1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. – 1 Samuel 13:1-15 ESV
The opening verse of this chapter is a bit problematic it makes it difficult to reconcile the timing of the rest of the events that follow. The NET Bible translates this verse as follows: “Saul was [thirty] years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for [forty] years” (1 Samuel 13:1 NET). The reason for this discrepancy is that in the extant copies of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, this verse was missing some vital information. In his Study Notes of 1 Samuel, Thomas L. Constable illustrates the gap in the text this way: “Saul was______ years old when he began to reign, and he reigned_____ two years over Israel.”
There are no other verses in the Hebrew Bible that provide the age at which Saul began his reign, but the Book of Acts tells how long he remained the king of Israel.
Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. – Acts 13:21 ESV
The translators of the English Standard Version chose to amend verse one to read: Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel…. But this rendering of the text poses serious problems with the rest of the story. It leads the reader to believe that two years transpired before the events recorded in the chapter took place. But this translation of the text would not comport with the rest of the book of 1 Samuel. Chapter 10 records Samuel’s anointing of Saul and details the next-step directive given to Israel’s future king.
“…go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” – 1 Samuel 10:8 ESV
This is where the story in chapter 13 picks up. That is why the opening verse should be translated as follows: “Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years” (1 Samuel 13:1 NLT). This rendering uses the 40-year length of Saul’s reign, as described in Acts 13:21, to help fill in the numbers missing in the Masoretic Text. This turns verse 1 into a summary statement of Saul’s reign, which will be detailed in the following chapters. There is still much debate as to the exact age at which Saul began his reign, but the general consensus is that verse 1 was originally intended as a preface designed to set up the story of Saul’s reign and eventual replacement by David.
After having received his anointing and instructions from Samuel, Saul assembled an army to deal with the constant threat posed by the Philistines. The relatively small size of Saul’s force might indicate that his initial plan was to eradicate the Philistines from around Gibeah, his hometown and capital. Saul concentrated most of his forces around Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. About this time, Saul’s son Jonathan “attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba” (1 Samuel 13:3 NLT). This verse poses another problem because for Jonathan to lead troops into battle, he would have needed to be at least 20 years old, the mandatory age for enlistment in the Israelite army. If Saul was 30 years old when he began his reign, he could not have had a 20-year-old son. This has led many scholars to place Saul’s age at the beginning of his reign at 40. This would allow him enough time to have a son old enough for military service.
Together, Saul and his son begin to make an immediate impact on the Philistine problem. News of Jonathan’s victory spread throughout Israel and Philistia, causing great joy among the Israelites and anger among the Philistines. The mighty Philistines were not used to losing to the lowly Israelites, so Jonathan’s unexpected victory stirred them to respond in force.
The Philistines mustered a mighty army of 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore! – 1 Samuel 13:5 NLT
Faced with the prospect of going toe-to-toe with such a massive military force, Saul issued a call to arms to the entire Israelite army, commanding them to gather for battle at Gilgal. But the size of the Philistine army left some Israelite soldiers less than optimistic about their odds for success, and they chose to go AWOL instead.
The men of Israel saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead. – 1 Samuel 13:6-7 NLT
Saul was about to face the first great test as the king of Israel. Jonathan had struck the hornet’s nest and things were about to get ugly. At Gilgal, Saul found himself surrounded by a greatly reduced force that was having second thoughts about their prospects of victory over the Philistines. These men, who had helplessly watched as their comrades deserted them, could see the size of the Philistine army and do the math. They knew their chances of victory were slim to none. And Saul was beginning to panic as he awaited the arrival of Samuel.
Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. – 1 Samuel 13:8 NLT
Samuel had promised to show up and tell Saul what he was to do. But the prophet was nowhere to be found. This led Saul to take matters into his own hands, a decision that would come back to haunt him.
Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. – 1 Samuel 13:8-9 NLT
This was in direct violation of Samuel’s orders. The prophet had clearly told Saul, “I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings” (1 Samuel 10:8 ESV). While Saul had replaced Samuel as Israel’s appointed leader, the elderly prophet was still God’s spokesman and functioned much like a priest. It was his responsibility to offer sacrifices to God and to speak on behalf of God. But Saul grew impatient and made a fateful decision that violated the will of God and virtually ended his reign before it had begun.
Just as Saul was wrapping up his ill-timed and unsanctioned sacrifice, Samuel showed up, and he was properly incensed by what he discovered. He demanded an explanation and, like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar, Saul began to dissemble and deflect blame.
“I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” – 1 Samuel 13:11-12 NLT
In essence, Saul blamed Samuel, declaring that the prophet’s late arrival had forced him to take matters into his own hands. How could Samuel expect Saul to go into battle without a word from the Lord? But Samuel wasn’t buying what Saul was selling. He immediately hammered the hapless Saul for his foolish actions and pronounced a devastating punishment that must have left the new king dumbfounded and confused.
“You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” – 1 Samuel 13:13-14 NLT
After dropping that bombshell, Samuel departed, leaving Saul alone and with no word from the Lord. He had offered the sacrifices but received no instructions. Rather than do things God’s way, Saul had chosen to operate open-loop and skip the divine protocols. In doing so, he forfeited his relationship with Samuel and lost the backing of God Almighty. His reign was not officially over but, in God’s eyes, it was as good as done. Saul’s abandonment by Samuel was symbolic of his loss of God’s favor. He was still king but would spend the remaining years of his reign operating without the favor and power of God. In a sense, he had become exactly what the people of Israel had wanted: A king who was just like those of every other nation. From this point forward, Saul would be just an ordinary man attempting to lead an ungodly people without the benefit of God’s power or presence.
And when Saul returned to Gibeah, he learned that his abandonment was far worse than he imagined. Not only had he lost Samuel’s presence and access to God’s power, but he had lost the majority of his troops.
When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only 600 were left! – 1 Samuel 13:15 NLT
In more ways than one, Saul was alone. His disobedience had proven costly and he would spend the rest of his life paying the price.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.