1 Samuel 10:9–10:13, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 10:9–10:13
Saul prophesies as the signs arrive
God gives another heart, and the signs arrive that day
When Saul has turned his back to go from Samuel, God gives him another heart, and all those signs come to pass that day. At the hill, a company of prophets meets him. The Spirit of God comes upon him, and he prophesies among them. 'Another heart' marks divinely enabled change for the task. It is not a transplant, not a diagnosis, and not a guarantee of character.
Acquaintances mint a proverb
People who knew him before say one to another, what is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? One answers, but who is their father? Therefore it becomes a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets? When he has made an end of prophesying, he comes to the high place.
The same proverb later appears in a darker scene, and interpreters debate its tone. Here the signs visibly occur without settling Saul's future. Unusual prophetic behavior is not to be equated with illness, manufactured as a leadership credential, or used to shame anyone's mind. The episode does not prove permanent faithfulness.
How this should shape us
Do not turn a sudden religious episode into a medical verdict or a career badge. Receive a real change of capacity without treating it as a finished character, and refuse to mock either prophecy or illness with this proverb.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Samuel 10:9–10:13 in your own words, including its movement, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one misuse the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful readers disagree?
Best judgment: The repeated proverb later appears in a darker scene, and interpreters debate its tone; here the signs visibly occur without settling Saul's future.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
1 Samuel 10:9–10:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 10:9–10:13; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 10:9–10:13
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 10:9–10:13
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 4:1b–12:25, pp. 50–76
Supports: Public scholarly control against equating ancient spirit language with modern diagnosis, evil, rejection, or violence; not clinical assessment.
Baden, 'Mental Illness, Evil Spirits, and Scripture,' Yale Reflections, sections 'Readings and Misreadings,' 'Sorting Out the Frameworks,' and 'Interpretive Circle,' accessed 2026-08-29
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 10:9–10:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 10:9–10:13; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 10:9–10:13
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
The Book of Samuel: Its Composition, Structure and Significance as a Historiographical Source
Moshe Garsiel
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 10.5, 2010
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Exact location: Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 10:9–10:13
Open source ↗scholarly monograph frontmatter and table of contents
The Theology of the Book of Samuel
John Goldingay
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Exact location: Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 4:1b–12:25, pp. 50–76
Open source ↗public scholarly essay
Mental Illness, Evil Spirits, and Scripture
Joel Baden
Yale Divinity School Reflections, undated page; accessed 2026-08-29
Supports: Public scholarly control against equating ancient spirit language with modern diagnosis, evil, rejection, or violence; not clinical assessment.
Exact location: Baden, 'Mental Illness, Evil Spirits, and Scripture,' Yale Reflections, sections 'Readings and Misreadings,' 'Sorting Out the Frameworks,' and 'Interpretive Circle,' accessed 2026-08-29
Open source ↗