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Selected Verse: 1 Samuel 13:2 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
1Sa 13:2 |
Strong Concordance |
Saul [07586] chose [0977] him three [07969] thousand [0505] men of Israel [03478]; whereof two thousand [0505] were with Saul [07586] in Michmash [04363] and in mount [02022] Bethel [01008], and a thousand [0505] were with Jonathan [03129] in Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]: and the rest [03499] of the people [05971] he sent [07971] every man [0376] to his tent [0168]. |
|
King James |
Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
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. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The state of things which preceded the events described in this chapter seems to have been a comparative peace between Israel and the Philistines, since Saul had only 3,000 men under arms. At the same time Philistine garrisons continued to occupy the country of the Israelites in certain strong places, whereof one was at Geba (Jeba), in the immediate neighborhood of Gibeah Sa1 10:5; Sa1 13:3, and exactly opposite Michmash (Mukhmas), which was on the northern edge of the great Wady Suweinit. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 13-14) certainly falls, at least so far as the commencement is concerned, in the very earliest part of Saul's reign. This we must infer partly from the fact, that at the very time when Saul was seeking for his father's asses, there was a military post of the Philistines at Gibeah (Sa1 10:5), and therefore the Philistines had already occupied certain places in the land; and partly also from the fact, that according to this chapter Saul selected an army of 3000 men out of the whole nation, took up his post at Michmash with 2000 of them, placing the other thousand at Gibeah under his son Jonathan, and sent the rest of the people home (Sa1 13:2), because his first intention was simply to check the further advance of the Philistines. The dismission of the rest of the people to their own homes presupposes that the whole of the fighting men of the nation were assembled together. But as no other summoning together of the people has been mentioned before, except to the war upon the Ammonites at Jabesh (Sa1 11:6-7), where all Israel gathered together, and at the close of which Samuel had called the people and their king to Gilgal (Sa1 11:14), the assumption is a very probable one, that it was there at Gilgal, after the renewal of the monarchy, that Saul formed the resolution at once to make war upon the Philistines, and selected 3000 fighting men for the purpose out of the whole number that were collected together, and then dismissed the remainder to their homes. In all probability Saul did not consider that either he or the Israelites were sufficiently prepared as yet to undertake a war upon the Philistines generally, and therefore resolved, in the first place, only to attack the outpost of the Philistines, which was advanced as far as Gibeah, with a small number of picked soldiers. According to this simple view of affairs, the war here described took place at the very commencement of Saul's reign; and the chapter before us is closely connected with the preceding one.
Sa1 13:2
Saul posted himself at Michmash and on the mount of Bethel with his two thousand men. Michmash, the present Mukhmas, a village in ruins upon the northern ridge of the Wady Suweinit, according to the Onom. (s. v. Machmas), was only nine Roman miles to the north of Jerusalem, whereas it took Robinson three hours and a half to go from one to the other (Pal. ii. p. 117). Bethel (Beitin; see at Jos 7:2) is to the north-west of this, at a distance of two hours' journey, if you take the road past Deir-Diwan. The mountain (הר) of Bethel cannot be precisely determined. Bethel itself was situated upon very high ground; and the ruins of Beitin are completely surrounded by heights (Rob. ii. p. 126; and v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 178-9). Jonathan stationed himself with his thousand men at (by) Gibeah of Benjamin, the native place and capital of Saul, which was situated upon Tell el Phul (see at Jos 18:28), about an hour and a half form Michmas.
Sa1 13:3-4
"And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba," probably the military post mentioned in Sa1 10:5, which had been advanced in the meantime as far as Geba. For Geba is not to be confounded with Gibeah, from which it is clearly distinguished in Sa1 13:16 as compared with Sa1 13:15, but is the modern Jeba, between the Wady Suweinit and Wady Fara, to the north-west of Ramah (er-Rm; see at Jos 18:24). "The Philistines heard this. And Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the whole land, and proclamation made: let the Hebrews hear it." לאמר after בּשּׁופר תּקע points out the proclamation that was made after the alarm given by the shophar (see Sa2 20:1; Kg1 1:34, Kg1 1:39, etc.). The object to "let them hear" may be easily supplied from the context, viz., Jonathan's feat of arms. Saul had this trumpeted in the whole land, not only as a joyful message for the Hebrews, but also as an indirect summons to the whole nation to rise and make war upon the Philistines. In the word שׁמע (hear), there is often involved the idea of observing, laying to heart that which is heard. If we understand ישׁמעוּ in this sense here, and the next verse decidedly hints at it, there is no ground whatever for the objection which Thenius, who follows the lxx, has raised to העברים ישׁמעוּ. He proposes this emendation, העברים ישׁמעוּ, "let the Hebrews fall away," according to the Alex. text ἠθετήκασιν οἱ δοῦλοι, without reflecting that the very expression οἱδοῦλοι is sufficient to render the Alex. reading suspicious, and that Saul could not have summoned the people in all the land to fall away from the Philistines, since they had not yet conquered and taken possession of the whole. Moreover, the correctness of ישׁמעוּ is confirmed by ישׁמעוּ ישׂראל וכל in Sa1 13:4. "All Israel heard," not the call to fall away, but the news, "Saul has smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and Israel has also made itself stinking with the Philistines," i.e., hated in consequence of the bold and successful attack made by Jonathan, which proved that the Israelites would no longer allow themselves to be oppressed by the Philistines. "And the people let themselves be called together after Saul to Gilgal." הצּעק, to permit to summon to war (as in Jdg 7:23-24). The words are incorrectly rendered by the Vulgate, "clamavit ergo populus post Saul," and by Luther, "Then the people cried after Saul to Gilgal." Saul drew back to Gilgal, when the Philistines advanced with a large army, to make preparations for the further conflict (see at Sa1 13:13).
