1 Samuel 13:6
in 1 Samuel 13Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.
KJV
When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Some, in their panic, left the country (1Sa 13:7), but most took refuge in the hiding-places which the broken ridges of the neighborhood abundantly afford. The rocks are perforated in every direction with "caves," and "holes," and "pits"--crevices and fissures sunk deep in the rocky soil, subterranean granaries or dry wells in the adjoining fields.
This site's exposition
thirty thousand chariots
on 1 Samuel 13:5-7
Thirty thousand chariots is a number far beyond anything else the biblical text lets Philistia field, and a more conservative reading, a copyist's slip for three hundred, is argued by comparing similar numeral variants between Samuel and its Chronicles parallel. Whatever the true count, the host is described as sand on the seashore, and Israel's answer is not resistance but disappearance, into caves, thickets, rocks, high places and pits, with some crossing the Jordan outright. Saul is left at Gilgal with a shrinking, trembling remnant, the pressure that drives his decision two verses later.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
12. We are indeed in a narrow place when we are tempted inwardly by unclean spirits and outwardly behold the examples of evil men. Against the internal temptation of evil spirits, therefore, it is well said: "The people were afflicted," and against the outward examples of ungodly men: "They hid themselves." Because the cunning adversary suggests to us pleasant and joyful things to be desired, and he is never better conquered than if, when tempted, we run to the laments of devout prayer.
When the men of Israel heard this, that they were positioned on high places, etc. When the faithful perceive the snares of the ancient enemy to be prepared to combat, either within themselves or in their neighbors by means of humility's walls, or perhaps even …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And hereby God intended to teach them the vanity of confidence in men; and that they did not one jot less need the help of God now, than they did when they had no king. And probably they were the more discouraged, because they did not find Samuel with Saul. Sooner or later men will be made to see, that God and his prophets are their best friends.
When the men of Israel saw they were in a strait, for the people were distressed,....
A single person, by faith, can say, I will not be afraid of 10,000 ( Ps. iii. 6 ); but here thousands of degenerate Israelites tremble at the approach of a great crowd of Philistines.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The people did hide themselves - They, being few in number, and totally unarmed as to swords and spears, were terrified at the very numerous and well-appointed army of the Philistines. Judea was full of rocks, caves, thickets, etc., where people might shelter themselves from their enemies. While some hid themselves, others fled beyond Jordan: and those who did cleave to Saul followed him trembling.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In thickets - literally, “among thorns.” High places - Not the high places for worship, but holds or towers Jdg 9:46, Jdg 9:49; that particular kind of tower which was the work of the old Canaanite inhabitants, and which remained as ruins in the time of Saul.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֨ישׁ | veish | and everyone of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| רָאוּ֙ | rau | they saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| צַר־ | tzar- | it was distress | H6862 → | |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to <the> it | ||
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִגַּ֖שׂ | nigas | it was hard pressed | H5065 → | |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַיִּֽתְחַבְּא֣וּ | vaiyitchabeu | and they hid themselves | H2244 → | 33 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בַּמְּעָר֤וֹת | bamearot | in <the> caves | H4631 → | 37 times |
| וּבַֽחֲוָחִים֙ | uvachavachim | and in <the> thickets | H2336 → | |
| וּבַסְּלָעִ֔ים | uvaselaim | and in <the> cliffs | H5553 → | 58 times |
| וּבַצְּרִחִ֖ים | uvatzerichim | and in <the> underground chambers | H6877 → | |
| וּבַבֹּרֽוֹת׃ | uvaborot | and in <the> cisterns | H953 → |
וְאִ֨ישׁand everyone of
veishH376 →1663 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֤לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
רָאוּ֙they saw
rauH7200 →1300 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
צַר־it was distress
tzar-H6862 →
ל֔וֹto <the> it
lo
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִגַּ֖שׂit was hard pressed
nigasH5065 →
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַיִּֽתְחַבְּא֣וּand they hid themselves
vaiyitchabeuH2244 →33 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
בַּמְּעָר֤וֹתin <the> caves
bamearotH4631 →37 times
וּבַֽחֲוָחִים֙and in <the> thickets
uvachavachimH2336 →
וּבַסְּלָעִ֔יםand in <the> cliffs
uvaselaimH5553 →58 times
וּבַצְּרִחִ֖יםand in <the> underground chambers
uvatzerichimH6877 →
וּבַבֹּרֽוֹת׃and in <the> cisterns
uvaborotH953 →
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
Hebrews 11:38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 19:9
There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- 1 Samuel 22:1
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
- Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
- 1 Kings 18:4
Through
Isaiah 42:22But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send…
it leads to
- Psalms 102:20
to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
- Jeremiah 50:17
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Isaiah 51:23
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to…
- Psalms 102:20
Through
Judges 6:2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:38
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
- Hebrews 11:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.