I Samuel 15, A Torn Robe

Saul has been enlarging the land of Israel and preventing plunder from their enemies.  

I Samuel 15:1-3, Go attack the Amalekites

Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"

Samuel tells Saul to attack the Amalekites and "totally destroy everything". The Amalekites are to be  items herem, "fully devoted to YHWH." This instruction continues a campaign begun in Exodus 17:8-16, a result of the Amalekites attacking stragglers of Israel as they moved from Egypt to Canaan (Deuteronomy 25:17-19.)

I Samuel 15:4-9, Amalekites defeated

So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim--two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 

Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Saul defeats the Amalekites but does not totally destroy everything. In this, Saul disobeys a specific instruction of YHWH.

The Old Testament issue with large numbers arises here. A mammoth army of 200,000 foot soldiers would not be consistent with an ambush in a ravine. As in previous cases, one might wonder if that number is a copyist's error, an example of ancient Near Eastern hyperbole, or a misinterpretation of the word eleph (אֶלֶף.)

I Samuel 15:10-15, YHWH grieved

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." 

Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."

But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."

 

Saul's arrogance and disobedience "grieves" YHWH. Samuel hunts for Saul and when he finds him, challenges Saul about his disobedience. Saul deflects the accusation with an excuse that he saved some things to be sacrificed to YHWH.

I Samuel 15:16-21, Saul's excuses

"Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." 

"Tell me," Saul replied.

Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, `Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.'

"Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"

"But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

Samuel accuses Saul of not obeying his mission.There is also a suggestion that a once small and humble Saul is humble no more. Saul continues his excuses.

I Samuel 15:22-23, To obey is better than sacrifice

But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

In a now famous line, "To obey is better than sacrifice", Samuel ridicules Saul's idea of disobeying YHWH by offering sacrifices to YHWH. Saul is explicitly charged with rebellion and arrogance.

I Samuel 15:24-26, Rejected as king

Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."

But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"

Saul is now apologetic.  But it is too late.

I Samuel 15:27-31, Torn robe

As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."

Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God."

So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

Saul, in his response, accidentally tears Samuel's robe, which Samuel then uses as a metaphor for Saul's kingdom. Despite all of this, we are told Saul returned to worship YHWH.

I Samuel 15:32-34, Agag executed

Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites." 

Agag came to him confidently, thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women." And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal. Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.

Saul had even allowed the king to live.  \But Samuel takes care of that problem. The king who had made women childless is himself killed. His own mother is now childless.

I Samuel 15:35, Severed

Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

This event has severed the relationship of the two leaders.

There is a lot said -- and unsaid -- in this passage about Saul and Samuel. Both men have strengths and weaknesses; Saul vacillates between indecision and arrogance; Samuel at times seems to be petty and deliberately irritating Saul. Jewish rabbis have debated the merits of these two leaders for a long time.

First published August 8, 2023; updated August 7, 2026

I Samuel 14, A Taste of Honey

Very few Israelites have iron swords. But the Philistines have iron swords and use that technology to help them oppress the Israelites.  Israelites, under Saul, have been preparing to meet the Philistines near Gibeah, at a place called Michmash. The area has a series of east-west ravines (wadis) that make north-south travel difficult; an exception to this terrain is a pass at Michmash. (See this website for more on the geology and Biblical history of Gibeah and Michmash.)

I Samuel 14:1-5, Jonathan and his armor bearer 

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father. 

Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez, and the other Seneh. One cliff stood to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

 

Saul has been fairly timid lately in dealing with these Philistines. But Jonathan has aggressive plans. He keeps these plans from his father presumably to avoid being told not to venture out. In a number of these campaigns, Saul will be very tentative while Jonathan (or David, later) are aggressive.

The "ephod", the priestly garment often used to divine God's intentions, is with Saul's men. The priest named here is Ahijah, grandson of the corrupt Phinehas, son of Eli. The corruption of Phinehas is described in I Samuel 2:12-17; the sad birth of his son Ichabod is told in I Samuel 4:19-22.

The Israelites and Philistines are camped opposite of each other, across a ravine that runs roughly east-west.

I Samuel 14:6-11a, Challenge to the Philistines

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Jonathan said, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, `Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, `Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands."

So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. 

