As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him.

As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat till he come: because he blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now therefore go up, for to day you shall find him.

As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people eat not until he has come, because he blesses the sacrifice; afterwards they eat that are invited. And now go up; for this very day shall ye find him.

As soon as ye shall enter the city, ye will straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he cometh, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now therefore go up: for about this time ye will find him.

At your going in to the city so ye do find him, before he doth go up in to the high place to eat; for the people do not eat till his coming, for he doth bless the sacrifice; afterwards they eat, who are called, and now, go up, for at this time ye find him.'

As soon as you be come into the city, you shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he does bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time you shall find him.

When you come into the town you will see him straight away, before he goes up to the high place for the feast: the people are waiting for his blessing before starting the feast, and after that the guests will take part in it. So go up now and you will see him.

As soon as you have come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you shall find him.'

Upon entering the city, you should find him immediately, before he ascends to the high place for the meal. And the people will not eat until he has arrived. For he blesses the victim, and thereafter those who were called will eat. Now therefore, go up. For you will find him today."

Before he go up - By this phrase we see that the high place was in the highest part of the city. Like the "house of the god Berith" Judges 9:46, it was probably the citadel of Ramah. There was connected with the altar a room large enough for thirty people to dine in 1-Samuel 9:22.

He doth bless the sacrifice - He alone can perform the religious rites which are used on this occasion.
Afterwards they eat that be bidden - Among the Arabs, often a large feast is made of sacrificed camels, etc., and then the people of the vicinity are invited to come and partake of the sacrifice. This is the custom to which allusion is made here.

As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth (h) bless the sacrifice; [and] afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him.
(h) That is, give thanks and distribute the meat according to their custom.

As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him,.... By which it seems that the house of Samuel was at that end of it at which they entered; and with which agrees what is observed in the preceding verse, that "he was before them", his house was in sight of them:
before he go up to the high place to eat; intimating they would, if they made haste, come up to him before he got thither to sit down and eat with the people; for if they did not, they would not be able to see him and speak with him for some time, if on that day:
for the people will not eat until he come; partly out of affection and veneration for him, being their chief magistrate, as well as seer or prophet, and partly for the reason following:
because he doth bless the sacrifice; ask a blessing upon it, upon the meat of the peace offerings before it was eaten; for as this was usually done at every common meal, then much more at such a solemn festival as this. Jarchi gives us the form of blessing used on such an occasion,"blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the King of the world, who hath sanctified us by his commandments, and hath commanded us to eat the sacrifice:''and "afterwards they eat that be bidden"; for when a man offered his peace offerings, he not only had his family with him, but invited his friends, and the poor, and the fatherless, the strangers, and the Levites, to partake with him, see Deuteronomy 12:18, the number of the guests at this time, see in 1-Samuel 9:22.
Now therefore get ye up; ascend the hill as fast as ye can:
for about this time ye shall find him; that is, by the time they could get up the hill into the city they would find him coming out of his house to go to the sacrifice: or "as this day" (h); so sure as the day is, so sure shall ye find him.
(h) "invenietis cum tam certo quam certum est hunc diem esse", Drusius; so Jarchi.

"When ye come into the city, ye will find him directly before he goes up to the high place to eat." כּן not only introduces the apodosis, but corresponds to כּ, as, so: here, however, it is used with reference to time, in the sense of our "immediately." "For the people are not accustomed to eat till he comes, for he blesses the sacrifice," etc. בּרך, like εὐλογεῖν, refers to the thanksgiving prayer offered before the sacrificial meal. "Go now for him; yet will meet him even to-day." The first אתו is placed at the beginning for the sake of emphasis, and then repeated at the close. כּהיּום, "Even to-day."

Find him - At home and at leisure. To eat - The relicks of the sacrifices. Doth bless - The blessing of this sacrifice seems to have consisted both of thanksgiving, this being a thank - offering, and of prayer to God for its acceptance.