1 Samuel 28:5

1Sa 28:5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

Ver. 5. He was afraid.] "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness surpriseth the hypocrites": and they run away, if they could tell whither, with these words in their mouths, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" {Isa 33:14} God himself answereth in the next word. {Isa 33:15} "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly," &c. But Saul was none such; and therefore in his extreme fear he runneth from God to the witch, and from the witch to the sword’s point.

And his heart greatly trembled.] Those that cannot fear for love, shall once tremble for fear: and God shall laugh when such a one’s fears cometh. {Pro 1:26}

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 28:5. His heart greatly trembled — When he saw their numbers, their orders, and their appointments, he judged himself to be greatly overpowered, and fell into great terror upon the prospect. Had he kept close to God he needed not to have feared all the armies of the Philistines.

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

Verse 5. When Saul saw] He saw from the superiority of his enemies, from the state of his army, and especially from his own state towards God, that he had every thing to fear.

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

(5) He was afraid.—There is no doubt that Saul was discouraged when he viewed the enemy’s ranks from the eminence of Gilboa. They were far more numerous than he had expected. But the real reason of his trembling must be looked for in the consciousness that God had forsaken him. Many of the well-known Israelite warriors had, during the late events, taken service with his dreaded rival, David, and David, he knew, was now the vassal of Achish, a Philistine king. We may imagine Saul, the forsaken of God, as be stood on the white chalk hill of Gilboa, gazing on the long lines of Philistine tents pitched on the opposite hill of Shunem, wondering if his old friend was there, with his mighty following, in the division of Gath.

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

5. he was afraid] The consciousness that “the Spirit of Jehovah had departed from him” made the once brave king a coward.

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 when Saul saw the host of the Philistines,.... From the mountains of Gilboa, where he had pitched his camp:

he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled; on sight of the numbers of them, and thinking perhaps of the death of Samuel, and of the loss of David; who was now among the Philistines, and might possibly fight against him, and for the Philistines, of which he might be informed; however, he was not with him, and his conscience might accuse him of various sins he had been guilty of, for which he might fear the Lord would now reckon with him.

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

Dismayed. It was so numerous, while his own conscience upbraided him with being at enmity with God, who increased his fears. (Salien)

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).

Saul saw the host from Mount Gilboa, 1Sa 31:1.

His heart greatly trembled; partly, from the greatness and resoluteness of the host of the Philistines, who were the aggressors; partly, from the loss of David, who might have been of great use to him at this time; partly, from the conscience of his own manifest guilt, and just expectation of Divine vengeance oft threatened, and now in all likelihood to be inflicted upon him.

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

5. He was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled — He was a skilful and far-sighted general, and he felt that the Philistines had every probability of victory. He was also probably deeply affected with the feeling that Jehovah had forsaken him. Jehovah’s Spirit came not now mightily upon him as in former years; no cunning player on the harp was with him to charm away the evil spirit.

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

Vers. 5, 6. When Saul saw, etc. It is plain from this that the Philistines had not forced their way up through the Israelite territory; for this was evidently Saul"s first sight of their forces, and his alarm was caused by finding them so much larger than he had expected. He therefore in his anxiety enquired of Jehovah, but received no answer, neither by dreams. He had expected these to be vouchsafed, possibly to himself, but more probably to some class of prophets; (see Jer_23:25, where false prophets claim to have dreamed, in imitation no doubt of true prophets) but though dreams were thus recognised as a means for communicating God"s will to man, yet, as Erdmann well remarks, "a subordinate position is certainly assigned in the Old Testament to the dream as the medium of the Divine influence on the inner life, which in sleep sinks into a state of passiveness." Nor by Urim. Though Abiathar after the massacre of his family had fled to David with the ephod, it is quite possible that Saul may have had another ephod made, and have set up a fresh sanctuary, perhaps at Gibeon, with Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, as high priest. This would account for Zadok being joined with Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, as one of two high priests early in David"s reign. (2Sa_8:17) It is remarkable, however, that Saul does not mention the Urim himself in ver. 15, and very probably it is named here not because the ephod was actually used, but as enumerating all the various ways by which men inquired of Jehovah. Nor by prophets. In his dee spair Saul may have turned to some reputed soothsayer present with the host, but his wilful life had alienated both priest and prophet from him. And this is the meaning of the passage in 1Ch_10:14: "Saul enquired not of Jehovah; therefore he slew him." He may have gone through the form of inquiring, and certainly now would have been glad of an answer, but his whole mind was determinately set upon carrying out his own purposes, and he would never permit, after the first year or two of his reign, the royal prerogative to bend to the will of God.

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

He trembled - Had he kept close to God, he needed not fear all the armies of the Philistines.

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

he was afraid, and his heart trembled very much

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize the intensity of his fear. Here Saul is referred to by his "heart." AT: "he was terrified" (See: Synecdoche and Parallelism)

Urim

The high priest carried the sacred lots called Urim and Thummin in his breastplate, in a marked pouch, next to his heart.

who talks with the dead

These words translate as one word in the original language. If your language has one word for a person who talks to the dead, you should use it here. See how you translated similar words in 1 Samuel 28:3.

Endor

place name (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Saul (OT)

Philistines

fear

heart

pray

Yahweh

dream

prophet

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