Compare 2 Samuel 8:15. The preceding narrative shows that before this time Saul had been king in name only, since his country was occupied by the Philistines, and he could only muster 600 men, and those but half armed and pent up in a narrow stronghold. Now, however, on the expulsion of the Philistines from his country, and the return of the Israelites from their vassalage and from their hiding places 1 Samuel 14:21-22, Saul became king in deed as well as in name, and acted the part of a king through the rest of his reign in defending his people against their enemies round about. A comprehensive list of these enemies, including the Ammonite war which had already been described 1 Samuel 11:1-15, and the Amalekite war which follows in 1 Samuel 15, is given in 1 Samuel 14:47-48. There is not the slightest indication from the words whether this “taking the kingdom” occurred soon or really years after Saul’s anointing at Gilgal. Hence, some would place the clause 1 Samuel 14:47-52 immediately after 1 Samuel 11:1-15, or 1 Samuel 12, as a summary of Saul’s reign. The details of the reign, namely, of the Philistine war in 1 Samuel 13; 1 Samuel 14, of the Amalekite war in 1 Samuel 15, and the other events down to the end of 1 Samuel 31:1-13, preceded by the formulary, 1 Samuel 13:1, would then follow according to the common method of Hebrew historical narrative.
Zobah - This was one of the petty Ara-roman kingdoms flourishing at this time (Psalms 60:1-12 title). It seems to have been situated between Damascus and the Euphrates.