TRV
Translation
King James Version
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
KJV (with Strong's)
But Jonathan H3129 heard H8085 not when his father H1 charged H7650 the people H5971 with the oath H7650: wherefore he put forth H7971 the end H7097 of the rod H4294 that was in his hand H3027, and dipped H2881 it in an honeycomb H3295 H1706, and put H7725 his hand H3027 to his mouth H6310; and his eyes H5869 were enlightened H215.
Complete Jewish Bible
But Y'honatan hadn't heard his father charging the people with the oath, so he put out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it in the honeycomb and raised it to his mouth; whereupon his eyes lit up.
Berean Standard Bible
Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had charged the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.
American Standard Version
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
World English Bible Messianic
But Jonathan didn’t hear when his father commanded the people with the oath: therefore he put out the end of the rod who was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
Geneva Bible (1599)
But Ionathan heard not when his father charged the people with the othe: wherefore he put foorth the ende of the rod that was in his hand, and dipt it in an hony combe, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes receiued sight.
Young's Literal Translation
And Jonathan hath not heard of his father's adjuring the people, and putteth forth the end of the rod, which is in his hand, and dippeth it in the honeycomb, and bringeth back his hand unto his mouth--and his eyes see!
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Commentary on 1 Samuel 14 verses 24–35
24 ¶ And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.
26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath.
27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint.
29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?
31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.
32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.
33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.
35 And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD.
We have here an account of the distress of the children of Israel, even in the day of their triumphs. Such alloys are all present joys subject to. And such obstructions does many a good cause meet with, even when it seems most prosperous, through the mismanagement of instruments.
I. Saul forbade the people, under the penalty of a curse, to taste any food that day, Sa1 14:24. Here we will suppose, 1. That as king he had power to put his soldiers under this interdict, and to bind it on with a curse; and therefore they submitted to it, and God so far owned it as to discover, by the lot, that Jonathan was the delinquent that had meddled with the accursed thing (though ignorantly), on which account God would not be at that time enquired of by them. 2. That he did it with a good intention, lest the people, who perhaps had been kept for some time at short allowance, when they found plenty of victuals in the deserted camp of the Philistines, should fall greedily upon that, and so lose time in pursing the enemy, and some of them, it may be, glut themselves to such a degree as not to be fit for any more service that day. To prevent this, he forbade them to taste any food, and laid himself, it is likely, under the same restraint. And yet his making this severe order was, (1.) Impolitic and very unwise; for, if it gained time, it lost strength, for the pursuit. (2.) It was imperious, and disobliging to the people, and worse than muzzling the mouth of the ox when he treads out the corn. To forbid them to feast would have been commendable, but to forbid them so much as to taste, though ever so hungry, was barbarous. (3.) It was impious to enforce the prohibition with a curse and an oath. Had he no penalty less than an anathema wherewith to support his military discipline? Death for such a crime would have been too much, but especially death with a curse. Though superiors may chide and correct, they may not curse their inferiors; our rule is, Bless, and curse not. When David speaks of an enemy he had that loved cursing perhaps he meant Saul, Psa 109:17, Psa 109:18.
II. The people observed his order, but it had many inconveniences attending it. 1. The soldiers were tantalized; for, in their pursuit of the enemy, it happened that they went through a wood so full of wild honey that it dropped from the trees upon the ground, the Philistines having perhaps, in their flight, broken in upon the honeycombs, for their own refreshment, and left them running. Canaan flowed with honey, and here is an instance of it. They sucked honey out of the rock, the flinty rock (Deu 32:13); yet, for fear of the curse, they did not so much as taste the honey, Sa1 14:25, Sa1 14:26. Those are worthy of the name of Israelites that can deny themselves and their own appetites even when they are most craving, and the delights of sense most tempting, for fear of guilt and a curse, and the table becoming a snare. Let us never feed ourselves, much less feast ourselves, without fear. 2. Jonathan fell under the curse through ignorance. He heard not of the charge his father had given; for, having bravely forced the lines, he was then following the chase, and therefore might justly be looked upon as exempted from the charge and intended in it. But it seems it was taken for granted, and he himself did not object against it afterwards, that it extended to him, though absent upon so good an occasion. He, not knowing any peril in it, took up a piece of a honey-comb, upon the end of his staff, and sucked it (Sa1 14:27), and was