1 Samuel 18:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people.

NIV: So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns.

NASB: So Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

CSB: Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops

NLT: Finally, Saul sent him away and appointed him commander over 1,000 men, and David faithfully led his troops into battle.

KJV: Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

NKJV: Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

King Saul fears David. He seems to assume that David is plotting to take the kingdom away. Yet David wouldn't dare challenge the Lord's anointed (1 Samuel 24:7–15). David has no intention of taking the throne from Saul, but God does (1 Samuel 15:26–28). Saul knows that the Lord has left him. He can see that God's Spirit is now with the young man who cannot seem to lose, either in battle or in the hearts and minds of the Israelites (1 Samuel 18:12).

Despite proving himself as a mighty warrior, David has resumed his place playing music for Saul's tormented mind (1 Samuel 16:14–23; 18:10). Saul's madness has already led him to try to kill David. But David escaped, proving even more that he is blessed by God (1 Samuel 18:10–11).

Saul decides that he can no longer stand to be in the same room with David. Saul sends David away by making him the commander of "a thousand." This is from the Hebrew word 'eleph, which can represent the number "one thousand," but is also applied to a clan or division. The second meaning seems likely here. David goes back and forth between battle victories and Gibeah, returning each time in the full view of the public. Continued celebration of David's success in battle made him even more admired and Saul more fearful and jealous (1 Samuel 18:15).

First Samuel 18:6–16 reveals the hastening story of King Saul's demise and David's rise. When the army returns from battle, David's victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17) is celebrated more than the king's win over the Philistine army. The harmful spirit returns to Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–23). His jealousy of David turns to violence. Before long, Saul will use his own daughters as bait in traps to destroy his greatest warrior (1 Samuel 18:17–30).

Saul's son Jonathan becomes David's best friend. David succeeds in every military mission Saul sends him on. The people praise David as being even mightier than Saul. The king is furious and terrified that David will take his throne. After Saul's direct attempts to kill David fail, the king sends David to battle the Philistines using marriage to his daughter as bait. David not only survives, but he continues to prove himself to be a mightier warrior and leader than Saul. Saul knows the Lord is with David and not with him and cements himself as David's permanent enemy.

First Samuel 18 begins the story of how the changed work of the Holy Spirit on both Saul and David (1 Samuel 16:13–14) leads to the king's destruction and David's rise. David faithfully serves both Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–23) and Saul's kingdom (1 Samuel 17—18). But David wins the hearts of Saul's people and his children. Saul can't handle the competition (1 Samuel 19—20). Finally, David flees the royal court and raises his own army. He spends years fighting Israel's enemies from afar, patiently waiting until Saul dies in battle and the shepherd boy can take his rightful crown (1 Samuel 21—31).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.