King James Version
1 Samuel 13
23 verses with commentary
Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice
Saul reigned one year ; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, reigned one: Heb. the son of one year in his reigning
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance while maintaining outward religious appearance warns against external religion without internal transformation....
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Saul reigned one year.**—The only possible literal translation of the Hebrew of this verse is, “Saul was the son of one year (*i.e., *one year old); he began to reign, &c.” 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, the corruption or gap in ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **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 ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. Geba: or, the hill
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective complianc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **And Jonathan smote the garrison.**—Jonathan throughout this history appears as the perfect type of a warrior, according to the requirements of his age; he is everywhere the first in courage and activity and speed, slender also, and of well-made figure. This personal beauty and swiftness of foot in attack or retreat gained for him among the troops the name of “gazelle.” (The first lines of th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. was: Heb. did stink
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And all Israel heard.**—Saul is put for “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 brought forward. From the first conquest by Joshua they rega...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart su...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel.**—The figures here, again, of the numbers of this vast army are perfectly untrustworthy. In the rolls of ancient armies (and we possess many a one 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 rolls of the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 2
1Sa 2:1-11. Hannah's Song in Thankfulness to God.
**1. Hannah prayed, and said--**Praise and prayer are inseparably conjoined in Scripture (Col 4:2; 1Ti 2:1). This beautiful song was her tribute of thanks for the divine goodness in answering her petition.
**mine horn is exalted in the Lord--**Allusion is here made to a peculiarity in the dress of Eastern women about Lebanon, which ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and sel...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Saw that they were in a strait.**—It was evidently no ordinary Philistine foray or invasion which the Israelites had to make head against. The tradition preserved by Josephus tells us that a host of foreign allies had joined the Phœnician armies in this war. This accounts for the great numbers alluded to in the text: “People as the sand which *is *on the sea shore in multitude” (1Samuel 13:5...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. followed: Heb. trembled after him
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance while maintaining outward relig...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
The invasion of the Philistines.(1-7)
Saul sacrifices, He is reproved by Samuel.(8-14)
The policy of the Philistines.(15-23)
**Verses 1-7**
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened; but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and t...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance while maintaining outward reli...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **And he tarried 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 (1Samuel 10:8), which took place at least some three or four years—perhaps much longer—before the event here related, especially as we know that Saul and Samuel had been together on one occasion certainly at Gilgal in the meantime (...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance while maintaining outward religious appearance warns against external rel...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Bring hither a burnt offering to me.**—It has been supposed by many that the greatness of the sin of Saul consisted in his offering sacrifice with his own hand, but not a hint of this is anywhere given us. It is more than probable that the sacrifice which was offered so prematurely in the absence of the seer of God was performed by the hand of Ahiah the priest, who, no doubt, was in attendan...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. they that were hungry ceased--**that is, to hunger.
**the barren hath born seven--**that is, many children.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. salute: Heb. bless
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance while maintaini...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Behold, Samuel came.**—Scarcely does the sacrificial ceremony appear to have been completed when the seer appeared on the scene.
It was the seventh day, according to the solemn injunction given to the king, but Saul, in his impatience, had not waited till the end of the day.
**Saul went out to meet him.**—The reverence which the king, in spite of his disobedience, felt for Samuel is display...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up--**that is, He reduces to the lowest state of degradation and misery, and restores to prosperity and happiness.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excus...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **What hast thou done?**—The deeper aspects of King Saul’s sin are discussed in *Excursus *F. On this memorable occasion the king plainly told Samuel that though he would gratefully receive any help which the prophet of the Most High could and would bring him, still, in an emergency like the present, sooner than run any risk, he preferred to act alone, and, if necessary, to go into battle wit...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. made: Heb. intreated the face
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, and selective compliance whil...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill--**The dunghill, a pile of horse, cow, or camel offal, heaped up to dry in the sun, and used as fuel, was, and is, one of the common haunts of the poorest mendicants; and the change that had been made in the social position of Hannah, appeared to her grateful heart as auspicious and as great as the elevation o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blame-shifting, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.</strong><br><br>Saul's failure demonstrates that partial obedience is disobedience, and religious activity cannot substitute for heart surrender. His pattern of excuses, blam...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Now thy kingdom shall not continue.**—The succession was thus formally transferred elsewhere; still, when the words of doom were spoken by the prophet, David, the son of Jesse, the man after God’s own heart, could at that time have been but a mere child. Had King Saul repented what he had done, he might have been forgiven, “for God’s threatenings, like His promises, are conditional. There i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth ... exalt the horn of his anointed--**This is the first place in Scripture where the word "anointed," or Messiah, occurs; and as there was no king in Israel at the time, it seems the best interpretation to refer it to Christ. There is, indeed, a remarkable resemblance between the song of Hannah and that of Mary (Lu 1:46).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-14**
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see ch. 1Sa 10:8, as to what should be done in cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an ...
Read full commentary →Saul Rejected as King
And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men. present: Heb. found
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.</strong><br><br>Samuel's departure 'from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin' marks physical and spiritual distance from Saul after pronouncing judgment. The notation that Saul 'numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **And Samuel arose.**—Although the close union between the prophet and the king was thus disturbed by the unhappy self-willed conduct of Saul, by which he virtually threw away the power which had been conferred on him, still Samuel does not as yet break off friendly relations with Saul. Perhaps the noble old man still hoped that the brilliant and gallant king would recognise his fatal error.
...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest--**He must have been engaged in some occupation suited to his tender age, as in playing upon the cymbals, or other instruments of music; in lighting the lamps, or similar easy and interesting services.
