1 Samuel 10:12
New International Version
A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

New Living Translation
And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?” So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?”

English Standard Version
And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Berean Standard Bible
Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

King James Bible
And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

New King James Version
Then a man from there answered and said, “But who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

New American Standard Bible
And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

NASB 1995
A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

NASB 1977
And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Legacy Standard Bible
And a man there answered and said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Amplified Bible
And a man from there answered, “But who is the father of the others?” So it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Christian Standard Bible
Then a man who was from there asked, “And who is their father? ” As a result, “Is Saul also among the prophets? ” became a popular saying.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then a man who was from there asked, “And who is their father?” As a result, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” became a popular saying.

American Standard Version
And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And a man answered from there and said, “Who is his father?”, because this was a proverb: ‘Behold, Shaul also is among the Prophets!’

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And one of them answered and said, And who is his father? and therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

Contemporary English Version
"Why not?" one of them answered. "Saul has as much right to be a prophet as anyone else!" That's why everyone started saying, "How can Saul be a prophet?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?

English Revised Version
And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But a man from that place asked, "But who's the chief prophet?" So it became a proverb: "Is Saul one of the prophets?"

Good News Translation
A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets--who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?"

International Standard Version
A man from there answered: "Now who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And one of the same place answered and said: 'And who is their father?' Therefore it became a proverb: 'Is Saul also among the prophets?'

Literal Standard Version
And a man there answers and says, “And who [is] their father?” Therefore it has been for an allegory, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Majority Standard Bible
Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

New American Bible
And someone from that district responded, “And who is their father?” Thus the saying arose, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

NET Bible
A man who was from there replied, "And who is their father?" Therefore this became a proverb: "Is even Saul among the prophets?"

New Revised Standard Version
A man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

New Heart English Bible
One of the same place answered, "Who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

World English Bible
One from the same place answered, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Young's Literal Translation
And a man thence answereth and saith, 'And who is their father?' therefore it hath been for a simile, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Samuel's Signs Fulfilled
11All those who had formerly known Saul and saw him prophesying with the prophets asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 10:13
And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.

1 Samuel 19:23
So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 19:24
Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"


Treasury of Scripture

And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

of the same place [heb] from thence

Isaiah 54:13
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

John 6:45
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

John 7:16
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

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Common Prophets Proverb Saul Simile Thence
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Common Prophets Proverb Saul Simile Thence
1 Samuel 10
1. Samuel anoints Saul
2. He confirms him by prediction of three signs
9. Saul's heart is changed, and he prophesies
14. He conceals the matter of the kingdom from his uncle
17. Saul is chosen at Mizpeh by lot
26. The different affections of his subjects














(12) Who is their father?--As an instance of the extreme surprise with which the association of Saul with the sons of the prophets was witnessed by the inhabitants of Gibeah--an association apparently very foreign to his old habits and to the manner of life of his family--a short dialogue between two of the citizens of Gibeah is here related: a conversation important, owing to the words uttered by the second citizen in reply to the amazed question, "What is this that is come unto the son of Kish?" The reply gives us some insight into the deep conviction entertained by the ordinary Israelite of the days of Samuel that the invisible God was ever present, working in the midst of His chosen people.

The reply of the second citizen has been well explained by Von Bunsen:--"Is the son of Kish, then, a prophet?' asks the first citizen, surprised, apparently, that one so undistinguished, that one so unlikely to train up a "son of the prophets," should have a son associated in this peculiar and sudden manner with a chosen band of scholars and teachers. To this question the second citizen replied--no doubt, pointing to the honoured group from the prophet schools of Gibeah--"Do you wonder that the son of so rough and uncultivated a man as Kish should receive the Divine gift which we all love so well and admire so greatly? Who," pointing to the group singing on the hill-side, "who is their father?" They owe their power of persuasive speech, their gift of holy song, to no accident of birth. Surely Saul, like them, may have received the same power as a gift of the Eternal, not as a patrimony. Owing to this obvious meaning not having occurred to them, the LXX., "Vulgate, and Syriac Versions alter the original into, "Who is his (instead of their) father?" in other words, "Who is Saul? and who is his father, Kish?" But the Hebrew text and the English Version, as explained above, gives an admirable sense, and teaches besides a great spiritual lesson.

Verse 12. - One of the same place - i.e. Gibeah - answered and said, But who is their father? The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read, But who is his father? But this would be a foolish reply to the question, "What has happened to the son of Kish?" The meaning rather must be, You ask about the son of Kish; but what has birth to do with prophecy? None of these young men have inherited these gifts, and if Saul can take part in their prophesyings, why should he not? Kish, his father, is no worse than theirs. Is Saul also among the prophets? Under very different circumstances Saul once again took part in the exercises of these youthful prophets (1 Samuel 19:24), and evidently on both occasions with such skill and success as prove the readiness of his genius; and so struck were the people at the strange power which he thus evinced, that their expression of wonder became fixed in the national mind as a proverb. Saul was a man of great natural ability, and yet not the sort of person whom the people expected would be made king. He probably could neither read nor write, and from his extreme height was perhaps awkward and bashful; as he suffered afterwards from fits of insanity (1 Samuel 16:14), he may always have been flighty and wilful; and altogether, though possessed of marvellous gifts, was certainly the very opposite of Samuel's well trained and orderly scholars.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then a man
אִ֥ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

who lived there
מִשָּׁ֛ם (miš·šām)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

replied,
וַיַּ֨עַן (way·ya·‘an)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

“And who
וּמִ֣י (ū·mî)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4310: Who?, whoever, in oblique construction with prefix, suffix

is their father?”
אֲבִיהֶ֑ם (’ă·ḇî·hem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

So the saying
כֵּן֙ (kên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

became
הָיְתָ֣ה (hā·yə·ṯāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

a proverb:
לְמָשָׁ֔ל (lə·mā·šāl)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4912: A pithy maxim, a simile

“Is Saul
שָׁא֖וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

also
הֲגַ֥ם (hă·ḡam)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

among the prophets?”
בַּנְּבִאִֽים׃ (ban·nə·ḇi·’îm)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5030: A spokesman, speaker, prophet


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OT History: 1 Samuel 10:12 One of the same place answered Who (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 10:11
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