God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot.
Parallel Translations
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God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot.
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And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
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And the spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 11:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 10:10 When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them.
- Judges 6:34 But Yahweh’s Spirit came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him.
- 1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
- Judges 3:10 Yahweh’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.
- Judges 13:25 Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- Judges 14:6 Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done.
- Judges 11:29 Then Yahweh’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.
- Exodus 32:19 As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
- Numbers 12:3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth.
- Mark 3:5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
- Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God gave him the spirit of strength and courage…
God gave him the spirit of strength and courage to go against this tyrant.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 11:6 And the Spirit of God came upon…
1Sa 11:6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
Ver. 6. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul.] That is, The spirit of fortitude, saith the Chaldee Paraphrast; not that "spirit of love, of power, and of a sound mind." {2Ti 1:7}
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And his anger was kindled greatly.] Anger is cos fortitudinis, saith Aristotle, the whetstone of courage {a} And Saul, though cold in his own cause when slighted and rejected, {1Sa 10:27} is all alight, on fire, exarsit nasus eius, when God is dishonoured, and his people so reproached.
{a} Nervus est animae indignatio.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Spirit of God came upon Saul, inspiring him…
The Spirit of God came upon Saul, inspiring him suddenly with more than ordinary courage, and zeal, and resolution, to engage himself and the people for their rescue. Compare Jdg 3:10; 6:34; 11:29.
His anger was kindled greatly against Nahash, for so insolent and barbarous a proposition.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when…
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,.... And filled him with pity and compassion to the inhabitants of Jabesh, and with wisdom and prudence, and set his thoughts at work to contrive ways and means for their relief, and with fortitude, courage, and resolution, to attempt their deliverance; so the Targum,"the spirit of fortitude from the Lord dwelt on Saul:''and his anger was kindled greatly; against Nahash the Ammonite for insulting Israel, and threatening to use the inhabitants of Jabesh in such a cruel manner.
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,.... And filled him with pity and compassion to the inhabitants of Jabesh, and with wisdom and prudence, and set his thoughts at work to contrive ways and means for their relief, and with fortitude, courage, and resolution, to attempt their deliverance; so the Targum,"the spirit of fortitude from the Lord dwelt on Saul:''and his anger was kindled greatly; against Nahash the Ammonite for insulting Israel, and threatening to use the inhabitants of Jabesh in such a cruel manner.
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1 Samuel 11:7
sa1 11:7
sa1 11:7
sa1 11:7And he took a yoke of oxen,.... Of his own or his father's, which he had just followed out of the field, and for which chiefly that circumstance is mentioned:
and hewed them in pieces; as the Levite did his concubine, Jdg 19:29
and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers; some carrying a piece one way, and some another, throughout all the tribes; for to them all the government of Saul extended, and which by this he let them know it did:
saying, whosoever cometh not after Saul and after Samuel; he names both, because he himself, though chosen king, was not inaugurated into his office, nor was Samuel put out of his; and because he knew he was despised by some, who would not object to and refuse the authority of Samuel, and therefore if they would not follow him, they would follow Samuel; and he mentions himself first, because of his superior dignity:
so shall it be done unto his oxen; be cut to pieces as these were; he does not threaten to cut them in pieces, but their oxen, lest he should seem to exercise too much severity at his first coming to the throne:
and the fear of the Lord fell on the people; they feared, should they be disobedient, the Lord would cut them to pieces, or in some way destroy them, as well as Saul would cut their oxen to pieces; for their minds were impressed with a sense of this affair being of the Lord:
and they came out with one consent; or "as one man" (t), as if they had consulted together; being under a divine impulse, they set out from different parts about much the same time, and met at a place of rendezvous next mentioned.
(t) "tanquam vir unus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. The Spirit of God came upon Saul]…
Verse 6. The Spirit of God came upon Saul] He felt himself strongly excited to attempt the relief of his brethren.
And his anger was kindled greatly.] I believe this means no more than that his courage was greatly excited - he felt himself strong for fight, and confident of success.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain This time the Spirit of God came upon him,…
This time the Spirit of God came upon him, as upon the Judges before him, as a Spirit of supernatural energy and power.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Spirit of fortitude, prudence, and zeal. (Haydock)
Spirit of fortitude, prudence, and zeal. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. The Spirit of God came upon Saul —…
6. The Spirit of God came upon Saul — As it came on the ancient judges. See the marginal references. As the judges of former times had undertaken their great exploits by special inspiration from the Almighty, so also Saul. When he departed from Samuel, that prophet told him after certain signs came to pass to follow the openings of Providence, (see note on 1Sa_10:7,) and here was presented a manifest occasion for him to rise in the dignity of his power and his royal office, and call the nation to arms.
