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When they came down from the place of worship and returned to town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there.
1 Samuel 9:25 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB When they had come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Saul on the housetop.
  • KJV And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.
  • BSB And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.
  • NKJV When they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the top of the house.
  • NASB When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

After the meal they return to the city, and Samuel talks with Saul on the rooftop.

Overview

The private rooftop conversation suggests Samuel is preparing Saul for what lies ahead. Such a setting allowed for quiet, personal instruction. The narrative moves toward the intimate moment of Saul's anointing.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Deut 22:8When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there.
  • Acts 10:9Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
  • 2 Sam 11:2At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at.
  • Neh 8:16So the people went out, and brought them, and made themselves temporary shelters, everyone on the roof of his house, in their courts, in the courts of God’s house, in the wide place of the water gate, and in the wide place of Ephraim’s gate.
  • Jer 19:13and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”
  • Matt 10:27What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Samuel 9:25YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.

How 1 Samuel 9:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.