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Texts -- 1 Samuel 13:15-23 (NET)

Context
13:15 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 six hundred men . 13:16 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 . 13:17 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 ; 13:18 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 Zeboim in the direction of the desert . 13:19 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 .” 13:20 So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares , cutting instruments , axes , and sickles sharpened . 13:21 They charged two-thirds of a shekel to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments , and a third of a shekel to sharpen picks and axes , and to set ox goads . 13:22 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.
Jonathan Ignites a Battle
13:23 A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • WAR; WARFARE

    [isbe] WAR; WARFARE - wor, wor'-far (milchamah, 'anshe m., "men of war," "soldiers"; polemos, polemein, strateuesthai, stratia): 1. Religious Significance 2. Preliminaries 3. Operations of War 4. Strategy 5. Important Requisites 6....

  • Saul

    [ebd] asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, "asked for"), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of the Jewish nation. T...
    [isbe] SAUL - sol (sha'ul; Saoul): (1) The first king of Israel. I. EARLY HISTORY 1. Name and Meaning 2. Genealogy 3. Home and Station 4. Sources for Life 5. Election as King 6. Reasons for It II. REIGN AND FALL 1. His First Action...
    [nave] SAUL 1. Called also Shaul. King of Edom, Gen. 36:37, 38; 1 Chr. 1:48, 49. 2. King of Israel. A Benjamite, son of Kish, 1 Sam. 9:1, 2. Sons of, 1 Chr. 8:33. His personal appearance, 1 Sam. 9:2; 10:23. Made king of Israel,...

  • SHUAL, THE LAND OF

    [ebd] land of the fox, a district in the tribe of Benjamin (1 Sam. 13:17); possibly the same as Shalim (9:4), in the neighbourhood of Shaalabbin (Josh. 19:42).
    [smith] a district named in (1 Samuel 13:17) only. It is pretty certain from the passage that it lay north of Michmash. If therefore it be identical with the "land of Shalim" (1 Samuel 9:4) --as is not impossible --we have the ...

  • SAMUEL, BOOKS OF

    [isbe] SAMUEL, BOOKS OF - || I. PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HEBREW CANON II. CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS AND PERIOD OF TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY III. SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15) 2. Reign and D...

  • Philistines

    [ebd] (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., "Philistim"), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the Jordan, and Crete and other ...
    [isbe] PHILISTINES - fi-lis'-tinz, fil'-is-tinz, fil'-is-tinz (pelishtim; Phulistieim, allophuloi): I. OLD TESTAMENT NOTICES 1. Race and Origin 2. Religion 3. Individual Philistines Mentioned 4. Title of Ruler and Circumcision 5. H...
    [nave] PHILISTINES Descendants of Mizraim, Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7. Called Cherethites, 1 Sam. 30:14-16; Ezek. 25:16; Zeph. 2:5; Casluhim, Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12; Caphtorim, Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7. Territory of...

  • Passage

    [ebd] denotes in Josh. 22:11, as is generally understood, the place where the children of Israel passed over Jordan. The words "the passage of" are, however, more correctly rendered "by the side of," or "at the other side of," thu...

  • Palestine

    [ebd] originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered "Philistia" in Ps. 60:8; 83:7;...

  • Mattock

    [isbe] MATTOCK - mat'-ok: The translation of 3 Hebrew words: (1) machereshah, probably "a pick-axe" (1 Sam 13:20,21; compare 13:21 margin); (2) cherebh, "sword," "ax," "tool" (2 Ch 34:6 the King James Version, "with their mattocks,...
    [nave] MATTOCK, 1 Sam. 13:20, 21; Isa. 7:25.

  • JONATHAN (2)

    [isbe] JONATHAN (2) - (yehonathan; also yonathan, "Yahweh has given"; Ionathan): The eldest son of Saul, the first king of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. 1. Three Periods: The life of Jonathan, as far as we are told about him, f...

  • GIBEAH

    [ebd] a hill or hill-town, "of Benjamin" (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as "Gibeah of Saul" (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite's concubine which led to the almost utter extirpation ...
    [isbe] GIBEAH - gib'-e-a (gibh`ah, "hill"): The Hebrew word denotes generally an eminence or hill, in distinction from har, which is used for mountain, or mountain range. It occurs, however, in two instances, as a place-name. Under...
    [smith] a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are -- Gibeah, a city in the m...

  • Encamp

    [ebd] An encampment was the resting-place for a longer or shorter period of an army or company of travellers (Ex. 13:20; 14:19; Josh. 10:5; 11:5). The manner in which the Israelites encamped during their march through the wilderne...

