And Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel there were with Saul two thousand in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
Saul has just won his first battle, and now he does what kings do: he sends the citizen army home and keeps three thousand men under arms. The plan looks sensible, and commentators ask what it shows about the heart of a king whose real test was still ahead.
The opening line of the chapter, which dates this choice, has long puzzled readers. One writer takes the wording as a standard royal formula rather than a problem, and reads Saul's age from the fact that his son already commands troops:
What difficulty there is in this verse I cannot conceive. Saul "was the son of a year in his reign" (see margin) "and he reigned two years over Israel, and Saul chose," etc. "Saul reigned," is the identical expression used in Kings... He must have been between thirty and forty, for Jonathan his son had command of troops.
Commentators differ here. Another notes that "Hebrew scholars consider that either something is missing from verse 1 in the Hebrew manuscripts or that the whole verse was not originally in the text."
Keeping three thousand men under arms broke with everything Israel had done before:
With the setting up of the kingdom, we read of the first standing army since the days of Joshua. Until now, Israel raised armies as the need arose, for one special purpose, and disbanded them once that purpose was achieved. From now on Saul kept the core of an army around him. On this occasion he kept two thousand with himself at Michmash, and one thousand with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin.
The number itself satisfies neither purpose it might have served:
As others have pointed out, this was an error, whichever way we look at it. "If he meant them only as a bodyguard and an honour guard, it was unwise to have so many. If he meant them as a standing army, because he feared danger from the Philistines, it was just as unwise to have so few." There was probably a truce, or perhaps a peace treaty, between Israel and the Philistines at this time.
One writer sets the new bodyguard against the test Saul was really facing:
Saul handled the Ammonite invasion creditably, but the real test was still to come, and it came very soon: could he walk with God in his new position of exaltation? After the victory at Jabesh Gilead, he dismissed his huge army of 330,000 men. Two years later he set up a small standing army of 3,000... We see prudence in this arrangement, but hardly faith, for (as Jonathan said a little later) "nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few." Faith needs no guards.
One writer traces the reasoning behind the number, and then names what it leaves out:
Saul sends them all home, then, except three thousand men. They are too few to rouse the suspicion of those who had been quickly making themselves masters in Israel, and yet enough to hold some central strong points, and to be the core of a trained and efficient army. The old days of Samuel had already passed away. The fruits of unbelief are not long in showing themselves. In Saul's action we see not a return to faith, but the wise caution of worldly prudence and shrewd generalship. Everything has to be calculated and provided for. God is left out, for He is a force that cannot be calculated. But being left out, He is still free to come in and spoil these arrangements, as we shall see.
The verse's last line brings in Jonathan. One writer finds the man of faith here, and hears it first in his name:
A thousand are under Jonathan at Gibeah. This brings in the man of faith, right beside Saul himself, through whom God works the deliverance He has prepared for His people. Jonathan, or Jehonathan, means "Jehovah has given." He is the Lord's gift to Israel for this emergency. But it is also the language of his own believing heart, something like a blank check, which can be filled in for every occasion... He is really with God, and we find in him what Saul should have been and was not. With him there is no delay, no prudence: put weapons in his hands and he will use them.
Why does a troop count matter? Because of what Saul stands for:
Saul does not represent the flesh's planned opposition to the work of God, but far more the efforts of the flesh to do this work — the flesh brought into a position of testimony. This makes Saul infinitely more responsible and his activity more guilty than if he had entered the scene as an enemy of God and of His anointed. The Christian world, of which we are part, stands in the same position, and so the teaching of these chapters carries a solemn weight today.
- Guards. Saul's three thousand were the first standing army since Joshua's day. Before this, Israel raised a force for each crisis and then sent it home.
- Guesswork. The number fits neither purpose: too many for ceremony, far too few against the Philistines.
- God omitted. The plan is shrewd, and that is the flaw. Saul calculated everything and left out the one force no calculation can hold.
