And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
Thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal. This, according to Josephus, was to be a standing rule for the observance of Saul while the prophet and he lived, that in every great crisis, as a hostile incursion on the country, he should repair to Gilgal, where he was to remain seven days, to afford time for the tribes on both sides of the Jordan River to assemble, and Samuel to reach it.