1 Samuel 13:5
in 1 Samuel 13Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth-aven.
KJV
And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth–aven.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 13
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thirty thousand chariots - Probably a copyist’s mistake for 300. (Compare, for a similar numerical variation, 1Ch 18:4 with 2Sa 8:4.) Eastward from Bethaven - Or more simply “to the east of Bethaven,” which Jos 7:2 lay “on the east side of Bethel.” Bethaven (thought to be the same as Deir Diwan) lay between Bethel and Michmash, which had been evacuated by Saul.
This site's exposition
Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel
on 1 Samuel 13:5-7
The Philistine host is "as numerous as the sand on the seashore," and Israel answers by disappearing into caves, thickets, rocks, cellars and cisterns, some crossing the Jordan outright. Saul is left at Gilgal with a shrinking remnant, "all his troops were quaking in fear." That pressure drives his decision two verses later.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
7. Above, King Saul is described as having chosen three thousand men for himself. If, therefore, we wish to compare the forces of each army, against each one of Saul's men, ten chariots and two horsemen of the Philistines are assigned. For ten times three thousand is thirty thousand. In the number six as well, three is doubled. By this battle, indeed, both the multitude and the ferocity of hidden enemies is signified.
And going up, they camped in Magmas, etc. Magmas, as we have said, signifies humility; Bethaven sounds like the house of an idol, or a useless house. But ascending from their hidden machinations, unclean spirits, either by secretly persuading like a common pedestrian crowd, or …
And the remaining crowd, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea, is numerous. For this sand is exposed to the frequent waves of neighbors' vices, and also always unstable and fleeting due to the wind of pride, above which the house …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), besides 6000 horse, which in those times, when horses were not so much used in war as they are now, was a great body, they had an incredible number of chariots, 30,000 in all: most of them, we may suppose, were carriages for the bag and baggage of so vast an army, not chariots of war.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen - There is no proportion here between the chariots and the cavalry. The largest armies ever brought into the field, even by mighty emperors, never were furnished with thirty thousand chariots. I think שלשים sheloshim, Thirty, is a false reading for שלש shalosh, Three. The Syriac has telotho alpin, and the Arabic thalathato alf, both signifying Three thousand; and this was a fair proportion to the horsemen. This is most likely to be the true reading.
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֞ים | ufelishtim | and [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| נֶאֶסְפ֣וּ׀ | neesfu | they gathered | H622 → | 200 times |
| לְהִלָּחֵ֣ם | lehilachem | to fight | H3898 → | 177 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֨ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| אֶ֤לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| רֶ֙כֶב֙ | rekhev | chariot[s] | H7393 → | |
| וְשֵׁ֤שֶׁת | vesheshet | and six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| אֲלָפִים֙ | ʾalafim | thousand<s> | H505 → | 505 times |
| פָּרָשִׁ֔ים | parashim | horsemen | H6571 → | |
| וְעָ֕ם | veam | and a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כַּח֛וֹל | kachol | like the sand | H2344 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׂפַֽת־ | sefat- | [the] shore of | H8193 → | |
| הַיָּ֖ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | |
| לָרֹ֑ב | laro | for multitude | H7230 → | |
| וַֽיַּעֲלוּ֙ | vaiyaalu | and they came up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וַיַּחֲנ֣וּ | vaiyachanu | and they encamped | H2583 → | 143 times |
| בְמִכְמָ֔שׂ | vemikhmas | at Micmash | H4363 → | 11 times |
| קִדְמַ֖ת | kidmat | [the] east of | H6926 → | |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | Beth | H1007 → | 14 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | Aven | H1007 → | 14 times |
וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֞יםand [the] Philistines
ufelishtimH6430 →287 times
נֶאֶסְפ֣וּ׀they gathered
neesfuH622 →200 times
לְהִלָּחֵ֣םto fight
lehilachemH3898 →177 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֨יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
אֶ֤לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
רֶ֙כֶב֙chariot[s]
rekhevH7393 →
וְשֵׁ֤שֶׁתand six
vesheshetH8337 →216 times
אֲלָפִים֙thousand<s>
ʾalafimH505 →505 times
פָּרָשִׁ֔יםhorsemen
parashimH6571 →
וְעָ֕םand a people
veamH5971 →1873 times
כַּח֛וֹלlike the sand
kacholH2344 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׂפַֽת־[the] shore of
sefat-H8193 →
הַיָּ֖םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →
לָרֹ֑בfor multitude
laroH7230 →
וַֽיַּעֲלוּ֙and they came up
vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times
וַיַּחֲנ֣וּand they encamped
vaiyachanuH2583 →143 times
בְמִכְמָ֔שׂat Micmash
vemikhmasH4363 →11 times
קִדְמַ֖ת[the] east of
kidmatH6926 →
בֵּ֥יתBeth
beitH1007 →14 times
אָֽוֶן׃Aven
ʾavenH1007 →14 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
Hosea 10:5The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into…
it leads to
- Hosea 5:8
Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 4:15
Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 9:11
Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
- 2 Kings 23:5
Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who…
- Hosea 5:8
Through
1 Samuel 14:23So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven.
it leads to
- Exodus 14:30
That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.
- Exodus 14:30
Through
Hosea 4:15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
it leads to
- Hosea 12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
- Hosea 9:15
All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
- Hosea 12:11
Through
Joshua 11:4So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
it leads to
- Judges 7:12
Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Judges 7:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.