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Holy Ghost, personal interposition on the part of God - miracle and prophetic
inspiration - was the rule, not the exception, in God's dealings with His people.
(^120) Accordingly the commencement of Saul's reign was dated from Gilgal. Hence 1
Samuel 13:1 had opened, as the history of all other kings (comp. 2 Samuel 2:10;
5:4; 1 Kings 14:21; 22:42; 2 Kings 8:26; etc.), with the statistical data of his age at
the commencement, and the duration of his reign. But unfortunately the numeral
letters have wholly fallen out of the first, and partially out of the second clause of
ver. 1, which, as they stand in our present Hebrew text, may be thus represented:
"Saul was... years old when he was made king, and he reigned two... years over
Israel." All other attempts at explanation of this verse - notably that of our
Authorised Version - are incompatible with the Hebrew and with history.
According to Jewish tradition (Jos., Antiq., 6. 14, 9), Saul reigned for forty years.
This is also the time mentioned by St. Paul (Acts 13:21). There is no sufficient
reason for the view of certain critics that the "original narrative" is here resumed
from 10:16. In fact, if such were the case, we would require some explanation of
the phrase: "Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel" (13:2). Whence and
where did he choose them, if not from the assembly at Gilgal? Certainly, more
unlikely circumstances for this could not be found than those in which Saul is left
in 10:16, when, so far from selecting three thousand men, he ventures not to
confide the secret of his elevation even to his uncle!
(^121) I have put this hypothetically, for I feel by no means sure that it was not the
other Gilgal. The argument of Keil, that in that case Saul would. have had to attack
the Philistines at Michmash before reaching Gibeah (ver. 15), is not convincing,
since there was a road to the latter place to the west of Michmash. On the other
hand, however, the Gilgal near Jericho was no doubt a more safe place of retreat
where to collect an army, and the wadys open directly upon it from Geba and
Gibeah; while, lastly, the remark, that "Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of
Gad and Gilead" (ver. 7), seems to point to a camp in the immediate neighborhood
of that river.
(^122) Of course, the expression must be taken in a general sense, and not absolutely,
and refers to the total want of regular armament.
(^123) Our Hebrew text has "thirty thousand chariots" -a number not only
disproportionate to the horsemen but unheard of in history. The copyist's mistake
evidently arose in this manner. Writing, "And the Philistines gathered themselves
together to fight with Israel," the copyist by mistake repeated the letter l, which in
Hebrew is the numeral sign for 30, and so wrote what reads "thirty thousand
chariots," instead of "one thousand chariots," as had been intended.
(^)