The men mentioned in this verse are most likely those who formed part of Saul’s standing army. Though the NIV mentions that there were 3,000 men, it could be a small company. The Hebrew word eleph,
normally translated as thousand,
can also refer to a military unit.1
2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.