Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he didn’t tell his father. Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men; including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone. Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.” His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.”
Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him. That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the raiders, also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling. The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away and scattered. Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count now, and see who is missing from us.” When they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.
Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring God’s ark here.” For God’s ark was with the children of Israel at that time. While Saul talked to the priest, the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased; and Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”
Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle; and behold, they were all striking each other with their swords in very great confusion. Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before, and who went up with them into the camp, from all around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. So Yahweh saved Israel that day; and the battle passed over by Beth Aven.
The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.
All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground. When the people had come to the forest, behold, honey was dripping, but no one put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan didn’t hear when his father commanded the people with the oath. Therefore he put out 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 brightened. Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ ” So the people were faint.
Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more, if perhaps the people had eaten freely today of the plunder of their enemies which they found? For now there has been no great slaughter among the Philistines.” They struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint; and the people pounced on the plunder, and took sheep, cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people are sinning against Yahweh, in that they eat meat with the blood.” He said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me today!”
Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, ‘Every man bring me here his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and don’t sin against Yahweh in eating meat with the blood.’ ” All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there.
Saul built an altar to Yahweh. This was the first altar that he built to Yahweh. Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines by night, and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let’s not leave a man of them.” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let’s draw near here to God.”
Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he didn’t answer him that day. Saul said, “Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been today. For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Show the right.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen, but the people escaped.
Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” Jonathan was selected.
Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done!” Jonathan told him, and said, “I certainly did taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die.”
Saul said, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”
The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn’t die. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.
Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he 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. Wherever he turned himself, he defeated them. He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them. Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. There was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him into his service.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36, 38, 41, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52 By this example God would declare to Israel that…
By this example God would declare to Israel that the victory did not consist in multitude or armor, but only came of his grace.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–52 1Sa 14:1 Now it came to pass upon a…
1Sa 14:1 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.
Ver. 1. Jonathan the son of Saul said.] By an extraordinary instinct of the Spirit, and by the force of his faith, founded upon God’s promise, {Deu 28:7; Deu 32:10} the ground of all true valour and magnanimity.
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Said unto the young man that bare his armour.] His squire; such as was Joannes de Temporibus to Charles the Great, in the year of grace 1139.
But he told not his father.] Lest Saul should have counted him as temerarious as himself was timorous; and have said unto him as afterwards Archidamus did to his son, rashly conflicting with the Athenians whom he was not able to deal with, Aut viribus adde, ant animis adime; Either add to thy strength, or abate of thy courage.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52 This was a rash and foolish attempt, if it…
This was a rash and foolish attempt, if it be examined by common rules; but not so, if we consider the singular promises made to the Israelites, that one should chase a thousand, &c., and especially the heroical and extraordinary motions which were then frequently put into the minds of gallant men by God’s Spirit, whereby they undertook and accomplished noble and wonderful things; as did Samson, and David, and his worthies.
On the other side; beyond that rocky passage described below, 1Sa 14:4,13, which he pointed at with his hand.
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He told not his father, lest he should hinder him in so improbable an enterprise. Nor was it necessary he should inform him of it, because he had a commission from his father to fight when he saw occasion, as he had done without his father’s privity, 1Sa 13:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 16, 24, 36, 47 We must here take notice,
We must here take notice,
I. Of the goodness of God in restraining the Philistines, who had a vast army of valiant men in the field, from falling upon that little handful of timorous trembling people that Saul had with him, whom they would easily have swallowed up at once. It is an invisible power that sets bounds to the malice of the church's enemies, and suffers them not to do that which we should think there is nothing to hinder them from.
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II. Of the weakness of Saul, who seems here to have been quite at a loss, and unable to help himself. 1. He pitched his tent under a tree, and had but 600 men with him, Sa1 14:2. Where were now the 3000 men he had chosen, and put such a confidence in? Sa1 13:2. Those whom he trusted too much to failed him when he most needed them. He durst not stay in Gibeah, but got into some obscure place, in the uttermost part of the city, under a pomegranate-tree, under Rimmon (so the word is), Ha-Rimmon, that Rimmon near Gibeah, in the caves of which those 600 Benjamites that escaped his themselves, Jdg 20:47. Some think that there Saul took shelter, so mean and abject was his spirit, now that he had fallen under God's displeasure, every hour expecting the Philistines upon him, and thereby the accomplishment of Samuel's threatening, Sa1 13:14. Those can never think themselves safe that see themselves cast out of God's protection. 2. Now he sent for a priest, and the ark, a priest from Shiloh, and the ark from Kirjath-jearim, Sa1 14:3, Sa1 14:18. Saul had once offended by offering sacrifice himself, Sa1 13:9. Now he resolves never to fall into that error again, and therefore sends for a priest, and hopes to compromise the matter with God Almighty by a particular reformation, as many do whose hearts are unhumbled and unchanged. Samuel, the Lord's prophet, had forsaken him, but he thinks he can make up that loss by commanding Ahiah, the Lord's priest, to attend him, and he will not make him stay for him nor reprove him, as Samuel had done, but will do just as he bids him, Sa1 14:18, Sa1 14:19. Many love to have such ministers as will be what they would have them to be, and prophesy smooth things to them; and their caressing them because they are priests, they hope, will atone for their enmity to those ministers that deal faithfully and plainly with them. He will also have the ark brought, perhaps to upbraid Samuel, who in the days of his government, for aught that appears, had not made any public use of it; or in hopes that this would make up the deficiency of his forces; one would have supposed that they would never bring the ark into the camp again, since, the last time, it not only did not save them, but did itself fall into the Philistines' hands. But it is common for those that have lost the substance of religion to be most fond of the shadows of it, as here is a deserted prince courting a deserted priest.
III. Of the bravery and piety of Jonathan, the son of Saul, who was much fitter than the father to wear the crown. "A sweet imp (says bishop Hall) out of a crab-stock."
1. He resolved to go incognito - unknown to any one, into the camp of the Philistines; he did not acquaint his father with his design, for he knew he would forbid him; nor the people, for he knew they would all discourage him, and, because he resolved not to heed their objections, he resolved not to hear them, nor ask their advice, Sa1 14:1, Sa1 14:3. Nor had he so great an opinion of the priest as to consult him, but, being conscious of a divine impulse putting him upon it, he threw himself into the mouth of danger, in hope of doing service to his country. The way of access to the enemies' camp is described (Sa1 14:4, Sa1 14:5) as being peculiarly difficult, and their natural entrenchments impregnable, yet this does not discourage him; the strength and sharpness of the rocks do but harden and whet his resolutions. Great and generous souls are animated by opposition and take a pleasure in breaking through it.
2. He encouraged his armour-bearer, a young man that attended him, to go along with him in the daring enterprise, (Sa1 14:6): "Come, and let us put our lives in our hands, and go over to the enemies' garrison, and try what we can do to put them into confusion." See whence he draws his encouragements. (1.) "They are uncircumcised, and have not the seal of the covenant in their flesh, as we have. Fear not, we shall do well enough with them, for they are not under the protection of God's covenant as we are, cannot call him theirs as we can, by the sign of circumcision." If such as are enemies to us are also strangers to God, we need not fear them. (2.) "God is able to make us two victorious over their unnumbered regiments. There is no restraint in the Lord, no limitation to the holy One of Israel, but it is all one to him to save by many or by few." This is a true easily granted in general, that it is all alike to Omnipotence what the instruments are by which it works; and yet it is not so easy to apply it to a particular case; when we are but few and feeble then to believe that God can not only save us, but save by us, this is an instance of faith, which, wherever it is, shall obtain a good report. Let this strengthen the weak and encourage the timid: let it be pleaded with God for the enforcing of our petitions and with ourselves for the silencing of our fears: It is nothing with God to help, whether with many or with those that have no power, Ch2 14:11. (3.) "Who knows but he that can use us for his glory will do it? It may be the Lord will work for us, work with us, work a sign or miracle for us." So the Chaldee. We may encourage ourselves with hope that God will appear for us, though we have not ground on which to build an assurance. An active faith will venture far in God's cause upon an it may be. Jonathan's armour-bearer, or esquire, as if he had learned to carry, not his arms only, but his heart, promised to stand by him and to follow him withersoever he went, Sa1 14:7. We have reason to think that Jonathan felt a divine impulse and impression putting him upon this bold adventure, in which he was encouraged by his servant's concurrence, otherwise the danger was so great which he ran upon that he would have tempted God rather than trusted him. And perhaps he had an actual regard to that word of Joshua (Jos 23:10), One man of you shall chase a thousand, borrowed from Moses, Deu 32:30.
3. How bold soever his resolution was, he resolved to follow Providence in the execution of it, which, he believed, would guide him with its eye (Psa 32:8), and which therefore he would carefully attend and take hints of direction from. See how he put himself upon Providence, and resolved to be determined by it. "Come" (says he to his confidant), "we will discover ourselves to the enemy, as those that are not afraid to look them in the face (Sa1 14:8), and then, if they be so cautious as to bid us stand, we will advance no further, taking it for an intimation of Providence that God would have us act defensively, and we will prepare as well as we can to give them a warm reception (Sa1 14:9); but if they be so presumptuous as to challenge us, and the first sentinel we meet with bid us march on, we will push forward, and make as brisk an onset, assuredly gathering thence that it is the will of God we should act offensively, and then not doubting but he will stand by us," Sa1 14:10. And upon this issue he puts it, firmly believing, as we all should, (1.) That God has the governing of the hearts and tongues of all men, even of those that know him not, nor have any regard to him, and serves his own purposes by them, though they mean not so, neither do their hearts think so. Jonathan knew God could discover his mind to him if he pleased, and would do it, since he depended upon him, as surely by the mouth of a Philistine as by the mouth of a priest. (2.) That God will, some way or other, direct the steps of those that acknowledge him in all their ways, and seek unto him for direction, with full purpose of heart to follow it. Sometimes we find most comfort in that which is least our own doing, and into which we have been led by the unexpected, but well observed, turns of Providence.
4. Providence gave him the sign he expected, and he answered the signal. He and his armour-bearer did not surprise the Philistines when they were asleep, but discovered themselves to them by day-light, Sa1 14:11. The guards of the Philistines, (1.) Disdained them, upbraided them with the cowardice of many of their people, and looked upon them to be of the regiment of sneakers: Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of their holes. If some of Christ's soldiers play the coward, others that play the man may perhaps be upbraided with it. (2.) They defied them (Sa1 14:12): Come, and we will show you a thing, as if they came like children to gaze about them; but meaning, as Goliath (Sa1 17:44), that they would give them as meat to the fowls of the air. They bantered them, not doubting but to make a prey of them. This greatly emboldened Jonathan. With it he encouraged his servant; he had spoken with uncertainty (Sa1 14:6): It may be the Lord will work for us; but now he speaks with assurance (Sa1 14:12): The Lord has delivered them, not into our hands (he sought not his own glory), but into the hand of Israel, for he aimed at nothing but the advantage of the public. His faith being thus strengthened, no difficulty can stand before him; he climbs up the rock upon all four (Sa1 14:13), though he has nothing to cover him, nor any but his own servant to second him, nor any human probability of any thing but death before him.
5. The wonderful success of this daring enterprise. The Philistines, instead of falling upon Jonathan, to slay him, or take him prisoner, fell before him (Sa1 14:13) unaccountably, upon the first blows he gave. They fell, that is, (1.) They were many of them slain by him and his armour-bearer, Sa1 14:14. Twenty Philistines fell presently. It was not so much the name of Jonathan that made them yield so tamely (though some think that this had become terrible to them, since he smote one of their garrisons, Sa1 13:3), but it was God's right hand and his arm that got him this victory. (2.) The rest were put to flight, and fell foul upon one another (Sa1 14:15): There was trembling in the host. There was no visible cause for fear; they were so numerous, bold, and advantageously posted; the Israelites had fled before them; not an enemy made head against them, but one gentleman and his man; and yet they shook like an aspen-leaf. The consternation was general: they all trembled; even the spoilers, those that had been most bold and forward, shared in the common fright, the joints of their loins were loosed, and their knees smote one against another, and yet none of them could tell why or wherefore. It is called a trembling of God (so the original phrase is), signifying not only, as we render it, a very great trembling, which they could not resist nor reason themselves clear of, but that it was supernatural, and came immediately from the hand of God. He that made the heart knows how to make it tremble. To complete the confusion, even the earth quaked, and made them ready to fear that it would sink under them. Those that will not fear the eternal God, he can make afraid of a shadow. See Pro 21:1; Isa 33:14.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–52 Now it came to pass upon a day,.... At…
Now it came to pass upon a day,.... At a certain time, a little after the garrison of the Philistines had made the movement, Sa1 13:23 and it is not to be taken strictly for the day time; for it is probable it was in the night that the following proposal was made, and began to be carried into execution; for Josephus (k) says it was day light when Jonathan and his armourbearer came to the camp of the Philistines; he had formed his scheme perhaps the night before, and he and his man set out in the night time, and by break of day came up to the garrison, as after related:
that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour; as was usual in those times for generals of armies to have such, and so in later times; such were Automedon to Achilles, and Achates to Aeneas, as Grotius observes:
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come and let us go over to the Philistine garrison that is on the other side; that is, go over the valley which lay between Michmash and Gibeah, to the Philistines, that lay on the other side the valley beyond it; and so was not in it, but at a pass on the hills, at the bottom of which this valley lay, and could be seen at a distance, and pointed at with the finger, as Jarchi notes:
but he told not his father; lest he should disapprove of his project, and hinder him from pursuing it; and had not his spirit been stirred up to this by the Lord, of which he was fully persuaded, he would have acted not only a rash part, but contrary to military discipline, in engaging in an enterprise without the knowledge and direction of his general; unless we can suppose he had all unlimited commission from his father to attack the enemy, at discretion, at any time, and any where.
