1 Now it came to pass upon a day, H3117 that Jonathan H3129 the son H1121 of Saul H7586 said H559 unto the young man H5288 that bare H5375 his armour, H3627 Come, H3212 and let us go over H5674 to the Philistines' H6430 garrison, H4673 that is on the other side. H5676 H1975 But he told H5046 not his father. H1
For, as the LORD H3068 liveth, H2416 which saveth H3467 Israel, H3478 though it be H3426 in Jonathan H3129 my son, H1121 he shall surely H4191 die. H4191 But there was not a man among all the people H5971 that answered H6030 him. Then said H559 he unto all Israel, H3478 Be ye on one H259 side, H5676 and I and Jonathan H3129 my son H1121 will be on the other H259 side. H5676 And the people H5971 said H559 unto Saul, H7586 Do H6213 what seemeth H5869 good H2896 unto thee. Therefore Saul H7586 said H559 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Give H3051 a perfect H8549 lot. And Saul H7586 and Jonathan H3129 were taken: H3920 but the people H5971 escaped. H3318 And Saul H7586 said, H559 Cast H5307 lots between me and Jonathan H3129 my son. H1121 And Jonathan H3129 was taken. H3920 Then Saul H7586 said H559 to Jonathan, H3129 Tell H5046 me what thou hast done. H6213 And Jonathan H3129 told H5046 him, and said, H559 I did but H2938 taste H2938 a little H4592 honey H1706 with the end H7097 of the rod H4294 that was in mine hand, H3027 and, lo, H2009 I must die. H4191 And Saul H7586 answered, H559 God H430 do so H6213 and more also: H3254 for thou shalt surely H4191 die, H4191 Jonathan. H3129 And the people H5971 said H559 unto Saul, H7586 Shall Jonathan H3129 die, H4191 who hath wrought H6213 this great H1419 salvation H3444 in Israel? H3478 God forbid: H2486 as the LORD H3068 liveth, H2416 there shall not one hair H8185 of his head H7218 fall H5307 to the ground; H776 for he hath wrought H6213 with God H430 this day. H3117 So the people H5971 rescued H6299 Jonathan, H3129 that he died H4191 not.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end H3615 of speaking H1696 unto Saul, H7586 that the soul H5315 of Jonathan H3083 was knit H7194 with the soul H5315 of David, H1732 and Jonathan H3083 loved H157 him as his own soul. H5315 And Saul H7586 took H3947 him that day, H3117 and would let H5414 him go no more home H7725 to his father's H1 house. H1004 Then Jonathan H3083 and David H1732 made H3772 a covenant, H1285 because he loved H160 him as his own soul. H5315 And Jonathan H3083 stripped H6584 himself of the robe H4598 that was upon him, and gave H5414 it to David, H1732 and his garments, H4055 even to his sword, H2719 and to his bow, H7198 and to his girdle. H2289
And David H1732 said H559 unto him, How H4100 went the matter? H1697 I pray thee, tell H5046 me. And he answered, H559 That the people H5971 are fled H5127 from the battle, H4421 and many H7235 of the people H5971 also are fallen H5307 and dead; H4191 and Saul H7586 and Jonathan H3083 his son H1121 are dead H4191 also. And David H1732 said H559 unto the young man H5288 that told H5046 him, How knowest H3045 thou that Saul H7586 and Jonathan H3083 his son H1121 be dead? H4191
How are the mighty H1368 fallen H5307 in the midst H8432 of the battle! H4421 O Jonathan, H3083 thou wast slain H2491 in thine high places. H1116 I am distressed H6887 for thee, my brother H251 Jonathan: H3083 very H3966 pleasant H5276 hast thou been unto me: thy love H160 to me was wonderful, H6381 passing the love H160 of women. H802
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 14
Commentary on 1 Samuel 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
1Sa 14:1-14. Jonathan Miraculously Smites the Philistines' Garrison.
1. the Philistines' garrison—"the standing camp" (1Sa 13:23, Margin) "in the passage of Michmash" (1Sa 13:16), now Wady Es-Suweinit. "It begins in the neighborhood of Betin (Beth-el) and El-Bireh (Beetroth), and as it breaks through the ridge below these places, its sides form precipitous walls. On the right, about a quarter of an acre below, it again breaks off, and passes between high perpendicular precipices" [Robinson].
2. Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah—Hebrew, "Geba"; entrenched, along with Samuel and Ahiah the high priest, on the top of one of the conical or spherical hills which abound in the Benjamite territory, and favorable for an encampment, called Migron ("a precipice").
4. between the passages—that is, the deep and great ravine of Suweinit.
Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison—a distance of about three miles running between two jagged points; Hebrew, "teeth of the cliff."
there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side … Bozez—("shining") from the aspect of the chalky rock.
