Ch. 1Sa 13:1-7<\/span>. Revolt of the Israelites under Saul from the Philistines<\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel<\/em> ] The Hebrew cannot be thus translated. It is the common formula for denoting the age of a king at his accession, and the length of his reign. See 2Sa 2:10<\/span>; 2Sa 5:4<\/span>; 1Ki 14:21<\/span>, &c. We must render, “Saul was [ ] years old when he began to reign, and reigned [ ] and two years over Israel.”<\/strong> Either the numbers were wanting in the original document, or they have been accidentally lost. 30 is supplied in the first place by some MSS. of the Sept., and is a plausible conjecture. The length of Saul’s reign may have been 22 or 32 years. He was in the prime of life when elected king, and his reign must have been of some considerable duration. But if he was only 30 years old at his accession, the events here recorded cannot have happened till at least 10 or 15 years after that event, for Jonathan, who has not been mentioned before, now appears as a stout warrior. In this case we have no account of the early years of Saul’s reign. This view appears to be preferable to the supposition that Saul was older at his accession, and that the history is continuous. See Introd. Ch. III.<\/p>\n The whole verse Is omitted by the older copies of the Septuagint, and possibly was not in the original text.<\/p>\n The text of this verse, omitted by the Septuagint, is held to be corrupt, and the numerals denoting Sauls age at his accession as well as the duration of his reign, are thought to be omitted or faulty. Saul may have been about 30 at his accession, and have reigned some 32 years, since we know that his grandson Mephibosheth was five years old at Sauls death 2Sa 4:4<\/span>; and 32 added to the seven and a half years between the death of Saul and that of Ishbosheth, makes up the 40 years assigned to Sauls dynasty in Act 13:21<\/span>. Neither is there any clue to the interval of time between the events recorded in the preceding chapter, and those which follow in this and succeeding chapters. But the appearance of Jonathan as a warrior 1Sa 13:2<\/span> compared with the mention of Saul as a young man 1Sa 9:2<\/span>, implies an interval of not less than ten or fifteen years, perhaps more. The object of the historian is to prepare the way for the history of Davids reign. He therefore passes at once to that incident in Sauls reign, which led to his rejection by God, as recorded in 1Sa 13:13-14<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n 1Sa 13:1<\/span><\/p>\n Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The War of Independence<\/strong><\/p>\n The sacred historian prefaces the account of the War of Independence with a statement as to Sauls age and reign. The Revised Version thus gives it: Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years over Israel. There is no mention of Sauls ago in the present Hebrew text, the number having been accidentally dropped in the copying; but the number thirty, which the translators of the Revised Version have adopted from an emendation of the Septuagint, is very probably correct, as thirty was the usual age for public service amongst the Jews. As to the second half of the statement, many, such as Ewald and Dean Stanley, take it to be a correct account of the period that elapsed between Sauls election and the War of Independence. According to them, the War of Independence began after Saul had reigned two years. But there are several considerations which go to show that this can hardly be accepted.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The abject condition of the country when the War of Independence began.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The age of Jonathan. Jonathan appears in the War of Independence as the captain of a thousand and one of the most heroic warriors of the nation; and as such he could hardly have been less than twenty years of age. That would make him, if Saul had only reigned two years, eighteen years of age when his father was elected king.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The sad deterioration in the character of Saul. The character of Saul, as displayed in the War of Independence, is in marked contrast with that portrayed in the early part of his history. As a young man in the beginning of his career, he was meek, humble, considerate, and self-restrained; but in the War of Independence he is impatient, imperious, cruel, and rash. And according to the Latin proverb, Nemo repents turpissimus est–<\/em>no one becomes wicked all at once–the period of little more than a year is much too short to account for this baleful and disastrous change. As the sacred writers are in the habit of giving the age of each king, and the length of his reign–there are no fewer than thirty-seven illustrations of this in the Old Testament–it seems extremely probable that this was what was actually done in this passage. And I am convinced that the passage originally stood thus: Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years over Israel. My reasons for thinking