Sa1 13:5
The Philistines also did not delay to avenge the defeat at Geba. They collected an innumerable army: 30,000 chariots, 6000 horsemen, and people, i.e., foot-soldiers, without number (as the sand by the sea-shore; cf. Jdg 7:12; Jos 11:4, etc.). רכב by the side of פּרשׁים can only mean war chariots. 30,000 war chariots, however, bear no proportion whatever to 6000 horsemen, not only because the number of war chariots is invariably smaller than that of the horsemen (cf. Sa2 10:18; Kg1 10:26; Ch2 12:3), but also, as Bochart observes in his Hieroz. p. i. lib. ii. c. 9, because such a number of war chariots is never met with either in sacred or profane history, not even in the case of nations that were much more powerful than the Philistines. The number is therefore certainly corrupt, and we must either read 3000 (אל שׁלשׁת instead of אל שׁלשׁים), according to the Syriac and Arabic, or else simply 1000; and in the latter case the origin of the number thirty must be attributed to the fact, that through the oversight of a copyist the ל of the word ישׂראל was written twice, and consequently the second ל was taken for the numeral thirty. This army was encamped "at Michmash, before (i.e., in the front, or on the western side of) Bethaven:" for, according to Jos 7:2, Bethaven was to the east of Michmash; and קדמת when it occurs in geographical accounts, does not "always mean to the east," as Thenius erroneously maintains, but invariably means simply "in front" (see at Gen 2:14).
(Note: Consequently there is no ground whatever for altering the text according to the confused rendering of the lxx, ἐν Μαχμὰς ἐξ ἐναντὶας Βαιθωρὼν κατὰ νότου, for the purpose of substituting for the correct statement in the text a description which would be geographically wrong, viz., to the south-east of Beth-horon, since Michmash was neither to the south nor to the south-east, but to the east of Beth-horon.)
Sa1 13:6-7
When the Israelites saw that they had come into a strait (צר־לו), for the people were oppressed (by the Philistines), they hid themselves in the caves, thorn-bushes, rocks (i.e., clefts of the rocks), fortresses (צרחים: see at Jdg 9:46), and pits (which were to be found in the land); and Hebrews also went over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead, whilst Saul was still at Gilgal; and all the people (the people of war who had been called together, v. 4) trembled behind him, i.e., were gathered together in his train, or assembled round him as leader, trembling or in despair.
