What Does 1 Samuel 9:2 Mean?

to exist, i.e., be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)

“And he had a son”

a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or

“whose name”

an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character

“was Saul”

shaul, the name of an edomite and two israelites

“a choice young man”

properly, selected, i.e., a youth (often collective)

“a goodlier”

good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good

a nonentity; generally used as a negative particle

“person”

a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)

“And he had a son”

a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or

“of Israel”

he will rule as god; jisral, a symbolical name of jacob; also (typically) of his posterity

“a goodlier”

good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good

properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses

“than he from his shoulders”

the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens; figuratively, the spur of a hill

“and upward”

properly,the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etc

“he was higher”

elevated (or elated), powerful, arrogant

properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)

“than any of the people”

a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock