1 Samuel 19:22
in 1 Samuel 19Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.
KJV
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 19
Commentary
9 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
came to the large cistern at Secu
on 1 Samuel 19:22-24
Saul goes himself, and the Spirit of God comes upon him before he reaches Naioth, so he prophesies from the cistern at Secu onward and lies before Samuel all day and night. The saying about Saul among the prophets returns from 10:11 to 12, now over a man the Spirit only stops. Wesley reads the collapse as God’s ordering of the hour, giving David room to slip away.
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 Medieval Church1 voice
He also went to Ramatha, etc. After Jewish doctrine did not prevail against Christ, both words and weapons were added to persecute the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God the Father on earth. But even their earthly principality, when searching …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Then went he also to Ramah,....
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.
So impatient was he in his thirst after David's blood, so restless to compass his design against him, that, though baffled by one providence after another, he could not perceive that David was under the special protection of Heaven.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
To a great well - Some large well-known cistern at Sechu, the site of which is uncertain, which Saul passed on his way from Gibeah to Ramah.
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| ה֜וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הָרָמָ֗תָה | haramatah | <the> Ramah towards | H7414 → | 36 times |
| וַיָּבֹא֙ | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בּ֤וֹר | bor | a cistern | H953 → | |
| הַגָּדוֹל֙ | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּשֶּׂ֔כוּ | basekhu | [is] in <the> Secu | H7906 → | |
| וַיִּשְׁאַ֣ל | vaiyishal | and he asked | H7592 → | 171 times |
| וַיֹּ֔אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵיפֹ֥ה | ʾeifoh | where? | H375 → | |
| שְׁמוּאֵ֖ל | shemuel | [are] Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| וְדָוִ֑ד | vedavid | and David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and someone said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֖ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בְּנָי֥וֹת | benoit | at Naioth | H5121 → | 6 times |
| בָּרָמָֽה׃ | baramah | in <the> Ramah | H7414 → | 36 times |
וַיֵּ֨לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
ה֜וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הָרָמָ֗תָה<the> Ramah towards
haramatahH7414 →36 times
וַיָּבֹא֙and he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בּ֤וֹרa cistern
borH953 →
הַגָּדוֹל֙<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּשֶּׂ֔כוּ[is] in <the> Secu
basekhuH7906 →
וַיִּשְׁאַ֣לand he asked
vaiyishalH7592 →171 times
וַיֹּ֔אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵיפֹ֥הwhere?
ʾeifohH375 →
שְׁמוּאֵ֖ל[are] Samuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
וְדָוִ֑דand David
vedavidH1732 →999 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand someone said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֖הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
בְּנָי֥וֹתat Naioth
benoitH5121 →6 times
בָּרָמָֽה׃in <the> Ramah
baramahH7414 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel

Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonJudges to monarchySamuelAsked of God by Hannah and lent to the LORD at Shiloh; the last judge and first of the prophets after Moses, who anointed both Sau…
- PersonUnited monarchySaulIsrael's first king, head and shoulders above the people; began in humility, ended in rejection — sparing what God devoted, consul…
- PlaceHill country of EphraimRamahSamuel's home town, the seat of his circuit as judge, the place David fled to, and the prophet's burial place.
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); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 162A; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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 Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.175-76.
