Saul selected 3,000 special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took 2,000 of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other 1,000 went with Saul’s son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin.
Parallel translations
- WEB Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people to their own tents.
- KJV Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
- BSB He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- NKJV Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
- NASB Now Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent the rest of the people away, each to his tent.
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
Saul organizes a standing army, keeping forces at Michmash and Bethel with Jonathan at Gibeah. He establishes a military base against the Philistines.
Overview
The formation of a select army shows Saul beginning to function as a warrior-king. Jonathan's command introduces the courageous son who will figure prominently in the following chapters. These dispositions set the stage for the conflict with the dominant Philistine power.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Sam 10:26Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and the army went with him, whose hearts God had touched.
- 1 Sam 14:31They struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint;
- 1 Sam 13:5The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.
- 1 Sam 13:23The garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
- Judg 19:12His master said to him, “We won’t turn aside into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah.”
- 1 Sam 14:5The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
- 1 Sam 14:52There was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him into his service.
- 2 Sam 21:6let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh.” The king said, “I will give them.”
- 1 Sam 15:34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
- 1 Sam 8:11He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots.
- Josh 18:28Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
- Isa 10:28–29He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage.
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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 13:2 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
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