to wait · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
seven
שִׁבְעַ֣תshiv.'At
H7651
seven (as the sacred full one) · noun, common both genders singular construct
days
יָמִ֗יםya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
time
לַמּוֹעֵד֙la.mo.'Ed
H4150
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֔לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
Samuel
שְׁמוּאֵ֖לshe.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · proper noun, a man's name
came
בָ֥אva'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Gilgal
הַגִּלְגָּ֑לha.gil.Gal
H1537
Gilgal · definite article + proper noun, a place name
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
scattered
וַיָּ֥פֶץvai.Ya.fetz
H6327
to dash in pieces · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 10:8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices o…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 13:8-14
Here is, I. Saul's offence in offering sacrifice before Samuel came. Samuel, when he anointed him, had ordered him to tarry for him seven days in Gilgal, promising that, at the end of those days, he would be sure to come to him, and both offer sacrifices for him and direct him what he should do. This we had Sa1 10:8. Perhaps that order, though inserted there, was given him afterwards, or was given him as a general rule to be observed in every public congress at Gilgal, or, as is most probable, though not mentioned again, was lately repeated with reference to this particular occasion; for it is plain that Saul himself understood it as obliging him from God now to stay till Samuel came, else h…
he--that is, Saul.
tarried seven days--He was still in the eastern borders of his kingdom, in the valley of Jordan. Some bolder spirits had ventured to join the camp at Gilgal; but even the courage of those stout-hearted men gave way in prospect of this terrible visitation; and as many of them were stealing away, he thought some immediate and decided step must be taken.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 13:8
He tarried seven days according to the set time - Samuel in the beginning had told Saul to wait seven days, and he would come to him, and show him what to do, Sa1 10:8. What is here said cannot be understood of that appointment, but of a different one. Samuel had at this time promised to come to him within seven days, and he kept his word, for we find him there before the day was ended; but as Saul found he did not come at the beginning of the seventh day, he became impatient, took the whole business into his own hand, and acted the parts of prophet, priest, and king; and thus he attempted a most essential change in the Israelitish constitution. In it the king, the prophet, and the priest, a…
And he waited seven days according to Samuel's appointed time, etc. The assembly of legal scholars, together with their listeners, waited for the advent of Christ in the flesh throughout the entire time that the Sabbath was observed in the law, knowing that He would come in the last days of legal observance; but as He delayed, so that He might come at the fullness of time which He had predestined, a considerable portion of their listeners, having slipped away, deserted the camp of the spiritual army. And indeed, concerning those who waited well, the prophet says: "But My just one lives by faith" (Habakkuk 2). But concerning those who fell away, he adds: "But if he draws back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10).
14. Up to this point, because the divine word has spoken about Saul as chosen and good, as was said above, it seemed reasonable that what was said about him should be taken in a good sense, both historically and morally. But now, because we have come to the place of his transgression, it is certainly necessary that we also see in him the things that are to be avoided. But what ought ever to have seemed more carefully to be avoided by all the elect than the evil of pride and disobedience? For this cast down the sublimity of the first angel; this laid low the glory of the lost spirits. This took away happiness from the first man; this brought on the perpetual miseries of human captivity. And behold, to the first angel and the first man, the first king of the chosen people is joined through disobedience, so that while the great fall, the least may be raised up. For we are rightly raised up if we both observe their falls and avoid them. Therefore, where Saul fell must be carefully considered. For Samuel had said to him above: "You shall go down before me to Gilgal. I indeed will come down to you, so that you may offer a holocaust and an oblation, and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you, and I will show you what you are to do" (1 Kings 10:20). He fell through disobedience, therefore, because he did not wait the full seven days, as he had been commanded. For in the same place it is immediately added: (Verse 10.) "And when he had finished offering the holocaust, behold, Samuel was arriving." 15. In this passage it must be considered with a trembling heart how, by neglecting to wait for the briefest time, he was rejected. "When he had completed the burnt offering," it says, "behold, Samuel was coming." If therefore he had waited for him only for the very briefest interval of time during which he offered the burnt offering, he could have securely obtained the strength of his kingdom. And so if the punishment is so great when a prophet is despised, what do we think is incurred from that ocean of divine judgment when the divine precepts themselves are disregarded? And because the delight of the flesh passes in a moment, and every commission of sins, and indeed the hour of transgression is brief, yet the punishment for the crime is not brief; because while we raise up the kingdom of sin in ourselves for a moment, we lose those…
Dictionary and topics
Gilgal — Rolling. (1.) From the solemn transaction of the reading of the law in the valley of Shechem between Ebal and Gerizim the Israelites moved forward to Gilgal, and there made a permanent camp (Josh.…
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Church And State · reproved — reproved
Gilgal · .An altar built at, and sacrifice offered — .An altar built at, and sacrifice offered
Presumption · .Saul, in sacrificing — .Saul, in sacrificing
Seven · command for — command for
Usurpation · .By King Saul, in assuming priestly functions — .By King Saul, in assuming priestly functions
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed,.... He tarried to the seventh day, but not to the end of it, or towards the close of it, as he should have done:
but Samuel came not to Gilgal; so soon as Saul expected:
and the people were scattered from him; many deserted him, the Philistines drawing nigh, and Samuel not coming, as Saul expected, and had given the people reason to expect.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 13:8-15
Saul's untimely sacrifice. - Sa1 13:8, Sa1 13:9. Saul waited seven days for Samuel's coming, according to the time appointed by Samuel (see at Sa1 10:8), before proceeding to offer the sacrifices through which the help of the Lord was to be secured for the approaching campaign (see Sa1 13:12); and as Samuel did not come, the people began to disperse and leave him. The Kethib וייחל is either the Niphal ויּיּחל, as in Gen 8:12, or Piel וייחל; and the Keri ויּוחל (Hiphil) is unnecessary. The verb יעד may easily be supplied to שׁמוּאל אשׁר from the word למּועד (see Ges. Lehrgeb. p. 851).
Sa1 13:9
Saul then resolved, in his anxiety lest the people should lose all heart and forsake him altogether…
seven days . . . as Samuel had instructed: This instruction most likely was not the instruction in 10:8 but an unrecorded instruction on a separate occasion (see study note on 10:8).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 13:8
He waited. He waited.5 See Bereishis 8:10.
Till the time set by Shmuel. This verse has a missing word. [The verse means to say], "till the appointed time set by Shmuel," or "to the appointed time of Shmuel." An example of this is, "And two men, officers of troops were the son of Shaul." Scripture should have written, "were to the son of Shaul."6 II Shmuel 4:2. Here too, "which was set by Shmuel," who had said to him, "Wait seven days until I come to you."7Above 10:8.