Saul had chosen three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand of them were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and another thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the army home.
Saul set up camp beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite the wastelands, near to where David was living in the desert. When he realized that Saul had come looking for him there,