1 Samuel 13:4
in 1 Samuel 13And 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIf it was so, we will lay the blame, not on Jonathan who did it, but on Saul, his prince and father, who ordered him to do it, and perhaps kept him in ignorance of the truth of the matter. Nothing makes the name of Israel odious to those that are without so much as the fraud and dishonesty of those that are called by that worthy name.
This site's exposition
Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba
on 1 Samuel 13:3-4
Jonathan’s strike on the outpost at Geba is the spark, and Saul’s ram’s horn spreads the news, a relay the older commentators trace town to town. Israel’s report is blunt, "Israel has become a stench to the Philistines," the words of a small people that has provoked an empire. The army gathers at Gilgal, where the kingship was renewed at 11:15, the ground of Saul’s own coronation.
This site's exposition
Israel has become a stench to the Philistines
The report names Saul for the attack Jonathan made at verse 3. Matthew Henry laid the charge on Saul as the prince and father who ordered it. Henry added that nothing makes Israel's name hateful to outsiders so much as fraud among those who bear it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
And Israel rose up against the Philistines. With the word ministers pressing on, either to crush the enemies of their virtue, or with the trumpet of lofty preaching to rouse their neighbors to the path of virtue, the spirits of the listeners are aroused to …
Therefore the people cried after Saul in Gilgal, etc. As the zeal for performing virtues increases in the good, so also increases the zeal of the unclean spirits to hinder and break the same virtue; who, seeing the friends of the faithful risen against them, …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
6. When the garrison of the Philistines was struck, Saul sounds the trumpet, and after Saul the people shout: because holy preachers proclaim the heard virtues of the elect, and inflame the hearts of their subjects to the example of good work. To sound the trumpet is both to announce victory and to rouse the minds of others by the example of the victors to the purpose of spiritual warfare. For the people to shout after Saul is to undertake the daring of great devotion from having heard the preaching.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The people were called together - The smiting of this garrison was the commencement of a war, and in effect the shaking off of the Philistine yoke; and now the people found that they must stand together, and fight for their lives.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To Gilgal - The Wady Suweinit de-bouches into the plain of the Jordan in which Gilgal was situated. For the sanctity of Gilgal, see above, 1Sa 11:14 note.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֞ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שָׁמְע֣וּ | shameu | they heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִכָּ֤ה | hikah | he has attacked | H5221 → | 499 times |
| שָׁאוּל֙ | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְצִ֣יב | netziv | [the] garrison of | H5333 → | 11 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נִבְאַשׁ | nivash | it has made itself odious | H887 → | 17 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים | bapelishtim | with the Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| וַיִּצָּעֲק֥וּ | vaiyitzaaku | and they were summoned | H6817 → | |
| הָעָ֛ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שָׁא֖וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| הַגִּלְגָּֽל׃ | hagilgal | <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֞לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שָׁמְע֣וּthey heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִכָּ֤הhe has attacked
hikahH5221 →499 times
שָׁאוּל֙Saul
shaulH7586 →402 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נְצִ֣יב[the] garrison of
netzivH5333 →11 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
נִבְאַשׁit has made itself odious
nivashH887 →17 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑יםwith the Philistines
bapelishtimH6430 →287 times
וַיִּצָּעֲק֥וּand they were summoned
vaiyitzaakuH6817 →
הָעָ֛םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
שָׁא֖וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
הַגִּלְגָּֽל׃<the> Gilgal
hagilgalH1537 →41 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 5:21“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 19:6
When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 19:6
Through
Zechariah 11:8And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
it leads to
- John 7:7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- John 15:18
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- Matthew 23:34–36
Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after…
- Isaiah 49:7
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes…
- John 7:7
Through
Genesis 46:34you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable…
it leads to
- Exodus 8:26
But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable…
- Genesis 43:32
They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.
- Exodus 8:26
Through
Genesis 34:30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…
it leads to
- Psalms 105:12
When they were few in number, few indeed, and strangers in the land,
- Psalms 105:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited monarchySaulIsrael's first king, head and shoulders above the people; began in humility, ended in rejection — sparing what God devoted, consul…
- 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, 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 3; Jamieson Fausset and 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.