(k) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 36, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 49 Jonathan proposes to his armour-bearer the attacking of the…
Jonathan proposes to his armour-bearer the attacking of the Philistine's army, ver. 1-10. They make the attack; the Philistines are terrified, ver. 11-15. They slay one another, and are pursued by the Israelites, ver. 16-23. Saul adjures the people to eat nothing 'till night; Jonathan eats honey, ver. 24-30. The people smite the Philistines, and eat the spoil with the blood, ver. 31, 32. Saul remedies this, ver. 33-35. Dooms Jonathan to death, who is rescued by the people, ver. 36-46. A general account of Saul's exploits and family, ver. 47-52.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 52 Jonathan and his armour-bearer purpose to attack a garrison…
CHAPTER XIV
Jonathan and his armour-bearer purpose to attack a garrison of
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the Philistines, 1.
Saul and his army, with Ahiah the priest, tarry in Gibeah, 2, 3.
Jonathan plans his attack of the Philistine garrison, 4-10.
He and his armour-bearer climb over a rock: attack and rout the
garrison, 11-15.
Saul and has company, seeing confusion on the Philistine host,
come out against them; as did the men who had hidden
themselves; and the Philistines are defeated, 16-23.
Saul lays every man under a curse who shall eat food until the
evening; in consequence of which the people are sorely
distressed, 24-26.
Jonathan, not hearing the adjuration, eats a little honey, which
he found on the ground, 27-30.
The Philistines being defeated, the people seize on the spoil,
and begin to eat flesh without previously bleeding the animals,
which Saul endeavours to prevent, 31-34.
He builds an altar there, 35.
Inquires of the Lord if he may pursue the Philistines by night,
but receives no answer, 36, 37.
Attributes this to some sin committed by some unknown person:
makes inquiry by lot; and finds that Jonathan had tasted the
honey, on which he purposes to put him to death, 38-44.
The people interpose, and rescue Jonathan, 45.
Saul fights against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Amalekites,
46-48.
An account of the family of Saul, 49-52.
NOTES ON CHAP. XIV
Verse 1. Come, and let us go over] This action of Jonathan was totally contrary to the laws of war; no military operation should be undertaken without the knowledge and command of the general. But it is likely that he was led to this by a Divine influence.
The armour-bearer is the origin of what we call esquire, from escu, old French, a shield; armiger is the Latin, from arma, weapons, and gero, I bear. In the times of chivalry, the armiger, or esquire, was the servant of the knight who went after him, and carried his lance, shield, &c. It is now (strange to tell!) a title of honour.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 33, 36, 39, 41, 44, 47, 49, 52 1Sa 14:2. Saul tarried in the uttermost part of…
1Sa 14:2. Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah — In the outworks of the city, where he had intrenched himself to observe the motions of the Philistines. Under a pomegranate-tree — A grove of pomegranate-trees. Which is in (or toward) Migron — A place near Gibeah.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 47, 49, 50, 51 Now ... - Rather “and,” since this verse is…
Now ... - Rather “and,” since this verse is in immediate dependence upon the preceding. When Jonathan saw the garrison come out again and again, in defiance “of the armies of the living God,” at length “upon a day” he determined to attack them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50 Day, while it was yet dark. (Josephus) --- This…
Day, while it was yet dark. (Josephus) --- This action would seem rash, and contrary to military discipline, which requires that the general should be apprised of any hazardous enterprise. (Calmet) --- But it is thought that Jonathan was directed by God, who granted him success. (Cornelius a Lapide) --- The Rabbins say, "every augury which is not like that of Eleazar and Jonathan, is null. If they had done ill,...God would not have heard them." (Kimchi)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 For Lange's chapter 14 passage quote and footnotes, see…
For Lange's chapter 14 passage quote and footnotes, see 1Sa_13:1 ff.
4. 1Sa_14:1-15. Jonathan’s bold attack on the Philistines.
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1Sa_14:1. “On a day” (הַיּוֹם), on the definite day on which the following occurred. The words: And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer: Let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, are repeated in 1Sa_14:6 for the continuation of the narrative which they introduce. What lies between [1Sa_14:2-5] is a statement of the existing special circumstances and local relations. This detailed narration shows that it is taken from the account of an eye-witness. The “garrison” of the Philistines is the advanced post mentioned in 1Sa_13:23. On the other side.1
The interjacent statements introduce us into the details of the whole situation: 1) Jonathan says nothing to his father of his purpose, because he would have forbidden it as too dangerous; the undertaking is set on foot secretly, in the hope of surprising the enemy in sleep or unprepared. 2) Saul (1Sa_14:2) is encamped at the extremity of Gibeah. This is mentioned to show that Jonathan could unknown to him make such a blow. Gibeah (1Sa_14:16) is the city Gibeah in Benjamin, whither also Samuel had gone from Gilgal (1Sa_13:15) back of Geba towards the south, yet with its extremity (1Sa_14:16) not so far from the pass of the southward-trending Wady, that the movements in the ranks of the Philistines opposite could not be thence observed. Under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron. By “rimmon” we must here understand not the name of a place, but, on account of the Art., the well-known pomegranate. According to Jdg_20:45 a rock near Gibeah bore the name “Rock of the pomegranate” [Rimmon]; and was well adapted for a fortified position. It is a natural supposition that the same place is meant here, named after the well-known pomegranate. Luther here renders Migron incorrectly suburb. Linguistically it can only signify a place, which, however, from the local relations cannot be the Migron of Isa_10:28, north of Michmash, whose name seems to be found in the ruins of Magrun, eight minutes from Beitin. Rob. II. 340 [see Am. ed. I., 463, Stanley’s Sin. and Pal. 202]. Rather this place lay south of the pass of Michmash on the northern extremity of Gibeah-Benjamin (Saul), and was marked by the well-known pomegranate. From the context it appears that Gibeah-Benjamin2 extended far along on the heights which stretched out (south of Geba) north-east towards the pass of Michmash, and ended in a rock on which the pomegranate stood, and on whose declivity lay the place Migron. The word means perhaps “precipice” (Then.) which is linguistically better than “threshing-floor” (Rosenm. Alterth. II., 2, 171). That two contiguous places should bear this name is, on account of the nature of the ground, as little surprising (Winer) as the frequent occurrence of the names Ramah and Gibeah (Geba).—3) Saul’s following consisted of about six hundred men and Ahiah the high-priest. We must render: And Ahiah—bare the ephod.3 The words “priest of Jehovah in Shiloh” belong not to Ahiah (Sept., Luth.), but to Eli. Wearing the ephod was a sign of the high-priestly office. Probably Ahiah was with Saul at Gilgal, and ministered in the offering there made by him. The name Ahiah [“Jehovah is brother” or “brother of Jehovah”] is identical with Ahimelech [“brother of the king”] under which this great-grandson of Eli, the sole survivor, (1Sa_2:33) of the house of Eli, appears (1Sa_21:2; 1Sa_22:9; 1Sa_22:11; 1Sa_22:20; 1Sa_30:7, e. a.). As to whether of the two names was the original, Ewald remarks that they may have been used without much distinction (since melech “king” might refer to God) as in Elimelech (in Ruth) and Elijah (Gesch. II. 585, Rem. 3).—The people with Saul also knew nothing of Jonathan’s purpose. This statement connects itself naturally with the remark on Saul’s following.—4) Exact description of the ground which Jonathan had to traverse in his bold secret enterprise, 1Sa_14:4-5. According to Robinson’s remarks the plural “passes” is to be explained of the several passages which were made possible by the side-valleys. It is not probable that the plural refers to a long passage over the mountain (Then.). Further the word “between” is intelligible only on the supposition of several passes. Between these passes lay opposite one another two rocky crags or projections, formed by the side-wadys opening right and left into the deep, precipitous Wady es-Suweinit. Robinson went from Jeba (Geba) through that Wady across to Michmash. In this passage (from south to north) he had on the left two hills with steep rocky sides. “Behind each,” says he, “runs up a smaller Wady, so as almost to isolate them. One is on the side towards Jeba and the other towards Mukhmas” (II. 329 [Am. ed. I. 441]). To this observation of Robinson answers exactly the description in 1Sa_14:5, according to which the one rock-ledge, Bozez, was a column4 on the north, the other Seneh, on the south, opposite Geba.
1Sa_14:6. Continuation of the narrative, with resumption of Jonathan’s words to his armor-bearer [1Sa_14:1], but with the difference that the Philistines are here not called by their own name, but “uncircumcised.” This expression marks the difference between them and Israel as covenant-people, which forms the basis for the following utterance of Jonathan. Ewald’s characterization of Jonathan’s feeling as “a mixture of youthful impatience and lofty courage” (III. 48) does not fully explain the inner side of this deed. Its natural basis is youthful heroic spirit and impetuous desire of achievement; but it receives high ethical value and significance from its religious root in Jonathan’s God-fearing and God-trusting heart, whose feeling is expressed in the word: Perhaps Jehovah will work for us, for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.—Over against the “uncircumcised” Jonathan is clearly conscious: 1) that his people is the chosen one, belonging to the Lord, with whom the Lord has made a covenant, and 2) that the Lord cannot deny His almighty help to this people as their covenant-God. This word of Jonathan expresses the genuine theocratic disposition of the liveliest consciousness of God and the firmest trust in God, whence alone could come a true deliverance of the people from their oppressive burden. The “perhaps” indicates not a doubt, but the humility which was coupled with Jonathan’s heroic spirit; he is far from tempting God. The humble and modest hope which is expressed in the word: “perhaps the Lord will work for us” is straightway grounded on the truth: there is no restraint to the Lord, that is, he is at liberty to save by many or by few; that is, the Lord’s help is not dependent on the extent or the degree of the means by which it is realized; his helping power is not conditioned, but absolute. The same thought in Psa_147:10-11; 2Ch_14:11; 1Ma_3:18-19.
1Sa_14:7. The answer of the armor-bearer contains: 1) encouragement to carry out his design, and 2) assurance that he will act with him and stand by him according to his will. Render: “do all whereto thy heart inclines.”5
1Sa_14:8. Jonathan explains that, in carrying out his purpose, he proposes that they first show themselves to the Philistines.—In verses 9, 10, we are told how he would therein find a divine sign whether the Lord would grant unto them success in their design. He supposes two cases. If the Philistines at his hail should say: “keep still ! till we come to you,” they will not go up to them; for that would be a sign of courage and preparedness. But if they should say: “come up to us,” they will go up; for that would be a sign of carelessness and slackness. This he would regard as a divine sign that God had given the Philistines into his hands. The divine sign, which Jonathan proposed to find, was a fact which guaranteed the success of the enterprise on its natural-human side also.
