1:21 not anointed with oil. It was customary to condition and preserve leather shields by rubbing them with oil (Is. 21:5). It may be more than coincidental that the particular wording is associated with royalty. Not only were kings “anointed” (1 Sam. 2:10 note) for their office, but the word “shield” is sometimes used in the Old Testament as a figure for “sovereign” or “chieftain.” Beneath the literal meaning of the words is perhaps the implication, ‘‘sovereign Saul, no longer anointed with oil.”