so are the following:–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The testimony of Paul. He said to the Jews in the synagogue at Antioch, in Pisidia: And afterwards they asked for a king: and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space of forty years (Act 13:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The simple way in which the text might be corrupted. There is the strongest ground for believing that the numbers wore originally written, not in words, but in letters which were used as numerals. (See Keil on Samuel in loc.) The Hebrew letter for forty was Mem, and for two Beth; and, as the two letters in the ancient Hebrew characters are not unlike, the copyist might easily mistake the one for the other, and put into the text the letter for two instead of the letter for forty.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> The period of forty years seems needful to account for all the facts of the history. It seems to explain best the age of Jonathan, the deterioration in the character of Saul, the abject condition of the country under the Philistines when the War of Independence began, and the fact that Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was forty years of age when he began to reign at Mahanaim (2Sa 2:10<\/span>). Saul might marry Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz, shortly after his confirmation in the kingdom; and from this union Jonathan might be born towards the close of the second year haul, the abject condition of the country under the Philistines when the War of Independence began, this national struggle would take place in the twenty-third year of Sauls reign. The contrast between this national gathering at Gilgal and that which took place when Saul was anointed king is very striking. Then there was a full muster, but now it is comparatively meagre. Then the people were flushed with victory, but now they are trembling with fear. Then the future was all bright, but now it is all dark, with hardly one gleam of hope. The truth seems to be that Sauls difficulty lay, not in forcing himself to act, but in restraining himself from acting for nearly the whole of the seven days. Sauls justification of himself was plausible, and might be deemed satisfactory before an earthly tribunal; but Samuel, who was inspired by the All-seeing One, treated it as altogether worthless. The kingdom, instead of descending to his eldest son, as it would have done, had he been faithful, was to be given to another whom God had chosen, and who was to be a man after His own heart. And if we are right in supposing that the War of Independence occurred in the twenty-third year of Sauls reign, David would then be a boy at Bethlehem about thirteen years of age (T. Kirk.<\/em>)<\/p>\n CHAPTER XIII <\/P> Saul chooses a body of troops<\/I>, 1, 2.<\/P> Jonathan smites a garrison of the Philistines<\/I>, 3, 4.<\/P> The Philistines gather together an immense host against Israel<\/I>,<\/P> 5.<\/P> The Israelites are afraid; and some hide themselves in caves,<\/I><\/P> and others flee over Jordan<\/I>, 6, 7.<\/P> Samuel delaying his coming, Saul offers sacrifice<\/I>, 8, 9.<\/P> Samuel comes and reproves him, and Saul excuses himself<\/I>, 10-12.<\/P> Samuel shows him that God has rejected him from being captain<\/I><\/P> over his people<\/I>, 13, 14.<\/P> Samuel departs; and Saul and Jonathan, with<\/I> six hundred men<\/I><\/P> abide in Gibeah<\/I>, 15, 16.<\/P> The Philistines send out foraging companies, and waste the land<\/I>,<\/P> 17, 18.<\/P> Desolate state of the Israelitish army, having no weapons of<\/I><\/P> defence against their enemies<\/I>, 19-23. <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. XIII<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. Saul reigned one year<\/B><\/I>] A great deal of learned labour has been employed and lost on this verse, to reconcile it with propriety and common sense. I shall not recount the meanings put on it. I think this clause belongs to the preceding chapter, either as a part of the whole, or a chronological note added afterwards; as if the writer had said, These things<\/I> (related in 1Sa 12:1-25<\/span>) took place in the first year of Saul’s reign<\/I>: and then he proceeds in the next place to tell us what took place in the second year<\/I>, the two<\/I> most remarkable years of Saul’s reign. In the first he is appointed, anointed, and twice confirmed, viz., at Mizpeh<\/I> and at Gilgal<\/I>; in the second<\/I>, Israel is brought into the lowest state of degradation by the Philistines, Saul acts unconstitutionally, and is rejected from being king. These things were worthy of an especial chronological<\/I> note.<\/P> <\/P> And when he had reigned<\/B><\/I>] This should begin the chapter, and be read thus: “And when Saul had reigned two years over Israel, he chose him three thousand,” tic. The Septuagint<\/I> has left the clause out of the text entirely, and begins the chapter thus: “And Saul chose to himself three thousand men out of the men of Israel.”