1Sa_14:11. When Jonathan and his esquire showed themselves, the latter of the two cases occurred. The outposts of the Philistines cry scornfully: Hebrews are coming forth out of their holes, and call out to them: Come up to us, and we will tell you something. An expression taken directly from the life of the people, containing an apparently bold challenge, yet (as we may see) not meant in earnest, and concealing cowardice or careless security and neglect. Cleric.: “They hoped to have sport with them, not supposing that they could there climb the rock.” Jonathan is now sure that God has given them into his hands.6
1Sa_14:13. Lively description of the execution by Jonathan and his armor-bearer of their bold undertaking and the brilliant result. On his hands and feet Jonathan climbed up the rock, and the armor-bearer after him. The text-reading: “and they fell before Jonathan and his armor-bearer,” etc., gives a very good sense, as Then. expressly admits. We need not, then, after the Sept. read: “and they turned before Jonathan and he smote them,” where Sept. incorrectly read וַיִּפְנוּ for וַיּפְּלוּ. How (as Ewald asserts) the connection favors the reading of the Sept. is not to be seen.—The armor-bearer slew completely after him.—The Sept. has ἐπεδίδου whence, however, we are not to read מוסִיף. [“more fully”] instead of the text “slaying;” the latter is to be retained from the connection, the narrative, from the rapidity of the affair, pressing on to describe how Jonathan, pushing on, strikes down with overwhelming might every one whom he meets, without stopping to kill completely, while the armor-bearer, following him, kills those that were struck down, that they might not rise again. The Heb. word (מְמוֹתֵת) means “killing completely,” as in 1Sa_17:51; 2Sa_1:9 sq.—A like bold deed in scaling a castle in the Numidian war is told in Sall. Bell. Jugurth., c. 89, 90.—[This force of “complete killing” can hardly be assigned to this Heb. form (Polel, here causative of Qal, of מוּת). It means simply “kill,” and so in the passages cited by the author, and the statement here seems to be that not only Jonathan, but also his armor-bearer (like the feudal esquire) took part in the combat. The phrase “fell before him” fairly means “fell dead;” the words do not warrant the history gotten out of them by Dr. Erdmann. But the Heb. text, though somewhat hard, may be maintained without this. See “Text. and Gramm.”—Tr.]
1Sa_14:14. The result of this first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made: about thirty men were thus killed. In the last words of the verse the overthrow is set forth in terms taken from ploughing: in about a half-furrow of a yoke of land.—This indicates the position of the fallen, after Jonathan, pressing impetuously on, had struck them down one after another, and his armor-bearer after him had killed those that were not dead. This occurred in the space of about half a furrow in a piece of land which one could plough with a yoke of oxen in a day.7 In the length of about a half-yoke lay the twenty slain Philistines stretched out in a row. Cleric.: “Such apparently was the extent of the point of rock which the Philistines had occupied.” Of the translation of the Sept.: “about twenty men with darts and slings and stones of the field,” Clericus rightly says: “They translated conjecturally what they did not understand.” To Ewald’s rendering “as if a yoke of land were in ploughing” (so Bunsen, who regards this as an extract from a poet) there are, in the first place, two objections: 1) that the word (מנעה) means “furrow,” and not “ploughing,” and 2) that “yoke of land” means not the animals, but the land itself. Further objection to this rendering, especially in reference to the completed fact here related [Ewald represents it as an advancing act, while the first half of the verse speaks of it as finished.—Tr.], see in Thenius.—[The Sept. text may easily be gotten from the Heb., omitting the κ. ε. πετρ. as repetition (see Then. and Wellhausen), and gives a better sense. Bib. Com.: “There is nothing remarkable in twenty men being killed in half an acre of land; and moreover the Heb. sentence is extremely obscure, without any apparent reason for its being so. … A measure of time would not be out of place, if the words could mean ‘in about half the time that a yoke of oxen draw a furrow in the field.’ ” Others, less well, understand here a space enclosed by a furrow. Philippson remarks that the ancients were accustomed to measure land by the ploughing of oxen; but the difficulty here is not in the way of stating the land-measure, but in understanding why it is stated. Kitto (Daily Bib. Ill.) gives a good narrative of the exploit of Jonathan. The text must be regarded as unsettled.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:15. The consequence of this bold deed: panic fear among the Philistines. The success of Jonathan’s deed and this consequence are to be explained by supposing that the outposts of the Philistines did not think it possible that the two men could get up, and, when they did, feared that a body of Israelites were behind them, since they could not see down the steep declivity. The camp of the field [Heb.: in the camp (or host) in the field—Tr.] is the whole camp of the Philistines; the terror, which had seized all the people of the outposts, now took possession of the principal camp also. The spoilers also, the body of plunderers, trembled. There are many examples in military history of the contagious power of such fright, extending from a few widely out. And the earth quaked is not to be understood of an earthquake, but of the trembling of the ground under the fearful uproar of the Philistines.—And became a terror of God. The phrase “and became” refers to the before-described disaster of the Philistines, all this grew into a “terror of God,” that is, the Philistines recognized herein a mighty help of the God of Israel, by which they had been thrown into this terror. [The natural rendering is “the earth quaked and became a terror of God,” that is, the trembling earth became the sign of the wrathful intervention of God (comp. Vulg.); a miraculous earthquake seems to be here described. Others regard the divine name as a superlative addition, and render “a great (a panic) terror” (Gesen., al.) like “cedars of God” Psa_80:11, but this is not probable in this prose narrative.—Tr.]
5. 1Sa_14:16-23. General flight and overthrow of the Philistines in consequence of Jonathan’s exploit.
1Sa_14:16. Gibeah of Benjamin is not the present Jeba (Then.), which rather answers to Geba. Though the former was farther from the Philistine camp, we need not be surprised that Saul’s watchmen could see thither, since from their elevated position they could with sharp eyes see what was going on at that distance (nearly five Eng. miles), or, if not, could go nearer.—And behold, the multitude or the tumult—though הַמוֹן may here mean “multitude” (Gesen. s. v.), it is better to render “tumult,” since the narrator has in his eye the crowd thrown into confusion by Jonathan’s attack. This consideration sets aside one of Thenius’ reasons for here also following the free translation of the Sept.;—dispersed hither and thither. It is better to supply “hither” (הֲלים before וַהֲלים), which might easily have fallen out from homœophony; or (with the Rabb. and Ges.) read the Inf. Abs. and render “were more and more broken up.” [For another view see “Text. and Grammat.”—Tr.] 1Sa_14:17. Saul could explain the affair only as an Israelitish attack. The numbering ordered by him showed that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing.
1Sa_14:18. Bring hither the ark of God. A change of text (Keil) after the Sept. so as to read: “Bring the ephod, for he wore the ephod at that time before Israel,” on the ground that the ark had been placed in Kirjath-jearim, and was not used in asking questions of God, is suspicious, because the ark, which was thought to be connected with God’s presence, was often taken along to war. Comp. 1Sa_4:4-5; 2Sa_11:11; 2Sa_15:24-25. Why could they not, in accordance with this established custom, have taken it from its usual place in decisive battles, and afterwards carried it back? But it is not said that Saul wished to inquire of God at the ark. He wished first to advance with it against the enemy. But, when he saw that the tumult increased in their camp, and that they were already as good as beaten, he desisted.8 [If Saul had not wished to inquire of God by the ark, he would not have said “bring hither,” (but “carry forward”), nor “withdraw thy hand.” It seems better, therefore, to read ephod, whether we adopt the whole reading of the Sept. or not.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:19. And the tumult. … and it increased more and more is a broken construction, the subject being first put absolutely, and the predicate-sentence put as relative-sentence. Withdraw thy hand; that is, from bringing the ark = desist. Instead (1Sa_14:20) of “were assembled, called together” (Niph.), read with Sept. (Alex.), Vulg., Syr., Arab., “shouted” (Qal), for there was no need of an assembly, as they were already there (Then.), and besides, what is the meaning of “and Saul was called together and all the people,” since Saul was the assembler? Translate: And Saul and all the people shouted (raised the war-cry) and advanced to the battle. From this war-cry of the advancing host under Saul that which follows is easily explained. In consequence of the terror thereby produced, the confusion in the Philistine army was very great. That every man’s sword was against his fellow in such confusion (comp. Jdg_7:22; 2Ch_20:22-23) is explained by what is related in 1Sa_14:21-22. There were Hebrews in the host of the Philistines. By this name, the usual one among foreign nations, the Philistines called the Israelites in their midst. The Art. (the Hebrews) refers to the exacter definition in the relative sentence. And the Hebrews were with the Philistines, as formerly, who had gone up with them to the camp. [It is better to insert who (אשר) after “Hebrews,” as in Eng. A. V.—Tr.]. Bunsen supposes that these were prisoners, who had hitherto been compelled to fight against their countrymen. Or, they may have been levies from the part of the land which the Philistines held. To render “divided out roundabout among the Philistines” gives no good sense; the idea of “roundabout” is inappropriate to the whole situation. It is therefore better to read,9 with Sept., Vulg., Chald., Syr., Thenius, Buns., “turned.” The otherwise insuperable difficulty in the Infin. thus vanishes, and we render: “these also turned to be with Israel;” that is, went over to Israel. This, of course, they could not do without turning their arms against their oppressors. In addition to these (1Sa_14:22) came all the Israelites who had been in hiding on the mountains of Ephraim; when they heard of the flight of the Philistines, they too joined in the pursuit.
1Sa_14:23 1) affirms that this fortunate achievement was due to the help of the Lord, and 2) states the direction which the battle took. The battle passed over to Bethaven. Between this statement that the fight moved northeast10 from Michmash to Bethaven, and that in 1Sa_14:31, that the Philistines were smitten that day from Michmash to Ajalon [west], an insoluble contradiction† has been discovered, and it has been proposed to read Bethhoron (which lay west of Michmash) instead of Bethaven. But such a contradiction cannot be admitted, because the movements in such a battle are so fluctuating. Here in 1Sa_14:23 we have an account of the battle which continued, and passed, not far from Michmash indeed, over to Bethaven in a northeasterly direction; in 1Sa_14:31 is an account of the completed battle, and the final result is given, which is naturally this, that the Philistines, drawn by the Israelites from their native land towards Bethaven, fled, the greater part of them at least, westward, and were beaten as far as Ajalon. Bunsen: “In general the flight of the Philistines was naturally westward (1Sa_14:31), yet no exception can on that account be taken to our passage.”
6. 1Sa_14:24-31. Saul’s rash order. Between 1Sa_14:23 and 1Sa_14:24 the Sept. has: “And the whole people was with Saul about ten thousand men, and the battle spread in the whole city in the mountains of Ephraim. And Saul committed a great error” (that day and adjured). This is an explanatory addition to the original text with whose curtness it does not harmonize. It is not in itself improbable that the original six hundred men should grow to this large body in the course of the battle, and that the fight should extend over the mountains of Ephraim is to be expected from the dispersed condition of the Philistines, and is even indicated in the end of 1Sa_14:23. The phrase “in the whole city” has arisen from a misreading of the following word “wood” (ביער).—The Masoretic text is short, sharp, and to the point, corresponding to Saul’s position and conduct as here described.—And the men of Israel were distressed that day. In 1Sa_13:6 the same word (נגשׁ) is used to express the oppressed condition of the Israelites. Here it is Saul that presses and drives the people in the pursuit of the Philistines. The word means “harassed, wearied out,” and Thenius’ objection that one does not see by whom or by what the Israelites were pressed, explains itself.—The wearied condition of the people made Saul fear that the pursuit of the Philistines would thereby be interrupted, and the honor of the day for him diminished. And Saul adjured the people.11—He made them swear an oath—bound them by an oath. Cursed be the man that eateth food until evening and I be avenged on my enemies.—Saul’s passionate zeal, spurred on by selfishness, self-will and personal desire for revenge causes him to lose sight of the command of nature, to act cruelly towards his brave warriors, and over and beyond to injure his cause. “Blind zeal only hurts.” Berlenb. Bible: “In this prohibition there was a secret pride and misuse of power, for he desired to force, as it were, a complete victory, and then appropriate the glory of it to himself.” The people kept the oath even under the strongest temptation to break it.
1Sa_14:25. And the whole land came into the wood.—The “land” is put for the people, as appears from 1Sa_14:26. Comp. Jer_22:29. The honey which they found in the forest on the ground flowing (הֵלֶךְ דְּבַשׁ) was not that honey-like substance which is found on the leaves of certain bushes and taken off them, but real honey from bees who built on trunks of trees or in clefts of rocks, which, as Schultz (Leistungen, V. 133) has seen in the wilderness of Judea, often flows in streams on the ground from the over-full and pressed honey-structure (comp. Deu_32:13; Jdg_14:8; Ps. 81:17).
1Sa_14:26. On account of the oath no one partook of the refreshing food which thus presented itself.
