It is essential that we see a picture of Saul as a national king, ruling over a people, but not necessarily over the territory they occupy. The acknowledged borders of Israeli land were still in a state of flux. Though Saul is indeed King of Israel, his authority is far closer to that of the judges than to a genuine monarch. Thus, his is the rule of a warlord, closely linked to the primordial function of what we now refer to as a king. He had no administrative offices in his court, only a collection of lieutenants to his command of troops. Records are poorly kept, if at all, and there is no evidence whatsoever of any official chronicles. They are conspicuous by their absence.
We also see that his rule seems at moments to be rather tenuous, and he relies much on threat of punishment. The nation had begged for a king, but were not yet ready to accept the daily assumptions of life under a monarch. His first muster for battle at Jabesh was based on a threat for non-compliance. While the Lord continued to grant him military victories until the end, it is clear early on Saul is hardly noble, much less regal.
1 Samuel 13:1-4 -- This and the next chapter have proven quite difficult to translate, and suffers much from manuscript variations. Saul's one effort to begin an organized defense of the people was to establish a full-time army. Of the 3000 selected, most were quartered at Michmash, a hilltop town overlooking a major trade route that ran more or less north-south through the hill country. Just to the south a few miles lay Geba, sitting astride a crossroad with another major trade route, running east-west from the coast to the Jordan. We are then told how it came about that Michmash was taken from the Philistines, who had a garrion there up to this time.
Saul's eldest son Jonathan was quite the valiant warrior. It seems the Philitines had freshly risen to oppress Israel. The tension was sure to result in some kind of provocation. For whatever reason, he attacked and killed the Philistine tax officer in Geba, along with the guards. It was this toll station that the garrison just north, in Michmash, was to protect. It amounts to an assassination of an official representative of the Philistine government. While their armies had been soundly defeated, and some of their peripheral cities taken back by Israel, it would seem they sought to reassert their former rule. It was at best an uneasy truce that left various Philistine officials here and there collecting tolls and taxes of various kinds. Naturally Jonathan's action was reported to the Philistine lords down on the coast, and they began to mobilize. Saul stood by his son's actions and conducted his own mobilization. Israel assembled at Gilgal. Reading between the lines, this follows Samuel's teaching that battle is joined at the command of Jehovah, and the King of Israel had to seek His counsel as the True King.
13:5-7 -- The number of Philistine troops is exceedingly difficult to establish from textual evidence, but the point is that it hardly mattered. They were enough to form a credible threat, causing fear in the whole nation. This came at a time when there was already considerable fear. The people quickly reverted to the mode of life they had under the Midianite oppression (Judges 6:1-4), living in caves and such. A significant portion moved out of the reach of Philistine interest, on the East Bank of the Jordan, in Gilead. Thus, when the mustered troops met Saul at Gilgal, they were quite nervous about the whole thing.
13:8-10 -- By pre-arrangement, Saul was waiting seven days for Samuel to arrive. Keep in mind that each side in this looming battle had runners and spies keeping an eye on each other. While the Philistines were ostensibly massing reinforcements at the point of conflict, in the toll district of Michmash, it was clear they were prepared for full combat. If the assassination in Geba was a local guerilla act, then the troops there would simply grind the locals into the earth. If it was the signal for a genuine national conflict, this local harassment would surely bring the Israeli army out to fight. Saul began by obeying the command from God's man, by waiting until His plan was revealed. But the general fear of the troops cause many to slip away in the face of apparent inaction.
Finally, in exasperation, Saul presented the offering himself. Since it is known that both David and Solomon did this without rejection by God, we must assume it was not that act of offering itself that was Saul's sin. As we see from Samuel's response, it was something more subtle, more substantial than the act of offering alone.
