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1 Samuel 13:15-22
New King James Version
1 Samuel 13:15-22
New King James Version
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of [a]Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, (A)about six hundred men.
No Weapons for the Army
16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in [b]Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to (B)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another company turned to the road to (C)Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of (D)Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now (E)there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” 20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21 and the charge for a sharpening was a [c]pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. 22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that (F)there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 13:15 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. add And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the people who fought against them, going from Gilgal to Gibeah in the hill of Benjamin.
- 1 Samuel 13:16 Heb. Geba
- 1 Samuel 13:21 About two-thirds shekel weight
1 Samuel 13:15-22
Lexham English Bible
1 Samuel 13:15-22
Lexham English Bible
15 Then Samuel got up and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul mustered the people who were found with him, about six hundred men. 16 Saul and Jonathan his son and the army that remained with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines encamped at Micmash. 17 The raiders[a] went out from the camp of the Philistines in three divisions. One division turned on the road[b] to Ophrah toward the land of Shual. 18 One division turned on the road[c] to Beth Horon, and one turned on the road[d] toward the border overlooking the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now no skilled craftsman could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “So that the Hebrews cannot make swords or spears for themselves.” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to have his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his iron plowshare[e] sharpened. 21 The charge[f] was two-thirds of a shekel[g] for the plowshare and for the mattock, and a third of a shekel for the pick[h] and for the axe, and to set the goading sticks. 22 So[i] on the day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.[j]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 13:17 Literally “destroyers”
- 1 Samuel 13:17 Or “way”
- 1 Samuel 13:18 Or “way”
- 1 Samuel 13:18 Or “way”
- 1 Samuel 13:20 So the Masoretic Hebrew text; LXX reads “sickle”
- 1 Samuel 13:21 Or “fee”
- 1 Samuel 13:21 Literally “a pim” (possibly a stone weight used as a measure)
- 1 Samuel 13:21 Literally “and for three, a pick” (uncertain; perhaps meaning “a third of a shekel,” or a three-pronged pick”
- 1 Samuel 13:22 Literally, “And it happened”
- 1 Samuel 13:22 Literally, “it could be found for Saul and for Jonathan his son”
1 Samuel 13:15-22
New International Version
1 Samuel 13:15-22
New International Version
15 Then Samuel left Gilgal[a] and went up to Gibeah(A) in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.(B)
Israel Without Weapons
16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah[b](C) in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17 Raiding(D) parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah(E) in the vicinity of Shual, 18 another toward Beth Horon,(F) and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim(G) facing the wilderness.
19 Not a blacksmith(H) could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!(I)” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles[c] sharpened. 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel[d] for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel[e] for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan(J) had a sword or spear(K) in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 13:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Gilgal and went his way; the rest of the people went after Saul to meet the army, and they went out of Gilgal
- 1 Samuel 13:16 Two Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah
- 1 Samuel 13:20 Septuagint; Hebrew plow points
- 1 Samuel 13:21 That is, about 1/4 ounce or about 8 grams
- 1 Samuel 13:21 That is, about 1/8 ounce or about 4 grams
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.