<\/P> <\/p>\n Reigned one year, <\/B>i.e. had now reigned one year, from his first election at Mizpeh, in which time these things were done, which are recorded 1Sa 11<\/span>; 1Sa 12<\/span>, to wit, peaceably, or righteously. Compare 2Sa 2:10<\/span>. <\/P><\/p>\n 1. Saul reigned one year<\/B>(seeMargin<\/I>). The transactions recorded in the eleventhand twelfth chapters<\/span> were the principal incidents comprising thefirst year of Saul’s reign; and the events about to be described inthis happened in the second year.<\/P><\/p>\n Saul reigned one year<\/strong>,…. “Or the son of a year in his reigning” s; various are the senses given of these words: some interpret them, Saul had a son of a year old when he began to reign, Ishbosheth, and who was forty years of age when his father died, 2Sa 2:10<\/span>, others, who understand the words of Saul himself, think there is an “ellipsis” or defect of the number, and that it may be supplied, that Saul was the son of thirty or forty years, or whatsoever age he may be supposed to be at when he began his reign; others take the words in a figurative sense, that he was like a child of a year old, for purity and innocence; so the Targum,<\/p>\n “as the son of a year, in whom there are no faults, so was Saul when he reigned;”<\/p>\n or he was but a year old, reckoning from the time he was turned into another man, and had another heart, which was immediately after he was anointed king at Ramah by Samuel; or he was but a year old with respect to his kingdom: the inauguration of a king is “natalis imperil”, the birthday of his kingdom, and therefore the words are well enough rendered by us, “Saul reigned one year”; which is to be reckoned either from his unction at Ramah, or rather from his election at Mizpeh, to the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal:<\/p>\n and when he had reigned two years over Israel<\/strong>; which the Jewish chronologers t make to be the whole of his reign, which is not probable, considering the many things done in his reign, the many battles he fought with all his enemies on every side of him, and his long persecution of David; and there were no less than three high priests in his reign; Josephus says q he reigned eighteen years in the lifetime of Samuel, and twenty two years after his death, in all forty; which agrees with Ac 13:21<\/span>. Some interpret it he reigned two years well, and the rest in a tyrannical way; or that at the end of two years, when David was anointed, the kingdom was not reckoned to him, but to David; and to this purpose Dr. Lightfoot writes, that he had been king one year from his first anointing by Samuel at Ramah, to his second anointing by him at Gibeah (Gilgal I suppose he means); and he reigned after this two years more, before the Lord cast him off, and anointed David; and the time he ruled after that was not a rule, but a tyranny and persecution r; but the sense Ben Gersom gives is best of all, that one year had passed from the time of his being anointed, to the time of the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, then he did what follows, chose 3000 men, c. In the first year of his reign was done all that is recorded in the preceding chapter and when he had reigned two years, not two years more, but two years in all, then he did what is related in this chapter.<\/p>\n s “filius anni Saul in regnando ipsum”, Montanus. t Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 35. Juchasin, fol. 11. 1. q Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 9. r Works, vol. 1. p. 55.<\/p>\n The history of the reign of Saul commences with this chapter;<\/p>\n (Note: The connection of 1Sa 13:8-11<\/span> of this chapter with 1Sa 10:8<\/span> is adduced in support of the hypothesis that 1 Samuel 13 forms a direct continuation of the account that was broken off in 1Sa 10:16<\/span>. This connection must be admitted; but it by no means follows that in the source from which the books before us were derived, 1 Samuel 13 was directly attached to 1Sa 8:16<\/span>, and that Samuel intended to introduce Saul publicly as king here in Gilgal immediately before the attack upon the Philistines, to consecrate him by the solemn presentation of sacrifices, and to connect with this the religious consecration of the approaching campaign. For there is not a word about any such intention in the chapter before us or in 1Sa 10:8<\/span>, nor even the slightest hint at it. Thenius has founded this view of his upon his erroneous interpretation of in 1Sa 10:8<\/span> as an imperative, as if Samuel intended to command Saul to go to Gilgal immediately after the occurrence of the signs mentioned in 1Sa 10:2<\/span>.: a view which is at variance with the instructions given to him, to do what his hand should find after the occurrence of those signs. To this we may also add the following objections: How is it conceivable that Saul, who concealed his anointing even from his own family after his return from Samuel to Gibeah (1Sa 10:16<\/span>), should have immediately after chosen 3000 men of Israel to begin the war against the Philistines? How did Saul attain to any such distinction, that