1 Samuel 13:2 Komentář

Those that desired a king like all the nations fancied that, when they had one, they should look very great and considerable; but in this chapter we find it proved much otherwise. While Samuel was joined in commission with Saul things went well (Sa1 11:7). But, now that Saul began to reign alone, all went to decay, and Samuel's words began to be fulfilled: "You shall be consumed, both you and your king;" for never was the state of Israel further gone in a consumption than in this chapter. I. Saul appears here a very silly prince. 1. Infatuated in his counsels (Sa1 13:1-3). 2. Invaded by his neighbours (Sa1 13:4, Sa1 13:5). 3. Deserted by his soldiers (Sa1 13:6, Sa1 13:7). 4. Disordered in his own spirit, and sacrificing in confusion (Sa1 13:8-10). 5. Chidden by Samuel (Sa1 13:11-13). 6. Rejected of God from being king (Sa1 13:14). II. The people appear hear a very miserable people. 1. Disheartened and dispersed (Sa1 13:6, Sa1 13:7). 2. Diminished (Sa1 13:15, Sa1 13:16). 3. Plundered (Sa1 13:17, Sa1 13:18). 4. Disarmed (Sa1 13:19-23). This they got by casting off God's government, and making themselves like the nations: all their glory departed from them.

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 13 This chapter relates how Saul disposed of his army, Sa1 13:1 that Jonathan his son smote a garrison of Philistines, which provoked them to come out with a large army against them, to the great terror of the Israelites, many of whom fled to secret places, and to distant parts, Sa1 13:3, that Saul tarried at Gilgal waiting for Samuel, but he not coming so soon as expected, offered sacrifice himself, Sa1 13:8 for which Samuel, when he came, reproved him, and told him the kingdom should not continue with him, but be given to another man, Sa1 13:11 on which Saul departed to Gibeah, where he continued, the Philistines being encamped at Michmash, Sa1 13:15 from whence went out spoilers, in three companies, into the land of Israel, where they met with no opposition; for there were no weapons in the hands of any but Saul and Jonathan, the Philistines having taken care that there should be no smith in the land of Israel to make them any, so that they were defenceless, Sa1 13:17.

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel,.... Out of the 300,000 that went with him to fight the Ammonites, and returned with him to Gilgal, where he now was, and had stayed as may be supposed about a year, since now he had reigned two years. These 3000 men some of them doubtless were appointed as a guard about his person, and the rest were a standing army to preserve the peace of the nation, to protect them from their enemies, to watch the motions of the Philistines, and to be ready on any sudden invasion: whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash, and in Mount Bethel; "Michmash", according to Bunting, (s) was four miles from Gilgal. Jerom (t) says, in his time it was shown a large village on the borders of Aella, or Jerusalem, retaining its ancient name, nine miles distant from it, near the village Rama. Adrichomius (u) says it is now called Byra, and Mr. Maundrell (w) observes that it is supposed by some to be the same with Beer, whither Jotham fled after he had delivered his parable, Jdg 9:21. Michmash is in the Misnah (x) celebrated for the best wheat being brought from it; and near to it, as appears from hence, was Bethel, and the mount of that name; and so Jerom (y) speaks of Bethel as over against Michmash; and this mount very probably is the same said to be on the east of Bethel, where Abraham built an altar, Gen 12:8 for Michmash lay to the east of Bethel: and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the native place of Saul, and this Jonathan was the son of Saul, Sa1 13:16. According to Bunting (z), Gibeah, where Jonathan was stationed, was eight miles from Michmash: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent; to their own houses; or, as the Targum, to their cities; these were they that came at his summons, and were numbered at Bezek, and went with him to the relief of Jabeshgilead, and had been with him ever since, and now dismissed. (s) Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 126. (t) De loc Heb. fol. 93. F. (u) Thestrum Terrae S. p. 28. (w) Journey from Aleppo, p. 64. (x) Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1. (y) Ut supra, (De loc Heb.) fol. 89. G. (z) Ut supra, (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c.) p. 127.

