Teks -- 1 Samuel 9:2 (NET)

9:2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: 1Sa 9:2 - Goodly

Comely and personable.

Wesley: 1Sa 9:2 - Higher

A tall stature was much valued in a king in ancient times, and in the eastern countries.

JFB: 1Sa 9:2 - Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly

He had a fine appearance; for it is evident that he must have been only a little under seven feet tall. A gigantic stature and an athletic frame must have been a popular recommendation at that time in that country.

Clarke: 1Sa 9:2 - From his shoulders and upwards

From his shoulders and upwards - It was probably from this very circumstance that he was chosen for king; for, where kings were elective, in all ancient times great respect was paid to personal appearance.

TSK: 1Sa 9:2 - choice // from his shoulders

choice : 1Sa 16:7; Gen 6:2; 2Sa 14:25, 2Sa 14:26; Jer 9:23

from his shoulders : 1Sa 10:23, 1Sa 17:4; Num 13:33

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: 1Sa 9:2 - And a goodly // He was higher than any of the people

And a goodly Heb. good , i.e. comely and personable, as that word is used, Gen 6:2 ; as evil is put for deformed, Gen 41:19 .

He was higher than any of the people: a tall stature was much valued in a king in ancient times, and in the eastern countries.

Haydock: 1Sa 9:2 - Goodlier // Choice

Goodlier, better proportioned, more handsome, (Haydock) as the daughters of men are styled good, or fair, Genesis vi. 1. People seek for corporal advantages in those who command. The poets always represent their deities and heroes as taller than the rest of men. A king of Sparta was fined for marrying a little woman. (Aristotle, Polit. iv.) The Ethiopians give their highest offices to those who have the most engaging appearance. (Herodotus iii. 20.) (Calmet) ---

Little people may be elegant, but never majestic or perfectly beautiful. (Aristotle, Ethic. iv. 3.) (Menochius) ---

Choice, is taken in the same sense as goodly, and does not intimate that Saul was one of the elect. (Denis the Carthusian)

Gill: 1Sa 9:2 - And he had a son whose name was Saul // a choice young man, and a goodly // and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he // from his shoulders and upwards he was higher than any of the people

And he had a son whose name was Saul,.... Of this name was the great apostle of the Gentiles before his conversion, and was of the same tribe also; but very different in stature; he was a little man, this a large tall man, like his father perhaps:

a choice young man, and a goodly; 1Sa 2:1 of a goodly aspect, a comely man, tall and well shaped, in the prime of his age, a very agreeable person, one among a thousand:

and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he; meaning not for the endowments of his mind, or his moral character and behaviour. There might be as good, or better men than he, on such accounts, but for his outward appearance, his bodily shape, and the dignity of his person:

from his shoulders and upwards he was higher than any of the people; this description of him is enlarged upon and explained, to show that he was just such a person the people were desirous of having king over them, such an one as the nations about them had; and it was usual with the eastern people, and so with the Greeks and Romans, to choose persons to the highest offices of magistracy that made a personable appearance superior to others, and is what they often take notice of, as a recommendation of them as princes. Herodotus ^l reports of the Ethiopians, that they judged the largest of the people, and him who had strength according to his size, most worthy to be king. And the same writer observes ^m, that among the many thousands of men of the army of Xerxes, there was not one who for comeliness and largeness was so worthy of the empire as Xerxes himself; so Ulysses, because of his height, was the more acceptable to the people of Corfu ⁿ; so Alexander's captains, it is said ^o, might be thought to be kings for their beautiful form, height of body, and greatness of strength and wisdom. Julius Caesar is said to be of high stature; and so Domitian ^p; Virgil ^q represents Turnus as in body more excellent than others, and by the entire head above them; and Anchises as walking statelier and higher than the rest ^r; among the many encomiums Pliny ^s gives of Trajan, as to his outward form and appearance, this is one, "proceritas corporis", height of body, being higher than others; the Gentiles had a notion that such men came nearer to the deities, and looked more like them; so Diana is described as taller than any of the nymphs and goddesses ^t. Solomon, according to Josephus ^u, chose such young men to ride horses, and attend his person, when he himself rode, who were conspicuous for their height, and greatly above others.