at his summons all Israel gathered round him as their king, even before he had been publicly proclaimed king in the presence of the people, and before he had secured the confidence of the people by any kingly heroic deed? The fact of his having met with a band of prophets, and even prophesied in his native town of Gibeah after his departure from Samuel, and that this had become a proverb, is by no means enough to explain the enterprises described in 1Sa 8:1-7<\/span>, which so absolutely demand the incidents that occurred in the meantime as recorded in 1 Samuel 10:17-12:25 even to make them intelligible, that any writing in which 1Sa 13:2<\/span>. following directly upon 1Sa 10:16<\/span> would necessarily be regarded as utterly faulty. This fact, which I have already adduced in my examination of the hypothesis defended by Thenius in my Introduction to the Old Testament<\/em> (p. 168), retains its force undiminished, even though, after a renewed investigation of the question, I have given up the supposed connection between 1Sa 10:8<\/span> and the proclamation mentioned in 1Sa 11:14<\/span>., which I defended there.)<\/p>\n and according to the standing custom in the history of the kings, it opens with a statement of the age of the king when he began to reign, and the number of years that his reign lasted. If, for example, we compare the form and contents of this verse with 2Sa 2:10<\/span>; 2Sa 5:4<\/span>; 1Ki 14:21<\/span>; 1Ki 22:42<\/span>; 2Ki 8:26<\/span>, and other passages, where the age is given at which Ishbosheth, David, and many of the kings of Judah began to reign, and also the number of years that their reign lasted, there can be no doubt that our verse was also intended to give the same account concerning Saul, and therefore that every attempt to connect this verse with the one which follows is opposed to the uniform historical usage. Moreover, even if, as a matter of necessity, the second clause of _1Sa 13:1<\/span> could be combined with 1Sa 13:2<\/span> in the following manner: He was two years king over Israel, then Saul chose 3000 men, etc.; the first half of the verse would give no reasonable sense, according to the Masoretic text that has come down to us. cannot possibly be rendered “ jam per annum regnaverat Saul <\/em>,” “Saul had been king for a year,” or “Saul reigned one year,” but can only mean “ Saul was a year old when he became king<\/em>.” This is the way in which the words have been correctly rendered by the Sept.<\/em> and Jerome<\/em>; and so also in the Chaldee paraphrase (“Saul was an innocent child when he began to reign”) this is the way in which the text has been understood.<\/p>\n It is true that this statement as to his age is obviously false; but all that follows from that is, that there is an error in the text, namely, that between and the age has fallen out, – a thing which could easily take place, as there are many traces to show that originally the numbers were not written in words, but only in letters that were used as numerals. This gap in the text is older than the Septuagint version, as our present text is given there. There is, it is true, an anonymus<\/em> in the hexapla<\/em>, in which we find the reading ; but this is certainly not according to ancient MSS, but simply according to a private conjecture, and that an incorrect one. For since Saul already had a son, Jonathan, who commanded a division of the army in the very first years of his reign, and therefore must have been at least twenty years of age, if not older, Saul himself cannot have been less than forty years old when he began to reign. Moreover, in the second half of the verse also, the number given is evidently a wrong one, and the text therefore equally corrupt; for the rendering “ when he had reigned two years over Israel<\/em> ” is opposed both by the parallel passages already quoted, and also by the introduction of the name Saul as the subject in 1Sa 13:2<\/span><\/em>, which shows very clearly that 1Sa 13:2<\/span> commences a fresh sentence, and is not merely the apodosis to 1Sa 13:1<\/span><\/em>. But Saul’s reign must have lasted longer than two years, even if, in opposition to all analogies to be found elsewhere, we should understand the two years as merely denoting the length of his reign up to the time of his rejection (1 Samuel 15), and not till the time of his death. Even then he reigned longer than that; for he could not possibly have carried on all the wars mentioned in 1Sa 14:47<\/span>, with Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah and the Philistines, in the space of two years. Consequently a numeral, say , twenty, must also have dropped out before (two years); since there are cogent reasons for assuming that his reign lasted as long as twenty or twenty-two years, reckoning to the time of his death. We have given the reasons themselves in connection with the chronology of the period of the judges (pp. 206f.).