2. The number one thousand, which is produced from one hundred collected ten times, suggests the highest perfection. When indeed it is repeated three times, the various perfections of the elect are designated by it. Saul therefore chose three thousand men from Israel: because the preacher of truth leads to the defense of the holy Church not the weak and feeble, but strong and valiant warriors. They are said to be three thousand: because at the height of perfection, they bring forth virgins; alongside whom they place both the continent and the defenders of truth. For while by the example of virgins they kindle others to the highest incorruption, while by the life of the continent they draw others away from the corruptions of the world, while they defend the weakness of the humble through the aid of the powerful, good teachers come against the enemies of the holy Church as if with three thousand chosen men. They are called men on account of their fortitude, and are said to be from Israel on account of divine contemplation. For he cannot be contained in the highest number of perfection who lacks either the virtue of great work or the knowledge of inward vision. What does it mean that some of the chosen men are said to be with Saul, and others with Jonathan? But even the very names of the places in which they are said to be should not be believed to be devoid of mysteries. Jonathan, who is described as the son of the king and has a portion of the warriors, clearly signifies those who are helpers of teachers in the ministry of preaching. For they are their sons: because they ardently love those by whose ministry they are begotten for God. But they preside over a portion of the warriors: because they bear the care of the holy Church, and advance some by example and others by exhortations to the love of virtues. For as a great king had sent his son into the army, he who was speaking to the Corinthians said: "Therefore I have sent to you Timothy, who is my most dear and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ Jesus, as I teach in all the churches of the saints" (1 Cor. 4:17). Hence he likewise says: "When Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear: for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do" (1 Cor. 16:10). 3. Now Jonathan is said to be with a thousand men in Gibeah of Benjamin, while Saul is with two thousand in Michmash and on the mountain of Bethel. Gibeah, as we have often already said, is interpreted as "lofty"; Michmash, "humility"; Bethel, "house of God"; Saul, "petition"; Jonathan is said to mean "gift of the dove." The three thousand chosen men of Israel we have referred to virgins, the continent, and defenders of truth. Therefore, since Jonathan is called "gift of the dove," and a thousand men are said to be with him in Gibeah, that is, on the height — what else does this suggest but those who, by the most radiant example of virginity, provide to others a standard of the same modesty? Rightly is the instructor of virgins called "gift of the dove," because it is by the incomparable grace of the Holy Spirit that corruption of the flesh remains unknown to those who dwell in the flesh. Rightly too are virgins said to be on the height, because what surpasses human nature is situated at the loftiest summit of virtues. Hence also that virgin beloved of Jesus, indicating the place of virgins, says: "I saw upon Mount Zion a Lamb standing, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). He also indicates them from the light of their own manner of life, saying: "These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever he goes" (ibid., 4). They are said indeed to be on the mountain with the Lamb, because through the merit of incorruption, by which they separate themselves from earthly and carnal pleasures, they are exalted in the heavenly glory of the Redeemer. With Saul, however, two thousand are said to be in Michmash and on the mountain of Bethel. Michmash, which is interpreted as "humility" — what else does it signify but the blush of the continent? For when they recall the past pleasures of the flesh, they blush with shame. But because they are strong men, they are reported to be with Saul; and while they despise the experienced enticements of the world, by the example of their virtue they draw countless others to contempt of that same world. Yet they dwell in Michmash, because while they recall what they were in the world, they cannot grow proud over the fact that they see themselves to be great in God. Rightly are they reported to be with Saul, who is called "petition." For a preacher of truth ought to be of such great charity that through urgent desire he is felt to be not merely a petitioner, but the very petition itself. He ought to seek the salvation of the faithful so urgently that, from the habitual exercise of inward taste, he directs every movement of the heart into the disposition of supplication. With him are a thousand men, because the more perfect hearers join with chosen teachers in charity and together beseech the almighty Lord for the salvation of the faithful. They are therefore with the king in Michmash, because they cultivate humility on their own behalf so that they may deserve to be heard on behalf of others. But while the chosen teacher profitably presides over all his subjects, he advances the virtues of all toward the crowns of victory. For with the humble he supplicates, with the strong he fights, with those set apart he perseveres in prayers, and with those placed as defenders of the Church he protects the weak and the infirm. Rightly therefore they are said to be not only in Michmash but also on the mountain of Bethel with Saul among thousands of warriors, because just as the preacher of the Church stands above the diverse orders of the elect, so he ought to be their cooperator. For they guard Bethel, that is, the house of God, who by the authority of the word defend the holy Church. When they confront any tyrants with the voice of free authority, when they rise up against the powers of this world, when they oppose the powers of this world in defense of the humble — they guard Bethel, the house of God, like warriors of the king. They are certainly reported to be with Saul, because in the defense of the Church they are coadjutors of the great teachers. Rightly moreover it is said of the rest: (Verse 2.) "But the remaining people he sent away, each one to his own tents." 4. Moreover, he calls the people whom the number of a thousand does not encompass. Each one is sent back to his own tent, because the weak and imperfect are not to be brought forth for the highest and most demanding works. For neither the continent, nor virgins, nor martyrs can the feeble become. For the former, lest the past pleasures of the flesh return to them; for the latter, lest they despise the untried enticements of the flesh; for the others, lest they fear the adversities of the world—the greatest fortitude is necessary. The rest of the common people, therefore, are sent back to their tents, lest they be condemned for the rashness of a higher life, and perish in battle as weak and infirm, while pledging faith to a lofty way of life for which they do not have the strength of lofty virtue. For the blessed apostle Paul was, as it were, sending each one back to his own tent when he said: "Because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2). For like a skilled master of the interior warfare, considering both the crowns of victory and the gravity of the struggle, he was weighing the soldiers' strength against the burden of war, judging it best for the weak to live in the cities lest they perish in bitter combat. Therefore, likewise separating them from the camp of the strong, he says: "Return together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your incontinence" (ibid., 5). But with the weak removed, what is accomplished in the most valiant battle line of virgins is set forth, when it is added: (Verse 3.) "And Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Gibeah."

