1 Samuel 13:5

Saul's Blunder

⁴ And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. ⁵ The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. ⁶ The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns.

Aven

Beth-aven

Israel

Philistines

Joshua 11:4

They went out with all their armies—a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore—along with a vast number of horses and chariots.

1 Samuel 14:23

So the Lord saved Israel that day.

The battle extended beyond Beth-aven,

Joshua 18:12

Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, ascended to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

Genesis 22:17

I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.

Joshua 7:2

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.

Judges 7:12

Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

2 Chronicles 1:9

Lord God, let Your promise to my father David now come true. For You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Isaiah 48:19

Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from My presence.

Jeremiah 15:8

I made their widows more numerous
than the sand of the seas.
I brought a destroyer at noon
against the mother of young men.
I suddenly released on her
agitation and terrors.

Hosea 4:15

Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don’t let Judah become guilty!
Do not go to Gilgal
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,
and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!

Hosea 5:8

Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah;
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:
After you, Benjamin!

Hosea 10:5

The residents of Samaria will have anxiety
over the calf of Beth-aven.
Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;
the people will mourn over it,
over its glory.
It will certainly depart from them.

Romans 9:27

But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

Though the number of Israel’s sons
is like the sand of the sea,
only the remnant will be saved;