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1 Samuel 14

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Jonathan Attacks the Philistine Garrison 1–23

1
Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. ​
2
And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; ​
3
And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. ​
4
And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5
The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
6
And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. ​
7
And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
8
Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.
9
If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
10
But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us. ​
11
And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
12
And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
13
And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.
14
And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.
15
And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. ​
16
And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.
17
Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.
18
And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. ​
19
And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. ​
20
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
21
Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
22
Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.
23
So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven. ​

Saul’s Rash Oath Troubles Israel 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. ​

The Lot Identifies Jonathan’s Sin 36–46

36
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. ​
37
And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. ​
38
And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day.
39
For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. ​
40
Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee.
41
Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. ​
42
And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.
43
Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.
44
And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.
45
And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. ​
46
Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.

Summary of Saul’s Reign and Family 47–52

47
So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. ​
48
And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.
49
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:
50
And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
51
And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
52
And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 14

Verse 1

the young man that bare his armour — Jonathan proposes to cross to the Philistine garrison, the one that ‘went out to the passage of Michmash’ (1 Sam 13:23), and ‘he told not his father’. The people also ‘knew not that Jonathan was gone’ (v.3). David later holds the same office to Saul: ‘he became his armourbearer’ (1 Sam 16:21).

Verse 2

under a pomegranate tree — Saul ‘tarried’ at the edge of Gibeah, in Migron. The verb is yashab, to sit or stay. His company is ‘about six hundred men’, the number left to him in 1 Sam 13:15, while Jonathan is at the pass with only his armourbearer.

Verse 3

wearing an ephod — Ahiah is of the house of Eli: his father Ahitub was a brother of Ichabod, who was named when ‘the ark of God was taken’ (1 Sam 4:21). The ephod was the office the LORD named when he chose Eli’s father’s house ‘to wear an ephod before me’ (1 Sam 2:28).

Verse 6

no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few — ‘Restraint’ is maatsor, a hindrance. The LORD had told Gideon, ‘By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you’ (Judg 7:7). Jonathan calls the Philistines ‘these uncircumcised’, as David does of Goliath (1 Sam 17:26), and ‘save’ is yasha, the verb of vv.23 and 39.

Verse 10

this shall be a sign unto us — Jonathan fixes the sign in advance: if the garrison says ‘Come up unto us’, then ‘the LORD hath delivered them into our hand’. When the sign is given, he repeats the words to his armourbearer (v.12). Gideon spoke the same confidence after the dream in the Midianite camp: ‘the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian’ (Judg 7:15).

Verse 15

the spoilers, they also trembled — ‘Spoilers’ is shachath, the word for the raiding companies that left this camp in 1 Sam 13:17. The trembling reaches the host, the field, the garrison and the raiders, and ‘the earth quaked’. In the Hebrew the word translated ‘very great’ is Elohim, ‘God’.

Verse 18

the ark of God — The last place recorded for the ark is the house of Abinadab at Kirjath-jearim, where it stayed twenty years (1 Sam 7:1–2). Here Saul calls for it to be brought to the priest for an inquiry, and the verse adds that the ark ‘was at that time with the children of Israel’.

Verse 19

Withdraw thine hand — As the noise in the Philistine camp grows, Saul stops the priest in the middle of the inquiry. When he asks again in v.37, ‘he answered him not that day’. A later asking ends in the same way: ‘the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets’ (1 Sam 28:6).

Verse 23

So the LORD saved Israel that day — ‘Saved’ is yasha, the verb of Jonathan’s ‘to save by many or by few’ (v.6) and of Saul’s oath by the LORD ‘which saveth Israel’ (v.39). The people’s ‘great salvation’ (v.45) is the noun from the same root. The verse gives the deliverance to the LORD, and the battle passes on to Bethaven (cf. 1 Sam 13:5).

Verse 24

Cursed be the man that eateth any food — The oath runs ‘until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies’. The men of Israel are ‘distressed’ (nagas), the word used of the people’s straits in 1 Sam 13:6. Jonathan’s own words in vv.6 and 12 name the LORD, where Saul’s oath names his enemies.

Verse 27

his eyes were enlightened — Or, to give light. The psalmist prays ‘lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death’ (Ps 13:3), and says that the LORD’s commandment is ‘enlightening the eyes’ (Ps 19:8). Jonathan had ‘heard not’ of the oath, and he dipped the end of his rod into a honeycomb.

Verse 29

My father hath troubled the land — Akar is the verb used of Achan: ‘make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it’ (Josh 6:18) and ‘Why hast thou troubled us?’ (Josh 7:25). Ahab put the same word to Elijah (1 Kgs 18:17). Jonathan uses it of the oath, and appeals to his own enlightened eyes.

Verse 32

with the blood — The people ‘flew upon the spoil’ (ayit, to swoop down) after the day’s fast and ate flesh with the blood. The prohibition goes back to Noah: ‘flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat’ (Gen 9:4), and is repeated in the law, ‘Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh’ (Lev 17:14).

Verse 35

the first altar that he built — Saul has the people slay their animals at a great stone (vv.33–34), and then builds an altar. The verse says that it was the first altar he built unto the LORD. Samuel had built one at Ramah, where he judged Israel (1 Sam 7:17).

Verse 36

Let us draw near hither unto God — The priest proposes the inquiry after Saul’s plan of a night pursuit and the people’s answer, ‘Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee’. ‘Draw near’ is qarab, the word of approach; Saul answers in v.38 with a different verb, nagash, when he calls the chiefs of the people to ‘draw ye near hither’.

Verse 37

he answered him not that day — The verb is anah, to answer, and it returns in v.39, where ‘there was not a man among all the people that answered him’. The silence of the LORD leads Saul to ask ‘wherein this sin hath been this day’ (v.38).

Verse 39

as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel — Saul swears by the LORD as Israel’s saviour (yasha, as in vv.6, 23), and applies the oath even to ‘Jonathan my son’. Judah once spoke in similar terms: ‘With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die’ (Gen 44:9). No one in the army answers him.

Verse 41

Give a perfect lot — ‘Perfect’ is tamim, complete or without defect. ‘Taken’ is lakad, the verb used when Achan was found out (Josh 7:14–18) and when Saul was picked out at Mizpeh (1 Sam 10:20–21). ‘The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD’ (Prov 16:33).

Verse 45

there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground — The people swear by the LORD that Jonathan will not die; Solomon uses similar words of Adonijah, ‘there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth’ (1 Kgs 1:52). ‘Rescued’ is padah, the verb of redeeming the firstborn (Ex 13:13). The verb ‘wrought’ is the one in Jonathan’s ‘the LORD will work for us’ (v.6).

Verse 47

against all his enemies on every side — The verse names five neighbours: Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah and the Philistines. David later has dealings with the same peoples (2 Sam 8:12–14), including Hadadezer ‘king of Zobah’. The Amalekites are added in the next verse.