1 Samuel Chapter 13

1 Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign, and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel. ESV

Saul was thirty[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-[b] two years. NIV

Saul was [a][forty] years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Amplified Bible

Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, (KJV)

1 Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fortytwo years over Israel.  (NASB)

1 Saul was 30 years old when he became king, and he reigned 42 years over Israel.

(HCSB)

1. Why all the conflicting numbers?

This is a case of textual variant. The Old

Testament was originally written in an ancient form of Hebrew. We have none of the originals. We do have many very old copies and copies of translations into to other languages. We have the Massoretic Text ( a more modern Hebrew text) Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT), Vulgate (Latin translation of the OT), Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac/Aramaic, Babylonian, Samaritan Text etc. In all of these hundreds of ancient copies and very old translations we have spelling errors, copying errors, transposed words, and word and number omissions. By comparing many different translations we can usually determine what the original said. 1 Samuel 13:1 is one case where there is no consensus on what the writer was trying to say.

thirty years … forty two years. The original numbers have not been preserved in this text. It lit. reads, “Saul was one year old when he became king and ruled two years over Israel.” Ac 13:21 states that Saul ruled Israel 40 years. His age at his accession is recorded nowhere in Scripture. Probably the best reconstruction of vv. 1, 2 is “Saul was one and (perhaps) thirty years old when he began to reign, and when he had reigned two years over Israel, then Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel … ”

                               

2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.

2. Why would Saul send the rest of the men home if he was going to engage in a war?

We must keep in mind that although Israel had a king, they were completely surrounded by enemy nations and still dominated by the much stronger Philistines and constanly under their scrutiny. After the battle with the Ammonites, in which he drafted 330, 000 men, he decreases the size of the army to a small personal guard. Any larger army would have been seen as a threat to the Philistines and possibly provoked them to attack.

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel -- This band of picked men was a bodyguard, who were kept constantly on duty, while the rest of the people were dismissed till their services might be needed. It seems to have been his tactics to attack the Philistine garrisons in the country by different detachments, rather than by risking a general engagement; and his first operations were directed to rid his native territory of Benjamin of these enemies.  JFB

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel,.... Out of the 300,000 that went with him to fight the Ammonites, and returned with him to Gilgal, where he now was, and had stayed as may be supposed about a year, since now he had reigned two years. These 3000 men some of them doubtless were appointed as a guard about his person, and the rest were a standing army to preserve the peace of the nation, to protect them from their enemies, to watch the motions of the Philistines, and to be ready on any sudden invasion:

This was supposed to be a limited engagement to clear out the area of some local bad guys.

Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

3. Who is Jonathan?

Jonathan “the Lord has given” Saul’s firstborn son and heir apparent to the throne, and was evidently old enough to serve as a commander in Israel’s army. Jonathan would eventually become one of the most heroic figures in the bible, a faithful son to Saul but also a faithful friend to David who Saul hated.

4. How did this attack on the Philistines come about?

This was supposed to be a limited engagement to clear out the area of local bad guys. The Philistines still have fortifications in Israelite territory with military and economic power over much of the surrounding area. Saul did them a favor by destroying the Ammonites the other great power in the area, so this leaves the Philistines as the big dog on the block. The Ammonite victory now goes to Saul’s head. Saul sees his victory over the Ammonites as a sign to flex his military muscles. He launches an ill advised attack on some small Philistine garrisons. This provokes the militarily superior Philistines to gather their forces for war. Some have suggested that Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrisons on his own initiative, but this would not be consistent with his character as revealed later in this book. This is the point which begins to show chinks in Saul’s spiritual armor. Nowhere does the story say that Saul prayed to God or consulted Samuel about his plans.

