1 Samuel 13:17

17 Then raiding parties began coming out from the camp of the P'lishtim, three of them: one group turned toward the road leading to 'Ofrah in the territory of Shu'al;

1 Samuel 13:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 13:17

And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in
three companies
Saul not daring to come out to fight them, and there being none throughout the land to oppose them, they sent out three companies of soldiers to ravage and spoil the country; of so little use and service was a king to Israel, they were so extremely desirous of; and this was suffered, to convince them of their vain confidence in him, and that their trust ought to be in the Lord their God; never was their country more exposed to rapine and violence than now:

one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah;
a city in the land of Benjamin, of which see ( Joshua 18:23 ) and lay southwest from Michmash, where the army of the Philistines were:

unto the land of Shual:
which the Targum paraphrases,

``the land of the south;''

it seems to have had its name from the multitude of foxes in it, Shual signifying a fox.

1 Samuel 13:17 In-Context

15 Then Sh'mu'el left Gilgal and went up to Giv'at-Binyamin. Sha'ul counted how many were still there with him, about 600 men.

16 Sha'ul, Y'honatan his son and the men with him took up quarters at Giv'at-Binyamin, while the P'lishtim remained in camp at Mikhmas.

17 Then raiding parties began coming out from the camp of the P'lishtim, three of them: one group turned toward the road leading to 'Ofrah in the territory of Shu'al;

18 another group took the road toward Beit-Horon; and another company took the road toward the desert through the territory overlooking Vadi Tzvo'im.

19 Now there was no metalsmith to be found anywhere in all the land of Isra'el, because the P'lishtim had said, "We don't want the Hebrews making themselves swords or spears."