1Sa_14:27. Jonathan, however, had not heard the oath of his father. He dips his staff into the honey and eats, in accordance with the haste of the pursuit—that is, into the honey-comb (Sept.: κηρίον; Vulg.: favum, the comb, not the liquid honey), which presented itself; into the comb, not the liquid honey, because only in this way could he get enough with the tip of his staff. Instead of “saw” (Kethib) read “were enlightened” (Qeri); see a similar transposition in Heb. in 2Sa_24:20, comp. 2Sa_5:16. The word describes the bodily and mental refreshment, the reviving of soul, which shows itself straightway in the eyes.
1Sa_14:28. The last words: “And the people are faint” are spoken by the man who tells Jonathan of the oath of his father, and at the same time stand in contrast with the refreshment which Jonathan had indulged himself in.
1Sa_14:29 sq. Jonathan’s disapproval of his father’s conduct by pointing to the injury he has thus done the land and people: “My father has troubled (עכר, perturbare), brought disaster on the land” (Gen_34:30; Jos_6:18; Judg. 4:35). The disaster is this: that the people, wearied with the battle, had lost all strength by the lack of nourishing food (אָבֹל אָכַל). The defeat of the Philistines was thus less complete than it would otherwise have been (1Sa_14:29).12 Maurer renders as independent sentence: “for now the slaughter of the Philistines is not very great.”
1Sa_14:31. See on 1Sa_14:23. Ajalon, the present village Yâlo, in the southeast end of a valley extending westward from Bethhoron. Rob. Later Bib. Res. 188 [Am. ed. III. 145—and II. 253, 254; 14 miles out of Jerusalem, Smith’s B. D.—Tr.] The mention of the great weariness and exhaustion of the people concludes the account of Saul’s rash conduct, and leads to the statement of its consequences.
7. 1Sa_14:32-46. The consequences of Saul’s overhaste, and the end of the battle.
1Sa_14:32.13 And the people flew upon the prey—that is, as soon as it was evening, comp. 1Sa_14:24. The same expression in 1Sa_15:19. The people slew the animals to the earth, down to the ground, and then ate “upon (or, over) the blood,” blood being on the bodies because they were on the ground, and so “with the blood.” On the preposition (עַל) see Exo_12:8 [Eng. A. V.: “with”], where also it introduces the basis or accompaniments of the food. The people transgressed the command in Lev_19:26 : “Ye shall not eat on blood” [Eng. A. V.: “with”], that is, no flesh under which or on which there is blood. This is an extension of the prohibition of eating blood in Lev_3:17; Lev_17:10-11, which is based on the fact that the blood is conceived of as the seat and bearer of the life.
1Sa_14:33. The people’s eating is characterized as a sinning against the Lord.14 Saul calls this conduct faithlessness, because the law of the covenant was transgressed. For now the Sept. has (unnecessarily) hither. [The הַיּוֹם, “to-day,” “this day,” is here not well rendered by “now,” which would be עָתַּה; the Sept. reading is better.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:34. Saul directs his informants to disperse themselves among the people, and announce that every one should bring his beast to him, and slay here on the great stone, that there might be no sinful eating.15 Saul’s command, which speaks for his careful observance of the Law, was carried out by the people. As every where before, so here the people display unconditional obedience to Saul. Only by slaughtering on the stone was it possible to separate the blood from the flesh. When the slaughtering occurred, the night had already set in. The Sept. reading: “what was in his hand” instead of “his ox in his hand” [Eng. A. V.: “with him”] is unnecessary.
1Sa_14:35. Saul built the altar to the Lord as thanksgiving for this victory over the Philistines. The same he began to build—that is, he built this as the first, comp. Gesen. § 142, A. 1. [Bib. Comm.: “began to build, but did not finish,” as 1Ch_27:24. So Abarbanel; but, according to the Midrash, Saul began among the kings the building of altars (Philippson). Wordsworth: It seems to be implied that this was the first time he had made acknowledgment to God for his successes.—Tr.] Probably he here used the great stone which he had caused to be brought. He thus established a place for the worship of God in commemoration of this victory.
1Sa_14:36. He is, however, not satisfied with the defeat of the Philistines, but proposes to spoil them that night till the morning. According to Jonathan’s statement, indeed, the defeat was not total. Saul rushes on in his wild desire of revenge, perhaps incited by the consciousness of having committed a gross folly, and thereby hindered the victory—and this he will now make good. The people are again ready immediately to carry out his desire. The priest, however, desires first to have the decision of the Lord. “Hither,” that is, to the altar which had been built. [Patrick: because it was dangerous to undertake any thing without God’s advice. Bib. Comm.: because the priest doubted whether Saul’s ardor was a righteous one, and bravely stood in its way.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:37. The inquiry of the Lord was conducted by the high-priest Ahiah through the Urim and Thummim.16 The Lord shall say whether the Philistines are to be pursued, and whether He has delivered them into Israel’s hands. There are therefore two questions: whether further pursuit? whether happy result? The failure of a divine answer is for Saul a sign that there is a fault somewhere, on account of which the Lord is silent and does not promise His help.
1Sa_14:38. Chief (פִּנָּה “corner,” “point”), the principal men, the heads of the people (Jdg_20:2), probably the elders (Num_11:30). The whole people are called by their representatives, to find out “wherein (or whereby) this sin hath been this day.” There is no need to read (with Then. after Vulg.: per quem—and Sept.: ἐν τίνι) “on whom (בַּמִּי) this sin rests,” instead of “wherein” (בַּמָּה). Rather the thing than the person was here first to be regarded, since the question was of an offence unatoned for,—which, however, indeed, could not be fixed without at the same time discovering the person.
1Sa_14:39. After the first כִּי [here=“because,” “for”], which gives the ground, follows a second and a third, the former introducing the declaration, the latter resuming it after the parenthesis. The silence of the people is (as appears from 1Sa_14:45) sign of their conviction that Jonathan had done nothing wrong. [Perhaps, also, sign of their regard for Jonathan. It does not seem that Saul was here guilty of profanity (Bib. Comm.), since he may have used the divine name reverently (the expression was very common among the Israelites), but he is guilty (Bib. Comm.) of further rashness.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:40. Saul proceeds to decide what was the offence which prevented the divine answer. The means which Saul here employs reminds us of how Samuel (1Sa_10:20-21) by the lot as means of divine decision presented Saul to the people as the king chosen by the Lord. While in the great double question in 1Sa_14:37 Saul had applied to the Lord by Urim and Thummim, and by His silence received also an answer, and that a decisive one, he now, in order to discover the cause of this divine decision, employs the lot, as is clear from the words “taken” [1Sa_14:41] and “cast” [1Sa_14:42] (comp. 1Sa_10:20 sq.), which are never used in connection with Urim and Thummim. The people, who had not answered him when he swore a second rash oath in which he recognized the possibility of Jonathan’s guilt and death, now expressly approved his arrangements, but silently decided for Jonathan’s innocence and exemption from punishment. Saul (1Sa_14:41) before the casting turns to God with the cry “give (or establish) right.” תָמִים, “unpunishable,” then “exemption from punishment,” “innocence,” “right,” “truth.” So Jdg_9:16; Jdg_9:19; Jos_24:14. The result of the trial is that Jonathan is taken, 1Sa_14:42.—The Vulgate agrees with the Heb. in 1Sa_14:41 only in the beginning and end: “and Saul said to the Lord God of Israel—and Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people went out.” The intermediate words agree in part with the Sept., which in 1Sa_14:41-42, has a long paraphrase. In this Then. and Ew. see a part of the original text, reading תֻּמִּים [Thummim] for תָּמִים, and finding here the complete formula which was employed in the use of Urim and Thummim. Against which Keil justly remarks, that there is no sign here of the use of Urim and Thummim, since the words in 1Sa_14:41 are provably never used of it, but always of the lot, and it is clear from passages like 1Sa_10:22 and 2Sa_5:23 that Urim and Thummim did not consist merely in answering Yes and No, but God by it gave answers, which could by no means be gotten by the lot. The Sept. reading is, therefore, nothing but a subjective and erroneous opinion of the translators.
1Sa_14:43 sq. Jonathan thinks death unavoidable: Lo, I must die.—Saul confirms this with an oath: “God do so and more also,” comp. 1Sa_3:17. Both hold the erroneous opinion that a sinful promise or oath must be kept. That the lot fell on Jonathan meant only, as a divine disposition, that the person was discovered on whom, according to Saul’s opinion, rested the fault, by reason of which God’s answer to his question was silence. Against both rises the people’s voice as the voice of God. The question [1Sa_14:45] “Shall Jonathan die?” and the answer: “Far be it,” express the sorrowful astonishment and the energetic protest of the people who were inspired by Jonathan’s heroic deed and its brilliant result. But the decisive fact for the people was the firm conviction that God was with him and carried out through him this deed of deliverance. Over against Saul’s oath the people set their own: “As the Lord liveth, there shall not a hair of his head fall to the ground.” To the second “wrought” (1Sa_14:45) supply the object of the first: “this great salvation.” “And the people rescued him,” not, as Ewald says, by putting another to die in his stead, but solely by their energetic protest, in the face of which Saul is obliged to let his oath go unfulfilled. For a similar intervention of the people see Liv. 8:35.—[Patrick: They did not rescue him by force and violence, but by their petition to Saul and the reason they gave for it. Josephus saith that “by their prayers and vows to God they delivered him.” They were too forward indeed to swear directly against Saul’s oath; but of the two, his being the most rash, God was pleased to annul it, and absolve him from it.—Wordworth: Observe the humiliation to which Saul is reduced by his disobedience.—Kitto: The enlightened consciences and generous enthusiasm of the people.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:46. The closing statement. Saul desisted from further pursuit of the Philistines, with whose overthrow as far as it could be effected under the harmful consequences of his blind zeal, he had to be contented. The Philistines went back to their own land. In spite of this serious defeat their strength was not broken (comp. 1Sa_14:52). The fact that Saul desisted from pursuit shows that he understood the Lord’s silence as a denial, and was obliged to recognize as the cause of it not Jonathan’s conduct, but his own arbitrary and rash procedure.
II. Summary account of Saul’s wars and family-relations. 1Sa_14:47-52
1Sa_14:47-48. And Saul had taken the kingdom, then he fought, or: “When Saul had taken the kingdom, he fought.” The words do not stand in pragmatical connection with the preceding narrative of the battle against the Philistines, as if the intention was to state that thus (by this victory) Saul gained royal authority (Then., Keil). His accession to the throne is mentioned merely as starting-point for the historical-statistical statement of the various wars which he carried on from the beginning of his government. The already-related war against the Ammonites is here again mentioned, and of the war against the Philistines it is said, in accordance with the design of this interposed section, at the end (1Sa_14:52), that it extended throughout his whole reign. His whole government was a warlike one. Wars are here mentioned, of which nothing is elsewhere said. What is said of his wars before and after this is determined by the theocratic point of view, and is designed to show how Saul, in fulfilling his royal calling (essentially a warlike one), came into principial17 conflict with the theocratic task and significance of the kingdom, and therefore incurred of necessity the judgment of God. The wars, which he had to carry on with his enemies roundabout, are the following: against the Moabites and Ammonites in the East, against the Edomites in the South, against the kings of Zobah in the Northeast (Zobah, a district of Syria, lay probably north-east of Damascus, between the Euphrates and the Orontes, see 2Sa_8:3 [“perhaps included the eastern flank of the mountain-chain which shuts in Cœle-Syria on that side, the high land about Aleppo, and the more northern portion of the Syrian desert” (Geo. Rawlinson in Smith B. D.).—Tr.]), and against the Philistines in the West. Thus the “roundabout” is pictured to us. The word יַרְשִׁיעַ [Eng. A. V. “vexed”18] indicates the point of view from which these wars are to be regarded as victories: he declared guilty (Keil: by deeds), the Hiph. [causative] of the verb being often used of judges (Exo_22:8; Deu_25:1; Job_32:3), he inflicted punishment, or executed judgment against these nations, because they warred against God’s people and thus opposed the Lord’s designs with respect to Israel. They were national wars, which Saul carried on for the honor of the Lord and of His people.—Saul’s development of power against the Amalekites is made specially prominent; he “gathered strength” [וַֹיַּעַשׂ חַיִל, Eng. A. V. incorrectly: “gathered a host”]. This war against the robbing, plundering hereditary enemy, the Amalekites, is in the next chapter described “from the theocratical point of view” (Then.).
