(KJV) 1 Samuel 131

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⥃War with the Philistines

[1] Saul reigned one year2; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,3 [2] Saul chose4 him three thousand [men] of Israel; [whereof] two thousand were with Saul in Michmash5 and in mount Beth–el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah6 of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. [3] And Jonathan smote the garrison7 of the Philistines that [was] in Geba8, and the Philistines heard [of it]. And Saul blew9 the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. [4] And all Israel heard say [that] Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and [that] Israel also was had in abomination10 with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal11.

[5] [¶]And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots12, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand13 which [is] on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth–aven14. [6] When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait15, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves16, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. [7] And [some of] the Hebrews17 went over Jordan to the land of Gad18 and Gilead. As for Saul, he [was] yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling19.

⥃Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

[8] And he tarried20 seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. [9] And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered21 the burnt offering. [10] And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul22 went out to meet him, that he might salute him23.

[11] [¶]And Samuel said, What hast24 thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and [that] thou camest not within the days appointed, and [that] the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash25; [12] Therefore said I26, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto27 the Lord: I forced28 myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. [13] And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done29 foolishly: thou hast not kept30 the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. [14] But now31 thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord32 hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him [to be] captain over33 his people, because thou hast not kept [that] which the Lord commanded thee. [15] And Samuel34 arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people [that were] present35 with him, about six36 hundred men.

⥃Israel without Weapons

[16] And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people [that were] present with them, abode in Gibeah37 of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

[17] [¶]And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies38: one company turned unto the way [that leadeth to] Ophrah39, unto the land of Shual40: [18] And another company turned the way [to] Beth–horon41: and another company turned [to] the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim42 toward the wilderness.

[19] [¶]Now there was no43 smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make [them] swords or spears: [20] But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. [21] Yet they had a file44 for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen45 the goads. [22] So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither46 sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that [were] with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. [23] And the garrison47 of the Philistines went out to the passage48 of Michmash.

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  1. 1Sam 13:1, Saul’s select band; 1Sam 13:3, He calls the Hebrews to Gilgal against the Philistines, whose garrison Jonathan had smitten; 1Sam 13:5, The Philistines’ great host; 1Sam 13:6, The distress of the Israelites; 1Sam 13:8, Saul, weary of staying for Samuel, sacrifices; 1Sam 13:11, Samuel reproves him; 1Sam 13:17, The three spoiling bands of the Philistines; 1Sam 13:19, The policy of the Philistines, to suffer no smith in Israel. ↩

  2. Heb. the son of one year in his reigning, This verse is variously interpreted; but probably it only means, according to the Hebrew idiom, that, during the first year nothing remarkable occurred; but after two years (or in the second year of his reign), the subsequent events took place. Exod 12:5; Mic 6:6 *marg. ↩

  3. am 2911, bc 1093, An, Ex, Is, 398 ↩

  4. 1Sam 8:11, 1Sam 14:52 ↩

  5. Michmash was situated east of Beth–aven, or Beth–el; and Eusebius says it was in his time a considerable place, about nine miles from Jerusalem, towards Rama. 1Sam 13:5, 1Sam 13:23, 1Sam 14:5, 1Sam 14:31; Isa 10:28 ↩

  6. 1Sam 10:26, 1Sam 15:34; Josh 18:28; Judg 19:12; 2Sam 21:6; Isa 10:29 ↩

  7. 1Sam 10:5, 1Sam 14:1-6; 2Sam 23:14 ↩

  8. or, the hill, Josh 18:24, Gaba, Josh 21:17; Isa 10:29; Zech 14:10 ↩

  9. Judg 3:27, Judg 6:34; 2Sam 2:28, 2Sam 20:1 ↩

  10. Heb. did stink, Gen 34:30, Gen 46:34; Exod 5:21; Zech 11:8 ↩

  11. 1Sam 10:8, 1Sam 11:14-15; Josh 5:9 ↩

  12. The Philistines had no doubt collected troops in this emergency, from all the surrounding nation; but the number of chariots is immensely large beyond any example, and wholly disproportioned to the number of their cavalry. It is probable, therefore, that for sheloshim aileph, "thirty thousand," we should read shelosh aileph, "three thousand," with the Syriac and Arabic. ↩

