1 Samuel 9:14

9:14 So they went up to the town. As they were heading for the middle of the town, Samuel was coming in their direction ¹  to go up to the high place.

1 Samuel 13:8

13:8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. ²  But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “to meet them.” This may indicate purpose on Samuel’s part. The next sentence indicates that the meeting was by design, not just an accident.

² tn This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (FCI), 201-23.

³ tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”