Chronological

The Reign of Saul and the Introduction of David

Chapter 13

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice. ¹ Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he ruled over Israel for forty-two years. ² Saul chose three thousand of the men of Israel for himself. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash in the hill country of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people to their homes.

³ Jonathan attacked an outpost of the Philistines at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Saul had trumpets blown all throughout the land and proclaimed, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ All of Israel heard the report: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become abhorrent to the Philistines.” The people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines were assembled to fight against Israel. They had thirty thousand chariots,^[a] six thousand charioteers, and so many men that they seemed like the sand on the shore of the sea. They went up and camped outside of Michmash, to the east of Beth-haven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble for the people were being hard pressed, they hid themselves in caves, in thickets, among the rocks, in cellars, and in cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul was still in Gilgal, and all of the people who were following him trembled with fear. ⁸ He waited for seven days, the time period that Samuel had established, and yet Samuel had not yet arrived. The people began to drift away. ^9 [b]So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offerings and the peace offerings,” and he offered up the burnt offerings. ¹⁰ Just as he finished offering up the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him. ¹¹ Samuel asked him, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “I did it because the people were drifting away from me, and you had not arrived at the established time, and the Philistines were assembled at Michmash. ¹² I thought, ‘The Philistines are coming down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet made entreaty to the Lord.’ I felt compelled to offer up a burnt offering.”

¹³ Samuel responded to Saul, “You have acted foolheartedly, you have not observed the command of the Lord, your God. If you had, the Lord would have established your reign over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your reign shall not endure because you have not observed what the Lord commanded you. The Lord has sought a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader over his people.”

¹⁵ Preparations for War. Samuel got up and left Gilgal for Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted those who were with him, and there were around six hundred men. ¹⁶ Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were with him stayed in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped outside of Michmash.

¹⁷ Raiders went out from the camp in Michmash in three groups. One went toward Ophrah into the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another went toward Beth-horon, and the third went toward the border that lay over the Valley of Zeboim near the desert.

¹⁹ There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel for the Philistines had reasoned, “Otherwise the Hebrews might make swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all of the Israelites had to travel down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, their hoes, their axes, and their sickles sharpened. ²¹ The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and hoes, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and pointing the goads.^{[c] 22} This is why on the day of the battle not a sword or a spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and Jonathan, his son, had them. ²³ Now a force of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

Chapter 14

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines.^{[d] 1} One day Jonathan, Saul’s son, said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let us cross over to the other side to that outpost of Philistines,” but he did not tell his father.

² Saul had remained in the upper part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree that is in Migron. There were around six hundred men with him. ³ Abijah, the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, and he wore an ephod. Now, the people did not know that Jonathan had left.

⁴ Along the passes through which Jonathan was traveling to go over to the Philistine outpost, there was a rocky cliff on one side and there was a rocky cliff on the other side. They were called Bozez and Seneh. ⁵ One of them faced the north toward Michmash, and the other faced the south toward Gibeah. ⁶ Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come on, let us cross over to that outpost of uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will be with us, for nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether it be by many or by few.” ⁷ His armor-bearer said to him, “Do what you have in mind, my heart is with you.”

⁸ Jonathan said, “Let us cross over to those men and show ourselves to them. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Wait where you are until we come over to you,’ then we will stay where we are and not go over to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come here to us,’ then we will go, because the Lord has delivered them into our hands, and this is a sign to us.”^[e]

¹¹ So the two of them showed themselves to the Philistine force, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming up out of the holes in which they have hidden themselves.” ¹² Then the men of that force said to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come over to us and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come, follow me, for the Lord has delivered them into Israel’s hands.”

¹³ Jonathan climbed up using his hands and his feet, and his armor-bearer followed him. They fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer also put them to death after him. ¹⁴ That first time Jonathan and his armor-bearer slaughtered about twenty of them, all within half the area an ox could plow.

¹⁵ The army in the fields and all the people in the outposts and the raiding parties were seized with panic, and they were shaking so much that even the ground quaked, for it was a tremendous panic.