Jonathan and his armor-bearer go to one of the cliffs and make themselves visible to the Philistines. Jonathan wants a confrontation with the more powerful Philistine encampment. He sees the Philistine invitation to climb up to their camp as a sign that God plans to give him victory.

I Samuel 14:11b-12, "Come over to us!"

"Look!" said the Philistines. "The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in."

The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson." 

So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel."

Jonathan, trusting God for a sign, is called over by the Philistines. The Philistine call is a taunt, a sign of their arrogance and overconfidence. 

I Samuel 14:13-14, "Come over to us!"

Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him.

In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. 

Robert Alter suggests that the climbing, using hands and feet, indicates that Jonathan and his armor-bearer take an unexpected route, a harder route up the hill, a route in which they are not visible to the indolent soldiers above them. When the two top the rise, they attack the Philistines, killing about twenty of them, and setting the camp into panic.

(NIV footnotes: The phrase translated here "half an acre" is literally "half a yoke", that is, half of the land a yoke of oxen might plow in a day.)

I Samuel 14:15-17, Panic

Then panic struck the whole army--those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties--and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. 

Saul's lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. Then Saul said to the men who were with him, "Muster the forces and see who has left us." When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

Jonathan's sudden attack and the ground shaking (an earthquake?) panics the Philistines and they run. The narrator emphasizes that this terror was created by God. Saul's lookouts report this chaos to Saul.

I Samuel 14:18-23, Rout

Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God." (At that time it was with the Israelites.)

While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand." Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. So the LORD rescued Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

in verse 18, instead of "Bring the ark of God...", the Septuagint has "'Bring the ephod.'  (At that time he wore the ephod before the Israelites.)" Commentators argue that ephod instead of ark makes more sense here as the ark had been left permanently at Kiriath Jearim (I Samuel 7:1-2.)

Saul first asks for guidance from the ark (or ephod) but then realizes that the Philistines are running and so abandons his inquiry. The chance for victory is obvious and his men quickly pursue the retreating army. More Israelites join in and the divine attack started by Jonathan and his armor-bearer turns into a rout.

I Samuel 14:24-26, Saul's oath

Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the troops tasted food.

The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

 

Saul, despite his astute recognition of the chance of victory, has also hamstrung his soldiers by a foolish vow. This prevents his army from eating when they can.

The book of I Samuel portrays Saul as a complicated, confusing character. At times he is the leader his people need; at other times he hamstrings his followers. It would be worthwhile to pursue a character study of Saul in some Sunday essay. (Rabbis have debated, for several millennia, these characteristics of Israel's first king.)

I Samuel 14:27-28, Brightened eyes

But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. 

Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, `Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint."

 

Jonathan has not heard of the vow and takes a moment to enjoy the honey available. (Jonathan's eyes "brightened", a vivid picture of joy.)  A soldier, rather late, updates Jonathan on his father's foolish oath.

I Samuel 14:29-30, My father has made trouble

Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?"

Jonathan is frustrated with his father's foolish vow and responds with wisdom. If Saul had not hamstrung his soldiers, he would have won a greater victory. 

I Samuel 14:31-32, Meat and blood.

That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood.

The men of Saul, victorious, are also ravenous. When they finally get to eat, they are so famished that they violate a strong Hebrew prohibition, eating meat with blood. 

I Samuel 14:33-34, Saul's solution

Then someone said to Saul, "Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it." 

"You have broken faith," he said. "Roll a large stone over here at once." 

Then he said, "Go out among the men and tell them, `Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.'" So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

Saul gets the people to slaughter the animals on a large stone. The stone allows the blood from slaughtered animals to run down the sides and away from the meat, so that the soldiers do not eat the meat with the blood.

I Samuel 14:35-39, Someone broke the vow

Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this.

Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive." 

"Do whatever seems best to you," they replied. 

But the priest said, "Let us inquire of God here."

So Saul asked God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?" But God did not answer him that day.

Saul therefore said, "Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel lives, even if it lies with my son Jonathan, he must die." But not one of the men said a word.

 

Saul building an altar is new, says the narrator. But when God is silent to Saul's question, Saul believes someone broke his vow. Saul follows his vow with rash statements but his men are silent. (Surely some of them know about Jonathan.)

I Samuel 14:40-43, Jonathan caught

Saul then said to all the Israelites, "You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here." "Do what seems best to you," the men replied. 

Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, "Give me the right answer." And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared.

Saul said, "Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son." And Jonathan was taken.

Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." 

So Jonathan told him, "I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now must I die?"

 

Saul inquires of YHWH and gets a response. Although the method of divining an answer is not described, it is likely that the Urim and Thummim, on the ephod, were used to provide a binary answer to questions, much like one might flip a coin.

The decision process isolates Jonathan. Jonathan, of course, is astonished at the seriousness of this.

I Samuel 14:44-46, Protected

Saul said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan."

But the men said to Saul, "Should Jonathan die--he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help." So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.

The other soldiers stand up to Saul and protect Jonathan. This time, unlike the earlier vow of Jephthah, ends well, with the vow broken and the child saved.

I Samuel 14:47-48, Success at war

After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

The new king of Israel is effective in protecting the people from the plunder of their enemies. We have, at this point, the height of Saul's reign and influence. He is the king that the Israelites wanted.

I Samuel 14:49-52, Saul's family

Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. His wife's name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. 

The name of the commander of Saul's army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul's uncle. Saul's father Kish and Abner's father Ner were sons of Abiel.

All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

Saul has developed a powerful army, and, as predicted by Samuel, is effective at drafting men into his service. His commander-in-chief is his cousin. The highly esteemed grandsons (Saul, Abner) of Abiel are in charge of Israel at this time.

First published August 7, 2023; updated August 6, 2026

I Samuel 13, Saul Makes a Sacrifice

Saul has become king and the prophet Samuel has given his farewell speech.

I Samuel 13:1-2, Battle with the Philistines

Saul was [thirty] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel [forty-] two years. Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

From the NIV footnotes: There are disagreements in the ancient texts on the first verse. Ancient Hebrew manuscripts don't have the word translated "thirty"; a few late manuscripts of the Septuagint include that word. Similarly, the Masoretic Text does not have the word "forty". Much later, the Christian apostle Paul, speaking at a synagogue in Psidian Antioch (Acts 13: 21), quoting from the Old Testament, says that Saul reigned 40 years. Similarly, in verse 5, below, there are also disagreements from some ancient manuscripts on the number of chariots the Philistines had: three thousand or thirty thousand. The NIV text here follows the Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts.

I Samuel 13:3-7, Battle with the Philistines

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand [38] chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.

After a summary of Saul's reign in the first few verses, we are suddenly told of Saul's adult son, Jonathan.  Considerable time has passed since Saul went wandering after some lost donkeys!

Saul and his son Jonathan attack the Philistines. Saul, as Israel's first king, is intent on pushing back the Philistine boundaries. But initially the battle does not go well.

Robert Alter points out some Hebrew wordplay, a certain deliberate rhythm, to "Hebrews crossed": 'ivrim 'avru  and suggests that this rippling rhythm is the reason for the choice of the word Hebrew ('ivrim) here.

I Samuel 13:8-9, Saul makes an offering

He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

In I Samuel 10:8, Saul is told to wait for Samuel seven days. Is this event part of that account? There are other examples of kings making sacrifices (2 Samuel 24:15 and 1 Kings 3:15) but Saul is apparently disobeying a direct command from Samuel.

I Samuel 13:10-14, Samuel arrives

Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

"What have you done?" asked Samuel. 

Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash,  I thought, `Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."

Samuel apparently had told Saul to wait.  Samuel is angry and this sacrifice seems to be a serious violation of principle. So quickly the new king has caused trouble!

Robert Alter and Ronald Youngblood, in separate commentaries, think it strange that just as Saul finishes the sacrifice, Samuel appears. They both suggest that Saul has delayed a bit, possibly testing this first king. If so, Saul has failed this test.

I Samuel 13:15-23, Saul prepares to confront Philistine raiders

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.

Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash. Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the desert.

Saul and his son Jonathan prepare to confront the Philistines.

I Samuel 13:19-22, Not a blacksmith in Israel

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Note the effect of the Iron Age!  The Philistines, in their occupation of Israel, are keeping tight control over this new technology.

I Samuel 13:23, Philistines approach

Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

The chapter ends on a cliff-hanger. The entire chapter has been a prelude to a dramatic battle that will occur in the next chapter.

