Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 13:8

"And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him." — 1 Samuel 13:8 (ASV)

And he waited seven days. —When was this “set time” appointed? It seems difficult at first to refer back to the day of Saul’s mysterious prophetic consecration (1 Samuel 10:8). This consecration took place at least three or four years—perhaps much longer—before the event related here. This difficulty arises especially because we know that Saul and Samuel had certainly been together on one occasion at Gilgal in the meantime (1 Samuel 11:14–15). And yet, the extraordinary solemnity of the seer's warning at the time of the anointing at Ramah evidently pointed to some future event at Gilgal. This event would be a most important epoch in King Saul’s career. All these conditions are satisfied in the meeting between the prophet and the king, related here.

It is best, then, to understand this event as the one alluded to on the day of anointing at Ramah. We should also conclude that this grave warning and positive direction had been repeated, probably more than once, since then by the seer to the king. (On the place Gilgal, and on the nature of the “sin of Saul,” which was so terribly punished, see Excursus E and F at the end of this Book.) Saul, we read, waited seven days, but before the seventh day expired, he gave up waiting and offered the sacrifice without the seer. Thus, as Josephus says, “he did not fully obey the command.” His faith failed him under pressure at the last, and he acted on his own responsibility, quite irrespective of the positive command of God.

The people were scattered from him. —This trial of the king’s faith was doubtless a severe one. The panic that pervaded all Israel was every hour thinning the army Saul had gathered around him at Gilgal. The martial king longed for a chance to join battle, but he was forbidden to do so until the seer had offered sacrifice and publicly inquired of the Lord. The day passed by, and Samuel did not come. An attack from the Philistine army, encamped not far away, seemed imminent, and Saul’s forces were rapidly melting away.