1 Samuel 9:11
in 1 Samuel 9And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?
KJV
And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here?
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This verse in 1 Samuel 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd as they went up the hill to the city,.... For the city was built upon an hill, from whence it had the name of Ramah, which signifies high and lifted up: they found young maidens going out to draw water: going out of the city, to a fountain which was at the bottom of the hill; and this was the usual business of maidens in those countries to fetch water for the service of the family; see Gill on Gen 24:11; see Gill on Gen 24:15; see Gill on Gen 24:16. R.
This site's exposition
some young women coming out to draw water
on 1 Samuel 9:11-13
The young women answer with more detail than the question needed: the sacrifice today, the order of eating and the hour to find him. Their precision reads like a town that knows its prophet's schedule. Saul cannot know that the LORD told Samuel the day before whom to expect, so what looks like local knowledge is the edge of a plan already in motion.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And when they ascended the slope of the city, they found the maidens, etc. With his followers of his incarnation, and as the Lord began to teach the sublime precepts of the new life to the first believers, humble and chaste souls appeared, having come …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
Those who seek the man of God come into the city, because it often happens that the life and teaching of a prelate is sought in the conduct of his subjects. So indeed trees too are often examined, whose beauty is found not in their leaves but in their fruit. Often, however, undergrowth that has sprung up is mingled with great trees, and its fruits falsely claim to be the fruits of those trees with which they are mixed.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Gibeah of Saul was not twenty miles from Ramah where Samuel dwelt, and was near to Mizpeh where he often judged Israel, and yet, it seems, Saul had lived so very privately, and had taken so little notice of public affairs, that he had never seen Samuel, for when he met him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Young maidens going out to draw water - So far is it from being true, that young women were always kept closely shut up at home, that we find them often in the field, drawing and carrying water, as here.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
as they went up the hill--The modern village, Er-Rameh, lies on an eminence; and on their way they met a band of young maidens going out to the well, which, like all similar places in Palestine, was beyond the precincts of the town.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֗מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| עֹלִים֙ | ʾolim | [were] going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בְּמַעֲלֵ֣ה | bemaaleh | on [the] ascent of | H4608 → | |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְהֵ֙מָּה֙ | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מָצְא֣וּ | matzeu | they found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| נְעָר֔וֹת | nearot | young women | H5291 → | |
| יֹצְא֖וֹת | yotzeot | coming out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לִשְׁאֹ֣ב | lisho | to draw | H7579 → | |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָהֶ֔ן | lahen | to <the> them | ||
| הֲיֵ֥שׁ | hayesh | ¿ [is] there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| בָּזֶ֖ה | bazeh | in this [place] | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הָרֹאֶֽה׃ | haroeh | the seer | H7203 → | 12 times |
הֵ֗מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
עֹלִים֙[were] going up
ʾolimH5927 →890 times
בְּמַעֲלֵ֣הon [the] ascent of
bemaalehH4608 →
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וְהֵ֙מָּה֙and they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
מָצְא֣וּthey found
matzeuH4672 →455 times
נְעָר֔וֹתyoung women
nearotH5291 →
יֹצְא֖וֹתcoming out
yotzeotH3318 →1067 times
לִשְׁאֹ֣בto draw
lishoH7579 →
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
לָהֶ֔ןto <the> them
lahen
הֲיֵ֥שׁ¿ [is] there
hayeshH3426 →140 times
בָּזֶ֖הin this [place]
bazehH2088 →1180 times
הָרֹאֶֽה׃the seer
haroehH7203 →12 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
Judges 5:11the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went…
it leads to
- Micah 6:5
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
- Judges 5:8
When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.
- 1 Samuel 12:7
Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
- Deuteronomy 22:24
you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he…
- Micah 6:5
Through
Exodus 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
it leads to
- Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
- Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Genesis 24:14–20
Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be…
- Genesis 29:6–10
“Is he well?” Jacob inquired. “Yes,” they answered, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep.”
- Genesis 24:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.