  • Coulter

    [ebd] (1 Sam. 13:20, 21), an agricultural instrument, elsewhere called "ploughshare" (Isa. 2:4; Micah 4:3; Joel 3:10). It was the facing-piece of a plough, analogous to the modern coulter.

  • Carpenter

    [ebd] an artificer in stone, iron, and copper, as well as in wood (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Chr. 14:1; Mark 6:3). The tools used by carpenters are mentioned in 1 Sam. 13:19, 20; Judg. 4:21; Isa. 10:15; 44:13. It was said of our Lord, "Is no...

  • Axe

    [ebd] used in the Authorized Version of Deut. 19:5; 20:19; 1 Kings 6:7, as the translation of a Hebrew word which means "chopping." It was used for felling trees (Isa. 10:34) and hewing timber for building. It is the rendering of ...

  • Ax

    [nave] AX An implement, Deut. 19:5; 1 Sam. 13:20, 21; 2 Sam. 12:31; Psa. 74:5, 6. Elisha causes to swim, 2 Kin. 6:5, 6. Battle-ax, Ezek. 26:9. Figurative Jer. 46:22; 51:20; Matt. 3:10.

  • Armour

    [ebd] is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive. (1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The "rod of iron" (Ps. 2:9) is supposed to mean a mace o...

  • Armies

    [nave] ARMIES Who of the Israelites were subject to service in, Num. 1:2, 3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5; who were exempt from service in, Num. 1:47-50; 2:33; Deut. 20:5-9; Judg. 7:3. Enumeration of Israel's military forces, Num. 1:2, 3; 26...

  • Agriculture

    [ebd] Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession of the Promised Land, the...
    [nave] AGRICULTURE Divine institution of, Gen. 2:15; 3:19, 23. Practiced by Cain, Gen. 4:2; Noah, Gen. 9:20; Elisha, 1 Kin. 19:19; David, 1 Chr. 27:26-31; Uzziah, 2 Chr. 26:10; Solomon, Eccl. 2:4-6. God to be acknowledged in, Jer...

  • AX (AXE); AX-HEAD

    [isbe] AX (AXE); AX-HEAD - aks; aks'hed: Nine different Hebrew words have been rendered "ax": (1) garzen. This unquestionably was one of the larger chopping instruments, as the uses to which it was put would imply (Dt 19:5; 20:19; ...

  • ARMOR; ARMS

    [isbe] ARMOR; ARMS - ar'-mer, arms. I. ARMOR IN GENERAL--OLD TESTAMENT II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT; POLYBIUS III. OFFENSIVE WEAPONS 1. Rod 2. Sling 3. Bow and Arrows 4. Spear--Javelin 5. Sword IV. DEFENSIVE WEAPONS 1. Shield 2. Helmet...

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The translation "again did"in verse 1 implies that the Philistine oppression followed the Ammonite oppression chronologically. However the Hebrew idiom these words translate does not necessarily mean that. It can also mean, a...
  • Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) a...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
  • "Clearly these five chapters constitute a literary unit, for they are immediately preceded by the formula that marks the end of the story of a judge (7:13-17) and immediately followed by the formula that marks the beginning o...
  • The writer wrote chapters 12-15 very skillfully to parallel chapters 8-11. Each section begins with Samuel warning the people about the dangers of their requesting a king (chs. 8 and 12). Each one also follows with a descript...
  • The writer introduced the history of Saul's reign by referring to the king's age and possibly the length of his reign. Verse one contains a textual corruption in the Hebrew text.132There the verse reads, "Saul was . . . years...
  • The writer explained the military disaster that resulted from Saul's disobedience in verses 16-18. Saul's army dwindled and the enemy continued to move around his capital city freely.Saul evidently led his troops from Gilgal ...
  • Evidently Saul would not have inquired of God if Ahijah (cf. v. 18) had not suggested he do so (v. 36). Probably God did not answer his prayer immediately because Saul wanted this information to vindicate himself rather than ...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • Samuel's death and the mention of Saul's commendable removal of mediums and spiritists prepare for what follows (cf. Lev. 19:3; Deut. 18:11). Mediums are people who communicate with the dead, and spiritists are those who comm...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • 25:15-16 The Philistines to Judah's west had also scorned the Israelites and had sought to destroy them (cf. Judg. 13-16; 1 Sam. 4; 13; 31; 2 Sam. 5; 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chron. 21:16-17; 28:18). Therefore the Lord would stretch o...
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