1Saul was forty years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent each man to his tent. 3And Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the shofar throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear! 4And all Israel heard it said that Saul had struck a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become odious to the Philistines. And the people were summoned after Saul at Gilgal. 5And the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6And when the men of Israel saw that they were in straits, for the people were distressed, then the people hid in caves, in crevices, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, with all the people behind him, trembling. 8And he waited seven days for Samuel, according to the appointed time; but Samuel had not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9So Saul said, Bring the burnt offering and peace offerings here to me. And he offered the burnt offering. 10And it happened, as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, to bless him. 11And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, When I saw that the people had scattered from me, and that you had not come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines were gathering together at Michmash, 12then I said, The Philistines will now come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the face of Jehovah. Therefore I forced myself, and offered a burnt offering. 13And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He has commanded you. For now Jehovah would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has ordained him to be ruler over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah has commanded you. 15And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people found with him, about six hundred men. 16And Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people found with them remained at Gibeah of Benjamin; and the Philistines encamped at Michmash. 17And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward the way to Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18another company turned toward the way to Beth Horon, and another company turned toward the way of the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 19Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines thought, Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears. 20But all Israel would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21and the price for sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. 22So it came about, in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son. 23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 SAUL'S SELECTED BAND. (
1Sam 13:1-2)
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.
3 HE CALLS THE HEBREWS TO GILGAL AGAINST THE PHILISTINES. (
1Sam 13:3-4)
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 (
Josh 18:24,
Josh 18:28). The word rendered "garrison" is different from that of
1Sam 13:23;
1Sam 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 by the beacon fire in the neighboring places. A second blast was 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.
5 THE PHILISTINES' GREAT HOST. (
1Sam 13:5)
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 (
2Sam 10:18;
1Kgs 20:21;
1Chr 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).
6 THE ISRAELITES' DISTRESS. (
1Sam 13:6-8)
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 (
1Sam 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.
9 SAUL, WEARY OF WAITING FOR SAMUEL, SACRIFICES. (
1Sam 13:9-16)
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 (
1Sam 13:12) by invading the priest's office and thus showing his unfitness for his 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 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 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 hyćnas"), towards the Ghor or Jordan valley on the east.
19 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.