but you have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, [No], but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands.
After the selection had been made, Samuel announced publicly the rights and duties of a king (25; cf. Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Many of the people were delighted when they saw the appearance of the man who had been chosen king, but some doubted and mocked. Saul therefore made no immediate changes in the nation’s administration, but returned to his farm at Gibeah (26-27). (Gibeah became the administrative centre of Israel during Saul’s reign; see 11:4; 14:2; 15:34; 22:6; 26:1.)