Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa 1 Samuel 19:24

This is the meaning of the extra letter ו in בקרבתם לפני ה׳ ו־ימותו. The Torah alludes to the fact that though these righteous people felt that they were approaching an area which would result in this "kiss of death" they did not flinch and kept getting closer. They attained a state of religious intoxication. The desire of their souls to fuse with the divine was so overpowering that they no longer made decisions in which their powers of conscious perception were involved. If we were to evaluate part of the emotional process these people underwent, perhaps the following may help. There are times when certain people feel such an overpowering hatred for someone that they will abandon all restraining influences in the desire to exercise their revenge even while they are subconsciously aware that they are forfeiting their very lives by the act of revenge. This may be the mystical dimension of what appears as licentious behaviour by prophets in Samuel I 19. There is a mystifying verse in Samuel I 19,24 which tells of Saul's pursuit of David and the religious experiences first experienced by the messengers despatched to capture David who at that time was in the proximity of the prophet Samuel and other prophets. All the messengers are reported as being overcome by an aura of religious experiences of these prophets. Eventually, the same happened to Saul himself. He is described as having divested himself of his clothing and remained naked [symbol of the desire to abandon the restrictions imposed on man by his body, Ed.] for a whole day in the presence of the prophet Samuel. Perhaps that verse affords us an inkling of the result of overpowering emotions of hatred. When we think of the other extreme of man's emotional range, his love for his source, i.e. his Creator, and the overpowering desire to be united with that source, we may have an inkling of what possessed Nadav and Avihu at the time. Basically speaking, we are dealing with the natural abhorrence each soul has for the need to be imprisoned inside a mere body. It is always the soul's desire to escape this body. Nadav and Avihu's souls experienced such an urge in an unusual manner. [At this point the author describes how a person may arrive at progressively purer insights due to his mind's ability to triumph over the impeding element of self, ego. Eventually, such a person will view "life" itself in an entirely new light such as hinted at by Moses in Deut. 30 19 when he exhorts the Jewish people to "choose life." The letter ב at the beginning of the word ב־חיים, is understood to refer to a life devoid of what he calls הרגש הכללי, emotions felt by all normal human beings. The author blesses the Lord for having granted selected individuals the ability to rise to such spiritual heights. Ed.]

“You know the man.” You recognize the man, that he is insane.⁵Occasionally, prophets under the influence of prophecy lost control of themselves and acted strangely.—Metzudas Dovid. See I Shmuel 19:24. Also, followers of the Baal were making these derogatory remarks about the prophet.—Radak

ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו, G’d, did not extend His helping hand to enable these nobles and elders to grant them the level of prophetic status while they were oblivious to their five senses with which they perceived while merely human beings. We encounter such a concept in Ezekiel 8,1 when the prophet describes an inspiration received with the words: ותפול עלי יד ה', “and the “hand” of G’d “fell” upon me there.” The use of this phraseology describes the separation of the “normal” senses used for perception employed by the prophet, and his transformation into a super terrestrial dimension. [It is probably impossible to really “translate” this line into the vernacular in any language. The main point our author makes, as opposed to other commentators, is that this “hand of G’d” is not perceived by him as one that is retributive in character, but, on the contrary, as one that elevates the human being to a spiritually higher dimension.” In our context the Torah says that the “visions” achieved by these אצילי בני ישראל, were not further helped along by G’d. Ed.] Examples of people who divest themselves of human senses, or human garb, (a simile for their senses?) are King Saul in Samuel I 19,24 “then he too stripped off his clothes and he too spoke in ecstasy before Samuel, and he lay naked all day and night. This is why people say: “Is Saul too among the prophets?”