<\/p>\n (Note: The traditional account that Saul reigned forty years ( Act 13:24<\/span>, and Josephus, Ant<\/em>. vi. 14, 9) is supposed to have arisen, according to the conjecture of Thenius (on 2Sa 2:10<\/span>), from the fact that his son Ishbosheth was forty years old when he began to reign, and the notion that as he is not mentioned among the sons of Saul in 1Sa 14:49<\/span>, he must have been born after the commencement of Saul’s own reign. This conjecture is certainly a probable one; but it is much more natural to assume that as David and Solomon reigned forty years, it arose from the desire to make Saul’s reign equal to theirs.)<\/p>\n The Philistines War against Israel.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 1067.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose him three thousand men<\/I> of Israel; whereof<\/I> two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was<\/I> in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it.<\/I> And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. 4 And all Israel heard say that<\/I> Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that<\/I> Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. 5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is<\/I> on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. 7 And some of<\/I> the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was<\/I> yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.<\/P> We are not told wherein it was that the people of Israel offended God, so as to forfeit his presence and turn his hand against them, as Samuel had threatened (ch.<\/I><\/span> xii. 15<\/span>); but doubtless they left God, else he would not have left them, as here it appears he did; for,<\/P> I. Saul was very weak and impolitic, and did not order his affairs with discretion. Saul was the son of one year<\/I> (so the first words are in the original), a phrase which we make to signify the date of his reign, but ordinarily it signifies the date of one’s birth, and therefore some understand it figuratively–he was as innocent and good as a child of a year old; so the Chaldee paraphrase: he was without fault, like the son of a year.<\/I> But, if we admit a figurative sense, it may as well intimate that he was ignorant and imprudent, and as unfit for business as a child of a year old: and the subsequent particulars make this more accordant with his character than the former. But we take it rather, as our own translation has it, Saul reigned one year,<\/I> and nothing happened that was considerable, it was a year of no action; but in his second year he did as follows:– 1. he chose a band of 3000 men, of whom he himself commanded 2000, and his son Jonathan 1000, v.<\/I><\/span> 2<\/span>. The rest of the people he dismissed to their tents. If he intended these only for the guard of his person and his honorary attendants, it was impolitic to have so many, if for a standing army, in apprehension of danger from the Philistines, it was no less impolitic to have so few; and perhaps the confidence he put in this select number, and his disbanding the rest of that brave army with which he had lately beaten the Ammonites (ch.<\/I><\/span> xi. 8-11<\/span>), was looked upon as an affront to the kingdom, excited general disgust, and was the reason he had so few at his call when he had occasion for them. The prince that relies on a particular party weakens his own interest in the whole community. 2. He ordered his son Jonathan to surprise and destroy the garrison of the Philistines that lay near him in Geba, v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>. I wish there were no ground for supposing that this was a violation or infraction of some articles with the Philistines, and that it was done treacherously and perfidiously. The reason why I suspect it is because it is said that, for doing it, Israel was had in abomination,<\/I> or, as the word is, did stink with the Philistines<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>), as men void of common honesty and whose word could not be relied on. If it was so, we will lay the blame, not on Jonathan who did it, but on Saul, his prince and father, who ordered him to do it, and perhaps kept him in ignorance of the truth of the matter. Nothing makes the name of Israel odious to those that are without so much as the fraud and dishonesty of those that are called by that worthy name. If professors of religion cheat and over-reach, break their word and betray their trust, religion suffers by it, and is had in abomination with the Philistines.<\/I> Whom may one trust if not an Israelite, one that, it is expected, should be without guile?<\/I> 3. When he had thus exasperated the Philistines, then he began to raise forces, which, if he had acted wisely, he would have done before. When the Philistines had a vast army ready to pour in upon him, to avenge the wrong he had done them, then was he blowing the trumpet through the land,<\/I> among a careless, if not a disaffected people, saying, Let the Hebrews hear<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>), and so as many as thought fit came to Saul to Gilgal, v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>. But now the generality, we may suppose, drew back (either in dislike of Saul’s politics or in dread of the Philistines’ power), who, if he had summoned them sooner, would have been as ready at his beck as they were when he marched against the Ammonites. We often find that after-wit would have done much better before and have prevented much inconvenience.