But now your kingdom shall not continue: Yahweh has sought him a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.
When did the events of this chapter happen if the last number in 1 Samuel 13:1 indicates the length of Saul’s reign? In 1 Samuel 10:8, Samuel commanded Saul to go to Gilgal and to wait seven days for him there. In 1 Samuel 13:8, we read that Saul went to Gilgal and waited seven days for Samuel. Therefore the events of chapter 13 appear to have followed those in chapter 10 soon, perhaps in the second year of his reign. [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., p. 193; Wood, Israel’s United . . ., pp. 123.] 