And there were with Saul two thousand in Michmash, etc. The Church chooses for itself the strongest and those worthy of a thousand in number, by whose sword of the word and shield of faith it is fortified; furthermore, it sends back the weaker in faith to protect the tabernacles of their own conscience, in which they are strangers to the Lord. However, since both Saul and Jonathan pertain to the kingdom, but the merit of both is not the same; of whom, to pass over other things in silence, one persecutes God's chosen David as an enemy, while the other loves him as his own soul, a dual order of believers or preachers seems to be signified in them. One of them says: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name (Matthew VII)? The other hears: But you are those who have remained with me in my temptations (Luke XXII). Hence, Saul is rightly called "desired," without doubt referring to him about whom the Lord speaks to the apostles: Behold, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat (ibid.). Jonathan, however, is interpreted as the gift of the dove, or he gave the dove, or the gift of the Lord: signifying those who attribute all virtue they have to the spirit of grace and confess they have received it from him. And Saul remained in Michmash and in the mountain of Bethel, that is, in humility and in the mountain of the house of God: Jonathan, however, in Gibeah of Benjamin, that is, on the hill of the son of the right hand with his soldiers. Because even the reprobate sometimes seem to exercise or even teach spiritual virtues with a left or unstable mind, but only those endowed with dove-like simplicity are proven to belong to the exalted kingdom of Christ, who is at the right hand of God. Also, the fact that there were two thousand with Saul, but a thousand with Jonathan, surely teaches that the more perfect they are, the fewer they are. Or certainly, the two thousand are devoted in humility and on the mountain of the house of God, by the purity of faith and advanced in the height of hope: while the thousand in the hill of the Son of the right hand are glorious in the perfection of charity, which never fails.

Saul chooses a body of troops, Sa1 13:1, Sa1 13:2. Jonathan smites a garrison of the Philistines, Sa1 13:3, Sa1 13:4. The Philistines gather together an immense host against Israel, Sa1 13:5. The Israelites are afraid; and some hide themselves in caves, and others flee over Jordan, Sa1 13:6, Sa1 13:7. Samuel delaying his coming, Saul offers sacrifice, Sa1 13:8, Sa1 13:9. Samuel comes and reproves him, and Saul excuses himself, Sa1 13:10-12. Samuel shows him that God has rejected him from being captain over his people, Sa1 13:13, Sa1 13:14. Samuel departs; and Saul and Jonathan, with six hundred men abide in Gibeah, Sa1 13:15, Sa1 13:16. The Philistines send out foraging companies, and waste the land, Sa1 13:17, Sa1 13:18. Desolate state of the Israelitish army, having no weapons of defense against their enemies, Sa1 13:19-23.

Two thousand were with Saul - Saul, no doubt, meditated the redemption of his country from the Philistines; and having chosen three thousand men, he thought best to divide them into companies, and send one against the Philistine garrison at Michmash, another against that at Beth-el, and the third against that at Gibeah: he perhaps hoped, by surprising these garrisons, to get swords and spears for his men, of which we find, (Sa1 13:22), they were entirely destitute.

SAUL'S SELECTED BAND. (Sa1 13:1-2) Saul reigned one year--(see Margin). The transactions recorded in the eleventh and twelfth chapters were the principal incidents comprising the first year of Saul's reign; and the events about to be described in this happened in the second year.

