1 Samuel 9:4
in 1 Samuel 9So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.
KJV
And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 9
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The land of Shalisha was somewhere near Gilgal, i. e., Jiljulieh. It is thought to derive its name from “three” (Shalosh) wadys which unite in the wady of Karawa. The situation of Shalim is not known: its etymology connects it more probably with the land of Shual 1Sa 13:17, apparently round Taiyibeh, which was about nine miles from Gibeah. Zuph - 1Sa 9:5, see 1Sa 1:1 note.
This site's exposition
go seek the asses
on 1 Samuel 9:3-5
The straying donkeys send Saul across four districts of the hill country, mount Ephraim, Shalisha, Shalim and the land of the Benjamites, and the search finds nothing until Saul is ready to quit and go home to his worried father. The lost-property errand is as unplanned as David's trip carrying bread and cheese to his brothers' camp at 17:17-20, and in both chapters an ordinary errand is the road God uses to bring a future king into the story. Saul's readiness to turn back at verse 5 makes the servant's suggestion, and Saul's willingness to follow it, the hinge everything else in the chapter turns on.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
And because through the five senses of the body they fall into those same darknesses of sins, they are sought in five regions where they cannot be found, namely Mount Ephraim, the land of Shalisha, and Shaalim, and the land of the Benjaminites, and Zuph. For everyone is hidden where he is cast down through sin; and as one who is lost, it is not known where he is, when he abandons the light of justice in which God placed him. Hence it is that in paradise after the sin, He seeks the first man, saying: "Adam, where are you?"
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But his obedience to his father in it was very commendable. Seest thou a man diligent in his business, and dutiful to his superiors, willing to stoop and willing to take pains? he does as Saul stand fair for preferment. The servant of Kish would be faithful only as a servant, but Saul as a son, in his own business, and therefore he was sent with him.
And they passed through Mount Ephraim,....
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר | vaiyaavor | and he passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּהַר־ | behar- | in [the] hill country of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| אֶפְרַ֛יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| וַיַּעֲבֹ֥ר | vaiyaavor | and he passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּאֶֽרֶץ־ | beeretz- | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שָׁלִ֖שָׁה | shalishah | Shalisha | H8031 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָצָ֑אוּ | matzau | they found [them] | H4672 → | 455 times |
| וַיַּעַבְר֤וּ | vaiyaavru | and they passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְאֶֽרֶץ־ | veeretz- | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שַׁעֲלִים֙ | shaalim | Shaalim | H8171 → | |
| וָאַ֔יִן | vaayin | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| וַיַּעֲבֹ֥ר | vaiyaavor | and he passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּאֶֽרֶץ־ | beeretz- | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יְמִינִ֖י | yemini | [the] Jaminite[s] | H3227 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָצָֽאוּ׃ | matzau | they found [them] | H4672 → | 455 times |
וַיַּעֲבֹ֧רand he passed
vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times
בְּהַר־in [the] hill country of
behar-H2022 →546 times
אֶפְרַ֛יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
וַיַּעֲבֹ֥רand he passed
vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times
בְּאֶֽרֶץ־in [the] land of
beeretz-H776 →2504 times
שָׁלִ֖שָׁהShalisha
shalishahH8031 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מָצָ֑אוּthey found [them]
matzauH4672 →455 times
וַיַּעַבְר֤וּand they passed
vaiyaavruH5674 →556 times
בְאֶֽרֶץ־in [the] land of
veeretz-H776 →2504 times
שַׁעֲלִים֙Shaalim
shaalimH8171 →
וָאַ֔יִןand there not
vaayinH369 →789 times
וַיַּעֲבֹ֥רand he passed
vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times
בְּאֶֽרֶץ־in [the] land of
beeretz-H776 →2504 times
יְמִינִ֖י[the] Jaminite[s]
yeminiH3227 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מָצָֽאוּ׃they found [them]
matzauH4672 →455 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
2 Kings 4:42Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 9:7
“If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do…
- Matthew 14:16–21
“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”
- John 6:13
So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
- 1 Samuel 9:7
Through
Genesis 33:18After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.
it leads to
- Acts 7:16
Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
- Joshua 24:1
Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
- Judges 9:1
Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
- John 4:5
So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
- Acts 7:16
Through
Judges 19:1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
it leads to
- Judges 18:1
In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among…
- Judges 18:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).