¹⁶ Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. ¹⁷ Saul said to the people who were with him, “Take stock and see who has left us.” They took stock, and Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. ¹⁸ Saul said to Abijah, “Bring the Ark of God here” (for the Ark of God was then with the Israelites). ¹⁹ While Saul was talking with the priest, the noise that was rising up from the Philistine army kept getting louder. Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled and went into battle. There was great confusion, each man attacking his neighbor with his sword. ²¹ Furthermore, those Hebrews who had previously sided with the Philistines and who had gone up into their camp changed sides to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²² When all of the Israelites who had hid themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they joined them in battle, chasing closely after them. ²³ Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day, and the fighting continued on through Beth-haven.

²⁴ Saul’s Oath. The men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul placed the people under an oath which said, “Whoever eats any food before this evening, before I have had the chance to seek vengeance upon my enemies, will be cursed,” Therefore, no one ate anything.

²⁵ All of them entered a woodland, and there was some honey on the ground. ²⁶ When they entered the woods, they saw honey oozing out, but no one put his hand to his mouth because they feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard about the oath with which his father had bound the people, so he stuck out the end of the staff that was in his hand and he dipped it in the honeycomb. He then put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

²⁸ Jonathan’s Violation of the Oath. One of the men shouted out, “Your father has put the people under an oath saying, ‘Whoever eats food today will be under a curse.’ ” By now, the people were faint. ²⁹ Jonathan said, “My father has brought trouble into the land. Look how my eyes brightened up just because I ate a little bit of this honey. ³⁰ The slaughter among the Philistines has not been all that great. How much larger would it have been today if the people had eaten freely of their enemies’ plunder that they had found?”

³¹ That day they struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very weary. ³² The people rushed upon the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and they slaughtered them upon the ground. The people ate them along with blood.

³³ They spoke to Saul saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the Lord for they are eating food with the blood still in it.” He said, “You have acted treacherously. Roll this large rock over toward me.” ³⁴ Saul then said, “Go among the people and say to them, ‘Let each man bring his ox and his sheep to me here. They can slay them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating it with its blood still in it.’ ” Each man brought his ox there, and they slaughtered them there that night. ³⁵ Saul built an altar to the Lord. It was the first time that he built an altar to the Lord.^[f]

³⁶ Jonathan Is Saved from Death. Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night. We can prey upon them until the morning and not leave one of them alive.” They said, “Do whatever you think best,” but the priest approached and said, “Let us inquire of God.” ³⁷ So Saul sought counsel from God asking, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into Israel’s hands?” But he did not answer that day.

³⁸ So Saul said, “Let all of the leaders of the people draw near so that we can know and find out what sin has been committed today. ³⁹ As the Lord who delivers Israel lives, even if it be Jonathan, my son, that man will surely die.” But none of the people answered him.

⁴⁰ He then said to all of Israel, “You stand on one side, I and Jonathan my son will stand on the other.” The people said to Saul, “Do what you think is best.” ⁴¹ Saul then said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Give me the complete truth.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen by lot, but the people escaped. ⁴² Saul said, “Cast lots to choose between me and Jonathan, my son.” Jonathan’s lot was chosen.

⁴³ Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of my staff that was in my hand. Must I now die?” ⁴⁴ Saul answered, “May God do this to me and even more, for, Jonathan, you must surely die.” ⁴⁵ But the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, the one who brought about this victory in Israel? Never! As the Lord lives, not one hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” This is how the people rescued Jonathan^[g] that day, and he was not put to death.

⁴⁶ Saul’s Reign Summarized. Saul returned from his pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their homes. ^47 [h]Thus Saul established his reign over Israel. He fought against all of his surrounding enemies, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. He punished them on every side. ⁴⁸ He assembled an army and struck down the Amalekites, delivering Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malkishua. The older of his two daughters was named Merab, and the younger was named Michal. ⁵⁰ His wife’s name was Ahinoam, and she was the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, who was Saul’s uncle. ⁵¹ Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were the sons of Abiel.

⁵² There was bitter fighting against the Philistines all throughout the days of Saul. Whenever Saul saw a strong or brave man, he took him into his service.