<\/P> II. Never did the Philistines appear in such a formidable body as they did now, upon this provocation which Saul gave them. We may suppose they had great assistance from their allies, for (v.<\/I><\/span> 5<\/span>), besides 6000 horse, which in those times, when horses were not so much used in war as they are now, was a great body, they had an incredible number of chariots, 30,000 in all: most of them, we may suppose, were carriages for the bag and baggage of so vast an army, not chariots of war. But their foot was innumerable as the sand of the sea-shore,<\/I> so jealous were they for the honour of their nation and so much enraged at the baseness of the Israelites in destroying their garrison. If Saul had asked counsel of God before he had given the Philistines this provocation, he and his people might the better have borne this threatening trouble which they had now brought on themselves by their own folly.<\/P> III. Never were the people of Israel so faint-hearted, so sneaking, so very cowardly, as they were now. Some considerable numbers, it may be, came to Saul to Gilgal; but, hearing of the Philistines’ numbers and preparations, their spirits sunk within them, some think because they did not find Samuel there with Saul. Those that, awhile ago, were weary of him, and wished for a king, now had small joy of their king unless they could see him under Samuel’s direction. Sooner or later, men will be made to see that God and his prophets are their best friends. Now that they saw the Philistines making war upon them, and Samuel not coming in to help them, they knew not what to do; men’s hearts failed them for fear.<\/I> And. 1. Some absconded. Rather than run upon death among the Philistines, they buried themselves alive in caves and thickets, v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>. See what work sin makes; it exposes men to perils, and then robs them of their courage and dispirits them. A single person, by faith, can say, I will not be afraid of<\/I> 10,000 (Ps. iii. 6<\/span>); but here thousands of degenerate Israelites tremble at the approach of a great crowd of Philistines. Guilt makes men cowards. 2. Others fled (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): They went over Jordan to the land of Gilead,<\/I> as far as they could from the danger, and to a place where they had lately been victorious over the Ammonites. Where they had triumphed they hoped to be sheltered. 3. Those that staid with Saul followed him trembling,<\/I> expecting no other than to be cut off, and having their hands and hearts very much weakened by the desertion of so many of their troops. And perhaps Saul himself, though he had so much honour as to stand his ground, yet had no courage to spare wherewith to inspire his trembling soldiers.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n First Samuel – Chapter 13<\/p>\n New Philistine Trouble, vs. 1-7<\/p>\n A difficulty in the translation of the first verse <\/em>of this chapter has left the meaning uncertain. It is probable that something has been omitted by the scribes sometime through the centuries. Perhaps the original inspired manuscript was giving here the length of Saul’s reign and his age when he began to reign, as with other kings (e.g., 2Sa 5:4<\/span>). The New American Standard Version renders the verse, “Saul was forty years old when be began to reign, and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel,” but the words, “forty” and “thirty” are not in the extant manuscripts. It seems impossible to understand the exact import of the verse today.<\/em><\/p>\n It would seem that the event of verse 2 <\/em>refers to the dismissal of the troops who went with Saul to the relief of Jabesh-gilead (chapter 11). Thus Saul sent them all home, except for three thousand whom he reserved, two-thirds under his direct command, stationed in Michmash and mount Bethel, and the remaining thousand under command of Saul’s son, Jonathan, at Gibeah, the chief city of Benjamin.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n This is the first introduction of Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son. From the first he stands out as bold, daring, and adventurous. He seems to have been for ridding the land of the Philistine presence in their military garrisons among the Israelites. Consequently he attacked the Philistine garrison at Geba, a smaller city of Benjamin between Gibeah and Michmash, and overran it. When the Philistines got news of this they considered it an act of rebellion by Israel and mobilized to fight against Israel. They raised a mighty force of thirty thousand chariots of war, six thousand cavalry, and unnumbered infantry. With this force they cam up to Michmash, and spread out their tents to Beth-aven nearby.