1Sa_14:49-51. Saul’s household and family. Three sons are mentioned: Jonathan, Ishwi and Malchishua. Instead of Ishwi in 1Sa_31:2; 1Ch_8:33; 1Ch_9:39, is Abinadab. In the last two passages a fourth is named, Eshbaal,19 who is certainly the same with Ishbosheth, 2Sa_2:8. The daughters: Merab and Michal.—Saul’s wife: Ahinoam, a daughter of Ahimaaz.—[Bib. Comm.: “It is not improbable that Ahimaaz may have been of the priestly family (Ahimaaz was son of Zadok, 2Sa_15:36), and perhaps it may have been owing to such a connection that Ahijah was brought into prominence by Saul. If there is any truth in the above supposition, it would be an indication that Saul was not married till after his election to the throne.” But to this last there are serious objections, especially the age of Jonathan, and the whole is a mere conjecture.—Tr.]—Saul’s captain of the host, general-in-chief, Abiner, abbreviated (1Sa_14:51) Abner, his cousin; in the next verse this relationship is stated more fully: Kish, Saul’s father, and Neri, Abner’s father, were sons of Abiel.20
1Sa_14:52 connects itself as to subject-matter with 1Sa_14:46, in order, after the general view of Saul’s wars, to show that he had to carry on a hard struggle with one of these peoples, the Philistines, all his life, and so give the ground for the necessity that Saul was under, of forming and maintaining a central body of markedly valiant men about him. This finishes the historical-statistical sketch of Saul as a warrior-prince, to which belongs also from this point of view the mention of his three sons, who fell in battle with him (1Sa_31:2), and of Abner, his general. The national-historical significance of Saul as a king whose mission was essentially that of a warrior is thereby definitely characterized. At the same time the description of Saul as theocratic king is here ended. In what follows is shown how the Lord transferred the theocratic mission from him to another man. Ewald: According to the prophetical perception of the Work, Saul ceases with chap. 14. to be the true king, and therefore the history of his reign is here concluded with the necessary general remarks about him.”—We cannot (with Then.) hold that the remark (1Sa_14:52) “when Saul saw any strong or valiant man, he took him,” is intended to introduce the narrative of David’s coming to Saul after the victory over Goliath (1Sa_18:2), on the ground that here it drags too much after what precedes. It would, if we accepted Thenius’ view, stand too abruptly and too far from this narrative of David. It rather concludes the foregoing account, and connects itself with the account of the first formation of a standing army by a levy from the people (1Sa_13:2).
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. The history of Saul up to this time shows with what splendid gifts he was endowed for the fulfilment of his theocratic royal calling, to free from their enemies, especially the Philistines (1Sa_9:16), the covenant-people, who had been united and raised into a new religious-moral life by Samuel. The following narrative of his victorious wars against the enemies of God’s people proves that he fulfilled his war-mission. “A knightly king stood at the head of the people, who formed about him a school of heroes and drew to him a vigorous army, and a knightly spirit pervaded the whole people. But Saul led the way in warlike spirit no less than in all virtues of self-denial and self-discipline,—he was a warrior-hero, who maintained on the throne the moderation of his former life.” (Schlier., 25 [König Saul, 9]).
2. Yet there shows itself in the development of Saul’s inner life (13, 14) a principle, which is directly in conflict with the theocratic principle of the Israelitish kingdom: that of human self-will, which does not subject itself in humility and unconditional believing obedience to the divine will, and fails to establish the absolute supremacy of the latter among the people of God. At the beginning of the fulfilment of his warrior-calling against the Philistines Saul was put to the proof, whether in his royal office he would master his own will and yield unconditional obedience to the word and will of God as true king of His people. This test Saul did not stand, when he was required to follow the divine directions as given him by Samuel’s mouth, which should have been for him God’s mouth. As bearer of the theocratic-royal office bestowed on him, he set himself in conflict with the theocratic-prophetic watch-office, which Samuel held that he might be the organ of the royal will and command of the covenant-God of Israel. He thus denied the principle of the unconditional sovereignty of God, which was to be set forth and unfolded in his kingdom. It was therefore certain that God’s holiness and justice could not permit his kingdom to be permanent (1Sa_13:13-14).
3. The first test of faith, which Saul had to submit to, was a theocratic necessity; for Saul must first prove to the Lord by deeds that he wished to be unconditionally subject to the Lord’s will, to yield obedience (putting down all self-will) to His word which was to be revealed to him by prophets, and to trust alone to His help. Such tests as Saul had to stand, are, in the life of princes and peoples, as of individuals, in the church as in every member of God’s people, of divine significance; failure to stand them leads away from the Lord, brings to naught the Lord’s purposes, results in misfortune and destruction. The individual elements of Saul’s probation, the typical significance of which elements for all times and circumstances of the kingdom of God is obvious, are found partly in his outward position, partly in his inner life. The external position of Saul, as to time and place, was one of extreme distress. In consequence of Jonathan’s successful coup de main, the Philistines were advancing with a powerful army. The people of Israel, whom he had summoned after Jonathan’s heroic exploit (1Sa_13:3) to battle against the Philistines, became disheartened and despondent, and dispersed themselves; even the permanent band, which he had gathered around him, lost courage and began to disband. The seventh day had come, and Samuel, who had bidden him wait till he came to Gilgal to sacrifice for the people and announce God’s will, had not yet made his appearance. This distressing and dangerous position (as he himself 1Sa_13:11-12 intimates) gave occasion in his heart to the temptation to act contrary to God’s will and command. In the first place fear of the threatening dangers seized on his heart; to fear joined itself impatience, which prevented him from waiting out the time appointed by Samuel; alongside of the impatience was doubt of the trustworthiness of the divine promise given him through Samuel; this produced unquiet in his mind, which drove him to take self-willed measures to help himself, and dissipated more and more his trust in God; then came sophistical calculation by his carnally obscured understanding; his heart-frame towards God of immovable trust and unconditional obedience was given up. It was the root of unbelief from which all this sprang.—The consequences of this unstood trial of faith show themselves straightway in two directions: 1) for Saul’s inner life: over against Samuel, or, what is the same thing, over against the holy and just God (who had addressed Himself to his conscience through Samuel’s question “what hast thou done?”) he does not follow the exhortation of his conscience, sorrowfully and penitently to confess his guilt, but, on the one hand, he seeks to excuse and justify himself by pointing to the certainly threatening dangers, as if he had done nothing but his duty, carrying his defence to the extent of an untrue reproach of Samuel (“thou camest not at the set time”), and, on the other hand, he declares his conduct to be thoroughly pious and God-fearing, affirming that he desired simply before the battle began to seek in sacrifice the Lord’s face, while in fact this sacrifice against Samuel’s express command had its deepest root in the unbelief of his heart, wherein he turned from God to his own flesh and blood, and showed himself openly disobedient to the will of God. The self-justification of the impenitent heart leads to unclearness and untruthfulness, since lies and truth are mixed together; self-justification before the Lord is inseparable from self-deceit and hypocrisy. Here begins the unsteadiness and passionate character of Saul’s inner life, as we see it afterwards (chap. 14) time and again, in all the external success of his arms, in all the prosperity of his warlike enterprises. 2) In respect to his theocratic royal calling followed the divine judgment: “Thy kingdom shall not stand, for thou hast not kept the command of the Lord.” The house of Saul, which otherwise would have held the theocratic kingdom permanently, is here declared to have lost it, because Saul had not fulfilled the fundamental condition of unconditional obedience of faith. The judicial sentence is more fully expressed after the second trial (chap. 15). There the divine judgment proceeds further to reject his person in consequence of continued disobedience; here we have first the rejection of his house, so far as, beginning from him, it might have become the permanent possessor of the theocratic royalty. The divine judgment, which is completed by this word of Samuel, was a righteous one, for “in this way Saul strove, so far as in him lay, to change the Israelitish theocracy (in which God would be King of Israel and by His servants, the prophets, rule in affairs of state and war) into such a kingdom as the heathen had, whose kings did everything according to their own pleasure. Saul strove after unrestrained freedom and authority, but thus became a slave to desire, driven by an evil spirit, and ripe for speedy destruction” (Roos, Einl. in d. bibl. Gesch. [Introd. to Bib. Hist.], 2, 271).
4. Jonathan’s second bold deed of arms (1Sa_14:1-15) is, in contrast with Saul’s failure to stand the trial of faith, an example of victorious heroic faith, which consists in unconditional but humble reliance on the almighty help of the Lord (“perhaps the Lord will, etc.,” 1Sa_14:6), does not, in this confident reliance, fearfully weigh and reckon the much or little of human means of accomplishment (“there is no restraint to the Lord, etc.,” 1Sa_14:6), but yet wisely and prudently observes the signs given by the Lord, governs its conduct by them, and then in God’s power performs great things (“there came a fright of God,” 1Sa_14:15).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa_14:1-15. The test to which faith is put: 1) When the need rises higher and higher, and threatens destruction. 2) When the divine help comes not at the expected hour. 3) When human support wholly fails. 4) When one’s own heart doubts and is afraid.
1Sa_14:8-15. Doubt of the heart tempted by unbelief as to the Lord’s power and help: 1) Its root in the yet unconquered self (self-love, self-will, self-conceit). 2) Its manifestation in disobedience to the will of the Lord. 3) Its fruit the loss of the blessings of divine grace.
The question of conscience: What hast thou done? 1) What it signifies in the sight of the Lord (1Sa_14:8-10). 2) With what excuses an evil conscience answers it (1Sa_14:11-12). 3) What judicial answer the word of God gives to it (1Sa_14:13-14).
The steps in the fall from faith into unbelief: 1) Unrest through doubt and fear. 2) Sin in impatience and disobedience. 3) Excuses that have no ground. 4) Accusation by God’s Spirit. 5) Sentence by God’s word.—[It is questionable whether we should regard Saul as having had true faith in God.—Tr.]
J. Disselhoff: First steps towards the fall of an already approved servant of God: 1) From what hidden corner of the heart has come forth the stumbling-block which made him stumble. 2) What has hindered him, after stumbling, from again walking upright on his feet.—[Henry: It is not sinning that ruins men, but sinning and not repenting; falling and not getting up again.—Tr.]
[1Sa_13:14. Henry: Was not this hard, to pass so severe a sentence upon him and his house for a single error, and that seemed so small, and in excuse for which he had so much to say? No. (1) The Lord here shows that there is no sin little, because no little God to sin against. (2) He shows that disobedience to an express command, though in a small matter, is a great provocation; as in the case of our first parents. (3) He warns us to take heed of our spirits; for that which to men may seem but a small offence, yet to Him that knows from what principle, and with what disposition of mind it is done, may appear a heinous crime.—Tr.]
[1Sa_13:6-7. “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.”
1Sa_13:10. A few minutes more, and how great a calamity might have been averted, how great a blessing gained! (Saul could wait no longer, and yet Samuel came when he had just finished the burnt-offering, and had not yet offered the peace-offering, 1Sa_13:9.)
1Sa_13:12. “And I forced myself.” Reluctant and self-deceived disobedience.
1Sa_13:13. The folly of disobeying God.
1Sa_13:14. “Jehovah hath sought him a man after his own heart:” 1) A man devout, not merely by fits and starts, but profoundly and habitually. 2) A man not self-willed, who would rule according to the command of God through the prophets. 3) A man who when he had done wrong would penitently submit to God’s chastening, invincibly trust in God’s goodness, and faithfully strive to live more according to God’s will. (In these and similar points, Saul and David might be contrasted.) Maurice: This was the man after God’s own heart, the man who thoroughly believed in God, as a living and righteous Being; who in all changes of fortune clung to that conviction; who could act upon it, live upon it; who could give himself up to God to use him as He pleased; who could be little or great, popular or contemptible, just as God saw fit that he should be. … How many of us feel that those who have committed grave outward transgressions may nevertheless have had hearts which answered more to God’s heart, which entered far more into the grief and the joy of His Spirit, than ours ever did! (See the whole Sermon in “Prophets and Kings.”)—Tr.]
1Sa_14:1 sqq. S. Schmid: When God has resolved to accomplish something great and wonderful through a man, He knows how in a wonderful manner so to move his spirit that, without tempting God and with a believing heart, he attempts that which is above his nature and his power.