The Gilgal mentioned here cannot be Jiljilia, which is situated upon the high ground, as assumed in the Comm. on Joshua, pp. 68f., but must be the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan. This is not only favoured by the expression ירדוּ (the Philistines will come down from Michmash to Gilgal, Sa1 13:12), but also by ויּעל (Samuel went up from Gilgal to Gibeah, Sa1 13:15), and by the general attitude of Saul and his army towards the Philistines. As the Philistines advanced with a powerful army, after Jonathan's victory over their garrison at Geba (to the south of Michmash), and encamped at Michmash (Sa1 13:5); and Saul, after withdrawing from Gilgal, where he had gathered the Israelites together (Sa1 13:4, Sa1 13:8, Sa1 13:12), with Jonathan and the six hundred men who were with him when the muster took place, took up his position at Geba (Sa1 13:15, Sa1 13:16), from which point Jonathan attacked the Philistine post in the pass of Michmash (Sa1 13:23, and Sa1 14:1.): Saul must have drawn back from the advancing army of the Philistines to the Gilgal in the Jordan valley, to make ready for the battle by collecting soldiers and presenting sacrifices, and then, after this had been done, must have advanced once more to Gibeah and Geba to commence the war with the army of the Philistines that was encamped at Michmash. If, on the other hand, he had gone northwards to Jiljilia from Michmash, where he was first stationed, to escape the advancing army of the Philistines; he would have had to attack the Philistines from the north when they were encamped at Michmash, and could not possibly have returned to Geba without coming into conflict with the Philistines, since Michmash was situated between Jiljilia and Geba. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Two thousand were with Saul - Saul, no doubt, meditated the redemption of his country from the Philistines; and having chosen three thousand men, he thought best to divide them into companies, and send one against the Philistine garrison at Michmash, another against that at Beth-el, and the third against that at Gibeah: he perhaps hoped, by surprising these garrisons, to get swords and spears for his men, of which we find, (Sa1 13:22), they were entirely destitute. |
3 And Jonathan [03129] smote [05221] the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430] that was in Geba [01387], and the Philistines [06430] heard [08085] of it. And Saul [07586] blew [08628] the trumpet [07782] throughout all the land [0776], saying [0559], Let the Hebrews [05680] hear [08085].
5 After [0310] that thou shalt come [0935] to the hill [01389] of God [0430], where is the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430]: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither [0935] to the city [05892], that thou shalt meet [06293] a company [02256] of prophets [05030] coming down [03381] from the high place [01116] with a psaltery [05035], and a tabret [08596], and a pipe [02485], and a harp [03658], before [06440] them; and they shall prophesy [05012]:
1 Now it came to pass upon a day [03117], that Jonathan [03129] the son [01121] of Saul [07586] said [0559] unto the young man [05288] that bare [05375] his armour [03627], Come [03212], and let us go over [05674] to the Philistines [06430]' garrison [04673], that is on the other side [05676] [01975]. But he told [05046] not his father [01].
23 And the garrison [04673] of the Philistines [06430] went out [03318] to the passage [04569] of Michmash [04363].
16 And Saul [07586], and Jonathan [03129] his son [01121], and the people [05971] that were present [04672] with them, abode [03427] in Gibeah [01387] of Benjamin [01144]: but the Philistines [06430] encamped [02583] in Michmash [04363].
15 And Samuel [08050] arose [06965], and gat him up [05927] from Gilgal [01537] unto Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]. And Saul [07586] numbered [06485] the people [05971] that were present [04672] with him, about six [08337] hundred [03967] men [0376].
12 Therefore said [0559] I, The Philistines [06430] will come down [03381] now upon me to Gilgal [01537], and I have not made supplication [02470] unto [06440] the LORD [03068]: I forced [0662] myself therefore, and offered [05927] a burnt offering [05930].
8 And he tarried [03176] [03176] seven [07651] days [03117], according to the set time [04150] that Samuel [08050] had appointed: but Samuel [08050] came [0935] not to Gilgal [01537]; and the people [05971] were scattered [06327] from him.
4 And all Israel [03478] heard [08085] say [0559] that Saul [07586] had smitten [05221] a garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430], and that Israel [03478] also was had in abomination [0887] with the Philistines [06430]. And the people [05971] were called together [06817] after [0310] Saul [07586] to Gilgal [01537].
5 And the Philistines [06430] gathered themselves together [0622] to fight [03898] with Israel [03478], thirty [07970] thousand [0505] chariots [07393], and six [08337] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571], and people [05971] as the sand [02344] which is on the sea [03220] shore [08193] in multitude [07230]: and they came up [05927], and pitched [02583] in Michmash [04363], eastward [06926] from Bethaven [01007].
15 And Samuel [08050] arose [06965], and gat him up [05927] from Gilgal [01537] unto Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]. And Saul [07586] numbered [06485] the people [05971] that were present [04672] with him, about six [08337] hundred [03967] men [0376].
12 Therefore said [0559] I, The Philistines [06430] will come down [03381] now upon me to Gilgal [01537], and I have not made supplication [02470] unto [06440] the LORD [03068]: I forced [0662] myself therefore, and offered [05927] a burnt offering [05930].
46 And when all the men [01167] of the tower [04026] of Shechem [07927] heard [08085] that, they entered [0935] into an hold [06877] of the house [01004] of the god [0410] Berith [01286].
6 When the men [0376] of Israel [03478] saw [07200] that they were in a strait [06887], (for the people [05971] were distressed [05065] then the people [05971] did hide [02244] themselves in caves [04631], and in thickets [02337], and in rocks [05553], and in high places [06877], and in pits [0953].
