1 Samuel 13:1
in 1 Samuel 13Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Saul was forty years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
KJV
Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
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This verse in 1 Samuel 13
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The text of this verse, omitted by the Septuagint, is held to be corrupt, and the numerals denoting Saul’s age at his accession as well as the duration of his reign, are thought to be omitted or faulty. Saul may have been about 30 at his accession, and have reigned some 32 years, since we know that his grandson Mephibosheth was five years old at Saul’s death 2Sa 4:4; and 32 added to the seven and a half years between the death of Saul and that of Ishbosheth, makes up the 40 years assigned to Saul’s dynasty in Act 13:
This site's exposition
Saul was thirty years old when he became king
on 1 Samuel 13:1-2
The Hebrew of this opening verse is short, and its two numbers are thought damaged, so much that the Septuagint omits the verse. Acts 13:21 gives forty years for Saul's whole reign. Saul divides his standing force, two thousand at Michmash under himself and a thousand at Gibeah under Jonathan, the first sign of the permanent army a king like the nations was expected to keep.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Saul was one year old when he began to reign, etc. The sense is this: after Saul was elected, and anointed by the blessed Samuel with holy oil as king, he remained humble and similar to a private person for the whole first year, nor …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
1. Above, when the matter of ordaining a king was being discussed, it was said of him who by divine judgment was to be preferred over the rest, that he was chosen and good. Likewise, concerning him already chosen for the kingdom and set in the midst of the people, Samuel said: "Surely you see whom the Lord has chosen, for there is none like him among all the people" (1 Sam. 9:24).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Saul was the son of one year (so the first words are in the original), a phrase which we make to signify the date of his reign, but ordinarily it signifies the date of one's birth, and therefore some understand it figuratively--he was as innocent and good as a child of a year old; so the Chaldee paraphrase: he was without fault, like the son of a year.
Saul reigned one year,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Saul reigned one year - A great deal of learned labor has been employed and lost on this verse, to reconcile it with propriety and common sense. I shall not recount the meanings put on it. I think this clause belongs to the preceding chapter, either as a part of the whole, or a chronological note added afterwards; as if the writer had said, These things (related in 1 Samuel 12:1-25) took place in the first year of Saul’s reign: and then he proceeds in the next place to tell us what took place in the second year, the two most remarkable years of Saul’s reign. In the first he is appointed, anointed, and twice confirmed, viz., at Mizpeh and at Gilgal; in the second, Israel is brought into the lowest state of degradation by the Philistines, Saul acts unconstitutionally, and is rejected from being king. These things were worthy of an especial chronological note. And when he had reigned - This should begin the chapter, and be read thus: “And when Saul had reigned two years over Israel, he chose him three thousand,” etc. The Septuagint has left the clause out of the text entirely, and begins the chapter thus: “And Saul chose to himself three thousand men out of the men of Israel.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
One year was Shaul in his reign. Our Rabbis, of sainted memory, said, 1 Maseches Yoma 22b. [Shaul was] like a one year old, who did not experience the taste of sin.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [was] a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| שָׁנָ֖ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| שָׁא֣וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| בְּמָלְכ֑וֹ | bemalekho | when became king he | H4427 → | 348 times |
| וּשְׁתֵּ֣י | ushetei | and two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| שָׁנִ֔ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| מָלַ֖ךְ | malakh | he reigned | H4427 → | 348 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וְאַרְבָּעִ֣ים | vearbaim | and forty | H705 → | 136 times |
בֶּן־[was] a son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
שָׁנָ֖הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
שָׁא֣וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
בְּמָלְכ֑וֹwhen became king he
bemalekhoH4427 →348 times
וּשְׁתֵּ֣יand two
usheteiH8147 →768 times
שָׁנִ֔יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
מָלַ֖ךְhe reigned
malakhH4427 →348 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שְׁלֹשִׁיםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
וְאַרְבָּעִ֣יםand forty
vearbaimH705 →136 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
Exodus 12:5Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats.
it leads to
- Hebrews 9:13–14
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Malachi 1:14
“But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the…
- Malachi 1:7–8
By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.
- Deuteronomy 17:1
You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God.
- Hebrews 9:13–14
Through
Micah 6:6With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
it leads to
- Psalms 51:16–17
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
- Romans 10:2–3
For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- Psalms 40:6–8
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
- Psalms 51:16–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.