1 Samuel 10:24
in 1 Samuel 10Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, Long live the king.
KJV
And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseGod save the king - There is no such word here; no, nor in the whole Bible; nor is it countenanced by any of the versions. The words which we thus translate here and elsewhere are simply יחי המלך yechi hammelech, “May the king live;” and so all the versions, the Targum excepted, which says, May the king prosper! The French Vive le roi! is a proper version of the Hebrew.
This site's exposition
a head taller than any of the others
on 1 Samuel 10:23-24
Saul stands “a head taller than any of the others”, as chapter 9 described him, the very trait Israel prized in a king like the nations. The shout “Long live the king” appears here for the first time in Scripture. The words return at Second Samuel 16:16, spoken by Hushai as he deceives Absalom, setting an honest shout at Saul's coronation beside a flattering one.
This site's exposition
Samuel said to all the people
Long live the king renders the Hebrew yechi hammelech, which Adam Clarke translates may the king live. With the shout all the people accept Saul as king, as John Wesley notes. John Gill notes the LORD chose him by lot.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 5 · Written before 604.
proposed
Indeed the right order for a chosen preacher is that before the loftiness of ecclesiastical eminence, he ascend the summit of virtue, that for the honor of God he obtain the summit of glory, but shine with greater loftiness through the revealed perfection of virtues. Such a Pastor indeed is greatly to be proclaimed by perfect men, and to be desired and loved by the lesser ones. Well therefore is it added: "And he said to all the people: Surely you see whom the Lord has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people." And all the people cried out: Long live the king.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
None like him - As to the height of his bodily stature, which was in itself, commendable in a king, and some kind of indication of great endowments of mind. God save the king - Hebrew. let the king live; that is, long and prosperously. Hereby they accept him for their king, and promise subjection to him.
And Samuel said to all the people, see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen,.... For the choice being made by lot, the disposal of which is of the Lord, it is properly attributed to him, and the people could not object to it, but must allow it was the Lord's doing.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
As it was of the utmost importance that the appointment should be under the divine direction and control, the determination was made by the miraculous lot, tribes, families, and individuals being successively passed until Saul was found.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵ֜ל | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַרְּאִיתֶם֙ | hareitem | ¿ do you see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [the one] whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּֽחַר־ | bachar- | he has chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| בּ֣וֹ | bo | <in> <the> him | ||
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כָּמֹ֖הוּ | kamohu | [is] like him | H3644 → | 143 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | among all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַיָּרִ֧עוּ | vaiyariu | and they shouted | H7321 → | 44 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֛ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְחִ֥י | yechi | may he live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ פ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁמוּאֵ֜לSamuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַרְּאִיתֶם֙¿ do you see
hareitemH7200 →1300 times
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[the one] whom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בָּֽחַר־he has chosen
bachar-H977 →171 times
בּ֣וֹ<in> <the> him
bo
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
כָּמֹ֖הוּ[is] like him
kamohuH3644 →143 times
בְּכָל־among all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַיָּרִ֧עוּand they shouted
vaiyariuH7321 →44 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֛םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
יְחִ֥יmay he live
yechiH2421 →282 times
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ פthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 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
Deuteronomy 17:15you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:21
Their leader will be one of their own, and their ruler will arise from their midst. And I will bring him near, and he will approach Me, for who would dare on his own…
- 1 Chronicles 22:10
He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel…
- Jeremiah 30:21
Through
1 Kings 1:39Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!”
it leads to
- Psalms 89:20
I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
- 1 Chronicles 29:22
That day they ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD. Then, for a second time, they designated David’s son Solomon as king, anointing him before the LORD as ruler,…
- 1 Kings 1:34
There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
- Psalms 89:20
Through
2 Kings 11:12Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and declared, “Long live…
it leads to
- Exodus 25:16
And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.
- 1 Kings 1:39
Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!”
- Exodus 31:18
When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Exodus 25:16
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; 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).