13:11-15 -- Immediately after the offering ceremony, Samuel was spotted and Saul went out the meet him. When Samuel confronted him with his sin, Saul made up and excuse about desertion of troops. It is quite unbelievable that Samuel had not already taught him, and the witness of history had shown, that whole nations could be defeated by God alone, without man's help. If the Lord had held Saul in place until only his devoted friends were left, that would be enough. The statement that Saul feared the Philistines might descend on Gilgal was most likely a lie. Either way, the sin was in not obeying God, by staying and waiting on His command. Rather than an opportunity for Jehovah to establish a dynasty from Saul, it was the beginning of the end for his reign. Having no further reason to stay at Gilgal, Samuel went back up to Gibeah to pray over the coming battle. By now, Saul had a mere 600 men.
13:16-18 -- This rather small force joined Samuel at Gibeah. By this time, the Philistines had began their rape of the countryside, sending out raiding parties. One company headed north toward Shiloh. Another headed back west toward Beth-horon. The third took the route south or southeast, but their apparent destination -- Zeboiim Valley -- is unknown. A good guess might be in the direction of the Wilderness of Judea, along the western shore of the Dead Sea.
13:19-23 -- We are told pointedly that Israel still relied on bronze weapons. The Philistines had kept iron-smithing a secret, and used it to extort high fees from Israelis for working on iron implements. Perhaps captured in battle, Saul and Jonathan alone had iron weapons. Those Philistine troops not assigned to raiding teams then took up a position to block the pass running through Michmash. The town itself sat on a hilltop just above the pass, and held a commading view as the highest point on a ridgeline pierced by the trade route. To the southwest, the road dropped into a steep gorge, which gorge runs northwest-southeast at that point, then followed a winding valley cutting up into the opposite ridge toward Geba. On it's way to Geba, the road passed in the shadow of Migron, which was also opposite Michmash, but almost straight west.
14:1-3 -- While Saul is deciding how to make a useful attack, Jonathan ordered his equipment steward to join him on a scouting mission. This younger man would have been responsible for hauling whatever equipment a warrior needed that he did not wear on his body. On long hikes, that would mean carrying the shield until making enemy contact. During actual fighting, this steward would then strike any necessary final killing blows for those enemy dropped by his master. While grisly to imagine, it shows that a professional soldier counted on slashing his way into the enemy line, with but a minority of his blows being fatal, but mostly enough to take his opponents out of battle, leaving them for the steward to finish.
By this time, Saul had moved his forces up to Migron, in sight of the Philistines across the gorge. He had with him the last survivor of Eli's household, acting as priest, wearing the ephod containing the sacred lots for seeking word from God. Jonathan had not discussed his mission with anyone but the steward with him, so no one knew they had left.
14:4-5 -- We cannot know what route Jonathan took to get there, but it was most likely off the beaten path to the east, because it seems he approached the eastern wing of the Philistine lines. There was a secondary route that followed the gorge around from the east, then went up to a separate, smaller pass that joined the main road at the highest point, on the far side of Michmash. There was a ridge between the two, and at one point this lesser path ran between two sharp bluffs. The cliffs were named Bozez and Seneh; the cut ran almost east-west at that point and the latter cliff was on the north, where the Philistines had a lookout.
14:6-14 -- Clearly Jonathan understood the principles lost on his father, that God could use as many or as few as He wished to deliver His people. When he suggested to his steward they attack the Philistines on the opposite bluff, the steward was all for it. Confirmed in his intent, Jonathan decided he would take them on whatever terms the enemy chose, for it would not matter. He had the assurance of God's hand. When the Philistines dared Jonathan to come up after them, he and his steward literally crawled up the face of the rock. Even with this disadvantage, Jonathan managed to mow them down. In the small space atop the bluff, he killed about 20 Philistines.
