^13:1Saul was thirty¹ years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for forty² years. ^13:2Saul selected for himself three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel;³ the remaining thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.⁴ He sent all the rest of the people back home.⁵

^13:3Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost⁶ that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted⁷ all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!” ^13:4All Israel heard this message,⁸ “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive⁹ to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join¹⁰ Saul at Gilgal.

^13:5For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000¹¹ chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. ^13:6The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds,¹² and cisterns. ^13:7Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River¹³ to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. ^13:8He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel.¹⁴ But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul.¹⁵

^13:9So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. ^13:10Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.¹⁶

^13:11But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me¹⁷ and that you didn’t come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, ^13:12I thought,¹⁸ ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated¹⁹ to offer the burnt offering.”

^13:13Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed²⁰ the commandment that the Lord your God gave²¹ you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever! ^13:14But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out²² for himself a man who is loyal to him²³ and the Lord has appointed²⁴ him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

^13:15Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal²⁵ to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.²⁶ Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men. ^13:16Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash.²⁷^13:17Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual; ^13:18another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboim in the direction of the desert.

^13:19A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.” ^13:20So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares, cutting instruments, axes, and sickles²⁸ sharpened. ^13:21They charged²⁹ two-thirds of a shekel³⁰ to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and a third of a shekel³¹ to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads. ^13:22So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Jonathan Ignites a Battle

^13:23A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

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Footnotes

1 The does not have “thirty.” A number appears to have dropped out of the Hebrew text here, since as it stands the (literally, “a son of a year”) must mean that Saul was only one year old when he began to reign! The , attempting to resolve this, reads “Saul reigned one year,” but that is not the normal meaning of the Hebrew text represented by the . Although most lack the entire verse, some Greek have “thirty years” here (while others have “one year” like the ). The has Saul’s age as twenty-one. But this seems impossible to harmonize with the implied age of Saul’s son Jonathan in the following verse. Taking into account the fact that in v. 2 Jonathan was old enough to be a military leader, some scholars prefer to supply in v. 1 the number forty (cf. , ). The present translation (“thirty”) is a possible but admittedly uncertain proposal based on a few Greek and followed by a number of English versions (e.g., , , ). Other English versions simply supply ellipsis marks for the missing number (e.g., , ).
2 The has “two years” here. If this number is to be accepted as correct, the meaning apparently would be that after a lapse of two years at the beginning of Saul’s reign, he then went about the task of consolidating an army as described in what follows (cf. , , ). But if the statement in v. 1 is intended to be a comprehensive report on the length of Saul’s reign, the number is too small. According to Acts 13:21 Saul reigned for forty years. Some English versions (e.g., , , ), taking this forty to be a round number, add it to the “two years” of the and translate the number in 2 Sam 13:1 as “forty-two years.” While this is an acceptable option, the present translation instead replaces the ’s “two” with the figure “forty.” Admittedly the textual evidence for this decision is weak, but the same can be said of any attempt to restore sense to this difficult text (note the ellipsis marks at this point in , ). The lacks this part of v. 1.
3 For location see ; ; ; ; .
4 Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 Heb “each one to his tents.”
6 Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at . Cf. “killed the Philistine commander.”
7 Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”
8 The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 Heb “stinks.” The figurative language indicates that Israel had become repulsive to the Philistines.
10 Heb “were summoned after.”
11 Many English versions (e.g., , , , ) read “30,000” here.
12 Or perhaps “vaults.” This rare term also occurs in Judg 9:46, 49. Cf. “high places”; “coverts”; “caverns”; “cellars”; , , “pits”; , “tombs.”
13 The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (), 201–23.
15 Heb “dispersed from upon him”; , “began to slip away.”
16 Heb “to bless him.”
17 Heb “dispersed from upon me.”
18 Heb “said.”
19 Or “I forced myself” (so , , , ); “So in my anxiety I offered”; “I felt compelled.”
20 Or “kept.”
21 Heb “commanded.”
22 This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.
23 Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
24 Heb “commanded.”
25 The and two Old Latin include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal.…”
26 Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).
27 The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses in v. 16 indicates synchronic action.
28 The translation follows the (“their sickle”) here, rather than the “plowshares,” which is due to dittography from the word earlier in the verse.
29 Heb “the price was.” The meaning of the Hebrew word פְּצִירָה (pétsirah) is uncertain. This is the only place it occurs in the OT. Some propose the meaning “sharpening,” but “price” is a more likely meaning if the following term refers to a weight (see the following note on the word “shekel”). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (), .
30 This word, which appears only here in the OT, probably refers to a stone weight. Stones marked פִּים (pim) have been found in excavations of Palestinian sites. The average weight of such stones is 0.268 ounces, which is equivalent to about two-thirds of a shekel. This probably refers to the price charged by the Philistines for the services listed. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (), ; 2:910; and G. I. Davies, Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, 259.
31 Heb “and for a third, a pick.” The Hebrew text suffers from haplography at this point. The translation follows the textual reconstruction offered by P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (), .