# 1 Samuel 13 📖: Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-1 Samuel Overview]] | [[1 Samuel 12]] | [[1 Samuel 14]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Saul Fails the Lord [[#Verse 01.]] Saul was [thirty] years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for [forty] years. [[#Verse 02.]] Saul selected for himself 3,000 men from Israel. Of these 2,000 were with Saul at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel; the remaining 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. He sent all the rest of the people back home. [[#Verse 03.]] Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!”  [[#Verse 04.]] All Israel heard this message, “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. [[#Verse 05.]] Meanwhile the Philistines gathered to battle with Israel. Then they went up against Israel with 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. [[#Verse 06.]] The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, and cisterns.  [[#Verse 07.]] Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified.  [[#Verse 08.]] He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. [[#Verse 09.]] So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering.  [[#Verse 10.]] Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. [[#Verse 11.]] But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me, and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash,  [[#Verse 12.]] I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.” [[#Verse 13.]] Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed the commandment that the Lord your God gave you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.  [[#Verse 14.]] But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him, and the Lord has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.” [[#Verse 15.]] Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about 600 men. [[#Verse 16.]] Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash.  [[#Verse 17.]] Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual;  [[#Verse 18.]] another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboyim in the direction of the desert. [[#Verse 19.]] A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.” [[#Verse 20.]] So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares, cutting instruments, axes, and sickles sharpened.  [[#Verse 21.]] They charged two-thirds of a shekel to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and one-third of a shekel to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads. [[#Verse 22.]] So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them. [[#Verse 23.]] A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The Hebrew text of 13:1 is incomplete, literally saying Saul was "a year old" and reigned "two years." Numbers were likely lost in copying. Acts 13:21 says Saul reigned forty years. 2. Jonathan struck the Philistine outpost at Geba (13:3), the first recorded act of Saul's son. 3. Most Hebrew manuscripts number the Philistine chariots at 30,000, while some ancient manuscripts have 3,000 (13:5). 4. Israelites hid in caves, thickets, rocks, cellars, and cisterns (13:6). 5. Saul waited the seven days Samuel had set (10:8), but acted before Samuel arrived (13:8-10). 6. Saul offered the burnt offering himself instead of waiting for Samuel (13:9). 7. Paul quotes the phrase "a man after His own heart" when he speaks of David in Acts 13:22. 8. Saul's army shrank to about six hundred men (13:15). 9. The Philistines kept Israel from having blacksmiths so they could not make weapons (13:19). Israelites had to go to the Philistines to sharpen their tools. 10. The price for sharpening was a "pim" (13:21), a word no one understood until archaeologists found small stone weights inscribed with it, weighing about two-thirds of a shekel. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the King who obeyed God perfectly. Saul grew impatient and disobeyed (13:11-13), but Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42), and became the King after God's own heart. ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Saul felt pressure as the people scattered and Samuel delayed (13:8-11). How does pressure tempt us to take shortcuts with God? 2. Saul's excuses focused on circumstances (13:11-12). What is the difference between giving an explanation and owning a sin? 3. God was seeking a man after His own heart (13:14). What does it mean to have a heart that matches God's heart? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 11-12: Saul explains why he offered the burnt offering himself. - 📖 verse 13: Samuel tells Saul he has acted foolishly and not kept the Lord's command. - 📖 verse 14: The Lord has sought a man after His own heart. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 10#Verse 08.|1 Samuel 10:8]] - Samuel told Saul to wait seven days. - 🔗 [[Acts 13#Verse 21.|Acts 13:21-22]] - God removed Saul and raised up David. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 19#Verse 02.|Proverbs 19:2]] - Hasty feet miss the way. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 40#Verse 31.|Isaiah 40:31]] - Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength. - 🔗 [[Luke 22#Verse 42.|Luke 22:42]] - Not my will but Yours. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[1 Samuel 13 - SOAP|Obedience Brings Lasting Significance]] ## 📂 Internal Notes