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1 Samuel 13:8

in 1 Samuel 13

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

KJV

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 13

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed,.... He tarried to the seventh day, but not to the end of it, or towards the close of it, as he should have done: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; so soon as Saul expected: and the people were scattered from him; many deserted him, the Philistines drawing nigh, and Samuel not coming, as Saul expected, and had given the people reason to expect.

This site's exposition

Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel

on 1 Samuel 13:8-9

The appointed time is 10:8, where Samuel told Saul to wait seven days for him at Gilgal. Saul waits out the seven days while his army deserts, and breaks at the edge of the appointed hour, offering the burnt offering himself, a king performing a priest's act. The chapter turns on the space between waiting almost long enough and waiting long enough.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And he waited seven days according to Samuel's appointed time, etc. The assembly of legal scholars, together with their listeners, waited for the advent of Christ in the flesh throughout the entire time that the Sabbath was observed in the law, knowing that He would …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.

proposed

14. Up to this point, because the divine word has spoken about Saul as chosen and good, as was said above, it seemed reasonable that what was said about him should be taken in a good sense, both historically and morally. But now, because we have come to the place of his transgression, it is certainly necessary that we also see in him the things that are to be avoided. But what ought ever to have seemed more carefully to be avoided by all the elect than the evil of pride and disobedience?

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

He tarried seven days according to the set time - Samuel in the beginning had told Saul to wait seven days, and he would come to him, and show him what to do, 1Sa 10:8. What is here said cannot be understood of that appointment, but of a different one.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

he--that is, Saul. tarried seven days--He was still in the eastern borders of his kingdom, in the valley of Jordan. Some bolder spirits had ventured to join the camp at Gilgal; but even the courage of those stout-hearted men gave way in prospect of this terrible visitation; and as many of them were stealing away, he thought some immediate and decided step must be taken.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Had appointed - This appointment has of course nothing whatever to do with that made years before 1Sa 10:8, the keeping of which is expressly mentioned at the natural time 1Sa 11:15. But Samuel had again, on this later occasion, made an appointment at the end of seven days. It seems to have been as a trial of faith and obedience, under which, this time, Saul unhappily broke down.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיּ֣וֹחֶלand he waited

    vaiyichelH3176 →

  • שִׁבְעַ֣תseven

    shivatH7651 →394 times

  • יָמִ֗יםdays

    yamimH3117 →2304 times

  • לַמּוֹעֵד֙to the appointed time

    lamoedH4150 →223 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • שְׁמוּאֵ֔לSamuel

    shemuelH8050 →141 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • בָ֥אhe had come

    va'H935 →2568 times

  • שְׁמוּאֵ֖לSamuel

    shemuelH8050 →141 times

  • הַגִּלְגָּ֑ל<the> Gilgal

    hagilgalH1537 →41 times

  • וַיָּ֥פֶץand it scattered

    vaiyafetzH6327 →67 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • מֵעָלָֽיו׃from with <the> him

    mealavH5921 →5755 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

4 stops

Each 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 10:8

    And 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 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 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.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 13 →

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 & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 13 →