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Saul Disobeys the Lord

13 Saul was a young man[a] when he became king, and he ruled Israel for two years. Then[b] he chose 3,000 men from Israel to be full-time soldiers and sent everyone else[c] home. Two thousand of these troops stayed with him in the hills around Michmash and Bethel. The other 1,000 were stationed with Jonathan[d] at Gibeah[e] in the territory of Benjamin.

Jonathan led an attack on the Philistine army camp at Geba.[f] The Philistine camp was destroyed, but[g] the other Philistines heard what had happened. Then Saul told his messengers, “Go to every village in the country. Give a signal with the trumpet, and when the people come together, tell them what has happened.”

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Footnotes

  1. 13.1 a young man: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text; several manuscripts of one ancient translation have “thirty years old.”
  2. 13.1,2 for … Then: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 13.2 everyone else: People who were not full-time soldiers, but fought together with the army when the nation was in danger.
  4. 13.2 Jonathan: Saul's son (see verse 16).
  5. 13.2 Michmash … Bethel … Gibeah: These three towns form a triangle, with Bethel to the north.
  6. 13.3 Geba: Geba was between Gibeah and Michmash.
  7. 13.3 led an attack … destroyed, but: Or “killed the Philistine military governor who lived at Geba, and.”

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