Michael's Abbey Bible Study - 1 Samuel Chapter 13

1 Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel. Various translations use different numbers for Saul's age when he became king and how long he reigned for. This is because the Hebrew text omits the number for Saul's age, and only a 2 is under the reign. The summary formula for a king's reign used in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings fills in the numbers for other kings. There are many explanations for this. One comes from the examples of several non-biblical histories written around the same time where the chronicler meant to calculate the numbers later, leaving it blank for now but later forgetting to come back. However, the most plausible explanation is that the number was unreadable, and in the interest of accuracy it was left out of manuscript copies. It is an unimportant detail and does not alter the meaning of the text either way.
It is most likely that Saul was 30 when he became king, and his reign was 40-42 years based on biblical and secular accounts. At the time of this chapter Saul would have been at least 32, but it is much more likely that he was 35-40 years old. Saul was young when he was selected to be king, likely in his 20's. But in this chapter his son Jonathan is old enough to command 1,000 men, which would make him at least 16, and more likely 20.
It is also likely that a considerable period of time passed between the previous chapter and this account. And a significant amount of time passed during the events covered by this chapter.
2 Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. Up to now, Israel relied upon a citizen militia for defense. Now Saul establishes a standing army. Saul's 2,000 may have been split into two, with 1,000 in Michmash and 1,000 in the hill country of Bethel. The Hebrew could be translated that way, and to split his force into three was his strategy at Jabesh-gilead. This is the first time Jonathan is mentioned, but that he is Saul's son is not mentioned yet. He is given a major unit to command.
3 Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear." Gibeah and Geba are likely to be the same location with two different ways of referring to it. Thus Jonathan was sent to take Gibeah/Geba and establish a garrison there.
The Philistine garrison at Geba was a major installation and the cornerstone of the Philistine oppression of the tribe of Benjamin, and also the rest of Israel due to the central location of the tribe of Benjamin. The structure had corner towers and the walls had rooms in them from which arrows and spears could be launched from small windows while protected from attackers. And it appears to have been a headquarters of some sort. This place being captured was more than the normal skirmish between the Philistines and Israel and would shift the balance of power if Israel was able to keep it.
That Saul "blew a trumpet" throughout Israel is a poetic way of saying Saul sent messengers to proclaim this victory to the nation. Whether the Philistines heard because of this or because survivors escaped is not said. Even is neither is true the Philistines would have become aware their most important garrison for oppressing Israel had fallen just because routine operations had ceased.
4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal. The news got around the nation, which tends to happen when you make a lot of noise to get people's attention before making an announcement. However, even without the trumpets this would have spread like wildfire. It was a huge deal.
Saul was not taking credit for Jonathan's victory. The king is responsible for those he assigns, and he had assigned Jonathan this task. What a king's subordinate does is counted as the actions of the king, whether good or bad. Even today people use the same language for actions of the President, even when he didn't actually to the action and his subordinate is the one doing it.
Becoming odious is a way of saying that Israel had become extremely unpleasant, objectionable or terrible to the Philistines. In other words, Saul really ticked them off.
Gilgal was east of Michmash, further into Israeli territory. Where it says the people were summoned means the militia was called up. Saul had sent the militia back home in verse 2. It is likely that the time between verse 2 and 4 is at least several months, and probably a year or more.
5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. The Philistines had again rebuilt their military and could field a force that was nearly overwhelming. Charioteers and horsemen are most likely the professional standing army of the Philistines, with the foot soldiers being from the Philistine militia. Since the Philistines camped at Michmash, Saul must have moved his 1,000 professional military men from there to Gilgal.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. This is almost certainly about the general population hiding rather than the standing army of Saul. Although this could have included the militia. Hiding from the Philistines was a common tactic as their raids could happen at any time. Various translations use different words for the hiding places such as cisterns instead of pits which is either a natural or man-made pit with a narrow opening for storing large quantities of water. This doesn't change the meaning. Clearly the Israelites hid in a great variety of places, many of which were very uncomfortable. Their harvests and animals would routinely be hidden as raids could happen without warning. These raids served two purposes. First, it helped to oppress people and keep them down. And second, it compensated for putting so many men into military service rather than producing food.
7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. The tribes of Gad and Rueben were on the east side of the Jordan. The land of those two tribes was known as Gilead. While "Gad and Gilead" is a correct translation, Gad of Gilead is probably a clearer rendition for us today. This was the farthest area of Israel from the Philistines.
There seems to be an emphasis that Saul was still in Gilgal. This is probably to indicate that it was difficult due to the situation with the Philistines.
8 Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. In 10:8, after Saul was chosen to be king but before it was public, Samuel told Saul to wait 7 days in Gilgal and he would come to make offerings. Then in 11:14-15 Saul is crowned in Gilgal and there are sacrifices. Again here Saul was told to wait seven days at Gilgal for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifices.
Some commentators try to make some connection in the use of seven days, but this is speculation. Samuel didn't come at the scheduled time, and Saul's militia were leaving. It appears some of his new standing army left as well, although it is more likely that didn't occur until Samuel came and left.
9 So Saul said, "Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. It may seem strange to some that they gave peace offerings as a prelude to going to war. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding from an erroneous ideology that has taken over education in the West that is based on a denial of reality. The opposite of war is not peace, but slavery. Only those willing to fight for their rights and freedom get real peace. War and peace are two sides of the same coin. When our enemies know we are willing to fight and are devastatingly good at it they leave us at peace. Being either unwilling or unable to fight results in attack, conquest, and slavery.
