Bible Strands
1 Samuel 13:15
Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Samuel departs Gilgal and travels to Gibeah in Benjamin immediately after pronouncing Saul’s kingship forfeited. Saul then conducts a formal headcount of his remaining soldiers at this location.
The words — וַ/יִּפְקֹד (va/i.yif.Kod) translates as "and he mustered," describing the administrative assembly of Saul's forces.
The thread — This reduced count follows the earlier enrollment of three thousand men (1 Samuel 13:2) and precedes the camp at Migron near Gibeah (1 Samuel 14:2).
Why it lands — The text records the factual reduction of Saul’s army to six hundred men, demonstrating the immediate consequence of his disobedience. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates through measurable, historical reality.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 13:2 He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- 1 Samuel 14:2 Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men,
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.