1 Samuel13chapter 13

1 Samuel 13:8

“And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed,.... He tarried to the seventh day, but not to the end of it, or towards the close of it, as he should have done: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; so soon as Saul expected: and the people were scattered from him; many deserted him, the Philistines drawing nigh, and Samuel not coming, as Saul expected, and had given the people reason to expect.”

1 Samuel 13:8

“He tarried seven days according to the set time - Samuel in the beginning had told Saul to wait seven days, and he would come to him, and show him what to do, 1Sa 10:8. What is here said cannot be understood of that appointment, but of a different one.”

1 Samuel 13:9

“There is a difference of opinion among commentators whether Saul himself offered the sacrifices prepared for Samuel, thus entrenching upon the priest’s office; or whether he ordered the priests to sacrifice, as Solomon did. In the latter case his sin consisted in disobeying the word of God, who had bidden him wait until Samuel came. And this is, on the whole, the more probable; since Samuel’s rebuke says nothing of any assumption of priesthood, such as we read in the case of Uzziah 2Ch 26:18.”

1 Samuel 13:9-14

“Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings--Saul, though patriotic enough in his own way, was more ambitious of gaining the glory of a triumph to himself than ascribing it to God.”

1 Samuel 13:10

“15. In this passage it must be considered with a trembling heart how, by neglecting to wait for the briefest time, he was rejected. "When he had completed the burnt offering," it says, "behold, Samuel was coming." If therefore he had waited for him only for the very briefest interval of time during which he offered the burnt offering, he could have securely obtained the strength of his kingdom.”

1 Samuel 13:11

“16. The prophet indeed knew what he had done, but by asking, he was reproving the act of disobedience. Hence also to Adam sinning in paradise, the Lord says: "Adam, where are you?" (Gen. 3:9). The magnitude of the guilt can also be conveyed through this question — as if he were saying openly: Does it seem a small thing to you that you sinned by disobeying? Rather, by sinning you fell from the lofty summit of your glory.”

1 Samuel 13:11-12

“He charges him with being an enemy to himself and his interest-- Thou hast done foolishly, and a rebel to God and his government--" Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, that commandment wherewith he intended to try thy obedience." Note, Those that disobey the commandments of God do foolishly for themselves. Sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest fools.”

1 Samuel 13:12

“Supplication - Thence it appears, that sacrifices were accompanied with solemn prayers.”

1 Samuel 13:13-14

“20. Behold how great were the things he lost, who, as he supposed, despised nothing. Behold, for seven days he waited for the prophet; but when he ceased to await him at the end of the day, he lost the glory of so great a dignity. Whence it is also said through the prophet: 'Woe to those who have lost patience' (Sirach 2:16). Indeed, those lose patience who do not bring to completion the good things they have begun.”

1 Samuel 13:13

“Thou hast done foolishly ... - Motives of worldly expediency were not to be weighed against the express commandment of God. All the circumstances and all the dangers were as well known to God as they were to Saul, and God had bidden him wait until Samuel came. Here was exactly the same sin of willful disobedience which broke out again, and was so severely reproved 1Sa 15:17-23.”

1 Samuel 13:13

“For ever - The phrase, forever, in scripture often signifies only a long time. So this had been abundantly verified, if the kingdom had been enjoyed by Saul, and by his son, and by his son's son; after whom the kingdom might have come to Judah.”

1 Samuel 13:14

“And is it surprising that a person previously of good repute should afterwards fall? Saul, though good beyond all others, was afterwards overthrown by jealousy. David, a good man after the Lord's heart, was afterwards guilty of murder and adultery. Solomon, whom the Lord had endowed with all grace and wisdom, was led by women into idolatry. To remain without sin was reserved for the Son of God alone.”

1 Samuel 13:14

“The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart - That this man was David is sufficiently clear from the sequel. But in what sense was he a man after God’s own heart? Answer: 1. In his strict attention to the law and worship of God. 2. In his admitting, in the whole of his conduct, that God was King in Israel, and that he himself was but his vicegerent. 3. In never attempting to alter any of those laws, or in the least change the Israelitish constitution.”

1 Samuel 13:14

"But was it not hard, to punish so little a sin so severely?" It was not little: disobedience to an express command, tho' in a small matter, is a great provocation. And indeed, there is no little sin, because there is no little God to sin against.

1 Samuel 13:15

Samuel arose - Saul could not return to his own station at Michmash, seeing it was occupied by the Philistines; so, perhaps by Samuel’s advice (since, according to the text, he preceded him there), he effected a junction with Jonathan at Gibeah. Some would read “Saul” instead of “Samuel.”

1 Samuel 13:16

“And Saul, and Jonathan his son,.... Who were now joined to their men, on Saul's coming to Gibeah: and the people that were present with them; the six hundred men before numbered: abode in Gibeah of Benjamin; being perhaps a strong fortified place, not choosing to go forth to meet the army of the Philistines, so vastly superior to them: but the Philistines encamped at Michmash; the old quarters of Saul before he went to Gilgal, 1Sa 13:2.”

1 Samuel 13:17

“The spoilers - “The devastator:” the same word is used of the destroying Angel Exo 12:23. The verse describes the system adopted by the Philistines by which for a time they subjugated the Israelites. From their central camp at Michmash they sent out three bands to kill and lay waste and destroy.”

1 Samuel 13:17-18

“By these the land of Israel was both terrified and impoverished, and the Philistines were animated and enriched. This the sin of Israel brought upon them, Isa. xlii. The Israelites that take the field with Saul are unarmed, having only slings and clubs, not a sword or spear among them all, except what Saul and Jonathan themselves have,”

1 Samuel 13:19-22

“They put down all the smiths' shops, transplanted the smiths into their own country, and forbade any Israelite, under severe penalties, to exercise the trade or mystery of working in brass or iron, though they had rich mines of both ( Deut. viii. 9 ) in such plenty that it was said of Asher, his shoes shall be iron and brass, Deut. xxxiii.”

1 Samuel 13:20

“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines - We find from this that they did not grant them as much as Porsenna did to the Romans; he permitted the people to manufacture the implements of husbandry.”

1 Samuel 13:21

“Yet they had a file - The Hebrew פצירה petsirah, from פצר patsar, to rub hard, is translated very differently by the versions and by critics. Our translation may be as likely as any: they permitted them the use of files, (I believe the word means grindstone), to restore the blunted edges of their tridents, axes, and goads.”

1 Samuel 13:22

“So it came to pass in the day of battle,.... When that drew near, and they were called to it, and obliged to fight or flee, or surrender: that there were neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: which was not owing to their leaving them behind in the camp, or casting them away from them through fear, as they followed Saul with trembling, but to the cause now mentioned.”

1 Samuel 13:22

“In the day of battle - these was neither sword nor spear - But if the Israelites enjoyed such profound peace and undisturbed dominion under Samuel, how is it that they were totally destitute of arms, a state which argues the lowest circumstances of oppression and vassalage? In answer to this we may observe, that the bow and the sling were the principal arms of the Israelites; for these they needed no smith: the most barbarous nations, who have never seen iron, have nevertheless bows and arrows; the arrow heads generally made of flint.”

1 Samuel 13:23

“The passage of Michmash - The steep and precipitous path from Michmash to Geba, over the valley of Suweinit. The same term is used in Isa 10:28-29, where the march of the Assyrian army is described.”