1. 1 Samuel 10:17–27 (ESV)
  2. Structure and outline

The place of 1 Samuel 10:17–27 in the book of 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 10:17–27 (ESV)

17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.

1 Samuel 9:1 – 10:16 dealt with a private anointing which prepared Saul for his work as king of Israel. 1 Samuel 10:17–27 recounts the public selection before the people which serves to confirm the preceding events that took place in private.1

The major literary units comprising the narrative of the rise of Saul (1 Samuel 8:1 – 12:25) appear to alternate between negative (1 Samuel 8:1–22; 1 Samuel 10:17–27; 1 Samuel 11:12 – 12:25) and positive (1 Samuel 9:1 – 10:16; 1 Samuel 11:1–11).2