Hebrew Word Study – Overcoming Obstacles – Tselach – צלח Sade Lamed Cheth 

I Samuel 10:10: “And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him (Saul); and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.”

Growing up in the Baptist church the only thing I knew about prophecy was that it was to foretell the future.  So, when I read this verse I assumed that when Saul met up with a company of prophets these prophets were talking about the rapture and the antichrist. Then when Saul joined in he also started to talk about the Great Tribulation and all the end-time things. 

It wasn’t even until I had long graduated from seminary that I started to hear people talk about prophesying and I was invited to a meeting where there would be a prophet, I assumed someone who would be there to foretell the future.  Well, this prophet did that but he also told people of illnesses they had and that God was going to heal them. He would call people out of the audience and give them a “word” from the Lord and they would do a little dance and give a praisealleluia.  No one, however, really had a definitive explanation as to what prophesying really is. 

The word in Hebrew used in I Samuel 10:10 for what Saul did when the Spirit came upon him is naba’ in its root form and if you look it up in your lexicon it will say it means prophesy.  Well back to first base. Let’s trace this word to its Semitic origins and see if we can shed some more light on what was in the minds of the people of Saul’s day when they heard the word naba’.  In the Akkadian, it is to proclaim or make an announcement. Well, that doesn’t fit this context, it appears all the prophets were announcing at the same time and with all that jabbering, no one could make out what they were talking about.

Ok, let’s dig into naba’ a little deeper. In the Persian language, this word means to make a low sound to convey information.  Low sound in the sense of speaking coherently and clearly.  In the Aramaic, it is nababa which is to growl. None of these fit the context. However, Samson Hirsch the 19th linguist and Hebrew master says the word is also used to express someone who is in an ecstatic state, that is overwhelmed with joy and happiness.  Like at a football game when your team wins, the audience is ecstatic or overwhelmed with joy.  Well, that doesn’t really fit the prophets that I have witnessed in numerous prophetic meetings, but it does fit the context here. Saul had just received a new heart from God or a clean heart from God and now he runs into a group of prophets who are ecstatically overwhelmed with joy, the joy of the Lord.

Wait, that is a company of prophets.  Well, in the Hebrew it is the word company is chaval which has a wide range of usages.  It is used for a measuring stick or just a cord or piece of rope.  It carries the idea of tying things together, creating a unity.  So, Saul met up with a group of prophets who were in a state of euphoria and in unity with this ecstatic joy.  Obviously, they were worshipping and praising God and when Saul walked among them he was also caught up in this exhilaration.

But why was Saul caught up in it? The Bible says that the Spirit of God tselach ‘aliu which is read as came upon him.  But if it is just the idea of the Spirit of God coming upon him the Hebrew word bo should be used.  Tselach means more than just coming upon something. It means overcoming obstacles to reach something or someone.  The Holy Spirit could not be manifested in Saul until certain obstacles were overcome. I suppose we could speculate on what these obstacles were but that is not the point of this study.  The point of this study is what happened to Saul when he walked among the prophets. He must have felt something or experienced something.

When I was a child in church we used to sing a hymn called “All Hail The Power of Jesus’s Name.”   It wasn’t until I was an adult and grew into a deeper relationship with God that I began to realize the power of that song. Unfortunately, when I reached the age of understanding the power of those words, the church stopped singing it.  But this was a great song of worship in the church for many years. 

All hail the power of Jesus Name, 

Let angels prostrate fall

Bring forth the royal diadem 

And crown Him Lord of All. 

When I consider the power in the name or reputation of Jesus I am overwhelmed. This is the power that came upon Saul and broke through all the obstacles that kept him from joining his spirit with the Spirit of God. 

I remember reading a story about this song. E.P. Scot was a missionary to India.  One day he saw an unusual tribesman walking down the street and he asked about him.  He was told it was a man from a mountain tribe who came only once a year to the city. It occurred to E.P. Scot that this tribe most likely never heard the Gospel so E.P. Scot decided he would take the Gospel to them.  Many tried to discourage him and told him that the moment he set foot in their territory they would kill him and ask questions later. But E.P. Scot was confident in the power of God and he went alone up into the mountains.  Everyone said goodbye and I mean like goodbye we will never see you again.  

Well, sure enough, the moment he set foot in the territory of this tribe he was surrounded by men bearing spears, each spear pointed to him ready to do its dirty work. E.P. Scot had brought his violin with him, he was an accomplished artist. So, in the few moments he had before the spears began to fly, he pulled out his violin and began to play “All hail the power of Jesus Name.” Suddenly, one by one the tribesmen dropped their spears and many of them wept. E.P. Scot spent the next two and a half years teaching them of the love of Jesus as the whole tribe gave their hearts to God. 

So, what happened to Saul when he prophesied with the prophets.  I believe the same thing that happened to those tribesmen when they heard the music to a song they did not even know, but they sensed a power beyond that music and I believe in their hearts they knew it was the power of the true God and Saul realized the same thing that day on that hill.

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