A choice young man, and a goodly. — The Hebrew word which is rendered in English by “a choice young man” cannot signify both these epithets. The translators were probably influenced by the Vulg. (Latin) Version, which translates the Hebrew word by electus, “chosen, or choice,” the more common signification of the Hebrew word being avoided, owing to the fact that at this time Saul appears to have had a son (Jonathan) who must have well-nigh reached his maturity. But the term young was not inappropriate to Saul, who was still in the full vigour of manhood as contrasted with the old age of Samuel, being about forty to forty-five years old. Translate then simply, “a young man,” &c. In the childhood of nations heroic proportions were highly valued, and the gigantic stature and the remarkable beauty of the king, no doubt contributed to the ready acceptance on the part of the still semi-barbarous Israel of the young man Saul. (Comp. Herodotus, 3:20, 7:187; Aristotle, Polit., 4:29; and Virgil’s description of Turnus, Æneid, 7:650, 783; and Homer’s words about Ajax, Iliad, iii. 226.)
The asses. — Literally, And the she-asses. At this period of Jewish history asses were much used by the people. The horse was forbidden by the Law. Asses were used not only for purposes of agriculture, but also for riding; so in the song of Deborah we find, “Speak, ye that ride on white asses” (Judges 5:10); and again we read of the thirty sons of Jair, the Gileadite judge, each one ruler of a city, who rode on thirty ass colts (Judges 10:4). These belonging to the farm of Kish, being probably kept for breeding purposes, were untethered, and so strayed from the immediate neighbourhood, and were lost.
The whole of this chapter and part of the following is full of picturesque details of the pastoral life of the people. In many of the little pictures we see how strongly at this early period the religion of the Eternal coloured almost all parts of the every-day life of Israel.
One of the servants. — The “servant,” not “slave;” the Hebrew word for the latter would be different. The servant was evidently a trusty dependant of the house of Saul’s father, and was on familiar terms with his young master. We hear of his giving wise advice in the course of the search (1 Samuel 9:6); he was the one in charge of the money (1 Samuel 9:8); and this servant, we are especially told, was treated by Samuel the judge as an honoured guest at the sacrificial feast at Ramah. He was traditionally believed to have been Doeg the Edomite, afterwards so famous as one of the most ruthless of the great captains of King Saul. (See 1 Samuel 22:18.)