5. Jonathan does the fighting but who takes credit for the victory?

The true character of Saul is beginning to emerge. When we get a good view of him,

we are going to see that he is a phony. We read in these verses that Jonathan “smote the garrison of the Philistines.” Who got credit for the victory? It was Saul. Jonathan appears to be a capable military leader. Later on we will find that he gains another great victory by using very interesting strategy. But in this particular battle Jonathan did the fighting, and Saul blew the trumpet. Saul took the credit for winning. Saul blew his own horn. He did not give his son credit for winning the battle. He called all of Israel together and gave a phony report. The army knew Saul’s report was not true and so did the followers of Jonathan. Folks are beginning to suspect that there is a weakness in Saul’s army and that it is his Achilles’ heel. Is he humble? I said at the beginning that Saul had a case of false humility, and this fact is coming to light now. JVM

And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

6. Why were all the people trembling? They were the ones who started the fight.

Because of the superior Philistine army the Israelite soldiers were afraid, and some even fled. The enemy must have been strong to threaten Israel’s eastern territory since Philistia was Israel’s neighbor to the west.

 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”

7. So what’s the big deal, Samuel shows up late so Saul performs the priestly duties?

60  To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61  But Nadab and

Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the Lord. Num 26:60-61 (NASB)

God is very clear in His instruction. The priest was called to that position not the king. Saul is starting to show his true colors. He has a sloppy attitude toward obeying God. Saul’s sin was not that he made the offering, but that he did not wait for priestly assistance and direction from Samuel. He wished to rule as an autocrat, who possessed absolute power in civil and sacred matters. Samuel had waited 6 days and as the 7th is drawing to a close he panics and takes things into his own hands. God was testing Saul’s character and obedience. He failed the test by invading the priestly office himself.

Saul reacted disobediently based upon what he saw and not by faith. He feared losing his men and did not properly consider what God would have him do. MSBN

Apparently he had been told not to make any move until Samuel gave him the word of the Lord. Here Saul shows his tendency to be moved by circumstances and to rely on religious ritual to gain God’s favor (see 14:24 and the incident in 4:3) rather than to trust and obey the word of the Lord. ESVNotes.

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lordyour God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lordhas commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

8. Isn’t this quite an overreaction on God’s part?

Saul was not willing to wait for Samuel. He was impatient and presumptuous. He thought he had three good reasons for not waiting for Samuel to appear: (1) The people were scattered; (2) the Philistines were coming against him; and (3) Samuel was a little late in arriving. Saul was rationalizing, of course. He was blaming everything and everyone else. JVM

Saul was told in the beginning that if he obeyed God, he would be blessed, but if he disobeyed, there would be judgment. The ruler must obey the LORD.

Saul’s disobedience brings a serious result—the cessation of his kingdom—for in Israel the kingship itself is under the authority of the word of God. Saul fails to acknowledge the prophet’s higher role as the divine messenger and to listen to the word of God.

24  Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25  But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away." 1 Sam 12:24-25 (NASB)

15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 19  Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

9. Where were the Israelite weapons?

The Philistines had disarmed the Israelites. The Israelites were permitted, however,

some farm implements. But in order to sharpen them, they had to go down to the Philistines. In this way the enemy was able to keep an accurate count of what the Israelites had in the way of weapons. Only two men, Saul and Jonathan, had swords. The other men in the army carried mattocks, axes, clubs, and similar instruments. This was the way Saul’s army was equipped to fight. JVM

Things look pretty bad for Saul and the Israelites. Tune in next chapter where we will see how Jonathan saves the day.

·         ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes                        

·         MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes               

·         NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes.                                                              

·         JVM ….J Vernon McGee,

·         ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary

·         BN …..Barnes Notes

·         WBC……   Wycliffe Bible Commentary

·         CN ……Constables Notes

·         IC……….Ironside Commentary

·         NET………Net Bible Study Notes.

·         JFB…………..Jamieson  Fausset Brown Commentary

·         VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies

·         CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark

·         BDB…………..Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

·         Darby………..John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT

·         Johnson………Johnson's Notes on the New Testament.

·         NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary:  Matthew and Mark.

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