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel--This band of picked men was a bodyguard, who were kept constantly on duty, while the rest of the people were dismissed till their services might be needed. It seems to have been his tactics to attack the Philistine garrisons in the country by different detachments, rather than by risking a general engagement; and his first operations were directed to rid his native territory of Benjamin of these enemies.

The war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 13-14) certainly falls, at least so far as the commencement is concerned, in the very earliest part of Saul's reign. This we must infer partly from the fact, that at the very time when Saul was seeking for his father's asses, there was a military post of the Philistines at Gibeah (Sa1 10:5), and therefore the Philistines had already occupied certain places in the land; and partly also from the fact, that according to this chapter Saul selected an army of 3000 men out of the whole nation, took up his post at Michmash with 2000 of them, placing the other thousand at Gibeah under his son Jonathan, and sent the rest of the people home (Sa1 13:2), because his first intention was simply to check the further advance of the Philistines. The dismission of the rest of the people to their own homes presupposes that the whole of the fighting men of the nation were assembled together. But as no other summoning together of the people has been mentioned before, except to the war upon the Ammonites at Jabesh (Sa1 11:6-7), where all Israel gathered together, and at the close of which Samuel had called the people and their king to Gilgal (Sa1 11:14), the assumption is a very probable one, that it was there at Gilgal, after the renewal of the monarchy, that Saul formed the resolution at once to make war upon the Philistines, and selected 3000 fighting men for the purpose out of the whole number that were collected together, and then dismissed the remainder to their homes. In all probability Saul did not consider that either he or the Israelites were sufficiently prepared as yet to undertake a war upon the Philistines generally, and therefore resolved, in the first place, only to attack the outpost of the Philistines, which was advanced as far as Gibeah, with a small number of picked soldiers. According to this simple view of affairs, the war here described took place at the very commencement of Saul's reign; and the chapter before us is closely connected with the preceding one. Sa1 13:2 Saul posted himself at Michmash and on the mount of Bethel with his two thousand men. Michmash, the present Mukhmas, a village in ruins upon the northern ridge of the Wady Suweinit, according to the Onom. (s. v. Machmas), was only nine Roman miles to the north of Jerusalem, whereas it took Robinson three hours and a half to go from one to the other (Pal. ii. p. 117). Bethel (Beitin; see at Jos 7:2) is to the north-west of this, at a distance of two hours' journey, if you take the road past Deir-Diwan. The mountain (הר) of Bethel cannot be precisely determined. Bethel itself was situated upon very high ground; and the ruins of Beitin are completely surrounded by heights (Rob. ii. p. 126; and v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 178-9). Jonathan stationed himself with his thousand men at (by) Gibeah of Benjamin, the native place and capital of Saul, which was situated upon Tell el Phul (see at Jos 18:28), about an hour and a half form Michmas. Sa1 13:3-4 "And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba," probably the military post mentioned in Sa1 10:5, which had been advanced in the meantime as far as Geba. For Geba is not to be confounded with Gibeah, from which it is clearly distinguished in Sa1 13:16 as compared with Sa1 13:15, but is the modern Jeba, between the Wady Suweinit and Wady Fara, to the north-west of Ramah (er-Rm; see at Jos 18:24). "The Philistines heard this. And Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the whole land, and proclamation made: let the Hebrews hear it." לאמר after בּשּׁופר תּקע points out the proclamation that was made after the alarm given by the shophar (see Sa2 20:1; Kg1 1:34, Kg1 1:39, etc.). The object to "let them hear" may be easily supplied from the context, viz., Jonathan's feat of arms. Saul had this trumpeted in the whole land, not only as a joyful message for the Hebrews, but also as an indirect summons to the whole nation to rise and make war upon the Philistines. In the word שׁמע (hear), there is often involved the idea of observing, laying to heart that which is heard. If we understand ישׁמעוּ in this sense here, and the next verse decidedly hints at it, there is no ground whatever for the objection which Thenius, who follows the lxx, has raised to העברים ישׁמעוּ. He proposes this emendation, העברים ישׁמעוּ, "let the Hebrews fall away," according to the Alex. text ἠθετήκασιν οἱ δοῦλοι, without reflecting that the very expression οἱδοῦλοι is sufficient to render the Alex. reading suspicious, and that Saul could not have summoned the people in all the land to fall away from the Philistines, since they had not yet conquered