Seneh—("the thorn") probably from a solitary acacia on its top. They are the only rocks of the kind in this vicinity; and the top of the crag towards Michmash was occupied as the post of the Philistines. The two camps were in sight of each other; and it was up the steep rocky sides of this isolated eminence that Jonathan and his armorbearer (1Sa 14:6) made their adventurous approach. This enterprise is one of the most gallant that history or romance records. The action, viewed in itself, was rash and contrary to all established rules of military discipline, which do not permit soldiers to fight or to undertake any enterprise that may involve important consequences without the order of the generals.
6. it may be that the Lord will work for us—This expression did not imply a doubt; it signified simply that the object he aimed at was not in his own power—but it depended upon God—and that he expected success neither from his own strength nor his own merit.
9, 10. if they say, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand—When Jonathan appears here to prescribe a sign or token of God's will, we may infer that the same spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its execution, and put into his heart what to ask of God. (See on Ge 24:12).
11. Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes—As it could not occur to the sentries that two men had come with hostile designs, it was a natural conclusion that they were Israelite deserters. And hence no attempt was made to hinder their ascent, or stone them.
14, 15. that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow—This was a very ancient mode of measurement, and it still subsists in the East. The men who saw them scrambling up the rock had been surprised and killed, and the spectacle of twenty corpses would suggest to others that they were attacked by a numerous force. The success of the adventure was aided by a panic that struck the enemy, produced both by the sudden surprise and the shock of an earthquake. The feat was begun and achieved by the faith of Jonathan, and the issue was of God.
16. the watchmen of Saul … looked—The wild disorder in the enemies' camp was described and the noise of dismay heard on the heights of Gibeah.
17-19. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us—The idea occurred to him that it might be some daring adventurer belonging to his own little troop, and it would be easy to discover him.
18. Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God—There is no evidence that the ark had been brought from Kirjath-jearim. The Septuagint version is preferable; which, by a slight variation of the text, reads, "the ephod"; that is, the priestly cape, which the high priest put on when consulting the oracle. That this should be at hand is natural, from the presence of Ahiah himself, as well as the nearness of Nob, where the tabernacle was then situated.
19. Withdraw thine hand—The priest, invested with the ephod, prayed with raised and extended hands. Saul perceiving that the opportunity was inviting, and that God appeared to have sufficiently declared in favor of His people, requested the priest to cease, that they might immediately join in the contest. The season for consultation was past—the time for prompt action was come.
20-22. Saul and all the people—All the warriors in the garrison at Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.
23. So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven—that is, "Beth-el." It passed over the forest, now destroyed, on the central ridge of Palestine, then over to the other side from the eastern pass of Michmash (1Sa 14:31), to the western pass of Aijalon, through which they escaped into their own plains.
24. Saul had adjured the people—Afraid lest so precious an opportunity of effectually humbling the Philistine power might be lost, the impetuous king laid an anathema on any one who should taste food until the evening. This rash and foolish denunciation distressed the people, by preventing them taking such refreshments as they might get on the march, and materially hindered the successful attainment of his own patriotic object.
25. all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey—The honey is described as "upon the ground," "dropping" from the trees, and in honeycombs—indicating it to be bees' honey. "Bees in the East are not, as in England, kept in hives; they are all in a wild state. The forests literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen hanging on the trees as you pass along, full of honey" [Roberts].
31-34. the people were very faint. And the people flew upon the spoil—at evening, when the time fixed by Saul had expired. Faint and famishing, the pursuers fell voraciously upon the cattle they had taken, and threw them on the ground to cut off their flesh and eat them raw, so that the army, by Saul's rashness, were defiled by eating blood, or living animals; probably, as the Abyssinians do, who cut a part of the animal's rump, but close the hide upon it, and nothing mortal follows from that wound. They were painfully conscientious in keeping the king's order for fear of the curse, but had no scruple in transgressing God's command. To prevent this violation of the law, Saul ordered a large stone to be rolled, and those that slaughtered the oxen to cut their throats on that stone. By laying the animal's head on the high stone, the blood oozed out on the ground, and sufficient evidence was afforded that the ox or sheep was dead before it was attempted to eat it.
45. the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not—When Saul became aware of Jonathan's transgression in regard to the honey, albeit it was done in ignorance and involved no guilt, he was, like Jephthah [Jud 11:31, 35], about to put his son to death, in conformity with his vow [1Sa 14:44]. But the more enlightened conscience of the army prevented the tarnishing the glory of the day by the blood of the young hero, to whose faith and valor it was chiefly due.
47, 48. So Saul … fought against all his enemies on every side—This signal triumph over the Philistines was followed, not only by their expulsion from the land of Israel, but by successful incursions against various hostile neighbors, whom he harassed though he did not subdue them.