Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.”
- KJV Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
- NKJV Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.”
- NASB Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.”
- NLT Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samuel calls the people to Gilgal to renew the kingdom. The victory becomes the occasion to confirm Saul's reign publicly.
Overview
The renewal at Gilgal reaffirms before all Israel the kingship inaugurated at Mizpah. After God's clear vindication of Saul, the nation can now wholeheartedly embrace him. Gilgal, a place tied to Israel's entry into the land, fittingly hosts this fresh covenantal confirmation of the throne.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Sam 10:8And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”
- 1 Sam 7:16Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
- 1 Chr 12:38–39All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.
- 1 Sam 5:3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
- 1 Sam 10:24–25Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 11:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.