Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry is come to me.
Saul’s unawareness is evident in that he did not know who Samuel was, even though Samuel was Israel’s leading judge and prophet. Evidently a dining hall stood near the high place (1 Samuel 9:22). It may have been a room in a larger religious building. [Note: Youngblood, pp. 622-23.] Giving the special leg of meat to Saul was a sign of special honor (1 Samuel 9:23-24). Before retiring for the night, Samuel and Saul continued their conversation on the typically flat roof of the house, probably for privacy as well as comfort (1 Samuel 9:25; cf. Acts 10:9).