Gibeah was not more than three and a half or four hours.