1 Samuel 13:5

THE PHILISTINES' GREAT HOST. (Sa1 13:5)

The Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen--Either this number must include chariots of every kind--or the word "chariots" must mean the men fighting in them (Sa2 10:18; Kg1 20:21; Ch1 19:18); or, as some eminent critics maintain, Sheloshim ("thirty"), has crept into the text, instead of Shelosh ("three"). The gathering of the chariots and horsemen must be understood to be on the Philistine plain, before they ascended the western passes and pitched in the heart of the Benjamite hills, in "Michmash," (now Mukmas), a "steep precipitous valley" [ROBINSON], eastward from Beth-aven (Beth-el).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Sa 13:5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which [is] on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.

Ver. 5. Thirty thousand chariots.] Armed with scythes and hooks. These were a great number. Sisera had but nine hundred, Pharaoh six hundred.

And people as the sand which is on the sea shore.] Josephus saith they were three hundred thousand footmen. All these were by God’s all-disposing providence brought together to be broken in pieces. {Isa 8:9; Isa 9:12}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 13:5. Thirty thousand chariots — The Syriac and Arabic copies mention only three thousand chariots, which seems to be the true reading; for there is no foundation for believing that the Philistines could bring into the field thirty thousand chariots of war. Indeed we read of nothing like it in all history. Or, we may suppose that most of them were but carriages for the baggage of the army.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:5 The Israelites were massively outnumbered, hence their fearful responses. • The Philistine army’s 3,000 chariots and 6,000 charioteers indicate Israel’s underdog status. Nowhere in 1 Samuel is Israel said to have had any chariots (see study note on 13:19-22).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which was also called Bethel, in the tribe of Benjamin.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. Thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen] There is no proportion here between the chariots and the cavalry. The largest armies ever brought into the field, even by mighty emperors, never were furnished with thirty thousand chariots.

I think שלשים sheloshim, THIRTY, is a false reading for שלש shalosh, THREE. The Syriac has [Syriac] telotho alpin, and the Arabic [Arabic] thalathato alf, both signifying THREE thousand; and this was a fair proportion to the horsemen. This is most likely to be the true reading.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel.—The figures here, again, of the numbers of this vast army are perfectly untrustworthy. In the rolls of ancient armies (and we possess many a one in the sacred records) the number of war chariots is always smaller than that of the horsemen; here the chariots are represented as four times as numerous. In the rolls of the most famous armies there never appear anything like this number. For instance, Jabin (Jdg_4:3) had 900 chariots. Pharaoh pursued Israel with 600. When David defeated Syria, the great Syrian army had 40,000 horsemen and 700 chariots. King Solomon is only reported (1Ki_10:26) to have possessed 1,400 chariots. Zerah the Ethiopian had but 300 in his vast army, and the Pharaoh Shishak 1,200. Here the more probable reading would be “300” not 30,000. Bishop Wordsworth endeavours to explain the vast array by a reference to Josephus, who relates that this Philistine force was composed of various nations; but this would never account for the incredible number of chariots. The Philistines evidently lost no time. While Saul was endeavouring to rally at Gilgal a Hebrew army, Philistia at once, with the aid of foreign allies, took the field, and with a large army—for it is clear their host on this occasion was very large—encamped no great distance from Gilgal, evidently determined once and for all to crush their enemies and their recently-elected daring king.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. thirty thousand chariots] This reading, though as old as the Sept., is certainly wrong. The number of chariots was always less than that of horsemen, and such an enormous force of chariots is not only quite unparalleled, but would be useless in the mountainous country. Possibly the numeral 30, expressed in Hebrew by the letter l, was due to the accidental repetition of the last letter of the word Israel, and we should read “a thousand chariots.” Jabin had “nine hundred chariots” (Jdg_4:3).

people as the sand which is on the sea shore] “People” = infantry. “The sand on the sea shore” is a common figure for an indefinite number. Cp. Gen_22:17; Gen_41:49; Jos_11:4; Psa_78:27, &c.

in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven] Saul evacuated Michmash and withdrew to Gilgal. Jonathan however still held Gibeah (1Sa_13:16). Beth-aven (= “house of naught” i.e. idols) was near Ai, between Michmash and Bethel (Jos_7:2). The position was an important one, commanding the chief approach from Gilgal to the heart of the country.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel,.... To prevent their further encroachments on them, and designs against them; for they perceived they intended to cast off their yoke, and free themselves entirely from them:

thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen; it may seem incredible that so small a people as the Philistines were, who only were possessed of five cities, or lordships, with the villages belonging to them, except what they had taken from Israel; and even if assisted by the Tyrians, the author of Sirach in the Apocrypha says:"And he destroyed the rulers of the Tyrians, and all the princes of the Philistines.'' (Sirach 46:18)though he seems to have respect not to this time, but when Samuel discomfited them, Sa1 7:10. I say it may seem incredible that they should bring such a number of chariots into the field; wherefore this must either be understood of 30,000 men that fought in chariots, as Lyra interprets it, and in which sense it is plain and certain the word chariots is sometimes used, as in Sa2 10:18, or else of some sort of carriages, not chariots of war, at least not all of them; but what were brought to carry the baggage of their infantry, which was very large, and to carry away the goods and substance of the Israelites; some have thought that there is a mistake of the copier, who instead of "three", read "thirty": so Capellus; and the rather because in the Arabic and Syriac versions it is only "three thousand"; but even this is too great a number, understood of chariots of war; for never any people in the world was known to have so many chariots of war; Pharaoh in his large host had but six hundred, Exo 14:7 Jabin king of Canaan had indeed nine hundred, Jdg 4:3 and David took from the king of Zobah one thousand chariots; but whether they were all chariots of war is not certain, Sa2 8:4. Solomon indeed had one thousand and four hundred chariots, but they do not appear to be chariots of war, but some for use, and some for state and grandeur. Wherefore, if a mistake in the copy is admitted of, and this can be confirmed by some MSS, yet we must recur to one or other of the above senses; some of them must be understood of other sort of carriages, or of men that fought in these chariots; and allowing ten men to a chariot, which seems to be the usual number by comparing Sa2 10:18 with Ch1 19:18 then 3000 men would fill three hundred chariots, which are as many as it can well be thought the Philistines had Zerah the Ethiopian, who brought into the field an army of million men, had no more than three hundred chariots, Ch2 14:9, and no more had Antiochus Eupator in his army,"And with him Lysias his protector, and ruler of his affairs, having either of them a Grecian power of footmen, an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with hooks.'' (2 Maccabees 13:2)Darius in his vast army had but two hundred (a), and in the very large one which Mithridates brought against the Romans there was but one hundred; and now 3000 men in three hundred chariots were but a proportion to 6000 horsemen, which in those times and countries was a large cavalry:

and the people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude; the infantry was so large as not to be numbered; however, the phrase denotes a great multitude of them; Josephus says (b) there were 300,000 footmen:

and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven; where Saul, before he went to Gilgal, had his quarters, Sa1 13:2. Bethaven was a place near Bethel, on the east of it, Jos 7:2 though Bethel itself was afterwards so called when Jeroboam had set up the worship of the calves there, Hos 4:15 it signifying the house of vanity or iniquity.

(a) Curtius, l. 4. c. 9. (b) Antiqu, l. 6. c. 6. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thirty thousand chariots - Probably a copyist’s mistake for 300. (Compare, for a similar numerical variation, 1Ch 18:4 with 2Sa 8:4.)

Eastward from Bethaven - Or more simply “to the east of Bethaven,” which Jos 7:2 lay “on the east side of Bethel.” Bethaven (thought to be the same as Deir Diwan) lay between Bethel and Michmash, which had been evacuated by Saul.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Chariots. This number seems almost incredible, as the Philistines were but a contemptible nation, compared with various others which never brought so many chariots into the field. Zara, king of Ethiopia, in his army of a million men, had only 300, 2 Paralipomenon xiv. 9. Adarezer had 1000, and Sesac 12000 chariots, while Solomon could only boast of 1400. Hence the Syriac and Arabic read "3000;" and it is supposed that the Hebrew has im, at the end of shelosh, redundant. (Bochart, Capel, &c.) The number of horsemen would otherwise bear no proportion with the chariots. We must also observe, that under this name the Scripture denotes those who upon the chariots. They were drawn by two horses, and one man guided the horses, while another stood on the chariot; and in battle, eight other soldiers attended it. These remarks will tend to explain many difficult passages, in which we read of chariots being slain and hamstrung, which may be understood of the men and horses, 2 Kings viii. 4., and x. 18. In one place we read 700, and in another 7000 chariot were slain, (1 Paralipomenon xix. 18,) the latter number comprising the 10 attendants; so here, the Philistines might have 3000 chariots, which being each accompanied with ten men, might be counted as 30,000. (Calmet) --- Others think that there were 30,000 men fighting on chariots. (Lyranus; Salien) --- The Tyrians might have come to the assistance of their old friends, as chap. vii. 10. See 3 Kings iv. 26. (Menochius) --- Number. Josephus specifies "300,000 infantry." (Haydock) --- Bethaven. Many copies of the Septuagint read, "Bethoron," more probably, as Bethel must have been on the east of Machmas, which lay north of Gabaa, chap xiv. 5. (Calmet) "over-against Bethoron on the south." (Grabe) (Haydock) --- Hebrew also, "having Bethaven on the east." Bethel was called Bethaven after the schism of Jeroboam, so that this name seems to have been substituted by a later writer, (Calmet) unless it might have had both names long before, Josue xviii. 12. (Haydock) --- this is not contrary to chap. vii. 13, as the Philistines had been quiet for a long time. Hebrew alom, properly denotes the term of a jubilee or 50 years. (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thirty thousand chariots: this number seems incredible to infidels; to whom it may be sufficient to reply, that it is far more rational to acknowledge a mistake in him that copied out the sacred text in such numeral or historical passages, wherein the doctrine of faith and good life is not directly concerned, than upon such a pretence to question the truth and divinity of the Holy Scriptures, which are so fully attested, and evidently demonstrated. And the mistake is not great in the Hebrew, schalosh for schellshim; and so indeed those two ancient translators, the Syriac and Arabic, translate it, and are supposed to have read in their Hebrew copies, three thousand. Nor is it necessary that all these should be military chariots, but many of them might be for carriages of things belonging to so great an army; for such b

