1 Samuel 13:8

8 He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and {the army started to slip away from him}.

1 Samuel 13:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 13:8

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.

1 Samuel 13:8 In-Context

6 When the men of Israel saw that [it was] {too difficult} for them, because the army was hard pressed, the people hid themselves in the caves, in the thorn bushes, in the cliffs, in the vaults and in the wells.

7 [Some] of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the army {followed him trembling}.

8 He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and {the army started to slip away from him}.

9 So Saul said, "Bring here to me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." Then he offered up the burnt offering.

10 {Just as} he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Samuel was coming. So Saul went out to meet him [and] to bless him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "the people scattered away from him"