<\/p>\n All Israel heard about Jonathan’s foray also, <\/em>and that they were in danger of Philistine invasion. The people were gathered to meet Saul at Gilgal by the trumpet blast calling them to war (cf. Num 10:9<\/span>; Jdg 3:27<\/span> and others). The people came in majority numbers it would seem at first, but Saul vacillated in his decision, and time passed with the people growing more and more fearful. Eventually many of them took private means to escape the Philistines. They hid in caves, thickets, rocks, and high places. Perhaps they thought the heathen high places would be respected by the pagan Philistines. Many of them fled the country, crossing the Jordan to Gad and Gilead.<\/em><\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:1<\/span>. A literal rendering of the Hebrew text in this verse would stand thusSaul was years old when he began to reign, and he reigned, and two years over Israel<\/em>. The Hebrew numerals have evidently fallen out, and nearly all commentators agree that this verse, according to the custom in the history of the kings (2Sa. 2:10<\/span>; 2Sa. 5:4<\/span>; 1Ki. 14:21<\/span>; 1Ki. 22:42<\/span>; 2Ki. 8:26<\/span>) originally gave the age at which Saul began to reign and the number of years that his reign lasted. Some, however, understand that Saul had been publicly made king by Samuel one year before the events recorded in the preceding chapter, and that when he had reigned two years, he did what is recorded in this chapter. Bishop Hervey, who agrees with Keil and Erdmann in adopting the first-named view, says, in the Biblical Commentary<\/em>, There is no certain clue to the exact numbers to be supplied; but Saul may have been about thirty at his accession, as a scholion to the Sept. has it, and have reigned some thirty-two years, since we know that his grandson Mephibosheth was five years old at Sauls death (2Sa. 4:4<\/span>): and thirty-two added to the seven and a half years between the death of Saul and that of Ishbosheth, makes up the forty years assigned to Sauls dynasty in Act. 13:21<\/span>. Neither is there any clue to the interval of time between the events recorded in the preceding chapter and those which follow in this and succeeding chapters. But the appearance of Jonathan as a warrior (1Sa. 13:2<\/span>) compared with the mention of Saul as a young man at 1Sa. 9:2<\/span> implies an interval of not less than ten or fifteen years, perhaps more. Keil and Erdmann, however, agree in placing the acts of Saul recorded in 1Sa. 13:2<\/span> immediately after the events narrated in the last chapter. As no other summoning of the people is mentioned before except that for the Ammonite war, and as a gathering of all the fighting population is implied in the last clause of 1Sa. 13:2<\/span>, they assume as probable that it was at Gilgal, immediately after a renewal of the monarchy, that Saul resolved at once to make war upon the Philistines.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:2<\/span>. Michmash.<\/strong> This town has been identified with great probability with a village which still bears the name of Muhkmas, about seven miles north of Jerusalem, on the northern edge of the great Wady Suweinit<\/em>, which forms the main pass of communication between the central highlands on which the village stands, and the Jordan valley at Jericho. (Biblical Dictionary<\/em>.) Mount Bethel.<\/strong> The ancient town of Bethel was situated on very high ground, about 10 miles west of Jerusalem, in the same direction as Michmash. Mount Bethel was probably the mountain range upon which the city was situated. Jonathan.<\/strong> Here mentioned for the first time. A name which means, gift of Jehovah. In name and character he is the Nathaniel of this history. (Wordsworth<\/em>.) Gibeah of Benjamin.<\/strong> The residence of Saul, probably the present Tuliel-el-Ful<\/em>, a conspicuous eminence just four miles north of Jerusalem to the right of the road. (Biblical Dictionary<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:3<\/span>, Geba.<\/strong> Identified by most writers with the modern Jeba<\/em>, standing on the south side of the Wady Suweinit<\/em>, exactly opposite to Michmash. Let the Hebrews hear,<\/strong> etc. Not only as a joyful message, but also as an indirect summons to the whole nation to rise. (Keil<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:5<\/span>. Thirty thousand chariots.<\/strong> The immense disproportion which this number bears to the people, and the fact that the Syriac and Arabic versions read three thousand<\/em>, has led most critics to suppose that there is here an error in the Hebrew manuscripts. Solomon had only fourteen hundred chariots, which are mentioned as a large number (2Ch. 1:14<\/span>). Some suppose the baggage waggons are included in the number. Probably the Philistines may have engaged other nations, the enemies of Israel, to fight with them, and this supposition is confirmed by the mention of the number of the people as the sand, etc., and also by the confusion of the army, which is mentioned in 1Sa. 14:20<\/span>, and which was due in part to the fact that it was composed of various nations. (Wordsworth,<\/em>).