1Sa_14:6. Berlenb. Bible: “There is no restraint to the Lord,” etc. These words have such force that nothing can be added to them without abating their force. In so saying Jonathan goes through all apparent great perils with a spirit becoming a soul at once righteous and composed. It is true, O God, that it is no harder for Thee to deliver us by few than by many. Our strength counts for as little before Thee as our weakness.—The measure of faith is also the measure of God’s help. Such a soul undertakes everything with heartiness because it does not long consider. It knows that God can do everything, and that is enough for it. The more it doubts, too, its own powers, the more it trusts the power of God.—S. Schmid: Two points has a pious man in his performances especially to observe: one is that his faith shall confide in God’s promise; the other, that he shall not doubt God’s almightiness.—[Hope, founded on faith: 1) It is certain—a matter of faith—that the Lord can save by many or by few. 2) It may be—a matter of hope—that He will work for us. (People often say: “I have faith that we shall succeed in this enterprise.” That is not properly a matter of faith, but only of hope. We believe that God can give success when it is His will; we are persuaded that our enterprise is righteous and would have desirable results; therefore we hope that it may prove to be God’s will to give us success.)—Tr.]
1Sa_14:18-19. Starke: That is the way with all hypocrites; when a rainburst of misfortune falls upon them, they are quite devout, pray industriously and seek defence and protection from God; but when the storm is past they run off again, and ask not after God, Luk_17:17.—[Wordsworth: Saul is a specimen of that class of persons who show a certain reverence and zeal for the outward forms of religion, and even a superstitious reliance on them, but are not careful to cherish the inner spirit of vital religion.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:23. The Scriptures ascribe everything to God. And in order not to ascribe everything to the creature, they do not say: Jonathan delivered Israel, but, God saved Israel. From this we can see that a soul which truly resigns itself to God is in His hand only a poor instrument, which He is wont to use with greater advantage the less it works anything of itself, but merely follows the hand and the will of God.
1Sa_14:24. [Wordsworth: Observe his egotism. He does not call them the enemies of the Lord, but he says: “that I may be avenged on mine enemies;” and he speaks in this self-confident tone even after that the Lord had just marvellously interfered to save Israel.—Tr]—Cramer: To make a vow inconsiderately is censurable, and woe to those who deliberate without consulting God, Isa_30:1.—Hall: Hypocrisy is always covered with a blind and ungrateful zeal, Rom_10:2.—S. Schmid: The lack of foresight in those who fancy themselves quite too wise or are carried away by violent passions often lets the fairest opportunity of accomplishing something good slip between the hands.
1Sa_14:32. S. Schmid: A sin seldom remains alone, and from one error always arise several others.—Hall: A hasty vow commonly brings much mischief after it.
1Sa_14:33. Berlenb. Bible: Thus do hypocrites know how to see evil in others, but not in themselves.—Osiander: That is the way with hypocrites, they will never be guilty, but others shall always be so.
1Sa_14:35. Cramer: Hypocrites have the appearance of holiness; but the power of godliness they deny, 2Ti_3:5 : Eze_33:31.—Osiander: Hypocrites wish to be regarded as if they were promoting the honor of God and of His name, and yet in fact are seeking nothing but their own honor.
1Sa_14:36. Starke: A Christian should begin nothing till he is first assured of the divine will.—Berlenb. Bible: Saul as a picture of stout self-reliance always wishes only to carry out his purposes without God, to get booty, make the victory greater, annihilate the enemy. It never came into his head to ask God’s counsel.
1Sa_14:38-39. Cramer: God’s eyes look at faith, and without that it is impossible to please God, Jer_5:3; Heb_11:6.—S. Schmid: Unjust sentences and rash oaths should not be approved, but condemned at least by silence.
1Sa_14:40. S. Schmid: It is wise conduct not to oppose the authorities, but to be pleased with their words and works, so long as God’s word and conscience permit.
1Sa_14:42-44. S. Schmid: He who has a good conscience is not afraid of God’s judgment, Joh_3:21. To push justice to extremes is often to do the greatest injustice.—[Scott: Those who are indulgent to their own sins are generally severe in animadverting on the sins of others; and such as most disregard God’s authority are most impatient when their own commands appear to be slighted.—Tr.]
1Sa_14:1-15. The believing spirit of God’s soldiers against the enemies of God’s kingdom: 1) It confers not with flesh and blood, but makes the boldest ventures alone with its God (1Sa_14:1-3). 2) It shrinks not back before the greatest difficulties and perils (1Sa_14:1-6). 3) It humbly leaves success to the Lord (1Sa_14:6, “perhaps,” etc.). 4) It trusts alone in God’s almightiness without regard to human might (1Sa_14:6, “there is … to the Lord,” etc.). 5) It marks the signs from the Lord, by which it becomes certain of its success (1Sa_14:7-12). 6) It gains, by God’s help, a glorious victory (1Sa_14:13-15).
1Sa_14:16-23. The Lord helps His people in the conflict against their enemies, in that 1) He suddenly and unexpectedly defeats them upon hidden paths and in a wonderful manner (1Sa_14:16-19); 2) He brings their enemies into confusion and causes them to turn their weapons against each other (1Sa_14:20); 3) The forces of His people that had yielded He rescues again and brings them back to His side (1Sa_14:21), and 4) the disheartened and despairing He collects again to His host, to be partakers in His victory.
1Sa_14:24-46. The folly of those who let themselves be ruled by carnal zeal: 1) They are thoughtless and over-hasty in their resolutions; 2) They are unintelligent and err in the means for their aim; 3) Falling heels over head they miss the goal; 4) Led astray, they carry away with them into error and sin the men who are under their influence; 5) While in self-seeking and self-will striving after good reputation before God and men, they must before God and men be put to shame.
1Sa_14:35-46. The exhortation, Let us draw near hither unto God. 1) Whereon it rests. (a) On the nearness of God to us; (b) on our duty in all things to place ourselves before God’s face. 2) What it aims at. (a) The clear knowledge of the will of God; (b) the consciousness and manifestation of our own sin before the Lord.
1Sa_14:37. God’s silence when we question Him is also an answer, which 1) calls us to earnest self-examination, in order to discover to us the impure ground in our heart, from which the question proceeds, and 2) causes us to mark the divine delay as to that which we desire in a carnal way.
1Sa_14:45. When is the people’s voice God’s voice? 1) When it is an echo of that which God by His word and His deeds of grace has spoken into the heart and conscience of the people. 2) When it is a contradiction to that which clearly opposes the word and work of God.
1Sa_14:24-45. Misuse of the name of God in the service of hypocrisy: 1) By idle swearing in over-hasty resolutions. 2) By impenitent invocation of divine help in self-willed undertakings. 3) By zeal in the name of the Lord against other people’s sins, while ignoring and concealing one’s own.
1 Samuel 14. J. Disselhoff: The time between the stumbling and the fall. We see, 1) How God’s wondrous faithfulness drives Saul not to shame at his unbelief, but only to carnal zeal; 2) How he wishes to supply the half-felt want of thorough repentance by outward service of God; 3) How therefore the further gracious respite and help of God led not to upright action but to security. [The fall of Saul may be fully and instructively traced by the help of “Historical and Theological,” Nos. 3 and 5.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1] הַלָּז, is an abbreviation of הַלָּזֶה the strengthened demonst. “that;” it is seldom found, as here, without preceding substantive. Comp. Dan_8:16; Ewald, § 103 d.
[2][This might be true of the district of Gibeah, but not of the town itself, which occupied the summit of a high rounded hill; nor does it seem necessary to put Migron near Michmash; the statement in 1Sa_14:16 rather supposes a greater distance.—Tr.]
[3][See “Textual and Grammatical” on this verse.—Tr.]
[4] מָצוּק, “poured out,” from יָצַק, then “firm,” “hard.” [Better from צוּק.—Tr.]
[5]The נְטֵה לָךְ is difficult, the rendering “turn thee,” i. e., “go,” not being allowable. It is, therefore, better to read with Ewald לְבָבֶךָ instead of בִּלְבָבֶךָ, and נָטָה, instead of נְטֵֹה, and render: “do all to which thy heart inclines.” The words: “see, I am with thee according to thy heart,” i. e., as thy heart desires, present no difficulty, so that it is unnecessary, with Then, after Sept., to insert לְבָבִי after כִּלְבָבֶךָ and read: lo, I am with thee, as thy mind (is also) my mind. The Heb. text is more appropriate to the occasion from its curtness and pregnancy.
[6]At the beginning of 1Sa_14:12 we find the fem. form for “garrison” [מצבה] instead of the usual masc. (מצב) On this Böttcher remarks: “The grammatical ground is that in 1Sa_14:12 it is said: the people (from several points) of the whole garrison cried out.” The whole is properly expressed by the feminine form. See on Gen_38:18.
[7] מַעֲנָה is the furrow which the plough makes, as in Psa_129:3. It is in stat. abs. instead of stat. const., because three nouns here stand together. Ew. § 291 a: “Sometimes the second noun of such a series seems to remain in stat. abs., so that we can only tell from the sense of the whole, the relation of the third to the two preceding. Isa_48:11; Ecc_12:13.—צֶמֶד properly “something bound,” then “a pair or yoke of oxen,” then “the ground ploughed by a yoke of oxen in a definite time,” = jugum; jugerum.
[8][For וּבִנֵי י׳ which gives no sense, read לִבִנֵי י׳.
[9][לִהְיוֹת. . .םָבְבוּ גַם—Tr.]
[10][According to 1Sa_13:5, Bethaven was northwest from Michmash, and there is therefore no contradiction here.—Tr.]
[11]Read not וַיּוֹאֶל as if from הוֹאִיל, “acted foolishly,” but וַיֹּאֶל Impf. Apoc. for וַיַֹאֲלֶה, from אָלׇה, Ges. Gr. § 76, 2 a.
[12] אַף כִּי, properly “thereto comes that,” then “let alone,” “not to mention,” and after an affirmation “all the more,” “how much more,” 2Sa_4:11; Gen. §155, 2 a. כִּי עַתָּח often serves to introduce more strongly the apodosis of a conditional sentence: “yea, then.” Ew. § 358, 2 a; Gen_31:42; Gen_43:10; Num_22:29; 2Sa_2:27. The לֹא indicates that the apodosis is a question.
[13]For the meaningless וַיַעַשׂ read וַיַעַט, Imperf. Qal. of עִיט with Dag. forte implicit. instead of וַיָּעַט, Ges. § 72, R. g. So after שָׁלָל insert Art. with Qeri.
[14] חֹטאים for חֹטְאִים with retracted vowel. Ew. § 188 c.
[15] אֶל־הרָּם “to the blood.” The change of Prep. does not alter the meaning; אֵל stands for עַל as in Jdg_6:39 (see Maur. in loc.), 2Sa_1:24; 2Sa_10:7—both sometimes occurring in the same sentence, as 1Sa_25:25; 1Sa_26:15 sqq.; 2Sa_2:9; 2Sa_20:23.
[16][That is, by the Ephod, to which was attached the breastplate with U. and T.—Tr.]
[17][Principial (Germ. prinzipiell) is “founded on, or connected with principles,” in contrast with what is accidental, inadvertent, not fundamental.—Tr.]
[18][So Philippson (schreckteer), taking the rad. meaning of the verb to be “to be unquiet.” Ges. renders: “to pronounce guilty, gain one’s cause, be victorious.”—Tr.]
[19][On the relation of Eshbaal, Ishbosheth and Ishwi, and the text in 1Sa_14:51, see “Text. and Gram.” in loco.—Tr.]
[20][So 1Sa_14:51 must be rendered instead of as in Eng. A. V.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 31, 45, 47 Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah--Hebrew, "Geba";…
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").
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52 JONATHAN’S ADVENTURE, AND THE ROUT OF THE PHILISTINES, 1Sa_14:1-23.
JONATHAN’S ADVENTURE, AND THE ROUT OF THE PHILISTINES, 1Sa_14:1-23.
1. The young man that bare his armour — An officer much like the aid-de-camp in modern service, and usually a favourite of the commander.
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1Sa_16:21.
He told not his father — For probably his father would have opposed such a daring enterprise.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 Ch. 1Sa_14:1-15. Jonathan’s deed of daring
Ch. 1Sa_14:1-15. Jonathan’s deed of daring
1. that bare his armour] A confidential attendant like the squire of the middle ages.
