1 Samuel 11:14
in 1 Samuel 11Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
KJV
Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 11
Commentary
10 notes on this verseRenew the kingdom - The unction of Saul, in the first instance, was a very private act; and his being appointed to be king was not known to the people in general. He had now shown himself worthy to command the people; and Samuel takes advantage of this circumstance to gain the general consent in his favor. Josephus says that Saul was anointed a second time at this convocation.
This site's exposition
and renew the kingdom there
on 1 Samuel 11:14-15
Samuel calls Israel to Gilgal to renew the kingdom, a second, public confirmation of what chapter 10 had already done in private. Adam Clarke notes Josephus records an actual second anointing at this gathering, and Albert Barnes notes the Septuagint reads the same way, that Samuel anointed Saul king there. The people sacrifice peace offerings and rejoice greatly before the Lord, closing the chapter on the highest note Saul's reign will reach. Gilgal is not a neutral backdrop: two chapters later Saul returns to this same ground, waits out the days Samuel set him, and offers the burnt offering himself rather than wait any longer, the act that costs him the kingdom he is crowned here.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
But Samuel said to the people who were coming: Let us go to Gilgal, etc. With the heretics vanquished, condemned, or corrected, any perfect teacher says to the Church subject to him: Come, with the face of the heart unveiled, let us contemplate the glory …
And all the people went to Gilgal, etc. Upon hearing the exhortation of their spiritual teachers, the people grew in faith and in the knowledge of the truth, and in the revelation of the heart, illuminating themselves by humbling and despising themselves, sought the glory …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1 · Written before 604.
proposed
16. If therefore we apply all things in the manner in which they occur above in the ordaining of the king to the custom of the holy Church, her rulers are ordained with great subtlety. For first the king to be chosen was shown to the prophet, then he was sought as though unknown; afterward he was even found by lot, hidden at home, revealed by the Lord, raised up by the people, and received by all into royal dignity. What then is it that they still proceed to Gilgal, so that there the kingdom might be renewed?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Extremity of Jabesh-Gilead. 1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v1-3
Then said Samuel to the people,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That they might publicly give God thanks for their late victory. There they rejoiced greatly, and, that God might have the praise of that which they had the comfort of, they sacrificed to him, as the giver of all their successes, sacrifices of peace-offerings.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The calm and sagacious counsel of Samuel directed the popular feelings into a right channel, by appointing a general assembly of the militia, the really effective force of the nation, at Gilgal, where, amid great pomp and religious solemnities, the victorious leader was confirmed in his kingdom [1Sa 11:15].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let us go to Gilgal - i. e., to Gilgal by Jericho, where was a famous sanctuary, in the tribe of Benjamin.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁמוּאֵל֙ | shemuel | Samuel | H8050 → | 141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְכ֖וּ | lekhu | come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְנֵלְכָ֣ה | venelekhah | so let us go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| הַגִּלְגָּ֑ל | hagilgal | <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
| וּנְחַדֵּ֥שׁ | unechadesh | so we may renew | H2318 → | |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ | hamelukhah | the kingship | H4410 → | 24 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁמוּאֵל֙Samuel
shemuelH8050 →141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
לְכ֖וּcome
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
וְנֵלְכָ֣הso let us go
venelekhahH1980 →1546 times
הַגִּלְגָּ֑ל<the> Gilgal
hagilgalH1537 →41 times
וּנְחַדֵּ֥שׁso we may renew
unechadeshH2318 →
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃the kingship
hamelukhahH4410 →24 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 5:3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
it leads to
- Isaiah 19:1
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will…
- Isaiah 46:1–2
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Isaiah 46:7
They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not…
- Mark 3:11
And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”
- Isaiah 19:1
Through
1 Samuel 10:8And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 11:14–15
Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
- 1 Samuel 13:4
And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
- 1 Samuel 15:33
But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
- 1 Samuel 13:8–15
And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul.
- 1 Samuel 11:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonJudges to monarchySamuelAsked of God by Hannah and lent to the LORD at Shiloh; the last judge and first of the prophets after Moses, who anointed both Sau…
- PlaceJordan valley near JerichoGilgalIsrael's first Canaan camp where the stones were set and the reproach rolled away (Josh 4-5); later a corrupted shrine the prophet…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