sensibly refreshed by it: His eyes were enlightened, which began to grow dim through hunger and faintness; it made his countenance look pleasant and cheerful, for it was such as a stander-by might discern (Sa1 14:29): See how my eyes have been enlightened. He thought no harm, nor feared any, till one of the people acquainted him with the order, and then he found himself in a snare. Many a good son has been thus entangled and distressed, in more ways than one, by the rashness of an inconsiderate father. Jonathan, for his part, lost the crown he was heir to by his father's folly, which, it may be, this was an ill omen of. 3. The soldiers were faint, and grew feeble, in the pursuit of the Philistines. Jonathan foresaw this would be the effect of it; their spirits would flag, and their strength would fail, for want of sustenance. Such is the nature of our bodies that they soon grow unfit for service if they be not supplied with fresh recruits. Daily work cannot be done without daily bread, which our Father in heaven graciously gives us. It is bread that strengthens man's heart; therefore Jonathan reasoned very well, If the people had eaten freely, there would have been a much greater slaughter (Sa1 14:30); but, as it was, they were very faint, too much fatigued (so the Chaldee), and began to think more of their meat than of their work. 4. The worst effect of all was that at evening, when the restraint was taken off and they returned to their food again, they were so greedy and eager upon it that they ate the flesh with the blood, expressly contrary to the law of God, Sa1 14:32. Two hungry meals, we say, make the third a glutton; it was so here. They would not stay to have their meat either duly killed (for they slew the cattle upon the ground, and did not hang them up, as they used to do, that the blood might all run out of them) or duly dressed, but fell greedily upon it before it was half boiled or half roasted, Sa1 14:32. Saul, being informed of it, reproved them for the sin (Sa1 14:33): You have transgressed; but did not, as he should have done, reflect upon himself as having been accessory to it, and having made the Lord's people to transgress. To put a stop to this irregularity, Saul ordered them to set up a great stone before him, and let all that had cattle to kill, for their present use, bring them thither, and kill them under his eye upon that stone (Sa1 14:33), and the people did so (Sa1 14:34), so easily were they restrained and reformed when their prince took care to do his part. If magistrates would but use their power as they might, people would be made better than they are with more ease than is imagined.
III. On this occasion Saul built an altar (Sa1 14:35), that he might offer sacrifice, either by way of acknowledgment of the victory they had obtained or by the way of atonement for the sin they had been guilty of. The same was the first altar that he built, and perhaps the rolling of the great stone to kill the beasts on reminded him of converting it into an altar, else he would not have thought of it. Saul was turning aside from God, and yet now he began to build altars, being most zealous (as many are) for the form of godliness when he was denying the power of it. See Hos 8:14, Israel has forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples. Some read it, He began to build that altar; he laid the first stone, but was so hasty to pursue his victory that he could not stay to finish it.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 24–35. Public domain.
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BedeAD 735
Commentary on Samuel
Jonathan, however, had not heard, when his father adjured the people, etc. He speaks of eyes being illuminated, refreshed, and renewed for gazing, which had already begun to fade due to the customary long fasting or toil. Therefore Jonathan, who had previously conquered the teeth of the rocks and the blows of swords, who, with the boldness of the enemy suppressed, had provided his people with victory and safety, is suddenly distressed by the unforeseen fault of flattering gluttony. And often, noble masters of the Church, although victors of great contests, incur a fault they had not foreseen by reading books of the gentiles with more pleasure than is fitting: to the extent that one of them writes that he was punished in a vision for this very thing, and that it was hurled at him by the Lord among the blows that he should be considered not a Christian, but a Ciceronian. But also many of the faithful listeners endowed with the grace of virtues do not cease to be tempted by lesser vices, which does not escape divine dispensation: so that those who cannot overcome the smaller battles by themselves may learn to thank only the Father of lights in the greater ones they have, attributing nothing to themselves. Jonathan, moreover, dipped the tip of the rod, which he used either for the horse or as an aid for the journey, in wild honey: and thus he turned it with his hand to his mouth. And any teacher sometimes, while taking care to govern subordinates with the authority of power or to conduct himself without offense, believes that he is aided by the arguments or opinions of the gentiles: and thus, so to speak, by the honeyed mouth derived from these, the eyes of the mind are indeed illuminated by the honeycombed composition of words for declaring what they know rightly more sharply; but often the progress of that same mind is delayed, recalling the vanity of the senses from pursuing the worshipers of depraved acts or doctrines. The Psalmist, singing, says, “The iniquitous recounted to me fables, but not as your law, O Lord, all your commandments are truth” (Ps. 118).