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But he told not his father] For fear lest he should forbid so hazardous an attempt. From this point to the end of 1Sa_14:5 we have a series of clauses introduced parenthetically to describe the circumstances under which the attack was made. 1Sa_14:6 resumes the thread of the narrative by a repetition of Jonathan’s words. The vivid detail marks the account of one familiar with the spot.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 (1) Now it came to pass.—As if in strong…
(1) Now it came to pass.—As if in strong contrast to Saul—who at Gilgal openly made light of the supernatural assistance promised by Samuel, showing plainly by his conduct on that memorable occasion that he hardly believed in the part the invisible King had laken in the history of the people—the action of Jonathan at Michmash, which led to the rout of the Philistine army, is related with some detail. Jonathan was the typical warrior of that wild and adventurous age—recklessly brave, chivalrous, and generous, possessing evidently vast strength and unusual skill in all warlike exercises. He was animated with an intense faith in the willingness and power of the Eternal to help Israel. This mighty faith in the ever-presence of the God who chose Israel, was the mainspring of the victorious power of all the great Hebrew heroes—of men like Joshua and Gideon, Barak and Samson. David, the greatest of them all, we shall see, possessed this sublime spirit of faith in a pre-eminent degree. But King Saul utterly lacked it; hence his rejection.
The young prince’s heart burned within him at the degradation which the Philistine occupation brought upon the people. His father was too prudent to engage in battle with his own feeble and disorganised forces, so Jonathan determined, with the help of the Divine Friend of Israel, to strike a blow at these insolent foes. Under any other circumstances—without the consciousness of supernatural help—to attempt such a feat of arms would have been madness; but Jonathan had an inward conviction that an unseen Arm would hold a shield before him. It is noticeable that he never communicated his desperate purpose to his father, Saul.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 JONATHAN SMITES THE PHILISTINE GAR-BISON (vers. 1-15).
JONATHAN SMITES THE PHILISTINE GAR-BISON (vers. 1-15).
Now it came to pass upon a day. Literally, "And there was a day, and Jonathan," etc.; or, as we should say, And it happened one day that Jonathan. The phrase means that Jonathan"s brave feat took place not many days after the garrison had occupied the cliff, probably only two or three, but without definitely stating how many. He told not his father. Not only because Saul would have forbidden so rash an enterprise, but because secrecy was essential to any chance of success: probably too the purpose came upon him as an inspiration from above.
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HOMILETICS.
Vers 1-12
Inspiration in Christian enterprise
The facts are
1. Jonathan, on his own responsibility, and without his father"s knowledge:resolves on an attack upon the Philistine garrison.
2. He expresses to his armour bearer his hope that God will help, and alsothe ground of that hope.
3. He proposes to regard the first encouragement from the enemy toascend the cliff as a sign of coming success.
4. The sign appearing, Jonathan advances in confidence of victory. Therecent transgression of Saul was now bearing some bitter fruit in his comparative inactivity and helplessness. It is not likely that Jonathan was ignorant of the displeasure of the prophet of God, or was surprised at the embarrassment which had come upon his father"s affairs. In seasons of disaster and wrong there are select men of God who mourn the sins of their superiors and the woes of their country. Being one of this class, Jonathan may be regarded as exhibiting some of the highest results of the instruction and influence of Samuel during the slow reformation subsequent to the victory at Ebenezer. It is in God"s heart to have pity on his people and to deliver them; but at this juncture can we not discern a wise propriety, not unmixed with retribution on the king, in conferring the honour of deliverance upon a man of piety, whose heart evidently yearned for the highest good of Israel? Thus do we see here, as in many other instances, how readily, and where not looked for, God raises up instruments to effect his purposes when the ordinary instruments fail through sin. Private enterprise can often accomplish what, in consequence of a loss of the right spirit, organised and official effort is utterly powerless to perform. The enforced inactivity of Saul, the desolations of the spoilers, and the multitudes of refugees in the caves of the mountains, must have produced a most depressing effect on the king and his followers. In their extremity, under an inspiration most pure and noble, help came in the daring enterprise of Jonathan, as recorded by the historian. It is possible that a secular mind on reading the narrative may regard the story as just one of those records of military adventure that are to be found in the annals of all warlike nations. But we are to form our estimate of the event by the light of Scripture; and when we consider it in connection with God"s revealed purpose to work out the Messianic covenant through a chosen race, the tenor of Jonathan"s life, and especially his words declaring his faith in God (ver. 6), we must then see here not a wild freak of a daring soldier, nor even a clever device for achieving merely military distinction, but a true and noble inspiration to accomplish a great work in the name of God, and for the ultimate realisation of the Divine purposes. It may be assumed that, under the present conditions of the kingdom of Christ in the world, there is frequent and full scope for endeavours corresponding, in their relation to the organised efforts of the Church and in their chief characteristics, to the effort of Jonathan in its relation to the monarchy. Likewise the same inspiration is needed for the more perfect development and successful use of the organised forces of the Church. While nations live in sin, fearful evils fester in our crowded towns, debasing and dangerous customs hold multitudes in bondage, avenues to the human mind lie untraversed by Christian men, and possibly propriety degenerates into a rigid, obstructive conservatism, there is room for men and women who dare to go and do what seems impossible, and for a fresh baptism on the hosts of God to inspire them to deeds of valour and self-denial. It is possible that spurious forms of enthusiasm may arise, and may pass for heaven-created zeal. Contagion of sentiment may obtain the force of a torrent. The emotional element in religion may be abnormally developed, and incline, under stimulus, to deeds which no sound judgment will justify. But grant all this, and more, and yet it is true that there is a pure inspiration in the service of Christ much to be coveted. Let us consider the characteristics of such a true inspiration.
I IT IS DISTINGUISHED BY INDIVIDUALITY. Whether it be found in private action or in the combined effort of the Church, it does not appear as the mere product of organisation, nor as a revival of stereotyped custom. Jonathan"s inspiration began in his own heart. It was, in the shape it took, the natural outcome of the man. Considerations of the position of affairs aroused his nature, but he was no copyist, no waiter upon other men"s deeds. Keeping the secret from his father was essential to the more perfect individuality of his feelings and his enterprise. Ideas grow in power over us when we nourish them. Sometimes, like the Apostle Paul and Jonathan, we do better not to "confer with flesh and blood, but brood over our thought and purpose, by the aid of the Spirit of God, till they become a power which must work outwards in forms true to our own personality. There is far more individuality in the Christian Church than is at present developed. When a Christian is, as the result of brooding over things, so permeated with a conviction of his obligation to Christ, a yearning to save men from sin, and a spirit of self-sacrifice, as to be mastered by these forces, he will find out some way in which his natural aptitudes and capabilities may be turned to account in Christ"s service. All great and beneficial movements have borne the stamp of individuality, from the labours of the Apostle Paul on, by Luther, up to the latest endeavours to save the waifs of our city population.
II IT CONTEMPLATES AN END CONFORMABLE TO THE END FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED. Jonathan reveals his piety and his intelligence in using language to his armour bearer to the effect that he thought it probable that the Lord might save through his instrumentality. He sought the salvation which God loves to accomplish, and for which the order of Providence was working. It is our privilege to take a wider and more spiritual view than even a devout Hebrew. There is an end contemplated by God, and being wrought out by the great sacrifice on the cross, with its concomitant influences a multitude that no man can number redeemed out of every nation, kindred, and tribe from the bondage and pollution of sin. Whoever sets his heart on any good work, conformable, and therefore tributary, to that issue, be it social amelioration, rescue of lost ones from vice, sanitary improvements, diffusion of knowledge, is so far sharer in the true inspiration. But especially is that a true and noble inspiration which not only aims at ends which, being good and moral, are so far conformable and helpful to the end for which Christ died, but aims at that spiritual salvation on which the heart of Christ was supremely set when he gave himself a ransom for us. This is the longed for issue of all those noble workers at home or abroad who visit the abodes of sin, and seek, as though they cannot refrain from it, to gather the poor degraded ones into the Saviour"s blessed fold.
III IT IS CHARACTERISED BY FREEDOM FROM PERSONAL VANITY. Jonathan"s motives were transparently pure. There was none of the restlessness of the inactive soldier craving for opportunity to display prowess; no regard for self in his self-denial and risks. His references to the Lord and the saving of the people he loved reveal a true, generous, self-sacrificing spirit. It is when works of benevolence, and especially works strictly spiritual, are devised and carried through in this spirit that we are under the influence of a true inspiration. A love of praise, a desire for prominence, fondness for being counted a great and successful worker, an unreasonable sensitiveness to apparent neglect, and kindred feelings, are the "little foxes" that steal the grapes.
IV IT IS MARKED BY IMPLICIT DEPENDENCE ON THE POWER OF GOD. Jonathan showed prudence and skill in the ascent of the precipice and in the encouragement he sought for advancing by means of the "sign;" but the feat passes out of the category of "reckless," or even, in the common usage of the term, "daring," when we note that, having the sign as a kind of answer to the prayer of his heart, he rested his success not on his skill or strength, but on the Lord, with whom there "is no restraint to save by many or by few." He was inspired every step of the way up the rocks by trust in the ever present Power which shields the faithful and works the wonders of redemption for his people. Here lies the secret of the true inspiration that has wrought so powerfully in the Church of God in its purest and most successful eras. The apostles felt that it was not of man, but of God, to save. A few feeble Jews were mighty, through God, to the pulling down of many a stronghold. It is this which enables the missionary to toil on amidst the loathsome vices of the savage, and the friend of the outcast at home to attempt what none others dare.
V IT IS MARKED ALSO BY THE BUOYANCY OF HOPE. When Jonathan said, "It may be that the Lord will work for us," it was not to express uncertainty, but to cheer a man of less faith, and to indicate the belief that God was about to use him in his service. He rightly interpreted his yearning to be used as an inspiration of God, and when the "sign" came that assured him that his heart"s desire was accepted, he moved on with a cheerful spirit. "Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel." The modesty of the assurance! "The hand of Israel; not my hand." This buoyant spirit that looks on in hope founded on deep conviction of God"s faithfulness inspires every one who is truly called to labour for Christ. The tone of the apostles all through their toils is one of cheer. The golden gates of the eternal city seem ever to shine before them, and they hear already the new song. Every one on whom this true apostolic succession has come enters into sympathy with them, and no longer toils with dejected brow and despairing heart.
General lessons.
1. There is abundant encouragement for Christian work in the historicallyillustrated fact that God does accomplish great results through feeble and varied means.
2. It is a question with each of us whether we really believe that there "isno restraint with the Lord," and whether lack of faith in this great truth does not explain much in our life and labour which we deplore.
3. We may ask ourselves whether there is anything in the present state ofthe Church and the world affording scope for our special exertion after the manner of Jonathan"s.
4. It should be an inquiry as to whether we are open to receive andwelcome an inspiration from the Lord to enter on some work involving self-denial and difficulty.
5. If we think we are inspired to undertake some difficult work for Christ,we should discriminate between sudden impulse and mature irresistible longing; and, seeking counsel of God, follow the signs of Providence.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1-15. (GEBA, MICHASH.)
The heroism of Jonathan.
and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised, etc. (ver. 6). The character of Jonathan is one of the bravest, most generous: devout, and blameless in history. Of his earliest years nothing is recorded. When first mentioned he was in command of a thousand soldiers, (1Sa_13:2) and his overthrow of the Philistine garrison in Geba was "the first act of the war of independence;" but (as in the case of Moses Act_7:25) it failed to deliver his people from oppression. His attack upon the enemy"s camp at Michmash, which is here described, resulted in victory. He inherited the physical strength and courage of Saul; but in other respects presented a contrast to his father; exemplified the best, as the latter exemplified some of the worst features of the age, and set a pattern of true heroism for all time.
What makes a hero? a heroic mind Expressed in action, in endurance proved.
I EXALTED ASPIRATIONS (ver. 1) which
1. Are cherished in adverse circumstances (1Sa_13:22; ver. 2). Instead of being crushed by adversity, "a heroic mind" bears it patiently, rises above it, and aspires to higher things. (Act_21:13) In its midst it shines all the more brightly, like gold purified by the fire.
2. Lead to courageous projects. Jonathan often looks across the ravine between Bozez and Seneh (vers. 4, 5), and revolves in his mind how he can strike a blow at the apparently inaccessible fortress of the enemy; and at length goes forth secretly in the night or at early dawn, attended only by his armour bearer. To communicate his project to others, even if it were as yet clear to himself, would be to hinder or defeat its accomplishment. He feels called to attempt something great, and "confers not with flesh and blood.
3. Are inspired by the Divine Spirit. More of "the mind of the Lord was doubtless made known to Jonathan than to the king, notwithstanding the presence of the priest with him (ver. 3). What appears presumption to others is often to one Divinely taught the simple path of duty.
