1 Samuel 13:17

Contextual Overview

¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred. ¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred. ¹⁵Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁵ And Samuel arose, & gate him vp from Gilgal in Gibea of Beniamin, and Saul numbred the people that were found with him, and they were about a sixe hundred men. ¹⁵ Then Samuel got up and left Gilgal. Saul and the rest of his army left Gilgal and went to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were still with him. There were about 600. ¹⁵ And Samuel rose up and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were found with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁵ And Samuel arose, and went up from Gilgal to Gib'e-ah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁵ Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. ¹⁵ And Samuel arose, and gate him vp from Gilgal, vnto Gibeah of Beniamin, and Saul numbred the people that were present with him, about sixe hundred men.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in three companies: 1 Samuel 11:11

Ophrah: Joshua 18:23

Shual: Joshua 19:3

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 14:15 - the spoilers 2 Samuel 7:10 - as beforetime 2 Kings 5:2 - by companies Psalms 144:14 - no breaking in

Cross-References

Genesis 13:15
All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Genesis 13:15
All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Genesis 13:15
for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed forever.

Genesis 13:15
for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.

Genesis 13:15
For all the lande whiche thou seest, wyll I geue vnto thee, and to thy seede for euer.

Genesis 13:15
All this land that you see I will give to you and your people who live after you. This will be your land forever.

Genesis 13:15
for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants for ever.

Genesis 13:15
Y schal yyue al the lond which thou seest to thee and to thi seed, til in to with outen ende.

Genesis 13:15
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seede for euer.

Genesis 13:15
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies,.... Saul not daring to come out to fight them, and there being none throughout the land to oppose them, they sent out three companies of soldiers to ravage and spoil the country; of so little use and service was a king to Israel, they were so extremely desirous of; and this was suffered, to convince them of their vain confidence in him, and that their trust ought to be in the Lord their God; never was their country more exposed to rapine and violence than now:

one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah; a city in the land of Benjamin, of which see Joshua 18:23 and lay southwest from Michmash, where the army of the Philistines were:

unto the land of Shual: which the Targum paraphrases,

"the land of the south;''

it seems to have had its name from the multitude of foxes in it, Shual signifying a fox.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The spoilers - “The devastator:” the same word is used of the destroying Angel Exodus 12:23. The verse describes the system adopted by the Philistines by which for a time they subjugated the Israelites. From their central camp at Michmash they sent out three bands to kill and lay waste and destroy. One took a northerly direction toward Ophrah - five miles east of Bethel, identified with “Ephrain” 2 Chronicles 13:19 and the modern “Taiyibeh,” - and toward the land of Shual, possibly the same as Shalim 1 Samuel 9:4; the second westward to Beth-horon; and the third eastward, by the unknown valley of Zeboim, toward the wilderness, i. e., the Jordan valley, toward Jericho.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 13:17. The spoilers came out — The Philistines, finding that the Israelites durst not hazard a battle, divided their army into three bands, and sent them in three different directions to pillage and destroy the country. Jonathan profited by this circumstance, and attacked the remains of the army at Michmash, as we shall see in the succeeding chapter.