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
1 Samuel 14:27 narrates a crucial moment in the battle against the Philistines where Jonathan, King Saul's son, unknowingly violates his father's rash oath. While pursuing the enemy, Jonathan, separated from the main army and unaware of Saul's decree forbidding food until evening, discovers and consumes wild honeycomb. This act instantly revitalizes him, providing a stark physical and spiritual contrast to the exhaustion plaguing the rest of the Israelite army and setting the stage for a dramatic and nearly tragic confrontation with his father.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The narrative of 1 Samuel 14:27 employs several potent literary devices that deepen its theological and narrative impact. Irony is profoundly central, as Saul's oath, intended to secure a complete and decisive victory by ensuring unwavering focus, paradoxically weakens his army and nearly leads to the death of his most effective warrior, Jonathan. The very means meant to ensure success becomes a source of hindrance and internal conflict. Contrast is also a dominant feature, particularly between the physical states of Jonathan and the rest of the Israelite army. Jonathan's immediate invigoration upon eating the honey stands in stark opposition to the "faint" and "weary" condition of the Israelite soldiers (1 Samuel 14:28-31), powerfully highlighting the detrimental impact of Saul's rash decree. Furthermore, the Symbolism of the honeycomb itself is significant; found in the wilderness, it represents unexpected divine provision and the life-giving nature of sustenance, contrasting sharply with the barrenness and debilitation imposed by Saul's legalism. The rod, a simple tool, also serves as a symbol of Jonathan's practical wisdom and resourcefulness, in contrast to Saul's abstract and impractical decree.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
1 Samuel 14:27 offers profound theological insights into the nature of leadership, divine provision, and human obedience. Saul's oath, though perhaps born of zeal or a desire to control, ultimately reflects a legalistic approach that prioritizes human decree over the practical well-being of God's people and even God's own will. Jonathan's unwitting transgression, followed by immediate physical rejuvenation, highlights that true spiritual and physical strength comes not from rigid adherence to uninspired laws, but from God's gracious provision and a pragmatic understanding of human need. The honey in the wilderness is a testament to God's readiness to provide sustenance, even when human leadership falters or imposes unnecessary burdens. This incident underscores the principle that God often works through natural means and unexpected circumstances to sustain His servants and advance His purposes, even in the face of human error or misguided piety, revealing His sovereignty over human plans.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The narrative of Jonathan and the honeycomb serves as a powerful and timeless reminder for leaders and individuals alike. For those in positions of authority, it is a sober warning against imposing burdens born of personal zeal, pride, or a misguided sense of piety, rather than divine wisdom or practical necessity. True leadership seeks the flourishing of those led, discerning what truly builds up and what merely hinders. Saul's oath, though seemingly pious and aimed at victory, drained his army's strength and nearly cost him his son, demonstrating that legalism can be counterproductive to God's purposes. For individuals, Jonathan's experience underscores the vital importance of physical and mental well-being in serving God effectively. His immediate revitalization from the honey highlights that God often provides for our needs in simple, unexpected ways, and that neglecting basic sustenance—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—can impede our ability to fulfill our callings. We are reminded to seek wisdom and discernment, ensuring our actions truly align with God's heart for grace and life, rather than becoming entangled in self-imposed, burdensome rules or succumbing to exhaustion that hinders our effectiveness.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Was Jonathan guilty of sin for eating the honey?
Answer: From a strict legalistic perspective, under the letter of Saul's oath, Jonathan did transgress. However, the narrative strongly implies his innocence and lack of moral culpability. He was genuinely unaware of the oath, actively engaged in the heat of battle, and his consumption of the honey was out of necessity, leading to immediate physical and mental restoration. The text highlights Saul's rashness and the folly of his oath, not Jonathan's rebellion. The army's near-revolt when Saul attempted to execute Jonathan (see 1 Samuel 14:45) further indicates that the people did not view Jonathan as culpable, recognizing the injustice and impracticality of Saul's decree. This incident serves to expose the dangers of legalism over grace and wisdom.
What is the significance of "his eyes were enlightened"?
Answer: This phrase, "his eyes were enlightened," is a vivid Hebrew idiom signifying a profound and immediate physical and mental revitalization. It means that Jonathan's vision, which was likely dim or blurred from extreme exhaustion and hunger, became clear and sharp. More broadly, it indicates a complete restoration of his strength, alertness, and vitality. He was no longer faint or weary but fully invigorated, ready to continue the pursuit of the Philistines. This immediate and dramatic effect underscores the critical need for sustenance and the life-giving nature of the honey, contrasting sharply with the debilitating hunger and faintness afflicting the rest of the army. It highlights the direct, tangible benefit of God's provision in a time of dire need.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
1 Samuel 14:27, with Jonathan's unwitting transgression of a burdensome law and his miraculous refreshment, finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment. Jonathan, though innocent of malicious intent, falls under the condemnation of Saul's law, foreshadowing how all humanity, despite their best efforts or even "unawareness" of the full extent of the Law's demands, stands condemned by its perfect and unyielding standard (Romans 3:23). Just as Jonathan was physically restored by the natural provision of honey in the wilderness, humanity finds true spiritual and eternal refreshment not through rigid adherence to burdensome laws or self-imposed asceticism, but through the divine provision of Jesus Christ. He is the true "honey in the wilderness," the "bread of life" who came down from heaven (John 6:35) and the "living water" that quenches all spiritual thirst (John 4:10). Through Him alone can our spiritual eyes be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18) and our weary souls find rest (Matthew 11:28). Saul's legalistic zeal, which nearly led to the death of his innocent son, stands in stark contrast to God the Father's perfect love, who willingly gave His innocent Son, Jesus, to die for our transgressions, not to condemn us but to bring us abundant life (John 3:16). In Christ, the curse of the law is broken, and we are freely given the spiritual sustenance that truly invigorates, redeems, and saves.