The incidents leading up to Sam'u-el's discovery of the first king for Is'ra-el present a rather curious story, but are in perfect keeping with the customs and superstitions of those days. There was living in the tribe of Ben'ja-min a wealthy man by the name of Kish, who owned large herds of cattle and asses. According to the habit of Oriental shepherds in pastoral regions, Kish let his animals roam at large during the grazing season, and later sent men to search for them. He had a son to whom he assigned the responsible and honorable task of taking charge of his herds of cattle and asses. The son's name was Saul, and he was tall, handsome, and industrious.
When it was time to gather in the roaming herds Saul and one of his servants left Gib'e-ah, a few miles north of Je-ru'sa-lem, and traveled northwest toward the mountains of E'phra-im in search of his father's herds. After searching for several days without success, Saul proposed to his servant that they return. Their supply of food had given out, and Saul did not wish his father to be alarmed by their long absence.
Since they were not far from Ra'mah, which was the home of the prophet Sam'u-el, Saul's servant suggested that before giving up the search they should consult God. In the land of Ca'naan at the time it was a common thing for people to consult "seers" for help in finding things which had been lost or stolen, or for advice in private matters of importance. Sam'u-el had no doubt encouraged this practice in order to prevent his people from going to heathen magicians, and as a means of opening the way for his more important duties as a prophet of God.
Saul hesitated to follow the suggestion of his servant, for he had no money to pay the customary fee for such advice. But when the servant told him of the small piece of money which he had, Saul agreed to go to the prophet's home.
As we learnt in a previous chapter, Ra'mah was one of the centers of worship which Sam'u-el had provided after the abandonment of the tabernacle at Shi'loh. Preparations for a religious festival were in progress when Saul and his servant reached the town. Making inquiry of some young women, they were told that the prophet was expected to attend the festival to be held that day.
On the day before, as Sam'u-el was in prayer to God about the choice of a king, he was told that the LORD would bring him a man of the tribe of Ben'ja-min, and that he should make him the prince of Is'ra-el. When Saul and his servant drew near, the prophet had a Divine intuition that this was the man of whom the LORD had spoken. Never having met Sam'u-el, Saul asked if he could direct him to the seer of God.
