1 Samuel 10:7

10:7 “When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. ¹ 

1 Samuel 11:6-13

11:6 The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 11:7 He took a pair ²  of oxen and cut them up. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, who said, “Whoever does not go out after Saul and after Samuel should expect this to be done to his oxen!” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out as one army. ³  11:8 When Saul counted them at Bezek, the Israelites were 300,000 ⁴  strong and the men of Judah numbered 30,000. ⁵ 

11:9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Here’s what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.’” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy. 11:10 The men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you ⁶  and you can do with us whatever you wish.” ⁷ 

11:11 The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them ⁸  down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.

Saul Is Established as King

11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!” 11:13 But Saul said, “No one will be killed on this day. For today the Lord has given Israel a victory!”

1 Samuel 14:47

14:47 After Saul had secured his royal position over Israel, he fought against all their ⁹  enemies on all sides – the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. In every direction that he turned he was victorious. ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 14:2

14:2 Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 7:15

7:15 So Samuel led ¹¹  Israel all the days of his life.

[10:7]  ¹ sn In light of Saul’s commission to be Israel’s deliverer (see v. 1), it is likely that some type of military action against the Philistines (see v.5) is implied.

[11:7]  ² tn Heb “yoke.”

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “like one man.”

[11:8]  ⁴ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss read 600,000 here, rather than the MT’s 300,000.

[11:8]  ⁵ tc The LXX, two Old Latin mss, and a Qumran ms read 70,000 here, rather than the MT’s 30,000.

[11:10]  ⁶ tn The second masculine plural forms in this quotation indicate that Nahash and his army are addressed.

[11:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to all that is good in your eyes.”

[11:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Ammon.” By metonymy the name “Ammon” is used collectively for the soldiers in the Ammonite army.

[14:47]  ⁹ tn Heb “his,” which could refer to Israel or to Saul.

[14:47]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the LXX (“he was delivered”), rather than the MT, which reads, “he acted wickedly.”

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).