1 Samuel 19:18–24

Samuel 19:18–24

WHEN DAVID HAD fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; 20so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also prophesied. 21Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

23So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Original Meaning

Saul Sends Men to Capture David at Ramah (19:18–21)

HAVING FLED FROM SAUL’S WRATH and having no place else to go, David returns to Samuel, whose center for operations is at Ramah (7:17).2 Though we have not heard anything from Samuel since David’s anointing (16:13), he is evidently active as the leader of a band of prophets at Ramah. The irony of David’s presence in Ramah with Samuel should not escape us. Though the text of 1 Samuel 10 does not say so explicitly, it appears that this is the place where God led Saul and Samuel to meet for the first time and where the old prophet anointed Saul king of Israel (10:1–8).3 If so, this is also where Saul first received the promise of the Spirit of God and where his heart was transformed (10:6, 9). Now, however, the tide has turned, and it is David who meets Samuel at Ramah.

Samuel takes David to “Naioth at Ramah” (19:18–19). The Hebrew word translated “Naioth” is probably not a proper noun (as in NIV) but rather a reference to “camps,” or remote country dwelling places, which could become the residences of shepherds and could be associated with the dwelling place of God.4 Perhaps Samuel’s prophetic group lives in these camps and is accustomed to meeting God there. When Saul’s espionage sources tell him where David is, he sends three detachments to these camps at Ramah to capture David. But in all three instances, his envoys become enamored with the feverish worship, and they also prophesy in the spirit of God and are thereby distracted from their unworthy errand.

Saul Prophesies at Ramah (19:22–24)

Bridging Contexts

WHEN BOTH SAUL and David were anointed with oil and marked as messianic leaders of God’s people, they received the “Spirit” of God (cf. 10:1–13; 16:1–13; see comments). In both cases, the terminology implies a sudden burst of heroic strength or prophetic ecstasy, which empowers them for service (10:10; 16:13). In Saul’s case, the arrival of the Spirit changed his heart, and he became a different person (10:6, 9). In David’s case, the Spirit simply came “in power,” and the effects became evident when he defeated Goliath (16:13; ch. 17).

In order to move from the original context of this account to contemporary meaning, it is necessary to read this paragraph in light of these previous arrivals of God’s Spirit, especially Saul’s first experience with divine inspiration recorded in 10:1–13. Though the terminology here is only slightly different, the context and results of God’s inspiration are considerably different. Just as the first Spirit-anointing signaled the beginning of Saul’s career, this one signals the end. Rather than baptizing Saul at the inception of his reign and empowering him to rule with peace and justice, the Spirit now constrains him from harming David. “The spirit of Yahweh now haunts him rather than helps him.”8

In the first inspiration of Saul, he joins the band of ecstatic prophets as a welcomed guest. Here, however, he is an unwelcome enemy. In this sense, the recurrence of the question (“Is Saul also among the prophets?”) may be interpreted as a sarcastic piece of irony. When we read them together, these two occurrences of the question may reflect opposing evaluations of Saul when compared to the ecstatic prophets. On the first occasion they are not fit company for him; now he is not fit company for them.9

Contemporary Significance

THE APPLICATION OF this text takes the form of two simple observations. (1) God’s empowering Spirit is a two-edged sword. The victory that God inspires for one is in fact a defeat for another. The same divine intervention that makes it possible for David to kill Goliath now prohibits Saul from killing David. The difference is human responsibility and faithfulness. The tragedy here is that Saul had been the beneficiary of that intervention, whereas now he has become the victim. The extended narrative is not blaming God as capricious or whimsical. The blame rests solely on Saul as a king who has become unfit for ruling. Brueggemann has summarized this well:

The pitifully embarrassing scene is that of this once great man, still tall but no longer great, exhausted by demanding religious exercise (verse 24), clearly not in control, shamed, now rendered powerless in a posture of submissiveness. This episode is an act of dramatic delegitimation of Saul.10

(2) This picture of Saul leads naturally to our second observation. The presence of God’s empowering Spirit is no guarantee of future blessing. Gifted persons and inspired leaders often begin to feel invincible. The evangelical church in the last quarter of the twentieth century saw several of its most visible leaders stumble or even completely lose their ministries (e.g., Gordon MacDonald, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jim Bakker). There is innate danger in the heresy that Spirit-led ministry is invincible, irrespective of continued faithfulness.

This, of course, has implications for all of us as individuals, since we cannot live today on the spiritual blessings of our childhood or early adulthood. But the wider implications for the church are also obvious. No generation can afford to enjoy the spiritual benefits of their ancestors without giving any thought to their own responsibility in service and ministry. The church is always only one generation from extinction.

Original Meaning

Saul Prophesies at Ramah (19:22–24)

FINALLY, OUT OF FRUSTRATION AND DESPERATION, Saul goes himself to the camps at Ramah. But before he even reaches the group, the “Spirit of God” comes, and he begins prophesying as the others before him. It is possible to interpret this “Spirit of God” as the same evil spirit from God that had plagued Saul (16:14; 18:10; 19:9).5 Others have suggested that only Saul lies before Samuel “all that day and night,” in this ecstatic state of external unconsciousness. The soldiers who prophesy do so only a short time, their consciousness returning earlier than Saul’s. In this reading, the text is condemning Saul irrevocably as someone who has resisted God’s grace and opposed God’s purposes with regard to David.6 The soldiers who prophesy under the Spirit’s influence are not detained so long because they are mere emissaries on Saul’s behalf. In any case, Saul’s prophetic ecstasy before Samuel lasts an entire day, giving David plenty of time to escape.

The question closes the chapter, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Its earlier use in 10:11 implied a positive evaluation of Saul. But here, the question, which must have been used in earliest times to characterize Saul, can only imply a negative evaluation. The irony of the question challenges the genuineness of Saul’s prophetic behavior and thus also his legitimacy as king of Israel.7

Bridging Contexts

Contemporary Significance