1 Samuel 13:5-8

13:5 For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 ¹  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. 13:6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, ²  and cisterns. 13:7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River ³  to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 13:8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. ⁴  But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. ⁵ 

[13:5]  ¹ tn Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV) read “30,000” here.

[13:6]  ² tn Or perhaps “vaults.” This rare term also occurs in Judg 9:46, 49. Cf. KJV “high places”; ASV “coverts”; NAB “caverns”; NASB “cellars”; NIV, NCV, TEV “pits”; NRSV, NLT “tombs.”

[13:7]  ³ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ⁴ 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.

[13:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”