- Gift. Jonathan's name means "Jehovah has given." He is God's gift to Israel for the emergency, and his faith treats that name as a blank check for any occasion.
- Guilt. Saul is the flesh attempting God's work, not opposing it. That makes him more responsible, not less — and the Christian world stands in that same position today.
And Jonathan smote the outpost of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard [of it]. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
Jonathan strikes the Philistine garrison at Geba, and his father sounds the trumpet over the whole land. The question left hanging is whose victory it really was.
The chapter around this verse shows a nation in disarray, and one man acting differently:
In the previous chapter nothing can be more humbling than the confusion, distress, and utter helplessness of Saul and Israel. The only exception there is Jonathan, who "defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba." But this victory granted to Jonathan showed that God was still with His people. Those in responsibility only needed to know how to count on His presence and help. And yet the lesson was wholly lost on Saul.
Israel had other enemies. The Philistines were different, because they sat inside the land God had promised:
Here also we see in the Philistines the enemies who put faith to the test. We often have enemies we beat easily. People think we are spiritual because of them. Yet these are not the enemies that put faith to the test — not on God's part, nor, it may be said, on their own. With these, patience must have its perfect work. And the Philistines held this place with respect to Saul. It was good for the people to be free from their other enemies. But those were not the enemies that trapped them. Those were not the ones that displayed the enemy's power right in the middle of Israel and the promises.
Jonathan's blow was bold, and it stirred the Philistines at once:
Of course this was a very bold thing for a subject people, which the Israelites clearly had become. The Philistines hear of it, and at once begin to move against a people who were stirring themselves even this little. Faith does not fear to strike, no matter how total the oppression. Formalism may have laid its deadly hand on the saints of God so completely that no one dares lift his voice in protest. But faith will strike wherever there is an opportunity. It does not coldly calculate the effect, nor count up the numbers the enemy will be able to bring into the field to crush it. It counts rather on God alone. Here is something that is not according to Him — it must be denounced, it must be struck down.
The trumpet spread Saul's name, not Jonathan's. One writer sees Saul's failure start here, and points out what each name means:
In 1 Samuel 13 the time of testing and trial comes upon Saul, and he proves to be rejected. First the flesh takes for itself the honour due only to the Spirit. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba — and his name means "the one whom the Lord has given." But all Israel heard that Saul had done it, for he blew the trumpet and said, "Let the Hebrews hear." Saul was the one "asked for" by the people.
Saul does not call the nation Israel:
"And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, 'Let the Hebrews hear.'" What a summons from the king! Why call them Hebrews? Was this all that Saul had to say? Where was God in it? Entirely forgotten! This is exactly the kind of language a Gentile would use. Had Saul sunk to this? Had he never heard of Jehovah, the God of Israel? Had he never weighed His promises to the fathers, His purposes for their children, the chosen people, poor as they might be?
The same writer applies this to how we speak of God's people now:
This is what unbelief always did, and does now. "Our people" — "Our church!" Such language betrays the fatal fault of connecting things with ourselves instead of with God… I may do as I please with what is my own, and it is natural to resent anyone trampling on its rights. But I must take care what I do with what is not mine nor yours, but God's.
Saul had just sent the people home. Now he calls them back:
Saul cannot lead now; he must follow. But he follows a path he knows nothing about. He acts in the dark, while he imagines he has full light. There is no caution now, no seeking wisdom from God. He has just dismissed the crowd that had gathered against the Ammonites. Now he summons them again in haste with the trumpet. But God has no use for them.
- One man — while Saul and Israel are helpless, Jonathan alone acts, and his blow shows God had not left His people.
- One enemy — the Philistines sat inside the land. Easy wins prove nothing; this is the enemy that tests faith.
- One principle — faith strikes at what is not according to God without counting the odds against it.
- One theft — Jonathan struck the blow, but the land heard Saul's name. The flesh takes the honour due to the Spirit.
- One word — Saul called them "Hebrews," not Israel, and left God out. The same fault shows up whenever we say "our church" instead of God's.