Chariots here may very well be put for the men that rode upon them, and fought out of them, by a figure called a metonymy of the subject for the adjunct, or the thing containing for the thing contained in it, than which none more frequent. In the very same manner, and in the very same figure, the basket is put for the meat in it, Deu 28:5,17; the wilderness, for the wild beasts of the wilderness, Psa 29:8; the nest, for the birds in it, Deu 32:11; the cup, for the drink in it, Jer 49:12; 1Co 10:21. And, to come more closely to the point, a horse is put for a horse-load of wares laid upon it, 1Ki 10:28; and an ass of bread is put for an ass-load of bread, both in the Hebrew text of 1Sa 16:20, and in an ancient Greek poet. And, yet nearer, the word chariots is manifestly put either for the horses belonging to them, or rather for the men that fought out of them; as 2Sa 10:18, where it is said in the Hebrew that David slew seven hundred chariots; that is, seven thousand men which fought in chariots, as it is explained, 1Ch 19:18; and 1Ki 20:21, where Ahab is said to smite horses and chariots; and 1Ch 18:4; Psa 76:6, where the chariot and horse (i.e. the men that ride and fight in chariots, or upon horses) are said to be cast into a dead sleep; and Eze 39:20, where it is said, Ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, (i.e. with men belonging to the chariots; for surely the chariots of iron had been very improper food,) with mighty men, &c. And let any cavilling infidel produce a wise reason why it may not, and ought not, to be so understood here also. Add to all this, that the Philistines were not alone in this expedition, but had the help of the Canaanites and the Tyrians, as is very credible, both from Sir 40:20, and from the nature of the thing. If it be further inquired, Why the Philistines should raise so great an army at this time? the answer is obvious, That not only their old and formidable enemy Samuel was yet alive, but a new enemy was risen, even king Saul, who was lately confirmed in his kingdom, and had been flushed with his good success against the Ammonites, and was likely to grow more and more potent, if not timely prevented; and they thought that now the Israelitish affairs were come to some consistency, being put into the hands of a king; and therefore they thought fit, once for all, to put forth all their strength to suppress the Israelites, and to prevent that ruin which otherwise threatened them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen — Here we meet another instance of manifest error of numbers in the text. “Thirty thousand war chariots bear no proportion whatever to six thousand horsemen, not only because the number of war-chariots is invariably smaller than that of the horsemen, (compare 2Sa_10:18; 1Ki_10:26; 2Ch_12:3,) but also because such a number of war chariots is never met with either in sacred or profane history, not even in the case of nations that were much more powerful than the Philistines. The number is, therefore, certainly corrupt, and we must either read three thousand, according to the Syriac and Arabic, or else simply one thousand. In the latter case the origin of the number thirty must be attributed to the fact that, through the oversight of a copyist, the ל(Hebrew numeral for thirty) of the word ישׂראל, Israel, was written twice, and consequently the second לwas taken for the numeral thirty.” — Keil.

Came up… pitched in Michmash — Thus occupying the heights from which Saul had fallen back.

Beth-aven — This place was on the east of Beth-el, (Jos_7:2,) and, as we infer from this passage, between it and Michmash; but it has not yet been satisfactorily identified with any modern site.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Long before Saul could gather Israel the Philistines had completed their preparations, and invaded the country in overwhelming numbers; but thirty thousand chariots compared with six thousand horsemen is out of all proportion. Possibly the final l in Israel has been taken by some copyists for a numeral, and as it signifies thirty, it his changed 1000 into 30, 000. Or, simpler still, shin, the numeral for 300, has been read with two dots, and so changed into 30, 000. They came up, and pitched in Michmash. Saul had withdrawn eastward to Gilgal, and the Philistines had thus placed themselves between him and Jonathan. There is a difficulty, however, in the words eastward from Beth-aven; for as this, again, was east of Bethel, it puts the Philistines" camp too much to the east. As it is not, however, the regular phrase for eastward, some commentators render, "in front of Beth-avon." "It means "the house of naught," and was the name originally given to the desert east of Bethel, because of its barren character" (Conder, "Tent Work," 2:108). The Philistines, however, had come in such numbers that their camp must have occupied a large extent of ground.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thirty thousand chariots, &c. - Most of them, we may suppose, carriages for their baggage, not chariots of war, tho' all their allies were joined with them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

three thousand ... six thousand

"3,000 ... 6,000" (See: Numbers)

troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore

This is an exaggeration that means a group of soldiers so large that it was difficult to count them. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

Michmash

This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)

Beth Aven

This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

chariot

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

To the east of Beis Oven. [קִדְמַת] meaning the east of Beis Oven.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.