Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 13

Saul reigned one year. —The only possible literal translation of the Hebrew of this verse is, “Saul was the son of one year (that is, one year old); he began to reign, etc.” In several places in the Books of Samuel, the numbers are quite untrustworthy (we have another instance of this in the 5th verse of this chapter). The present verse, however, is an old difficulty, with the corruption or gap in the text dating from a very distant period.

The English translation is simply a probable, but conjectural, paraphrase. The Chaldee and some of the Rabbis thus strangely interpret it: “Saul was an innocent child when he began to reign”—that is, was as innocent as a one-year-old child, etc.

The Syriac and others paraphrase much as our English Version. The Septuagint omits the verse altogether. The Speaker’s Commentary thus literally translates the Hebrew, marking with a dash (—) where a number probably originally stood: “Saul was—years old when he began to reign, and he reigned—and two years over Israel.” On the whole, the usually accepted meaning is that Saul had reigned one year when the events related in the last chapter took place, and after he had reigned two years, he chose the 3,000 men and did what is related in this chapter.

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel. —This is a very important statement, as it tells us of the first beginning of a standing army in Israel. This was the first step towards the development of Israel into a great military power. It was Saul’s military genius and foresight which enabled David and Solomon to make those great conquests which raised Israel for a time to the position of one of the greatest Eastern Powers. The really great life of Saul was frittered away in repelling what may be termed Israel’s domestic enemies, such as the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites; but he left behind him a powerful and disciplined army, and a nation carefully trained to war.

It has been asked how it was, considering the position of Israel and the Philistines at that time—the latter people evidently possessing not a few strongholds in the territories of the tribes, from where they were in the habit of sallying out, and harassing and pillaging the people—that Saul, instead of at once declaring war, dismissed the people gathered at Gilgal, retaining only so few? The probability is that Saul, with true military instinct, saw that Israel was at this period by no means trained or armed to undertake a regular war with such an enemy. He therefore adopted the wise course related here.

Whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash. —Michmash was a strongly situated position at the head of a pass some nine miles north-east of Jerusalem. The “one thousand” he placed under the command of his son Jonathan, and stationed them in the neighbourhood of his old home, where he would have the benefit of the aid of his family and relatives. This is the first mention of the gallant and chivalrous prince, the story of whose unbroken and romantic friendship with David is one of the most touching episodes of these books. “If the substance of this narrative was written in David’s reign, we may perhaps see the effect of David’s generous and loving nature in the care taken to give Jonathan his due place of honour in the history.”—Speaker’s Commentary.

And Jonathan smote the garrison. —Jonathan throughout this history appears as the perfect example of a warrior, according to the standards of his era; he is always foremost in courage, activity, and speed, and was also slender and well-built.

This personal beauty and swiftness of foot in attack or retreat earned him the name “gazelle” among the troops. (The first lines of the song, 2 Samuel 1:19, can only be explained on the assumption that Jonathan was well known by this name in the army.) “In all this, as in his uprightness and fidelity, he showed himself a truly worthy son of a king.”—Ewald. Some translate the word correctly rendered “garrison” as “pillar,” a sign of Philistine authority; others—e.g., Ewald—as a proper name, supposing that it refers to the officer appointed to collect tribute from Israel in that part of the country.

And Saul blew the trumpet. —This was evidently more than an announcement of good news to the people. Saul intended it as a summons for Israel to prepare immediately for war.

And all Israel heard. — Saul is mentioned instead of “Jonathan,” though the bold deed had been performed by the young prince, Saul being the general-in-chief. The expression “smitten” implies that the garrison in question had been utterly routed, probably put to the sword. The intense hatred with which the Philistines hated the Hebrews is often highlighted. From the first conquest by Joshua, they regarded them as interlopers and intruders; between the two peoples, there was ceaseless warfare until the Philistines were completely subdued by the greater Hebrew kings. Naturally, such a deed as Jonathan’s would immediately arouse Philistia.

And the people were called together. — Gradually, around the King of Israel, the fighting men of the nation were gathered in great numbers. This seems to have been by no means a “levée en masse” of all the people; they appear to have come together very slowly and then to have dispersed very quickly again. The hour for a decisive blow had not yet come. Something, as we will soon see, prevented Saul, with all his gallantry and splendid military skill, from winning popular confidence. (Concerning Gilgal, the place where Saul was trying to assemble the people at this point, see Note on 1 Samuel 13:8 and Excursus E at the end of this Book.)

And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel. —The figures provided here, again, for the numbers in this vast army are perfectly untrustworthy. In the records of ancient armies (and we possess many such examples in the sacred records), the number of war chariots is always smaller than that of the horsemen; here, the chariots are represented as four times as numerous. In the records of the most famous armies, numbers like these never appear.

For instance, Jabin (Judges 4:3) had 900 chariots. Pharaoh pursued Israel with 600. When David defeated Syria, the great Syrian army had 40,000 horsemen and 700 chariots. King Solomon is only reported (1 Kings 10:26) to have possessed 1,400 chariots.

Zerah the Ethiopian had only 300 chariots in his vast army, and Pharaoh Shishak had 1,200. Therefore, the more probable reading for the Philistine chariots would be “300,” not 30,000. Bishop Wordsworth endeavors to explain the vast array by a reference to Josephus, who states that this Philistine force was composed of various nations; however, this explanation would still not account for such an incredible number of chariots.

The Philistines evidently wasted no time. While Saul was endeavoring to rally a Hebrew army at Gilgal, Philistia, with the aid of foreign allies, immediately took the field. With a large army—for it is clear their host on this occasion was very large—they encamped not far from Gilgal, evidently determined once and for all to crush their enemies and their recently elected, daring king.