First published August 5, 2023; updated August 5, 2026

I Samuel 12, Samuel's Last Sermon

Saul has defended the people of Jabesh Gilead and has been reaffirmed as king.

I Samuel 12:1-5, Samuel's testimony

Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.

Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."

"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." 

"He is witness," they said.

As Samuel prepares to die, he testifies of his concern for Israel and of his integrity. (He also mentions his sons who, previously in 1 Samuel 8:1-3, were described as corrupt.)

I Samuel 12: 6-11, From Egypt through the judges

Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.

"After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

"But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 

They cried out to the LORD and said, `We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.'

Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.

Samuel reminds the people of their heritage and of YHWH's action from Egypt forward.

(NIV footnotes: In verse 11 Jerub-Baal is Gideon; some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac manuscripts have "Samson" in place of "Samuel". Both Samson and Samuel would fit naturally into this list of judges.)

I Samuel 12:12-17, Recent victory

"But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, `No, we want a king to rule over us'--even though the LORD your God was your king. 

"Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God--good!

"But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king."

 

Saul has led the Israelites to victory over the Ammonites. Still, says Samuel, it was evil to ask for a king when you had YHWH already. 

Samuel's complaints about the people's desire for a king may include (says Robert Alter) frustration that the people have rejected his sons and have gone a different direction. 

Robert Alter says that there is Hebrew wordplay in verse 13 with very similar sounds, "Saul" (shaul, שָׁאוּל) and "asked for" (shaal, שָׁאַל). This type of poetic rhythm occurs throughout the Old Testament and is probably a deliberate technique of the authors. (It would certainly make a public reading of the passage entertaining and easy to remember.)

Samuel calls for rain during the wheat harvest. In Israel this would have been an especially dry time in early summer.

I Samuel 12:18-25, Thunderstorm

Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel. The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 

"Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.

"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 

"But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

To prove his point, Samuel calls on YHWH and is answered with thunder and rain. Samuel's final words in this speech are to emphasize that the Israelites are always to remember that YHWH is in charge and that He, YHWH, is to be their real king.

First published August 4, 2023; updated August 4, 2026

I Samuel 11, Saul Defeats Nahash

Saul has been anointed king. Very quickly he will be tested.

1 Samuel 11:1-3, Nahash attacks Jabesh Gilead

Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, "Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you." 

But Nahash the Ammonite replied, "I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel."

The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you."

An Israelite city is besieged and in the brutal violence of the day, the people may surrender if they agree that each man will lose an eye!

In the Dead Sea Scrolls are copies of the Samuel scroll. In Cave 4 at Qumran is a scroll 4QSama which inserts, before the first verse of chapter 11, an explanatory paragraph: 

"Now Nahash king of the Ammonites oppressed the Gadites and Reubenites severely. He gouged out all their right eyes and struck terror and dread in Israel. Not a man remained among the Israelites beyond the Jordan whose right eye was not gouged out by Nahash king of the Ammonites, except that seven thousand men fled from the Ammonites and entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later,"

and then continues with our current text, "Nahash the Ammonite went up...."

The elders of Jabesh ask for a delay in their surrender. Nabash agrees, most likely because he is confident of victory and sees the delay as a chance to more deeply humiliate Israel.

1 Samuel 11:4-7, Appeal to Saul

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, "What is wrong with the people? Why are they weeping?" 

Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said. When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger. He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, "This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel." 

Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they turned out as one man.

The men of Jabesh appeal to Saul. Israel desired a king precisely because of brutal raids like this. Saul reacts to this crisis with righteous anger and, as king, immediately calls Israel together. 

Years earlier a woman had been raped and murdered in Gibeah (Judges 19) and her body dismembered and used to rally Israel. Here, in the same town, echoing that past gruesome event, Saul cuts up oxen and rallies Israel.

1 Samuel 11:8-9a, Deliverance promised

When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand. They told the messengers who had come, "Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, `By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be delivered.'" 

Saul gathers an army and assures the people of Jabesh Gilead that they will be delivered before noon of the following day. 

1 Samuel 11:9b-10, Jabesh fakes surrender

When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated.

They said to the Ammonites, "Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever seems good to you." 

The people of Jabesh Gilead assure the Ammonites that they will surrender the next day, setting up a surprise attack. 

1 Samuel 11:11, Victory

The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

While the Ammonites wait for Jabesh to surrender, Saul attacks just before dawn, scattering the Ammonites.

