1 Samuel 11:8

8 And he inspecteth them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel are three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

1 Samuel 11:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 11:8

And when he numbered them at Bezek
Which was the place appointed to meet at, the same with that in ( Judges 1:4 ) , (See Gill on Judges 1:4) though some take the word to be an appellative, and not, the proper name of a place, and render it, "with a stone"; with which he numbered, taking a stone from each, and laying them on a heap, and then telling them F21; so Bizakion signifies little stones F23 with the Greeks: or "with a fragment"; either of an earthen vessel, or of a stone, or of the branch of a tree they carried in their hands, and so the king's servants numbered not the men, but the branches F24:

and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand men;
who came together on this occasion; these were of the eight tribes and a half on this side Jordan:

and the men of Judah thirty thousand;
which tribe is mentioned distinctly, because a noble and warlike tribe, which usually first went up to battle; and though the number of them at this time assembled may seem comparatively small, yet this may easily be accounted for; because they bordered upon the Philistines, who watched every opportunity to take an advantage of them, and therefore could not leave their tribe destitute, but reserved a sufficient number to guard their coasts, and yet were desirous to testify their obedience to Saul, though chosen king out of another tribe, when they might have expected from prophecy that the dominion belonged to them. Josephus


FOOTNOTES:

F25 has made a gross mistake in the numbers here, he makes the men of Israel to be 700,000, and the men of Judah 70,000, contrary to the text, the Targum, Syriac and Arabic versions; but the Septuagint comes pretty near him, which has 600,000 of the men of Israel, 70,000 of the men of Judah.


F21 Vid. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 22. 2. & Gloss. in ib.
F23 Suidas in voce (bizakiwn)
F24 Vid. Sheringham. in Misn. Yoma, c. 2. sect. 1. p. 14.
F25 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 3.

1 Samuel 11:8 In-Context

6 And the Spirit of God doth prosper over Saul, in his hearing these words, and his anger burneth greatly,
7 and he taketh a couple of oxen, and cutteth them in pieces, and sendeth through all the border of Israel, by the hand of the messengers, saying, `He who is not coming out after Saul and after Samuel -- thus it is done to his oxen;' and the fear of Jehovah falleth on the people, and they come out as one man.
8 And he inspecteth them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel are three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 And they say to the messengers who are coming, `Thus do ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye have safety -- by the heat of the sun;' and the messengers come and declare to the men of Jabesh, and they rejoice;
10 and the men of Jabesh say [to the Ammonites], `To-morrow we come out unto you, and ye have done to us according to all that [is] good in your eyes.'
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.