His anger was kindled greatly — At the thought that the children of Ammon would dare threaten Israel with such barbarity.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. the spirit of God came upon Saul] The…
6. the spirit of God came upon Saul] The Heb. for “came upon” describes a sudden and pervading impulse. (Sept. ἐφήλατο: Vulg. insilivit.) A supernatural accession of physical and mental vigour roused his dormant energies into action, and enabled him to meet the crisis promptly.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) And the Spirit of God came upon Saul.—Nothing,…
(6) And the Spirit of God came upon Saul.—Nothing, perhaps, could have moved Saul so deeply as this news respecting the distress of Jabesh-gilead; he was affected not merely by the disgrace to Israel over which the Eternal had so lately directed him to be anointed king, but by the sore peril which menaced the ancient friend and ally of his tribe. On Saul’s heart, thus prepared for action, the Holy Spirit fell, and endued him with extraordinary wisdom, valour, and power for the great and difficult work which lay before him.
We read of the Spirit of the Lord coming upon men like Othniel (Jdg_3:10) and the other great Israelitic judges, who were raised up to be in their day the deliverers of the people; and the immediate result of the Spirit of the Lord coming upon them was to impart new and unusual power to their spirit, power which enabled them successfully to surmount every danger and difficulty which barred the progress of the great work they were specially called upon to do.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And the Spirit of God came upon Saul. Rather,…
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul. Rather, descended mightily upon Saul. (see 1Sa_10:6) No miraculous influence is here meant; far more full of meaning and piety is the lesson so constantly taught in the Book of Judges, that all mighty and noble acts are from God. (Jud_1:3:10 6:34 11:29 13:25 14:6 15:14, etc.) Even the heathen saw in enthusiasm something Divine, for it means the having God within. The energy with which Saul acted was strictly natural, but yet as truly Divine; and it is a sign of the irreligion of modern days that it can see and hear of great and heroic achievements and assign no part in them to God. In the days of Samuel and the judges the whole glory of such acts was ascribed to God. But equally now, whenever men are moved to noble acts, it is "the breath of God" that descends upon them and inspires them.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain His anger was greatly kindled.
1Sa_11:6
His anger was greatly kindled.
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Divine indignation
My subject is Divine indignation--its advantage, its characteristics, and its limitation.
I. Mark the advantage of a good, wholesome indignation. The situation was a critical one. Only a month before, as the LXX give the date, Saul had been anointed king. But it is a weak, disjointed realm of which he is made the head--weak because attacked from without, doubly weak because disunited within. Give Saul a few years of peace, and he will have a chance to produce a different state of affairs, instead of that God sends the young king and young kingdom through a very baptism of fire and blood. And Israel heard, and the people lifted up their voice and wept--wept in impotent helplessness, wept in pity for their brothers, wept in pity for themselves, because in their own opinion they can do nothing. You may have seen, in an occasional fit of repentance, a man who has sold himself body and soul to drunkenness. You may have heard the maudlin sobs in which he humbles himself because he has been such a ten-times fool as to suffer this enemy to encamp within the frontier lines of his life. And you may have seen him slip back to his vice with the tears of shame not quite dry on his cheeks. The man is not the stronger for those tears; he is the weaker. That was like the state of Israel. There never will be help in such tears while the world lasts. Jabesh-Gilead could weep for itself; even the empty eye sockets which Nahash meant to leave them would still be of use for that. Jabesh-Gilead wants something harder than tears; Gods cause wants more than melancholy shakings of the head. God and Israel want a man with a mans heart within him and a mans hand on a sword hilt; and so the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul when he heard those tidings and his anger was kindled greatly. We want something more of that indignation--eager, hot, fiery--which will burn out evil in the hearts and lives of men. Both in the Church and in the market the world needs men who have the courage of their convictions, and who dare act on them. Of such as will shake their heads sagely over the rottenness of this old world we have enough and to spare. Of an idle and ignorant tolerance we have over much. There are some things in human life which should never receive quarter--selfishness, cowardice, and all lying. Give up lamenting for one half hour, and do something to rid the earth of these, something to cleanse your own life of these, and you will not go back to the weeping, having found the better way. The Saga of our pagan ancestors imagined human life as a great tree whose roots were set deep in the earth while the branches towered up to heaven. But a great snake gnawed at the trunk continually, and would, so ran the tale, bring it to the ground one day. There is that great three-headed snake, which is gnawing still at the trunk of our social and national life, and its three heads are faithlessness, lust, and drunkenness. It is time that vain regrets were done with, that weak and mean excuses for these things were put away, and that the Church, believing in her Divine Head, awoke to her part as a company of those who are banded together to do battle to the death against those things which rot the heart out of life. Who will go forth unto the war with us against these? The effort is useless without a spark of Gods own righteous indignation in the hearts of men.