14:15-23 -- It seemed God Himself was celebrating this victory, as the earth began to quake. The Philistines began to scatter, as their position was particularly unsafe in the shadow of the high ridge. Flawed though he was, Saul knew what this scene meant. He had the troops assembled for roll call and found his own son had gone. Having brought out the Ark of Covenant with them, Saul called for the priest to bring it before him. Before the priest could complete the ceremony, Saul decided the time to strike was nearly past. The small army of Israel plunged down the slope of the gorge, coming up on the backside of Michmash. All along the way, they slaughtered the frightened Philistines. The turn of battle caused the Israeli traitors in the Philistine camp to turn back their own side. As the pursuit wore on, those who had fled Saul at Gilgal also joined the battle. The bulk of the Philistines fled north toward Bethel (called "Beth-aven" here) and attempted to regroup.
14:24-30 -- Showing the early stages of his later insanity, Saul made a foolish demand that no one stop to eat until he had called a halt to the fighting. Jonathan, having forged ahead with his own attack, had no knowledge of this command. As the pursuit passed through a forest, Jonathan stabbed the end of his battle staff in some honeycomb, and licked it off as he moved. Obviously this would provide an instant energy boost for a man weary from fighting and chasing all day. When one of the troops told Jonathan of his father's edict, he spoke of how foolish it was, and why it would have been better to let the soldiers graze on the supplies of food abandoned by the fleeing enemy.
14:31-35 -- The result of this battle was a return to the old status quo, wherein the Philistines never ventured east of Aijalon in that area. The effort was exhausting, and Saul's edict left them starving. As soon as the halt was called, they were so ravenous they even ate some of the plundered meat raw without proper preparation. When word of this got back to Saul, he had reprimanded his commanders for not supporting him better. Then he issued the order that everyone must bring their meat animals back to his camp and eat properly in his presence. He then stacked up stones to make an altar to God. This was the first time he had done so, and was not in any way improper in itself, since there was as yet no temple.
14:36-46 -- It occurred to Saul that he could follow up on this victory by pressing the attack further on the Philistines, by attacking their camp at night, and perhaps finishing off the whole of their troops. When he inquired of God, there was no answer. Remembering at least some of what Samuel had taught him, he knew it was because of a particular sin. His edict to refrain from food was made in the form of an oath before God. Perhaps to teach him better, God was holding him to the conditions of the oath, that whoever ate food before the halt would be executed. Saul addressed his commanders, declaring he knew someone had broken that oath, and it didn't matter if it was his own son. Nobody spoke up. So Saul, in anger stood him and his son on one lot, and rest of Israel on the other. He asked the Lord to make it clear whose was the guilt. The lot fell to him and his son. Then a second lot was cast between him and Jonathan, and it fell to Jonathan. When Saul demanded a confession, Jonathan told of the honey in the forest, then stated he must now be executed. Clearly beside himself, Saul made yet another oath that he would surely execute Jonathan himself.
Then the troops watching this made it clear how silly this whole thing was, since Jonathan was the hero of the day. Had he not gone out in faith, it's doubtful anything would have gone right. As it was, Jonathan's trust in Jehovah was sufficient to slaughter superior numbers. More importantly, it brought God into the battle Himself. His act was holy, implying that Jonathan himself was holy, at least that day. They shamed Saul into backing down on the execution. Thus, the remaining Philistine soldiers were spared for another day. However, God did not forget Saul's second oath. God most certainly did "do so" to Saul, when Saul's job was finished.
14:47-52 -- What follows is a summary of Saul's rule. His whole reign was consumed in carving out the land rights of Israel, and suppressing everyone on the borders. Anytime Saul spotted a manly fellow, he was drafted for the army. Here we finally have an effort to record the basic biographical details of this first King of Israel. It was clearly written in retrospect. Because of textual problems, there is some confusion about the names and number of his sons. Knowing that many Hebrews might carry more than one name, we still have difficulty knowing for certain if the second son, here called "Jishui" or "Ishvi", is the same as Abinadab or Esh-baal in 1 Chronicles 8 & 9. While it is probably the latter, we have yet another reminder: On the one hand, we cannot claim to have a perfect record; on the other, we can be certain that nothing critical is in dispute in God's Word. Several minor details are missing or don't match the record elsewhere. We can rest assured that what is uncertain is not important.
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Ed Hurst
03 April 2004
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