1 Samuel 13

1Sa 13:1, 2.

SAUL'S

SELECTED

BAND.

1. Saul reigned one year--(see Margin). The transactions recorded

in the

eleventh and twelfth chapters

were the principal incidents comprising the first year of Saul's reign;

and the events about to be described in this happened in the second

year.

2. 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.

1Sa 13:3, 4.

HE

CALLS THE

HEBREWS TO

GILGAL AGAINST THE

PHILISTINES.

3, 4. And Jonathan--that is, "God-given."

smote the garrison of the Philistines . . . in Geba--Geba and

Gibeah were towns in Benjamin, very close to each other

(Jos 18:24, 28).

The word rendered "garrison" is different from that of

1Sa 13:23; 14:1,

and signifies, literally, something erected; probably a pillar or

flagstaff, indicative of Philistine ascendency. That the secret

demolition of this standard, so obnoxious to a young and noble-hearted

patriot, was the feat of Jonathan referred to, is evident from the

words, "the Philistines heard of it," which is not the way we should

expect an attack on a fortress to be noticed.

Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land--This, a well-known

sound, was the usual Hebrew war-summons; the first blast was answered

blown--then answered by a fire in a more distant locality, whence the

proclamation was speedily diffused over the whole country. As the

Philistines resented what Jonathan had done as an overt attempt to

throw off their yoke, a levy, en masse, of the people was immediately

ordered, the rendezvous to be the old camping-ground at Gilgal.

1Sa 13:5.

THE

PHILISTINES'

GREAT

HOST.

5. The Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with

Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen--Either

this number must include chariots of every kind--or the word "chariots"

must mean the men fighting in them

(2Sa 10:18;

1Ki 20:21;

1Ch 19:18);

or, as some eminent critics maintain, Sheloshim ("thirty"), has

crept into the text, instead of Shelosh ("three"). The gathering

of the chariots and horsemen must be understood to be on the Philistine

plain, before they ascended the western passes and pitched in the heart

of the Benjamite hills, in "Michmash," (now Mukmas), a "steep

precipitous valley" [ROBINSON], eastward from

Beth-aven (Beth-el).

1Sa 13:6-8.

THE

ISRAELITES'

DISTRESS.

6. When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait--Though

Saul's gallantry was unabated, his subjects displayed no degree of zeal

and energy. Instead of venturing an encounter, they fled in all

directions. Some, in their panic, left the country

(1Sa 13:7),

but most took refuge in the hiding-places which the broken ridges of

the neighborhood abundantly afford. The rocks are perforated in every

direction with "caves," and "holes," and "pits"--crevices and fissures

sunk deep in the rocky soil, subterranean granaries or dry wells in the

adjoining fields. The name of Michmash ("hidden treasure") seems to be

derived from this natural peculiarity [STANLEY].

8. he--that is, Saul.

tarried seven days--He was still in the eastern borders of his kingdom,

in the valley of Jordan. Some bolder spirits had ventured to join the

camp at Gilgal; but even the courage of those stout-hearted men gave

way in prospect of this terrible visitation; and as many of them were

stealing away, he thought some immediate and decided step must be

taken.

1Sa 13:9-16.

SAUL,

WEARY OF

WAITING FOR

SAMUEL,

SACRIFICES.

9-14. Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace

offerings--Saul, though patriotic enough in his own way, was more

ambitious of gaining the glory of a triumph to himself than ascribing

it to God. He did not understand his proper position as king of Israel;

and although aware of the restrictions under which he held the

sovereignty, he wished to rule as an autocrat, who possessed absolute

power both in civil and sacred things. This occasion was his first

trial. Samuel waited till the last day of the seven, in order to put

the constitutional character of the king to the test; and, as Saul, in

his impatient and passionate haste knowingly transgressed

(1Sa 13:12)

high office (as he showed nothing of the faith of Gideon and other

Hebrew generals), he incurred a threat of the rejection which his

subsequent waywardness confirmed.

15, 16. Samuel . . . gat him . . . unto Gibeah . . . and Saul, and

Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in

Gibeah--Saul removed his camp thither, either in the hope that, it

being his native town, he would gain an increase of followers or that

he might enjoy the counsels and influence of the prophet.

17, 18. the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three

companies--ravaging through the three valleys which radiate from

the uplands of Michmash to Ophrah on the north, through the pass of

Beth-horon on the west, and down the ravines of Zeboim

("the hyænas"), towards the Ghor or Jordan valley on the east.

19, 20. Now there was no smith found throughout . . . Israel--The

country was in the lowest state of depression and degradation. The

Philistines, after the great victory over the sons of Eli, had become

the virtual masters of the land. Their policy in disarming the natives

has been often followed in the East. For repairing any serious damage

to their agricultural implements, they had to apply to the neighboring

forts.

21. Yet they had a file--as a kind of privilege, for the purpose of

sharpening sundry smaller utensils of husbandry.