1Sa 2:12-17. The Sin of Eli's Sons.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. present: Heb. found Gibeah: Heb. Geba
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.</strong><br><br>The positioning of Saul, Jonathan, and their small force in Gibeah while the Philistines occupied Michmash creates the geographical setting for Jonathan's heroic action in chapter 14. The Hebrew <em>yashab</em> ('abode') suggests...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Gibeah of Benjamin.**—Saul and his son, uniting their sadly diminished forces, entrench themselves at Geba, in a strong position at the end of a pass, whence they could watch the movements of the Philistines. Their small number forbade any idea of an attack on the enemy.
The English translators wrongly here substitute “Gibeah of Benjamin” for “Geba of Benjamin,” probably led astray by the m...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial--**not only careless and irreligious, but men loose in their actions, and vicious and scandalous in their habits. Though professionally engaged in sacred duties, they were not only strangers to the power of religion in the heart, but they had thrown off its restraints, and even ran, as is sometimes done in similar cases by the sons of eminent ministers...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual:</strong><br><br>The Philistine raiding parties operating 'in three companies' demonstrate complete military initiative. They strike in three directions: toward Ophrah (north), Beth-horon (west), and the wilderness (east) - systematical...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **And the spoilers came out.**—The compiler of these Books of Samuel does not profess to give a detailed account of this or any of the wars of Saul It would seem that the Philistines, with their great armed demonstration (1Samuel 13:5), had completely cowed the Israelites, certainly in the southern part of Canaan. Probably the allied forces were now suffered to leave the Philistine host, and ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-17. the priests' custom with the people--**When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →And another company turned the way to Bethhoron: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And another company turned the way to Beth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.</strong><br><br>The third raiding company heads toward 'the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness,' completing the picture of Israel's vulnerability. The geographic specificity emphasizes the comprehensiveness of Philistine contr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-17. the priests' custom with the people--**When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:</strong><br><br>The narrator explains Israel's military weakness: 'there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel.' Philistine control of iron-working technology created complete dependence and military vulnerability. This technological subjugat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Now there was no smith found.**—We must allow a year, perhaps two or three, to have elapsed while “Saul and Jonathan . . . abode in Gibeah,” during which period the Philistine raids went on unchecked, the Israelitish forces being too weak to venture with any hope of success into the open country. The statement respecting the destruction of the smithies probably only specially refers to the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-17. the priests' custom with the people--**When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.</strong><br><br>The practical result of Philistine iron monopoly forced 'all the Israelites' to go 'down to the Philistines' even for basic agricultural tools. This humiliating dependence for 'share, and coulter, and axe, and mattock' meant Israelites could no...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **To sharpen every man his share, and his coulter.**—Porsenna, we read, in the time of the wars of the Republic, allowed the Romans iron implements for agriculture only. *Coulter.—*In Isaiah 2:4, Joel 3:10, this word is rendered “ploughshares “; so most of the older versions. We cannot now with any precision distinguish between these two implements of tillage.
**And his mattock.**—Jerome rend...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-17. the priests' custom with the people--**When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks , and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. a file: Heb. a file with mouths sharpen: Heb. to set
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.</strong><br><br>The specific pricing mentioned - 'a pim for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks' - documents the economic exploitation accompanying technological dependence. A pim (about two-thirds of a shekel) represented significant expense for simp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Yet they had a file for the mattocks . . .**—This translation, the sense of which is not very clear, is supported by the Targum and by many of the great Hebrew commentators—Rashi, for instance. Gesenius and the majority of modern scholars, however, render the word in the original translated “file” (*p’tsirah*) by “bluntness.” The passage then would run: “And there was bluntness (or dulness)...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-17. the priests' custom with the people--**When persons wished to present a sacrifice of peace offering on the altar, the offering was brought in the first instance to the priest, and as the Lord's part was burnt, the parts appropriated respectively to the priests and offerers were to be sodden. But Eli's sons, unsatisfied with the breast and shoulder, which were the perquisites appointed to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.</strong><br><br>The military implication is stark: 'in the day of battle, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people.' Only Saul and Jonathan possessed ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **There was neither sword nor spear.**—These words must not be pressed too literally. The general result of the raids alluded to in 1Samuel 13:16-17 was that in the open valleys of Southern Canaan, especially in the Benjamite territory, the districts whence Saul and Jonathan could most easily recruit their thinned and dispirited forces, there was an absence of arms. This fact is especially dw...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child--**This notice of his early services in the outer courts of the tabernacle was made to pave the way for the remarkable prophecy regarding the high priest's family.
**girded with a linen ephod--**A small shoulder-garment or apron, used in the sacred service by the inferior priests and Levites; sometimes also by judges or eminent persons, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. garrison: or, standing camp
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.</strong><br><br>The chapter concludes with Philistine forces at 'the passage of Michmash,' controlling the strategic pass that Jonathan will use for his assault in chapter 14. The Hebrew <em>mattsab</em> ('garrison' or 'outpost') indicates an advance position designed to prevent Israelite movement. This geographical d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **The garrison of the Philistines went out.**—These words form an introduction to the recital of the heroic deed of Jonathan related in the following chapter. The Philistines are represented as sending forward an armed detachment, or out-post detachment, beyond the camp of Michmash, as a protection against a surprise on the part of the Israelitic force under the king and his son.
Ellicott's C...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year--**Aware that he could not yet render any useful service to the tabernacle, she undertook the expense of supplying him with wearing apparel. All weaving stuffs, manufacture of cloth, and making of suits were anciently the employment of women.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-23**
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appea...
Read full commentary →