7 And some of the Hebrews [05680] went over [05674] Jordan [03383] to the land [0776] of Gad [01410] and Gilead [01568]. As for Saul [07586], he was yet in Gilgal [01537], and all the people [05971] followed [0310] him trembling [02729].
14 And the name [08034] of the third [07992] river [05104] is Hiddekel [02313]: that is it which goeth toward [01980] the east [06926] of Assyria [0804]. And the fourth [07243] river [05104] is Euphrates [06578].
2 And Joshua [03091] sent [07971] men [0582] from Jericho [03405] to Ai [05857], which is beside [05973] Bethaven [01007], on the east side [06924] of Bethel [01008], and spake [0559] unto them, saying [0559], Go up [05927] and view [07270] the country [0776]. And the men [0582] went up [05927] and viewed [07270] Ai [05857].
3 With twelve hundred [03967] [0505] chariots [07393], and threescore [08346] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571]: and the people [05971] were without number [04557] that came [0935] with him out of Egypt [04714]; the Lubims [03864], the Sukkiims [05525], and the Ethiopians [03569].
26 And Solomon [08010] gathered together [0622] chariots [07393] and horsemen [06571]: and he had a thousand [0505] and four [0702] hundred [03967] chariots [07393], and twelve [08147] [06240] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571], whom he bestowed [05148] in the cities [05892] for chariots [07393], and with the king [04428] at Jerusalem [03389].
18 And the Syrians [0758] fled [05127] before [06440] Israel [03478]; and David [01732] slew [02026] the men of seven [07651] hundred [03967] chariots [07393] of the Syrians [0758], and forty [0705] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571], and smote [05221] Shobach [07731] the captain [08269] of their host [06635], who died [04191] there.
4 And they went out [03318], they and all their hosts [04264] with them, much [07227] people [05971], even as the sand [02344] that is upon the sea [03220] shore [08193] in multitude [07230], with horses [05483] and chariots [07393] very [03966] many [07227].
12 And the Midianites [04080] and the Amalekites [06002] and all the children [01121] of the east [06924] lay [05307] along in the valley [06010] like grasshoppers [0697] for multitude [07230]; and their camels [01581] were without number [04557], as the sand [02344] by the sea [03220] side [08193] for multitude [07230].
5 And the Philistines [06430] gathered themselves together [0622] to fight [03898] with Israel [03478], thirty [07970] thousand [0505] chariots [07393], and six [08337] thousand [0505] horsemen [06571], and people [05971] as the sand [02344] which is on the sea [03220] shore [08193] in multitude [07230]: and they came up [05927], and pitched [02583] in Michmash [04363], eastward [06926] from Bethaven [01007].
13 And Samuel [08050] said [0559] to Saul [07586], Thou hast done foolishly [05528]: thou hast not kept [08104] the commandment [04687] of the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], which he commanded [06680] thee: for now would the LORD [03068] have established [03559] thy kingdom [04467] upon Israel [03478] for [05704] ever [05769].
23 And the men [0376] of Israel [03478] gathered themselves together [06817] out of Naphtali [05321], and out of Asher [0836], and out of all Manasseh [04519], and pursued [07291] after [0310] the Midianites [04080].
24 And Gideon [01439] sent [07971] messengers [04397] throughout all mount [02022] Ephraim [0669], saying [0559], Come down [03381] against [07125] the Midianites [04080], and take [03920] before them the waters [04325] unto Bethbarah [01012] and Jordan [03383]. Then all the men [0376] of Ephraim [0669] gathered themselves together [06817], and took [03920] the waters [04325] unto Bethbarah [01012] and Jordan [03383].
4 And all Israel [03478] heard [08085] say [0559] that Saul [07586] had smitten [05221] a garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430], and that Israel [03478] also was had in abomination [0887] with the Philistines [06430]. And the people [05971] were called together [06817] after [0310] Saul [07586] to Gilgal [01537].
39 And Zadok [06659] the priest [03548] took [03947] an horn [07161] of oil [08081] out of the tabernacle [0168], and anointed [04886] Solomon [08010]. And they blew [08628] the trumpet [07782]; and all the people [05971] said [0559], God save [02421] king [04428] Solomon [08010].
34 And let Zadok [06659] the priest [03548] and Nathan [05416] the prophet [05030] anoint [04886] him there king [04428] over Israel [03478]: and blow [08628] ye with the trumpet [07782], and say [0559], God save [02421] king [04428] Solomon [08010].
1 And there happened [07122] to be there a man [0376] of Belial [01100], whose name [08034] was Sheba [07652], the son [01121] of Bichri [01075], a Benjamite [01145]: and he blew [08628] a trumpet [07782], and said [0559], We have no part [02506] in David [01732], neither have we inheritance [05159] in the son [01121] of Jesse [03448]: every [0376] man [0376] to his tents [0168], O Israel [03478].