1 Samuel 11:12-15, Confirmation of Saul as king

The people then said to Samuel, "Who was it that asked, `Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring these men to us and we will put them to death."

But Saul said, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel."

Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship."

So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

Saul has proved his right to be king. In this victory, his supporters see a chance to also punish those Israelites who were opposed to Saul. But Saul gives mercy. No more killing today -- especially of Israelites!

Israel now has a king who is both powerful and compassionate.

First published August 3, 2023; updated August 3, 2026

The Transmission of the Old Testament

The Old Testament writings cover thousands of years of history and were likely written across a number of centuries, possibly a millenium.  During that time the language and writings of the main characters changed, from possibly a proto-Hebrew or Akkadian language of Abraham to a well-developed Hebrew language of Isaiah and Jeremiah and an Aramaic language most likely spoken by Daniel and Esther.  In this Sunday essay, we will lightly explore the transmission of the Old Testament, from ancient Hebrew into modern languages such as English.

Hebrew scrolls

The language of the early Israelites, of Moses, Joshua and David, was Hebrew.  This was a Northwest Semitic language closely related to Akkadian, Aramaic and Ugaritic.  Written Hebrew involved 22 letters, all consonants, no vowels. Core words had three consonants. The text was read from right to left.

In the third or fourth millennium BC, Egyptians took papyrus reeds, grown along the Nile, and pressed them into a soft thick paper-like substance, papyrus, and wrote on sheets of papyrus with dark ink. At the same time the Babylonians wrote on soft clay which, once dried, created permanent clay tablets. Although the Law of Moses was recorded on stone (Exodus 31:18, Joshua 8:32), later copies of Hebrew writings were written on papyrus or animal skin, rolled up into scrolls. Both papyrus and animal skin decayed over times and so these ancient writings were copied again and again, to create new scrolls. These scrolls were an integral part of Jewish worship in the time of Jesus (see Luke 4: 16-21) and are still used today (see this Wikipedia article on the Sefer Torah.)

TaNaKh

Sometime in the Second Temple period, after the return from Babylon, the remnants of Israel living in Palestine organized the scriptures into 24 scrolls. There were three parts to this collection of scripture.  According to F. F. Bruce in The Canon of Scripture, there was 

• the Torah (the "Law", that is, the five Books of Moses), 
• the Nevi'im (the "prophets": Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Exekiel and the Book of the Twelve Prophets) 
• and then the Ketuvim ("writings", including Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles.) 

As many Hebrew words have three consonants, it was common to shorten Torah-Nevi'im-Ketuvim to TaNaKh and so the TaNaKh was the general term for the Jewish scriptures. 

As an aside: it is to this collection of scrolls that Jesus refers in Matthew 23:35 when he attacks the legalism of the Pharisees and accuses them of being responsible for bloodshed, from the first murder, of Abel, to the last murder, of Zechariah. Obviously the murder of Abel was the first murder mentioned in scripture. But what of Zechariah? The murder of the prophet Zechariah is described in 2 Chronicles 24:20-21. At the time of Jesus, the scroll of (1 & 2) Chronicles was the last scroll of the TaNaKh and so the murder of Zechariah was the last murder in the Hebrew scriptures.

Later synagogue collections (says F. F. Bruce) might have counted 22 scrolls, including Ruth as part of  Judges and Lamentations as part of Jeremiah. For example, ancient Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, assumed 22 scrolls.

The Hebrew alphabet

The Hebrew script has changed over time. The early Hebrew writings were probably done in a script called paleo-Hebrew. This was likely the alphabet of David and Solomon. After the Babylonian captivity, this script of 22 consonants took on the Aramaic alphabet and eventually developed the "square script" alphabet of Biblical Hebrew. This writing still did not have consonants. (Eventually, there was a distinction between the letters sin and shin and so some versions of biblical Hebrew had 23 letters.)

At some point, in order to carefully preserve these sacred texts, copyists were required to follow precise rules for accurately copying the old texts.  These rules included counting all the letters in the text and noting the center word and letter, as a type of error-checking. These precise copiers, who emphasized careful counting, were called soferim ("counters".) This error-checking assumes that a formal canon of Hebrew scripture had been determined by that time. (Tradition has the priest Ezra as an early sofer; the profession of sofer most likely evolved into the class of men called "scribes" in the New Testament.)

