1 Samuel 13:1

THE PHILISTINES AROUSED, 1 Samuel 13:1-5.

1. Saul reigned one year This verse, translated in accordance with its parallels in 2 Samuel 2:10; 2 Samuel 5:4; 1Ki 14:21 ; 1 Kings 22:42, and 2 Kings 8:26, reads thus: Saul was a year old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel. All attempts to make the Hebrew text mean anything else are uncritical and do violence to the language. More literally, the Hebrew is, A son of a year was Saul at his being king; that is, upon his becoming king. So, too, in the passages referred to above, A son of forty years was Ishbosheth; A son of thirty years was David, etc. According to the Chaldee, which many have followed in their interpretation, the meaning is, Saul was an innocent child when he began to reign; that is, like a little child a year old. But this interpretation stands opposed to the usus loquendi of the language, as is seen in the passages above referred to, and others like them. It follows, therefore, that certain numerals have fallen out of the Hebrew text in both sentences, for it is evident both that Saul was more than a year old at the beginning of his reign, and that he reigned over Israel more than two years. This defect can now be supplied only by conjecture. According to Josephus, and Acts 13:21, he reigned forty years; and since he had a son old enough at the beginning of his reign to command a division of his army, it would seem that he must have been at least forty years old when he began to reign. It is difficult to reconcile this with the facts and dates of David’s life, for he began to reign when thirty years old, (2 Samuel 5:4,) and that was after Saul’s death; and yet at the time of his victory over Goliath he must have been at least fifteen years old. Had Saul reigned twenty-five years before that event? That seems hardly possible; but we can fill up the defective text of this verse by no more authoritative numbers than those above given.