II. Mark the characteristics of this indignation. Human anger resents the hurt, Divine anger resents the wrong. Can you make the distinction, for it is a weighty one? It was the foul wrong meditated against Israel and through Israel against Jehovah, which passed like fire into Sauls blood Divine anger hates sin because it is sin. There is many a man who repents of his sin after it has been found out. Here one who regrets his drunken habits after they have cost him his situation. So long as they only threatened to cost him his soul he heeded not. There one who sorrows over her shattered reputation after it is published to the world. So long as only God knew it did not greatly matter. It is a cruel and bitter mistake, that of hating sins results instead of loathing sin itself. It came to pass that Jesus was led up to Pilate to be tried for His life, and there He was scourged and condemned. And when all this was so fully under way that no human power could stop it, Judas went up to the temple, and, scattering his blood money before the priests, went out into the darkness and hanged himself. All earth and hell might have laughed to scorn the mans folly. Was his sin made any greater because the crucifixion resulted from it? Was that traitor kiss made any blacker because it led to the darkness of Josephs tomb? No. We need to see sin as God in heaven sees it, and that was one reason why the Cross was set up on Calvary, that we might know how sin appears in the eyes of Him who made us.
2. Another characteristic of this Divine indignation I would have you notice: It is not selfish; it is for Gods glory. Mark this in Sauls action. A month or so before, when he was crowned king, certain men would not have him as their ruler. And now, when he comes back victor, his supporters urge him to bring out these men and to slay them without ruth. But with kingly self-command Saul refuses. His sword is to be drawn against the enemies of God, not against the foes of his own fame. His indignation is hot against Ammon, for Ammon is Jehovahs foe. His indignation is nil against these men, for they are only his private enemies. Human indignation is often selfish; Divine anger is fired at any indignity done to Gods glory. Cannot one see the distinction in our Lords own life? When His enemies railed at Him as a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, He held His peace, or only uttered words of solemn warning Against their wilful closing of their eyes to the light. But when He saw the temple courts choked with the tables of the money changers, and the pavements defiled by the sellers of pigeons and lambs, He took a lash of knotted cords and bound it round His hand and drove them out. And when He saw the Pharisee taking the very kitchen spices of the widow, but hold himself free, He spoke words which fell like molten metal on these men. It is easy to see when we are hurt, easier to resent it. That is very human. It is Divine when a man sees his brother made in the image of God outraged, and keep all his indignation tot the cause of God. Suspect your auger when there is self-interest in it; trust it when it burns hot for justice to your brother.
III. Mark the limitation of this indignation. I mean that it will not, that it cannot make up the whole of religion. It needs more than hate of wrong to do that; it needs the love of right. Religion is to love God even more than to hate the devil; and the latter is most valuable when it is a means of leading to the former. I have spoken already of how woefully Saul fell away from this position in which he here stands. He fought for God against Ammon when fighting against Ammon did him no hurt. He fought against God in hunting down David, when Davids life seemed to threaten his throne. His indignation burned hot where his self-interest was not involved; but it went out with a hiss when that can came into play. It is only the fine flame of love--love to right and truth and fair play, love to Jesus Christ--which will bear a man through life scathless, and at last present him faultless at Christs appearing. Do not be content till you have gained that. For indignation melts in the fierce flame of passion, and hatred of wrong vanishes when wrong ministers to ones own wishes. (A. C. Welch, B. D.)
Chivalry
It is pleasant to record of Lord Byron (amidst so much of an opposite character), that in his boyhood at Harrow, finding a new scholar, suffering, like himself, from lameness, he said, Let me know if any fellow bullies you, and Ill thrash him if I can! The boy, who became a clergyman in afterlife, never forgot this piece of chivalry.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the Spirit of God rushed upon him
the Spirit of God rushed upon him
The phrase "rushed upon" means Yahweh's Spirit influenced Saul. In this case he enabled Saul to cause the people to fearfully respect him as their king and to join his army. See how you translated a similar phrase in 1 Samuel 10:6.
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does not come out after
Saul was calling all the men of Israel to come fight against Nahash and the Ammonites.
Then the terror of Yahweh fell on the people
Yahweh enabled people to fearfully respect Saul as their king. The result was that the men rallied together with Saul at Bezek.
Bezek
This is the name of a town near Jabesh Gilead. (See: How to Translate Names)
the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand
"the people of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah were 30,000" ( See: Numbers)
translationWords
Holy Spirit
anger
yoke
cow
send
Israel
Samuel
Yahweh
Judah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.