And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the
land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people
followed him trembling. (1 Sam 13:7)
Why the verse uses the word Hebrews here is a problem. One possible
interpretation of the word is that they were Philistine mercenaries, but it is
hard to think of a reason why they in particular, would have fled clear to the
Transjordan. (David Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel [The
New International Commentary on the Old Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 2007], 339-40)
Robert Alter provides the solution by appeal to a “folk
etymology”:
And Hebrews had crossed.
Here the narrator’s use of “Hebrews” may have been encouraged by the attraction
of a folk-etymological pun: ʿivrim (Hebrews) ʿavru (had crossed).
(Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 2019], 2:223-24)
The LXX reads differently:
And there were some who crossed
over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still in Gilgal, and
all the people were bewildered after him. (Lexham English Septuagint, 2d ed.)
