1 Samuel 13:1,1 Samuel 13:2

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:1

Saul reigned one year ,.... "Or the son of a year in his reigning" F19 בן שנה שאול במלכו "filius anni Saul in regnando ipsum", Montanus. ; various are the senses given of these words: some interpret them, Saul had a son of a year old when he began to reign, Ishbosheth, and who was forty years of age when his father died, 2 Samuel 2:10 , others, who understand the words of Saul himself, think there is an "ellipsis" or defect of the number, and that it may be supplied, that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 13:1

Saul reigned one year - A great deal of learned labor has been employed and lost on this verse, to reconcile it with propriety and common sense. I shall not recount the meanings put on it. I think this clause belongs to the preceding chapter, either as a part of the whole, or a chronological note added afterwards; as if the writer had said, These things (related in 1 Samuel 12:1-25) took place in the first year of Saul's reign: and then he proceeds in the next place to tell us what... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:1

SAUL 'S PROBATION AND FAILURE ( CHS . 13-15.). EXPOSITION WAR AGAINST THE PHILISTINES (verse 1-14:46). Saul's age and length of reign. Saul reigned one year . This verse literally translated is, "Saul was one year old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel." In its form it exactly follows the usual statement prefixed to each king's reign, of his age at his accession, and the years of his kingdom ( 2 Samuel 2:10 ; 2 Samuel 5:4 ; 1 Kings... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:1-7

The great antagonism. The facts are— 1 . Saul, entering on the military organisation of his kingdom, forms a select force under the command of himself and Jonathan. 2 . The defeat of the Philistine garrison by Jonathan is announced to all Israel. 3 . This first success arouses the hostility of the Philistines, who threaten Israel with overwhelming numbers. 4 . The effect of this display of force is to dishearten the followers of Saul who waited at Gilgah The presence of the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 13:1

The text of this verse, omitted by the Septuagint, is held to be corrupt, and the numerals denoting Saul’s age at his accession as well as the duration of his reign, are thought to be omitted or faulty. Saul may have been about 30 at his accession, and have reigned some 32 years, since we know that his grandson Mephibosheth was five years old at Saul’s death 2 Samuel 4:4; and 32 added to the seven and a half years between the death of Saul and that of Ishbosheth, makes up the 40 years assigned... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:1-14

13:1-15:35 SAUL’S EARLY VICTORIESPreparing to fight the Philistines (13:1-14)Israel’s regular army consisted of two divisions, one under the command of Saul, the other under the command of Saul’s son Jonathan. Other fighting men were called to join the army when needed. Such a need arose when Jonathan attacked a Philistine camp, and the Philistines replied by sending a large army to attack Israel (13:1-6a).In a time of national emergency, Saul was apparently to go to Gilgal, where he was to... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Samuel 13:1

SAUL'S DYNASTY FORFEITED BY HIS SINThis chapter is the subject of an incredible number of contradictory opinions that it has evoked from the scholars, translators and commentators who have written about it. There is hardly any firm opinion expressed by any writer which has not been vigorously denied and contradicted by another. The problem begins with 1 Samuel 13:1.Before going into a detailed study of the chapter, however, we wish to point out that the big point in the chapter is crystal... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Samuel 13:1

1 Samuel 13:1. Saul reigned one year, &c.— The Hebrew here literally is, Saul was the son of a year, and he reigned two years. A passage which almost all the versions render differently, and upon which the comm entators are greatly divided. Dr. Waterland renders it, Saul had reigned one year, and was reigning on two years over Israel. Houbigant, after one of the versions in the Hexapla, reads, Saul when he began to reign was thirty years old, and he reigned two years. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 13:1

1. Saul reigned one year—(see Margin). The transactions recorded in the :- were the principal incidents comprising the first year of Saul's reign; and the events about to be described in this happened in the second year. read more

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