Discovery Box1 Samuel 13:5-8 
Context13:5 For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 1 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. 13:6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, 2 and cisterns. 13:7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River 3 to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 13:8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. 4 But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. 5
1 tn Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV) read “30,000” here.
2 tn Or perhaps “vaults.” This rare term also occurs in Judg 9:46, 49. Cf. KJV “high places”; ASV “coverts”; NAB “caverns”; NASB “cellars”; NIV, NCV, TEV “pits”; NRSV, NLT “tombs.”
3 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (FCI), 201-23.
5 tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”
