1 Samuel 19:21
in 1 Samuel 19When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well. So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
KJV
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNow, it seems to me that fortuitous circumstance also is sometimes the cause of prophesying, as is true in the present case of Caiaphas. He was high priest of that year [in which] Jesus was to die for the people that the whole nation might not perish. For although others were high priests … no one prophesies except the high priest of the year in which Jesus was to suffer.And it was fortuitous circumstance that caused the messengers of Saul to prophesy when they were sent to David, along with Saul himself.
This site's exposition
he sent messengers to capture him
on 1 Samuel 19:20-21
Three companies of messengers come to seize David, and each is overtaken by "the Spirit of God" and prophesies. God stops Saul through the office he wanted turned against David. Clarke reads the outcome as the point, the men kept from seizing David by a power stronger than their orders.
This site's exposition
sent messengers a third time
Origen compares these messengers to Caiaphas at John 11:51, who prophesied as high priest without intending to. Saul's men came to seize David and found themselves speaking as prophets. Three times the order fails the same way.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The book of Kings [Samuel] gives us an example about prophecy. Saul was the persecutor of David. When he was persecuting him, he sent guards to drag him away to punishment, and those who were sent to bring David to be slain found him among the prophets; and Samuel was there too.… So he had fled to the place where besides Samuel, the most distinguished of all the prophets, there were also many other prophets. Pushing their way among them, while they were prophesying, came the emissaries of Saul, to drag him off, as I said, to death. The spirit of God leaped upon them and they began to prophesy, having come to lead a holy and just man of God to the execution block and snatch him away from among the prophets. They were suddenly filled with the spirit of God and turned into prophets. It's possible this happened because of their innocence; after all, they hadn't come of their own accord to arrest him but had been sent by their king. And perhaps they had indeed come to the place where David was but weren't going to do what Saul had told them to; perhaps they too were intending to stay there. Because such things even happen today. Sometimes a bailiff is sent by high authority to drag somebody out of the church; he dare not act against God, and in order not to face execution himself he stays there, in the place he was sent, to haul someone out of it. So you could say, pleasantly surprised and relieved, that these men suddenly became prophets because they were innocent; the very gift of prophecy bore witness to their innocence. They came because they were sent, but they weren't going to do what that bad man had told them to. Let us believe that about them.Others were sent; the Spirit of God leaped on them too, and they too began to prophesy. Let's count them too with the first lot as being quite innocent. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when it was told Saul,.... That the messengers he had sent, instead of seizing on David, were prophesying of him, or however were attending to services of a different nature than what they were sent upon: he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise; when they came to the same place: and Saul sent messengers again a third time, and they prophesied also; joined the rest in singing praises, or foretelling future events.
And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. Saul and Jonathan appear here in their different characters, with reference to David. Never was enemy so unreasonably cruel as Saul.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was a retreat congenial to the mind of David; but Saul, having found out his asylum, sent three successive bodies of men to apprehend him. The character of the place and the influence of the sacred exercises produced such an effect on them that they were incapable of discharging their commission, and were led, by a resistless impulse, to join in singing the praises of God.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּגִּ֣דוּ | vaiyagidu | and people told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְשָׁא֗וּל | leshaul | to Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֣ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֔ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּ | vaiyitnabeu | and they prophesied | H5012 → | 115 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הֵ֑מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| וַיֹּ֣סֶף | vaiyosef | and he repeated | H3254 → | 212 times |
| שָׁא֗וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֣ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| שְׁלִשִׁ֔ים | shelishim | third | H7992 → | 107 times |
| וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּ | vaiyitnabeu | and they prophesied | H5012 → | 115 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הֵֽמָּה׃ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
וַיַּגִּ֣דוּand people told
vaiyagiduH5046 →370 times
לְשָׁא֗וּלto Saul
leshaulH7586 →402 times
וַיִּשְׁלַח֙and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָכִ֣יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֲחֵרִ֔יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּand they prophesied
vaiyitnabeuH5012 →115 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הֵ֑מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
וַיֹּ֣סֶףand he repeated
vaiyosefH3254 →212 times
שָׁא֗וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
וַיִּשְׁלַח֙and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָכִ֣יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
שְׁלִשִׁ֔יםthird
shelishimH7992 →107 times
וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּand they prophesied
vaiyitnabeuH5012 →115 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הֵֽמָּה׃they
hemahH1992 →553 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
it leads to
- Acts 2:16–21
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
- Ezekiel 39:29
And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Acts 2:2–4
Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- Acts 2:16–21
Through
Proverbs 27:22Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 5:3
Through
Jeremiah 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:22
Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
- Jeremiah 9:5
Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
- Jeremiah 2:22
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 162A; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.175-76.
