“sitting.” The Hebrew can also be translated as “staying,” but Saul was not camped out long-term on the outskirts of Gibeah, but he apparently regularly stayed there and performed his role as king, which seems to be indicated by the word “sitting’ That Saul was regularly there is likely, but in this case, it seems the emphasis is on the fact that Saul was “sitting” as king (cp. CEB; NAS; NET; NKJ). We see the same vocabulary in 1 Kings 22:10 when Jehoshaphat and Ahab sat on their thrones at the threshing floor outside the gate of Samaria (1 Kings 22:10), and Deborah sat as the judge under a palm tree (Judg. 4:5). Lucifer wanted to exalt his throne above the stars of God and “sit” (rule and judge) on the mountain of assembly (Isa. 14:13).

“under the pomegranate tree.” Likely mentioned to highlight Saul’s position as king, getting to sit in the shade while others would stand in the sun (cp. Judg. 4:5).

“at the threshing floor.” The traditional translation, “in Migron,” has always presented difficulty because it has never been located and besides, normally a town would not be located on the outskirts of another town. There is evidence that the meaning likely refers to a threshing floor. Threshing floors were usually large and flat, and thus a good place for a king to sit, and sometimes by the gate or outskirts of the city, as we see at Samaria (1 Kings 22:10). The translation “threshing floor” is espoused by David T. Tsumura and others.^a If the threshing floor was large, it would not be unusual to have trees nearby to provide welcome shade since the grain harvest was always in the hot summer, and the trees could even be close enough to be encroaching upon the threshing floor itself.

“and the people who were with him.” That is, his soldiers.