Shmuel Alef 13
13
1It was in the first year of Sha'ulʼs reign, and when he had reigned#13:1 his first two shanim over Yisroel,
2Sha'ul chose him shloshet alafim of Yisroel; whereof two elef were with Sha'ul at Michmas and in har Beit-El, and an elef were with Yonatan in Giv'at Binyamin; and the rest of HaAm he sent back every ish to his ohel.
3And Yonatan struck the outpost of the Pelishtim (Philistines) that was in Geva, and the Pelishtim heard of it. Then Sha'ul blew the shofar throughout kol HaAretz, saying, Let the Ivrim (Hebrews) hear.
4And kol Yisroel heard the news that Sha'ul had struck the outpost of the Pelishtim (Philistines), and that Yisroel also had become odious to the Pelishtim. And HaAm were called together after Sha'ul at Gilgal.
5And the Pelishtim (Philistines) gathered themselves together to fight against Yisroel, sheloshim elef merkavot and sheshet alafim parashim, and soldiers like the chol (sand) which is on the seashore in multitude; and they came up, and encamped at Michmas, east of Beit-Aven.
6When the Ish Yisroel saw that they were in danger (for the army was hard-pressed), then the people did hide themselves in me'arot (caves), and in thickets, and among rocks, and in towers, and in borot (pits).
7And some of the Ivrim (Hebrews) went over Yarden to Eretz Gad and Gil'ad. As for Sha'ul, he was yet in Gilgal, and kol HaAm followed him fearfully trembling.
8And he tarried shivat yamim, according to the mo'ed (set time) that Shmuel had appointed; but Shmuel came not to Gilgal; and HaAm started slipping away from him.
9And Sha'ul said, Bring to me the olah (burnt offering), and shelamim (peace offerings). And he offered the olah (burnt offering).
10And it came to pass, that as soon as he had finished offering the olah (burnt offering), hinei, Shmuel came; and Sha'ul went out to meet him, that he might make a brocha greeting on him.
11And Shmuel said, What hast thou done? And Sha'ul said, Because I saw that HaAm were slipping away from me, and that thou camest not at the mo'ed hayamim, and that the Pelishtim were assembling themselves together at Michmas;
12Therefore, said I, the Pelishtim (Philistines) will come down now upon me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto Hashem; I felt compelled therefore, and offered the olah (burnt offering).
13And Shmuel said to Sha'ul, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not been shomer over the mitzvat Hashem Eloheicha, which He commanded thee; for now would Hashem have established thy mamlachah over Yisroel ad olam.
14But now thy mamlachah shall not endure; Hashem hath sought for Him an ish after His own levav, and Hashem hath commanded him to be Nagid over His people, because thou hast not been shomer over that which Hashem commanded thee.
15And Shmuel arose, and went up from Gilgal unto Giv'at Binyamin. And Sha'ul numbered HaAm that were being found with him, about shesh me'ot ish (six hundred men).
16And Sha'ul, and Yonatan bno, and HaAm that were being found with them, abode in Geva of Binyamin; but the Pelishtim encamped in Michmas.
17And the raiders came out of the machaneh of the Pelishtim in three companies; one company turned toward the derech Ophrah, unto Eretz Shu'al;
18And another company turned toward derech Beit-Choron; and another company turned toward derech (the road) of the border that overlooks Gey HaTzevo'im toward the midbar.
19Now there was no charash (blacksmith) found throughout kol Eretz Yisroel; for the Pelishtim (Philistines) said, Lest the Ivrim (Hebrews) make them cherev (sword) or khanit (spear);
20But kol Yisroel went down to the Pelishtim, to sharpen every ish his plowshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his hoe.
21And a dullness of the edges occurred in the plowshares, hoes, three pronged pitchforks, axes, and for repointing the darvon (goad).
22So it came to pass in the yom milchemet (day of battle), that there was neither cherev nor khanit found in the yad kol HaAm that were with Sha'ul and Yonatan; but with Sha'ul and with Yonatan bno was there found.
23And the detachment of the Pelishtim (Philistines) went out toward Ma'avar Michmas (Michmas Pass).
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Shmuel Alef 13: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
1 Samuel 13
13
1Saul was thirty when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for forty-two years. 2Saul had chosen three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand of them were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and another thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the army home.
3Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison at Geba. The Philistines soon heard about it, so Saul had the trumpet call to arms sounded throughout the land, saying, “Hebrews,#13:3. “Hebrews”: the term is the name given by others to the Israelites, and so used here reminds the Israelites they are dominated by other nations. Some have even suggested that the term was used for Israelites who were slaves to foreigners. pay attention!”
4All of Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and now Israel is like a bad smell to the Philistines!” So the whole army was called up to join Saul at Gilgal.
5The Philistines gathered to fight against Israel. They had three thousand#13:5. The Hebrew text reads “30,000” which seems excessive. The Lucian version of the Septuagint and the Syriac read 3,000. chariots, six thousand horsemen, and soldiers as numerous as sand on the seashore. They advanced and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
6When the Israelite men realized the tough situation they were in, and that the army was taking a beating, they hid themselves in caves, holes, rocks, pits, and cisterns. 7Some of the Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the territory of Gad and Gilead, but Saul stayed at Gilgal, and all the men with him were trembling with fear. 8Saul waited there seven days for the time that Samuel had said, but Samuel did not arrive at Gilgal, and the army started to desert him.
9So Saul ordered, “Bring the burnt offering and the friendship offerings to me,” and he presented the burnt offering.
10Just as he finished presenting the burnt offering, he saw Samuel arrive. Saul went over to meet him and say hello.
11“What have you done?” Samuel asked.
Saul replied, “Well I saw my men were deserting me, and you hadn't arrived when you said you would, and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash to attack. 12I said to myself, ‘The Philistines are about to attack me at Gilgal, and I haven't asked the Lord for his help.’ So I felt I had to present the burnt offering myself.”
13“You've been really stupid,” Samuel told him. “You haven't kept the commands of the Lord your God. If you had, the Lord would have made your kingdom over Israel secure forever. 14But now your kingdom won't last. The Lord has found for himself a man who thinks like him, and has chosen him as ruler over his people, because you haven't kept the commands of the Lord.”
15Then Samuel left Gilgal. The rest of the soldiers followed Saul to meet the army, going from Gilgal to Geba in Benjamin.#13:15. One section of this verse is missing in the Hebrew text, probably due to a copyist's mistake, and the Septuagint is followed here. Saul counted the number of soldiers who were with him and there were about six hundred. 16Saul, his son Jonathan, and the soldiers with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines were camped at Michmash. 17Three groups of raiders left the Philistine camp to go and attack. One group went towards Ophrah in the land of Shual, 18one towards Beth-horon, and one towards the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim by the wilderness.
19There wasn't a blacksmith to be found anywhere in Israel, because the Philistines had said, “So that the Hebrews don't make swords and spears.” 20All the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to sharpen their iron plowshares, pickaxes, axes, and sickles. 21The fee was two-thirds of a shekel#13:21. “Two-thirds of a shekel”: literally “one pim.” for plowshares and pickaxes, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and cattle prods.
22So when it came to the day of battle none of the soldiers with Saul and Jonathan had swords or spears—only Saul and his son Jonathan had such weapons.
23A Philistine garrison had taken control of the pass at Michmash.#13:23. This verse is better taken with the following chapter.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com