<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:6<\/span>. When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, etc.<\/strong> The position of matters seems to have been this: The Philistines were in possession of the village of Geba<\/em>, on the south side of the Wady Suweinit<\/em>. In their front across the Wady, which is here about a mile wide, and divided by several swells lower than the side eminences, was Saul in the town of Michmash, and holding also Mount Bethel<\/em>the heights on the north of the great Wadyas far as Beitin (Bethel) itself. South of the Philistine camp, and about three miles in its rear, was Jonathan, in Gibeah-of-Benjamin, with a thousand chosen warriors. The first step was taken by Jonathan, who drove out the Philistines from Geba by a feat of arms which at once procured for him immense reputation. But in the meantime it increased the difficulties of Israel, for the Philistines hearing of their reverse, and advancing with an enormous armament, pushed Sauls little force before them out of Bethel and Michmash and down the eastern passes to Gilgal, near Jericho, in the Jordan valley. They then established themselves at Michmash, formerly the head-quarters of Saul, and from thence sent out their bands of plunderers north, west, and east (1Sa. 13:17-18<\/span>). But nothing could dislodge Jonathan from his main stronghold in the south. As far as we can disentangle the complexities of the story, he soon relinquished Geba and consolidated his little force in Gibeah, where he was joined by his father, with Samuel the prophet and Ahiah the priest, who, perhaps, remembering the former fate of the ark, had brought down the sacred ephod from Shiloh (1Sa. 14:3<\/span>). These three had made their way up from Gilgal with a force sorely diminished from desertion to the Philistine camp and flight (1Sa. 13:7<\/span> and 1Sa. 14:21<\/span>)a mere remnant of the people following in the rear of the little band (1Sa. 13:15<\/span>). Then occurred the feat of the hero and his armour-bearer (chap. 14) (Biblical Dictionary)<\/em>. The people did hide themselves, etc.<\/strong> The broken ridges of the neighbourhood would afford abundant hiding-places. The rocks are perforated in every direction with crevices and fissures, sunk deep in the rocky soil, subterranean granaries or dry wells in the adjoining fields. (Jamieson.)<\/em><\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:8<\/span>. And he tarried seven days,<\/strong> etc. See note on 1Sa. 10:8<\/span>. This appointment seems to have been for a trial of faith and obedience. (Biblical Commentary.)<\/em> Samuel came on the seventh day, but not until towards its close. And he offered,<\/strong> etc. The words do not necessarily imply that Saul did this with his own hand; it is quite possible that he merely commanded the priest to do it. If so, his sin was simply that of disobedience to the command of God, as given by Samuel. Dean Stanley, Dr. Kitto, and others, think that he was guilty of the double offence of usurping the office of the priest and of disobedience to the Divine word. Wordsworth observes that Samuel does not animadvert to any such intrusion on Sauls part.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:14<\/span>. The Lord hath sought him a man.<\/strong> It is natural to infer from this that David, who of course is indicated, was already grown to mans estate, as we know his friend Jonathan was. But as David was only thirty years old when he began to reign, the incident here related must have occurred during the last ten or fifteen years of Sauls reign. (Biblical Commentary.)<\/em><\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:15<\/span>. Six hundred men.<\/strong> Saul had therefore, by his hasty, disobedient conduct, not attained his purpose of holding the people together. The declaration, Thou hast done foolishly, is thus confirmed. (Erdmann<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:16-23<\/span>. The following account is no doubt connected with the foregoing, so far as facts are concerned, inasmuch as Jonathans brave, heroic deed terminated the war for which Saul had entreated the help of God by his sacrifice at Gilgal; but it is not formally connected with it, so as to form a compact and complete account of the successive stages of the war. (Keil<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:17<\/span>. The spoilers came out,<\/strong> etc. The places here mentioned, so far as they can be identified, lay respectively on the north, west, and eastthat is to say, the predatory bands sallying from Michmash ravaged through the valleys which radiate from it in those directions.<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:19<\/span>. There was no smith, etc.<\/strong> This policy of disarming the natives has often been followed. So Porsenna allowed the Romans iron implements for agriculture only. (Erdmann<\/em>.)<\/p>\n 1Sa. 13:20<\/span>. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n