This is where Saul blew it big time. It doesn't seem like such a big deal from our modern perspective. But like Saul, we vastly underestimate how bad our sin is. There were two enormous problems with what Saul does in this verse, and a third with what he does in the next few verses.
First, only Levites could function as priests. While individual or family sacrifices would be done by the head of the family, these were to be done under the supervision and blessing of a priest. A national sacrifice like the annual sin sacrifice or the special peace and burnt offerings before battle had to be entirely done by a priest, and it should be the high priest. For anyone else to do the duties of a priest was no different than worshiping pagan idols. (Although it didn't look like that to earthly eyes as it didn't involve child sacrifice and copied Judaism.) It was establishing a different religion in contradiction to Judaism. But that could be forgiven of others.
Second, the worst thing about this was that Saul was taking on all earthly authority to himself. No human can do this and still follow God. While the Judge of Israel was previously the highest authority, they primarily judged between people or crimes against people. They were in charge of military matters, but did not have the power to conscript an army. They called for the militia to come, and people came as they chose.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. Saul did the burnt offering but hadn't started the peace offerings when Samuel showed up. Saul goes to greet him like nothing is wrong. In the Hebrew it says Saul went out to meet and bless Samuel. A traditional greeting at this time would be to speak a blessing on the other person.
11 But Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, Confronted by Samuel, Saul makes excuses. We don't know if he meant these things and thought they justified his actions or if he was just trying to defend himself. Either way he was wrong. The first excuse doesn't work because it shows he was valuing his being king over following Yahweh. And he was trusting what he saw, not the promises of God. When we hold onto things too tightly often God will test us to see if we are willing to let them go. In reality, He already knows. But the test lets us see ourselves for who we are.
The second excuse shows Saul failed the test and didn't have faith in God or Samuel. It appears that Samuel may have arrived on the day he said, just later in the day than he said.
The third excuse is just a complete lack of faith. Gideon defeated multiple armies with 300 men because Yahweh was with them.
12 therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.' So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering." This is a continuation and further justification for the third excuse. Saul follows that with a statement that shows he is utterly unwilling to accept he did anything wrong. He's trying to make his rebellion seem noble by putting it in terms like he made himself do it, like he didn't want to but "manned up" and did what had to be done. There is not just a lack of repentance here. He is putting himself forward as a hero. He could not be further from repentance if he tried.
David's sin was bad. And in his attempt to cover it up he committed murder, which was not forgivable under Mosaic Law and required the death penalty for him. There was no other atonement in the law. But David utterly repented, threw himself on God's mercy, and acknowledged that there was no way for him to make this right. Because of this right attitude David was given grace. Even here, Saul could have redeemed himself if he had owned it, repented, and asked for God's grace. He would not.
13 Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 "But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you." Because Saul was unrepentant, and worse, trying to paint his sin as heroism, Samuel pronounces the judgment of God.
Saul disobeyed God's commands. If he had obeyed, his line would have ruled over Israel forever. It is very unlikely, but that statement could be hyperbole, and Samuel actually meant Saul's line would have lasted for generations. This is very unlikely because this was pronouncing the judgement of God, which is not something that needs exaggeration for impact. However, there is one king who will literally reign forever, the Lord of lords and King of kings, Jesus. Therefore, if Saul had not messed up so bad here and refused to repent he would have been the ancestor of Jesus, and Saul's line would rule forever. But now it will be another who will have that honor. If he had just admitted he was wrong sincerely like David, God would have punished him but not removed him.
This is the first time David is referred to as a man after God's own heart, although he is not named.
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul only had 600 men left. Remember he had a standing army of 3,000, and that he had called up the militia in verse 4. Those that gathered were likely at least 100,000, and as much as 250,000. But now he has less than even before he started and the majority of his professional standing army have deserted as well.
Because Saul did the sacrifice himself in violation of the law, there must have been enough still around that Saul thought he could get victory on his own without God. So he was willing to fake it so the militia would stay and fight. Therefore, it is likely that most left him after and because Samuel rebuked him. Knowing that when God judges Israel they usually get their butt kicked I wouldn't stick around to be part of it either.
16 Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. This makes it clear that 600 remaining of the standing army that was with Saul was all that was left, including those that had been assigned to Jonathan.
17 And the raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 and another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the border which overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. Now the Philistines split into three companies. But unlike Saul they go against separate targets. This was arrogance on their part. They had a technological advantage. But some of that was blunted because chariots aren't as effective in hill country. If the militia had stayed this could have been a fatal error even without Yahweh.
19 Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears." All despots try to disarm those they want to oppress. As soon as the German people accepted the prohibition on civilian ownership of guns, violence and murder against the opponents of the National Socialist party went on unopposed. In the U.S. most people do not cheat on their taxes because of the reputation of the I.R.S. coming down on people like a ton of bricks. And that is just financial. When the Philistines would kill any blacksmith and their whole family, people were even more compliant.
20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. 21 The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes. The prohibition did more than just keep Israel subservient. It was an indirect tax. The Philistines could charge exorbitant fees for the services of a blacksmith.
22 So it came about on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. These were likely purchased from outside of Israel. That no one else had a proper weapon may have been hyperbole. It is likely that Saul supplied his standing army with some weapons. It's not like they were on an island with the Philistines. Surrounding cultures would sell weapons to almost anyone. However, it is also likely that any Hebrew found with weapons was treated just like a Hebrew blacksmith. So it is certain that most were armed only with farm tools. It is possible that the 600 who remained were the only ones who had been properly armed, and those that only had farm tools knew they didn't have a chance against professional warriors who carried real weapons unless Yahweh was with them.
23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. Now the Philistines begin to move against Israel, and the story gets really exciting.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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