1 Samuel 13 · a question people ask

How old was Saul when he became king, and how long did he reign?

In the text

The WEB prints 13:1 as "Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years." The Hebrew of the verse has no word for thirty or for forty. Hebrew gives a person's age as ben, "son", of so many years: 4:15's "Eli was ninety-eight years old" is ben with the number, then shanah, "year". In 13:1 the Hebrew has ben shanah with no number between, and for the reign it has ushtei shanim, "two years". In the New Testament Paul says, "God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years" (Acts 13:21). No figure is chosen here: the verse is shown as the WEB prints it.

The verses

“Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.”
1 Samuel 13:1 · World English Bible
“Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see.”
1 Samuel 4:15 · World English Bible
“Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.”
Acts 13:21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Samuel 13

1 Samuel 13: A man after his own heart

Jonathan struck the garrison at Geba, but Israel heard that Saul had struck it (13:3-4). And "a man after his own heart" is first said to Saul, in the words that tell him his kingdom will not continue, because he had not kept what the LORD commanded (13:13-14). Only later is the man named David (16:13; Acts 13:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions