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1 Samuel 10:3

in 1 Samuel 10

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

KJV

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth–el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

This verse in 1 Samuel 10

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
The plain of Tabor - It should be “the oak or terebinth”” of Tabor” (Jdg 4:11 note). It has been ingeniously conjectured that “Tabor” is either a different form of “Deborah,” or a corruption of it, and that the “oak,” or “terebinth of Tabor,” is the same as “Allon-bachuth,” the oak under which Deborah was buried, and which lay “beneath Bethel” Gen 35:

This site's exposition

two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah

on 1 Samuel 10:2-4

Signs confirm the private word before Saul reaches home. Two men at Rachel's tomb tell him the donkeys are found, and three men going up to Bethel give him bread. Each sign falls on ground his own tribe knows, so the confirmation is local and checkable.

This site's exposition

Then you will go on from there

Bethel was the place of Jacob's vision in Genesis 28. John Wesley notes it still held a high place for sacrifice while the ark and the tabernacle stood apart. Adam Clarke reads the goats, loaves and wine as the parts of one offering.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.

proposed

6. When we wish to make good progress in holy conduct, it is necessary for us to gather for ourselves the examples of very many of the elect; for bees too cannot produce honey if they do not gather it from various flowers. Well therefore does Saul pass from some men to others, because the more abundantly we observe the examples of the saints, the better we are instructed.

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And when you depart from there, and go further, etc. Increasing the course of his teaching, the Savior arrived at the point of revealing to the disciples the secret of his passion, signifying that he was to bestow the gifts of the highest light on …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Bethel - Properly so called, which was in Ephraim, where there was a noted high-place, famous for Jacob's vision there, Gen. xxviii, 19, where it is probable they offered sacrifices, in this confused state of things, when the ark was in one place, and the tabernacle in another.
Then shall thou go on forward from thence,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is supposed that those kids and loaves, and the bottle of wine which the three men had with them, were designed for sacrifice, with the meat-offerings and drink-offerings that were to attend the sacrifice; yet Samuel tells Saul that they will give him two of their loaves, and he must take them.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the plain--or, "the oak of Tabor," not the celebrated mount, for that was far distant. three men going up to God to Beth-el--apparently to offer sacrifices there at a time when the ark and the tabernacle were not in a settled abode, and God had not yet declared the permanent place which He should choose.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Three men going up to God to Bethel - Jacob’s altar was probably there still, Gen 28:19. However this might be, it was still considered, as its name implies, the house of God; and to it they were now going, to offer sacrifice. The three kids were for sacrifice; the three loaves of bread to be offered probably as a thank-offering; and the bottle or skin full of wine, for a libation. When the blood was poured out before the Lord, then they feasted on the flesh and on the bread; and probably had a sufficiency of the wine left for their own drinking.

The words behind it

29 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְחָלַפְתָּ֨and you will pass on

    vechalaftaH2498 →

  • מִשָּׁ֜םfrom there

    mishamH8033 →834 times

  • וָהָ֗לְאָהand beyond

    vahalahH1973 →16 times

  • וּבָ֙אתָ֙and you will come

    uvataH935 →2568 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • אֵל֣וֹן[the] great tree of

    ʾelonH436 →

  • תָּב֔וֹרTabor

    tavorH8396 →

  • וּמְצָא֤וּךָand they will find you

    umetzaukhaH4672 →455 times

  • שָּׁם֙there

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • שְׁלֹשָׁ֣הthree

    sheloshahH7969 →432 times

  • אֲנָשִׁ֔יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • עֹלִ֥יםgoing up

    ʾolimH5927 →890 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God

    haelohimH430 →2601 times

  • בֵּֽית־Beth-

    beit-H1008 →142 times

  • אֵ֑ל-el

    ʾelH1008 →142 times

  • אֶחָ֞דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • נֹשֵׂ֣א׀[will be] carrying

    nose'H5375 →656 times

  • שְׁלֹשָׁ֣הthree

    sheloshahH7969 →432 times

  • גְדָיִ֗יםkids

    gedayimH1423 →

  • וְאֶחָד֙and one

    veechadH259 →971 times

  • נֹשֵׂ֗א[will be] carrying

    nose'H5375 →656 times

  • שְׁלֹ֙שֶׁת֙three

    sheloshetH7969 →432 times

  • כִּכְּר֣וֹתround loaves of

    kikerotH3603 →

  • לֶ֔חֶםbread

    lechemH3899 →298 times

  • וְאֶחָ֥דand one

    veechadH259 →971 times

  • נֹשֵׂ֖א[will be] carrying

    nose'H5375 →656 times

  • נֵֽבֶל־a skin of

    nevel-H5035 →38 times

  • יָֽיִן׃wine

    yayinH3196 →141 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 28:22

    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.”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 35:7

      There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 14:20

      and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

    • Deuteronomy 14:22–23

      You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.

    • Leviticus 27:30–33

      Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

  • Through

    Genesis 28:19

    and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 35:1

      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.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Hosea 12:4–5

      Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—

    • Genesis 48:3

      Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

  • Through

    Genesis 35:1

    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.”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 31:13

      I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.