Summary: Saul began his reign at the age of 30 and ruled for 42 years (v.1). The chapter starts with Saul engaging in war against the Philistines. Saul is seen taking credit for Jonathan’s valiant efforts in battle (v.4), despite Jonathan risking his life. Samuel, in response, begins to criticize Saul’s actions and takes a lesser role in the kingdom.
When Samuel delays in arriving to offer sacrifices to God, Saul takes matters into his own hands and performs the sacrifice himself (v.9). Big mistake. This action represents a significant overstep of his authority, blurring the lines between religious and royal duties. Saul argues convincingly for his actions, but Samuel rebukes him (v.13), highlighting Saul’s disregard for divine commands in favor of expediency. This disobedience marks the beginning of Saul’s downfall, as he is informed that another will replace him (v.15).
The Philistines had restricted Israel’s access to metallurgy (v.19). This left the Israelites with inadequate weaponry such as farming tools when they went to battle (v.22), illustrating the dire situation Israel faced in the conflict.
(13:1) Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.
This number is missing in the original Hebrew text. The text literally states, “Saul was a son of… years when he became king, and he ruled for two years in Israel.” This is why various translations render this differently. They are trying to infer what the original text stated. Archer writes, “For some reason, the text of 1 and 2 Samuel seems to have been more poorly preserved in the Masoretic recension than any other book in the Bible.”[] The number must be over twenty, because a number of nineteen or below would have grammatically required the plural (sanim). Archer writes, “Because the singular sanah is used here, we can tell that a numeral of twenty or more must have preceded it.”[]
Paul gives a round number for Saul’s reign in Acts 13:21 (“forty years,” rather than forty two). Josephus states that Saul reigned for 42 years as well: “Now Saul, when he had reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive, and after his death two [and twenty], ended his life in this manner” (Antiquities, 6.378). Bergen[] speculates that two is the correct number for how long Saul reigned before he was disqualified as king.
(13:2) Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.
Saul kept twice the number of soldiers for himself (2,000) than for Jonathan (1,000). He also sends Jonathan into battle, rather than going himself. So, he gives Jonathan half the troops and more of the danger.
(13:3-4) Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
“Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost.” Jonathan was the one to attack the Philistines—not Saul. He is taking credit for his son’s bravery. Moreover, earlier, Saul had sent these men home (v.2). But now, he’s calling them back to war. Perhaps, Saul is vacillating now that war has actually begun.
(13:5) The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven.
Meanwhile, the Philistines mustered an army that outnumbered the Hebrews 10-to-1 (30,000 troops to 3,000 troops, v.2). The reference to the Philistine warriors being “as numerous as the sand on the seashore” is in direct contrast to God’s promise to bless Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 22:17).
(13:6-7) When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.
This Philistine army led to a massive defection on behalf of the Israelites. They hid in caves, thickets, and even in the ground. Others fled to the other side of the Jordan River. But Saul stood his ground: “Saul remained at Gilgal.”
(13:8) He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.
Imagine being in Saul’s shoes: A massive army is mounting against you, and your men are deserting. Furthermore, Samuel (your only hope) is running late to bring the spiritual power from God. Rather than waiting on God, Saul takes matters into his own hands. One might think that Saul had ample justification from his perspective, but this turns out to be one of the most monumental failures of his career.
(13:9) So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.
This was a major overstep on Saul’s behalf. The king was not supposed to perform priestly or prophetic duties. Samuel had specifically told Saul to wait for him to arrive, but Saul disobeyed in the face of fear. Moreover, Saul only offers a single burnt offering, while Samuel had called for plural burnt offerings (1 Sam. 10:8).
(13:10) Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
“Just as he finished… Samuel arrived.” If only Saul had waited just a little longer, he would’ve seen God come through! Moreover, Bergen comments, “It is ironic—and symptomatic of Saul’s spiritual dullness—that the king believed he could obtain the Lord’s favor through an act of disobedience.”[]
(13:11-12) “What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
Saul gives his reasons, excuses, and feelings for why he was “compelled” to break God’s word.
(13:13) “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.”
Why was God so harsh on Saul? After all, both David (2 Sam. 24:25) and Solomon (1 Kings 3:15) offered burnt offerings. In this case, God sternly judged because he had not “kept the command the LORD.” Samuel had explained himself very clearly, but Saul hadn’t been faithful. Later, Samuel tells Saul that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). Baldwin writes, “What Samuel is at pains to establish once and for all is the essential difference between Israel’s monarchy and that of the nations. In Israel the Lord is king, and obedience to him must be paramount.”[]
How could Saul have had an “eternal kingdom” if David was going to have an eternal kingdom? This could be similar to Jeroboam, who was also promised an eternal dynasty (1 Kings 11:38). Youngblood writes, “Saul’s kingdom/dynasty could theoretically have been established alongside that of David without endangering or contradicting the enduring character of the latter.”[]
(13:14) “But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
Paul comments on this in Acts 13:22.
(13:15) Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.
Saul’s army dwindled to just 600 men—a fraction of what he had before (v.2) and a smaller fraction of the Philistines (v.5).
(13:16-18) Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, 18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.
The Philistines spread out to position themselves for battle. They controlled the roads leading into Mikmash—their base of operations.
(13:19) Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!”
The Philistines used overt pressure to stop the Israelites from having weapons. This embargo was effective: The Israelites only had 600 soldiers (v.15), and only two owned a sword! (v.22)
Historically, the Philistines had the ability to harness metal. Youngblood points out that Philistine metallurgy has been attested in archaeology: “Archaeologists working at many different sites have unearthed iron artifacts in bewildering number and variety dating from the period of greatest Philistine power and leading to the general consensus that the metal was introduced into Canaan—at least for weapons, agricultural tools, and jewelry—by the Philistines.”[]
(13:20-21 NLT) So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith. 21 The charges were as follows: a quarter of an ounce of silver for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce for sharpening an ax, a sickle, or an ox goad.
The Israelites were fighting with farming equipment, and they had to pay exorbitant prices to get even these sharpened for battle. Youngblood writes, “The pym has proven to be two-thirds of a shekel in weight. If silver was the medium of exchange in v.21, the Philistines charged the Israelites an exorbitant price for sharpening and repointing their tools.”[]
(13:22-23) So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. 23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
They are going out to war with less men, and even fewer weapons.
We need to do God’s work in God’s way. If we take shortcuts, he might choose to pull the plug on how he uses us.
We need to wait on God. Saul’s sin was that he couldn’t wait for God’s word to come to fruition. If he had only waited a little longer, he would’ve seen God come through.
Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 314.
Gleason L. Archer, New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Zondervan’s Understand the Bible Reference Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), 170.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 148.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 150.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 113.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 657.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 659.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 660.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
