John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:5
And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel ,.... To prevent their further encroachments on them, and designs against them; for they perceived they intended to cast off their yoke, and free themselves entirely from them: thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen ; it may seem incredible that so small a people as the Philistines were, who only were possessed of five cities, or lordships, with the villages belonging to them, except what they had taken... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:1-7
We are not told wherein it was that the people of Israel offended God, so as to forfeit his presence and turn his hand against them, as Samuel had threatened (1 Sam. 12:15); but doubtless they left God, else he would not have left them, as here it appears he did; for, I. Saul was very weak and impolitic, and did not order his affairs with discretion. 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... read more