In 2019 a clay bulla with the name of a temple official from the time of the divided kingdom was found in a dig in Jerusalem. The inscription on the seal, in ancient Hebrew script, reads "(belonging) to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King”. (See 2 Kings 23:11 where Nathan-Melech is mentioned.) The ancient script of that time predates the later scripts showing up in the Masoretic texts.

Conflicts in the text

By about the second or third century BC, Jewish scribes had very rigorous rules for copying texts. Comparisons between the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 200 BC) and the Masoretic Text (c. 900 AD) show few discrepancies.  However, there are still many places where the ancient texts vary.  In modern translations these differences are usually marked by footnotes.  The differences are almost always minor, often small discrepancies in spellings. These small variants, for one interested in languages, are somewhat enlightening.  I give two examples here, partly to emphasize the serious nature of the copyists and also to show the types of discrepancies that occur.

One example of a textual debate, given by Paul Wegner (in The Journey from Texts to Translations) occurs in Judges 18:30, where some ancient manuscripts replace the name Moses with Manasseh. This change is indicated by inserting the Hebrew letter נַ (nun) into the name of Moses, changing  משֶׁה to   מְנַשֶּׁה. (Remember, we read from right to left!) Because the scribe was copying scripture and making any changes to scripture text is a serious matter, this insertion was not done secretly. The insertion of nun into the name Moses was indicated in ancient texts by suspending the letter nun half a line above the ordinary text, so that the insertion is recognized as an alternative reading. It is possible that this insertion was made because the text describes idolatry in Dan, during the reign of certain priests. Manasseh (here meant to be the seventh century BC king of Judah) is more likely than Moses to have had a son who allowed idolatry. In keeping with that interpretation, we note that the verse describes idolatry occurring until the time of captivity, presumably the Babylonian captivity that occurred shortly after the reign of Manasseh.  Whoever inserted the letter nun believed that the original text had read מְנַשֶּׁה. but that an earlier copyist, accustomed to writing "Moses", had accidentally left out the second character, נַ. We emphasize that the later copyist was not free to make changes without adding marks to indicate the change.

Our second example is not a discrepancy but a place of confusion. In Exodus 25:5 an offering to be given YHWH in the building of the Tabernacle includes precious medals, along with beautifully dyed garments and tehashim (תְּחָשִׁ֖ים). This strange word only occurs five times in the Old Testament, all five times in Exodus, always dealing with gifts to the sanctuary. Translating ancient words is especially difficult when they are rare and this is a classic example. Because the word is applied to skins, various English translations translate this as "dolphin", "badger", "sea cow", or "dugong." One version of the NIV translates the word as "durable leather". But Robert Alter, in his translation of Exodus, argues that this word is most likely an Akkadian loan word for a yellow or orange dye. Alter argues that translating this word as a colorful dye fits into the context of beautifully colored garments.

Careful examination of various ancient texts then raises questions such as:

• Was it Manasseh or Moses who had a son that allowed idolatry? 
• Was the tehashim in Exodus an aquatic animal or the color of a dye? 

Hebrew scholars love to debate things like this (and publish papers on the Hebrew translation) but for  most of us these small disputes are irrelevant. These small disputes emphasize that Old Testament Hebrew was an ancient language with insight into an ancient culture.

Ancient sources for the Old Testament

Since the Hebrew scrolls (whether papyrus or leather) decayed over time, a natural question is "What are our sources, today, for the Old Testament?" To be blunt, "How reliable is our copy of the Old Testament?"  

This question leans on the legitimacy of the oldest scrolls. 

One major source for the ancient Hebrew documents were scrolls created by the Masoretes, a Jewish group of scribes and scholars who copied the scrolls from 500 to 1000 AD. The Masoretes followed very rigid rules for copying the text and used marks over the Hebrew consonants to indicate the missing vowels. Most Old Testament translations rely on the Masoretic text (MT); the NIV footnotes simply call this the "Hebrew" text. There are other ancient manuscripts; some, like the Septuagint, are translations of the ancient Hebrew into other languages. We will look in more detail at these ancient texts in a future Sunday essay.

First published July 2, 2025; updated August 2, 2026