1 Samuel 13:8-14
New Living Translation
8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.
10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11 but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”
Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
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1 Samuel 13:8-14
New English Translation
8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel.[a] But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul.[b]
9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.[c]
11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me,[d] and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 12 I thought,[e] ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated[f] to offer the burnt offering.”
13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed[g] the commandment that the Lord your God gave[h] you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought out[i] for himself a man who is loyal to him,[j] and the Lord has appointed[k] him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”
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- 1 Samuel 13:8 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.
- 1 Samuel 13:8 tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”
- 1 Samuel 13:10 tn Heb “to bless him.”
- 1 Samuel 13:11 tn Heb “dispersed from upon me.”
- 1 Samuel 13:12 tn Heb “said.”
- 1 Samuel 13:12 tn Or “I forced myself” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV); NAB “So in my anxiety I offered”; NIV “I felt compelled.”
- 1 Samuel 13:13 tn Or “kept.”
- 1 Samuel 13:13 tn Heb “commanded.”
- 1 Samuel 13:14 tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.
- 1 Samuel 13:14 tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
- 1 Samuel 13:14 tn Heb “commanded.”
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