24 And Chepharhaammonai [03726], and Ophni [06078], and Gaba [01387]; twelve [08147] [06240] cities [05892] with their villages [02691]:
15 And Samuel [08050] arose [06965], and gat him up [05927] from Gilgal [01537] unto Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]. And Saul [07586] numbered [06485] the people [05971] that were present [04672] with him, about six [08337] hundred [03967] men [0376].
16 And Saul [07586], and Jonathan [03129] his son [01121], and the people [05971] that were present [04672] with them, abode [03427] in Gibeah [01387] of Benjamin [01144]: but the Philistines [06430] encamped [02583] in Michmash [04363].
5 After [0310] that thou shalt come [0935] to the hill [01389] of God [0430], where is the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430]: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither [0935] to the city [05892], that thou shalt meet [06293] a company [02256] of prophets [05030] coming down [03381] from the high place [01116] with a psaltery [05035], and a tabret [08596], and a pipe [02485], and a harp [03658], before [06440] them; and they shall prophesy [05012]:
3 And Jonathan [03129] smote [05221] the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430] that was in Geba [01387], and the Philistines [06430] heard [08085] of it. And Saul [07586] blew [08628] the trumpet [07782] throughout all the land [0776], saying [0559], Let the Hebrews [05680] hear [08085].
4 And all Israel [03478] heard [08085] say [0559] that Saul [07586] had smitten [05221] a garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430], and that Israel [03478] also was had in abomination [0887] with the Philistines [06430]. And the people [05971] were called together [06817] after [0310] Saul [07586] to Gilgal [01537].
28 And Zelah [06762], Eleph [0507], and Jebusi [02983], which is Jerusalem [03389], Gibeath [01394], and Kirjath [07157]; fourteen [0702] [06240] cities [05892] with their villages [02691]. This is the inheritance [05159] of the children [01121] of Benjamin [01144] according to their families [04940].
2 And Joshua [03091] sent [07971] men [0582] from Jericho [03405] to Ai [05857], which is beside [05973] Bethaven [01007], on the east side [06924] of Bethel [01008], and spake [0559] unto them, saying [0559], Go up [05927] and view [07270] the country [0776]. And the men [0582] went up [05927] and viewed [07270] Ai [05857].
2 Saul [07586] chose [0977] him three [07969] thousand [0505] men of Israel [03478]; whereof two thousand [0505] were with Saul [07586] in Michmash [04363] and in mount [02022] Bethel [01008], and a thousand [0505] were with Jonathan [03129] in Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]: and the rest [03499] of the people [05971] he sent [07971] every man [0376] to his tent [0168].
14 Then said [0559] Samuel [08050] to the people [05971], Come [03212], and let us go [03212] to Gilgal [01537], and renew [02318] the kingdom [04410] there.
6 And the Spirit [07307] of God [0430] came [06743] upon Saul [07586] when he heard [08085] those tidings [01697], and his anger [0639] was kindled [02734] greatly [03966].
7 And he took [03947] a yoke [06776] of oxen [01241], and hewed them in pieces [05408], and sent [07971] them throughout all the coasts [01366] of Israel [03478] by the hands [03027] of messengers [04397], saying [0559], Whosoever cometh not forth [03318] after [0310] Saul [07586] and after [0310] Samuel [08050], so shall it be done [06213] unto his oxen [01241]. And the fear [06343] of the LORD [03068] fell [05307] on the people [05971], and they came out [03318] with one [0259] consent [0376].
2 Saul [07586] chose [0977] him three [07969] thousand [0505] men of Israel [03478]; whereof two thousand [0505] were with Saul [07586] in Michmash [04363] and in mount [02022] Bethel [01008], and a thousand [0505] were with Jonathan [03129] in Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144]: and the rest [03499] of the people [05971] he sent [07971] every man [0376] to his tent [0168].
5 After [0310] that thou shalt come [0935] to the hill [01389] of God [0430], where is the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430]: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither [0935] to the city [05892], that thou shalt meet [06293] a company [02256] of prophets [05030] coming down [03381] from the high place [01116] with a psaltery [05035], and a tabret [08596], and a pipe [02485], and a harp [03658], before [06440] them; and they shall prophesy [05012]:
22 So it came to pass in the day [03117] of battle [04421], that there was neither sword [02719] nor spear [02595] found [04672] in the hand [03027] of any of the people [05971] that were with Saul [07586] and Jonathan [03129]: but with Saul [07586] and with Jonathan [03129] his son [01121] was there found [04672].