1 Samuel 13:17

17 Raiding parties left the Philistine camp in three columns. One column turned onto the road to Ophrah to the region of Shual.

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 Samuel left Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to meet the soldiers. They went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin, where Saul counted the troops who were still with him--about 600 men.

16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them stayed at Geba in Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash.

17 Raiding parties left the Philistine camp in three columns. One column turned onto the road to Ophrah to the region of Shual.

18 Another column turned onto the road to Beth Horon. And one turned onto the road toward the region that overlooks the valley of Zeboim and the desert.

19 No blacksmith could be found in the entire land of Israel. In this way the Philistines kept the Hebrews from making swords and spears.