  13. Gen 22:17; Josh 11:4; Judg 7:12; 2Chr 1:9; Isa 48:19; Jer 15:8; Rom 9:27 ↩

  14. 1Sam 14:23; Josh 7:2, Josh 18:12; Hos 4:15, Hos 5:8, Hos 10:5 ↩

  15. Exod 14:10-12; Josh 8:20; Judg 10:9, Judg 20:41; 2Sam 24:14; Phil 1:23 ↩

  16. 1Sam 14:11, 1Sam 23:19, 1Sam 24:3; Judg 6:2; Isa 42:22; Heb 11:38 ↩

  17. Lev 26:17, Lev 26:36-37; Deut 28:25 ↩

  18. Num 32:1-5, Num 32:33-42; Deut 3:12; Josh 13:24-31 ↩

  19. Heb. trembled after him, Deut 20:8; Judg 7:3; Hos 11:10-11 ↩

  20. 1Sam 10:8 ↩

  21. 1Sam 13:12-13, 1Sam 14:18, 1Sam 15:21-22; Deut 12:6; 1Kgs 3:4; Ps 37:7; Prov 15:8; Prov 20:22, Prov 21:3, Prov 21:27; Isa 66:3 ↩

  22. 1Sam 15:13 ↩

  23. Heb. bless him, 1Sam 15:13; Ruth 2:4; Ps 129:8 ↩

  24. Gen 3:13, Gen 4:10; Josh 7:19; 2Sam 3:24; 2Kgs 5:25 ↩

  25. 1Sam 13:2, 1Sam 13:5, 1Sam 13:16, 1Sam 13:23, 1Sam 14:5; Isa 10:28 ↩

  26. 1Kgs 12:26-27 ↩

  27. Heb. intreated the face of, etc ↩

  28. 1Sam 21:7; Ps 66:3; Amos 8:5; 2Cor 9:7 ↩

  29. 2Sam 12:7-9; 1Kgs 18:18, 1Kgs 21:20; 2Chr 16:9, 2Chr 19:2, 2Chr 25:15-16; Job 34:18; Prov 19:3; Matt 14:3-4 ↩

  30. 1Sam 15:11, 1Sam 15:22, 1Sam 15:28; Ps 50:8-15 ↩

  31. 1Sam 2:30, 1Sam 15:28 ↩

  32. 1Sam 16:1, 1Sam 16:12; 2Sam 7:15-16; Ps 78:70, Ps 89:19, Ps 89:20-37; Acts 13:22 ↩

  33. 1Sam 9:16; 2Sam 5:2; 2Kgs 20:5; Heb 2:10 ↩

  34. The LXX have, "Samuel arose and went away from Gilgal, and the remainder of the people went up along with the men of war after Samuel from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin." This is probably the true reading; for it does not appear that Samuel went to Gibeah, which was Saul's usual residence; and the Hebrew copyist, as Dr. Wall observes, seems to have missed a line, and added to the sentence concerning Samuel, that which ended the sentence concerning Saul. One manuscript instead of Samuel, in the beginning of the sentence, reads Saul. ↩

  35. Heb. found ↩

  36. 1Sam 13:2, 1Sam 13:6-7, 1Sam 14:2 ↩

  37. Heb. Gebah, 1Sam 13:3 ↩

  38. 1Sam 11:11 ↩

  39. Josh 18:23 ↩

  40. Josh 19:3 ↩

  41. Josh 10:11, Josh 16:3, Josh 16:5, Josh 18:13-14; 1Chr 6:68; 2Chr 8:5 ↩

  42. Gen 14:2; Neh 11:34; Hos 11:8 ↩

  43. It is probable that the Philistines in the former wars had carried away all the smiths from Israel. Judg 5:8; 2Kgs 24:14; Isa 54:16; Jer 24:1 ↩

  44. Heb. a file with mouths ↩

  45. Heb. set, 1Sam 13:21 ↩

  46. 1Sam 17:47, 1Sam 17:50; Judg 5:8; Zech 4:6; 1Cor 1:27-29; 2Cor 4:7 ↩

  47. or, standing camp, 1Sam 13:3, 1Sam 14:4 ↩

  48. 1Sam 13:2, 1Sam 13:5, 1Sam 14:1, 1Sam 14:4-5; Isa 10:28 ↩