and taken possession of the whole. Moreover, the correctness of ישׁמעוּ is confirmed by ישׁמעוּ ישׂראל וכל in Sa1 13:4. "All Israel heard," not the call to fall away, but the news, "Saul has smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and Israel has also made itself stinking with the Philistines," i.e., hated in consequence of the bold and successful attack made by Jonathan, which proved that the Israelites would no longer allow themselves to be oppressed by the Philistines. "And the people let themselves be called together after Saul to Gilgal." הצּעק, to permit to summon to war (as in Jdg 7:23-24). The words are incorrectly rendered by the Vulgate, "clamavit ergo populus post Saul," and by Luther, "Then the people cried after Saul to Gilgal." Saul drew back to Gilgal, when the Philistines advanced with a large army, to make preparations for the further conflict (see at Sa1 13:13). Sa1 13:5 The Philistines also did not delay to avenge the defeat at Geba. They collected an innumerable army: 30,000 chariots, 6000 horsemen, and people, i.e., foot-soldiers, without number (as the sand by the sea-shore; cf. Jdg 7:12; Jos 11:4, etc.). רכב by the side of פּרשׁים can only mean war chariots. 30,000 war chariots, however, bear no proportion whatever to 6000 horsemen, not only because the number of war chariots is invariably smaller than that of the horsemen (cf. Sa2 10:18; Kg1 10:26; Ch2 12:3), but also, as Bochart observes in his Hieroz. p. i. lib. ii. c. 9, because such a number of war chariots is never met with either in sacred or profane history, not even in the case of nations that were much more powerful than the Philistines. The number is therefore certainly corrupt, and we must either read 3000 (אל שׁלשׁת instead of אל שׁלשׁים), according to the Syriac and Arabic, or else simply 1000; and in the latter case the origin of the number thirty must be attributed to the fact, that through the oversight of a copyist the ל of the word ישׂראל was written twice, and consequently the second ל was taken for the numeral thirty. This army was encamped "at Michmash, before (i.e., in the front, or on the western side of) Bethaven:" for, according to Jos 7:2, Bethaven was to the east of Michmash; and קדמת when it occurs in geographical accounts, does not "always mean to the east," as Thenius erroneously maintains, but invariably means simply "in front" (see at Gen 2:14). (Note: Consequently there is no ground whatever for altering the text according to the confused rendering of the lxx, ἐν Μαχμὰς ἐξ ἐναντὶας Βαιθωρὼν κατὰ νότου, for the purpose of substituting for the correct statement in the text a description which would be geographically wrong, viz., to the south-east of Beth-horon, since Michmash was neither to the south nor to the south-east, but to the east of Beth-horon.) Sa1 13:6-7 When the Israelites saw that they had come into a strait (צר־לו), for the people were oppressed (by the Philistines), they hid themselves in the caves, thorn-bushes, rocks (i.e., clefts of the rocks), fortresses (צרחים: see at Jdg 9:46), and pits (which were to be found in the land); and Hebrews also went over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead, whilst Saul was still at Gilgal; and all the people (the people of war who had been called together, v. 4) trembled behind him, i.e., were gathered together in his train, or assembled round him as leader, trembling or in despair. The Gilgal mentioned here cannot be Jiljilia, which is situated upon the high ground, as assumed in the Comm. on Joshua, pp. 68f., but must be the Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan. This is not only favoured by the expression ירדוּ (the Philistines will come down from Michmash to Gilgal, Sa1 13:12), but also by ויּעל (Samuel went up from Gilgal to Gibeah, Sa1 13:15), and by the general attitude of Saul and his army towards the Philistines. As the Philistines advanced with a powerful army, after Jonathan's victory over their garrison at Geba (to the south of Michmash), and encamped at Michmash (Sa1 13:5); and Saul, after withdrawing from Gilgal, where he had gathered the Israelites together (Sa1 13:4, Sa1 13:8, Sa1 13:12), with Jonathan and the six hundred men who were with him when the muster took place, took up his position at Geba (Sa1 13:15, Sa1 13:16), from which point Jonathan attacked the Philistine post in the pass of Michmash (Sa1 13:23, and Sa1 14:1.): Saul must have drawn back from the advancing army of the Philistines to the Gilgal in the Jordan valley, to make ready for the battle by collecting soldiers and presenting sacrifices, and then, after this had been done, must have advanced once more to Gibeah and Geba to commence the war with the army of the Philistines that was encamped at Michmash. If, on the other hand, he had gone northwards to Jiljilia from Michmash, where he was first stationed, to escape the advancing army of the Philistines; he would have had to attack the Philistines from the north when they were encamped at Michmash, and could not possibly have returned to Geba without coming into conflict with the Philistines, since Michmash was situated between Jiljilia and Geba.