1 Samuel 9:21-23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
21 Saul replied: “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel,[a] and is not my clan the least among the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why say such things to me?”(A)
The Meal.[b] 22 Samuel then took Saul and his servant and brought them into the room. He seated them at the head of the guests, of whom there were about thirty. 23 He said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you and told you to put aside.”
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- 9:21 Smallest of the tribes of Israel: Saul’s objection is a common element in call narrative, e.g., Ex 3:11; 4:10; Jgs 6:15.
- 9:22–24 At this ritual meal, Samuel treats the youthful Saul as if he were already king. Saul receives the part of the sacrificed animal reserved for the priest and his family, perhaps the sheep’s fat tail. Legal texts (Ex 29:22; Lv 3:9; 7:3–4) require the priest to burn this portion of the sheep on the altar.
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