II EMINENT FAITH (ver. 6), including
1. A firm conviction of the covenant relation of God to his people. "These uncircumcised" in opposition to Israel. Jonathan"s thought was not of himself, but of his people, and of the promises and purposes of God concerning them.
2. A lofty conception of the unlimited power of God to save them. "There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few" (2 Chronicles. Mic_2:7) In comparison with his might the strength of man, whether much or little, is nothing. He has often used "the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty", (1Co_1:27, 1Co_1:28) and he can do so again. Faith is shown in contemplating the power of God, and is thereby greatly increased.
3. Humble reliance on the gracious cooperation of God on their behalf. "It may be that the Lord will work for us." He is ready and able to afford help, but whether it will be given in connection with a particular course of action is, without express direction or promise, uncertain; and the indications of his will should be followed with humility, hopefulness, and confidence. "The measure of faith is the measure of God"s help." "All things are possible to him that believeth.
III PRUDENT WATCHFULNESS (vers. 9, 10).
1. In contrast to reckless adventure. Faith in God gives insight into the hidden principles and tendencies of things, teaches the adoption of appropriate means, and makes men calm as well as fearless when others lose self-control, and adopt foolish and dangerous expedients. (Act_27:25, Act_27:30)
2. In ascertaining the prospects of success. If the enemy are on the alert and exhibit courage, it will be vain to expect to take them by surprise (ver. 9); but if they feel themselves secure in their position, are careless and slack, and blinded by self-confidence, "the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel" (ver. 12).
3. In working wisely with a view to that end. God works by means, and not without them, and the wisest means are the most successful.
IV DARING ENERGY (vers. 11-14) in
1. Enduring great risk.
2. Putting forth immense effort. "Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees." It is a severe as well as a dangerous climb to reach the point where the conflict begins.
3. Following up every advantage to the utmost. "When he came in full view of the enemy they both discharged such a flight of arrows, stones, and pebbles from their bows, crossbows, and slings that twenty men fell at the first onset, and the garrison fled in a panic.
V INSPIRING SYMPATHY (vers. 7, 13). A believing and heroic spirit begets the same spirit in others.
1. At first those with whom it comes into closest contact it may be a
single individual.
1. Afterwards a host (vers. 21, 22).
2. And their aid contributes to the general result. "The history of battles should teach us the mighty power of sympathetic relations.
VI DIVINE APPROVAL.
1. Expressed in the overthrow of the enemy bringing them into confusion (ver. 15), turning them against one another (ver. 16), and saving Israel from their oppression, as well as in the Providential ordering of all things that contributed to it.
2. In commendation of "the spirit of faith in which the enterprise was undertaken and carried out.
3. Recognised by all the people. "He hath wrought with God this day" (ver. 45) wrought effectually through his favour and power. The day was won by Jonathan; still more by God. "So the Lord saved Israel that day" (ver. 23). And to him the glory must be ascribed. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 13, 24, 37, 43, 45 Come, and let us go over to the Philistine…
1Sa_14:1-23
Come, and let us go over to the Philistine garrison.
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Jonathans exploit at Michmash
It is evident that, Saul had no thought at this time of making an attack on the Philistines. How could he, wish soldiers so poorly armed and so little to encourage them? Samuel does not appear to have been with him. But, in his company was a priest, Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, grandson of Eli, perhaps the same as Ahimelech, afterwards introduced. Saul still adhered to the forms of religion; but he had too much resemblance to the Church of Sardis--Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. The position of the army of Israel with reference to the Philistines seems to have been very similar to what it was afterwards when Goliath defied the army of the living God. The Israelites could only look on, in helpless inactivity. But just as the youthful spirit of David was afterwards roused in these circumstances to exertion, so on the present occasion was the youthful spirit of Jonathan. It was not the first time that he had attacked the garrison of the Philistines. (1Sa_13:3.)
But what he did on the former occasion seems to have been under more equal conditions than the seemingly desperate enterprise to which be betook himself now. A project of unprecedented daring came into his mind. He took counsel with no one about it. A single confidant and companion was all that he thought of--his armour bearer, or aide-de-camp. And even him he did not so much consult as attach. Come, said he, 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 by the Lord to save by many or by few. No words are needed to show the daring character of this project. The one point of view in which there was the faintest possibility of success was that the Lord God might favour the enterprise. The God of their fathers might work for them, and if He did so there was no restraint with Him to work by many or by few. Had He not worked by Ehud alone to deliver their fathers from the Moabites? Had he not worked by Shamgar alone, when with his ox goad he slew six hundred Philistines? Had he not worked by Samson alone in all his wonderful exploits? Might he not work that day by Jonathan and his armour bearer, and, after all, only produce a new chapter in that history which had already shown so many wonderful interpositions? Jonathans mind was possessed by the idea. After all, if he failed, he could but lose his life. It is in this working of faith that must be regarded as the most characteristic feature of the attempt of Jonathan. He showed himself one of the noble heroes of faith, not unworthy to be enrolled in the glorious record of the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews. What encouragement is here for every Christian worker! Dont despond when you seem to fail in your first and most direct endeavour. But Jonathans faith in God was called to manifest itself in a way very different from that in which the faith of most young persons has to be exercised now. Faith led Jonathan to seize sword and spear, and hurry out to an enterprise in which he could only succeed by risking his own life and destroying the lives of others. We are thus brought face to face with a strange but fascinating development of the religious spirit--military faith. The subject has received a new and wonderful illustration in our day in the character and career of that great Christian hero, General Gordon. No one imagines that without his faith Gordon would have been what he was or could have done what he did. It gave him a conviction that he was an instrument in Gods hands, and that when he was moved to undertake anything as being Gods will, he would be carried through all difficulties, enabled to surmount all opposition, and to carry the point in face of the most tremendous odds. And to a great extent the result verified the belief. One is almost disposed to envy Jonathan, with his whole powers of mind and body knit up to the pitch of firmest and most dauntless resolution, under the inspiration that moved him to this apparently desperate enterprise. All the world would have rushed to stop him, insanely throwing away his life, without the faintest chance of escape. But a voice spoke firmly in his bosom--I am not throwing away my life. And Jonathan did not want certain tokens of encouragement. It was something that his armour bearer neither flinched nor remonstrated. Whether in the way of friendly banter or otherwise, the garrison, on perceiving them, invited them to come up, and they would show them a thing. Greatly encouraged by the sign, they clambered up on hands and feet till they gained the top of the rock. Then, when nothing of the kind was expected, they fell on the garrison and began to kill. So sudden and unexpected an onslaught threw the garrison into a panic. And thus the faith of Jonathan had a glorious reward. The inspiration of faith vindicated itself, and the noble self-devotion that had plunged into this otherwise desperate enterprise, because there was no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few, led thus to a triumph more speedy and more complete than even Jonathan could have ventured to dream of.
1. This incident is full of lessons for modern times.
1. First, it shows what wide and important results may come from individual conviction. Did not the Reformation begin through the steadfastness of Luther, the miners son of Eisleben, to the voice that spoke out so loudly to himself? Did not Carey lay the foundation of the modern mission in India, because he could not get rid of that verse of Scripture. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature? Did not Livingstone persevere in the most dangerous, the most desperate enterprise of our time, because he could not quench the voice that called him to open up Africa or perish? Learn, everyone, from this, never to be faithless to any conviction given to you, though, as far as you know, it is given to you alone.
2. This narrative shows what large results may flow from individual effort. Think how many children have been rescued by Dr. Barnardo, how many have been emigrated by Miss Macpherson, how many souls have been impressed by Mr. Moody, how many orphans have been eared for by Mr. Muller, how many stricken ones have been relieved in the institutions of John Bost.
3. Lastly, we may learn from this narrative that the true secret of all spiritual success lies in our seeking to be instruments in Gods hands, and in our lending ourselves to Him, to do in us and by us whatever is good in His sight. It was not Jonathans project that was to be carried out; it was the Lords cause that was to be advanced. Jonathan had no personal ends in this matter. He was willing to give up his life, if the Lord should require it. It is a like consecration in all spiritual service that brings most blessing and success. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
The battle of Michmash
These were evil days for the people of Israel. But it was in these dark days that Jonathan shone so famous. It is yet true that difficulties prove our mettle, and that the greater the hardship or peril, the more is the victory worth telling.
I. The presence of the enemy should rouse our courage. Is there not need for more chivalry among the soldiers of Christ? How sin lords it over us, even in England. Intemperance, lust, cruelty, ignorance, are the enemies of our ]and; and they do almost as they like; they are slaying our people, starving our children, dishonouring our women. Think, for instance, of the history of one gin palace Where are our Jonathans? If we could not tolerate the presence of an invading foe how can we bear to see the arrogance and cruelty of the enemies of Jesus Christ in this so-called Christian land? It was Jonathan who conceived the plan of attacking the Philistines; which leads us to say--princes should set the example. Officers, to the front. Have you wealth?--use it as becomes a prince of God. Have you learning?--use it to slay ignorance. How the example of Lord Shaftesbury has animated weaker men, and made them feel like the armour bearer of Jonathan
II. It is true that earnest leaders should not lack brave followers. We are not told the name of the young man who was Jonathans armour bearer, but he was worthy of the situation. Listen to him: Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. As if he had said, Look at me; do I look like flinching? If thou art first, I will be second! I am ready to follow thy lead: thou canst not go where I will not be close behind. If Jesus Christ could only have a Church like that armour bearer, how soon the victory would be ours! And it is yet true that the best of leaders is all the better for the knowledge that his followers will not fail him. Let those of us whose place is not to lead, yet help our commander by acting, so that whenever he looks at us he will see our faces say, I am with thee according to thy heart.
III. Jonathan knew that God can win by a minority. He said to his companion, There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. He remembered that God had promised, One shall chase a thousand, two put ten thousand to flight. If, in fighting the Lords battles, we wait till we outnumber the foe, we shall never do exploits. Joshua and Caleb were outvoted, but they said, Let us go up at once and possess it. The twelve apostles did not wait, but, in the teeth of the Sanhedrim, preached Jesus and the resurrection. At one time John Wesley was almost the only clergyman who dared the rotten eggs of the Philistines of his day, and now he and his brother have a monument in Westminster Abbey!
IV. At the battle of Michmash, we have been taught that God helps them who help themselves. God worked with the brave men who had gone alone. This trembling of God, as it is called in the margin, struck a panic into the hearts of the Philistines. This might have happened if Jonathan had not gone up, but most likely not. God works yet by means, and delights in cooperating with His people. If you want God to help you, help yourself. Climb up the hill in spite of Philistinic sneers, and when you are at the top, the earth shall quake. You will not be alone very long. Saul brought his army after the brave pair had gone alone, and the number of Sauls people increased directly, as you read in verses 21, 22. The enslaved Hebrews rose against their masters, and these also who had hid themselves. So the Lord saved Israel that day. (Thomas Champness.)
The valiant soldier
While the Philistines are making inroads upon Israel--sending out their different companies--and strengthening themselves in garrisons or strongholds--poor Saul remains, with his six hundred men, fearful and dispirited, under a pomegranate tree; a standing proof of what God had told Israel should befall them when they sinned against Him--their enemies the head, and they the tail. But God never will leave Himself without a little faithful remnant, be it ever so small, so despised, or so invisible. Havent you sometimes seen a tree of which the fruit has been gathered, with just two or three left on in some part that has been overlooked, or in the very uppermost bough, where they could not well be reached? Now, God compares the very few of His people, whom He reserves, to this: Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof. (Isa_17:6). When we look at this we need to ask, with intense earnestness, Lord, make me one of those few. Jonathan, bold as a lion, strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, says to his armour bearer, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his lather. No, he had learned not to confer with flesh and blood, when flesh and blood made him a coward in the cause of his God. When you see plainly what is your duty, however difficult, go forward. There will be many evil counsellors, who can talk much of the trials and difficulties, and make other hearts faint like their own: but, you recollect, the Lord does not like such soldiers; He would not let them stay in His army, for He well knew how catching fear is, and what sad work it makes in the camp of Israel. There is a Counsellor from whose lips you may ever hear, Fear not. Incline your ear, and come unto Him. We see the children of this world urging each other forward--overcoming endless difficulties--and accomplishing immense designs--while, too often, if Gods children have any great work which they would fain do for Him, a thousand difficulties, and ten thousand fears are started, and while they are debating the enemy is gaming ground. Oh, for one such view of our precious Master as Jonathan had! Did we thus see Him all difficulties would vanish. (Helen Plumptre.)
Room for services in the church
In the fourteenth chapter we see on the part of Jonathan what may be described as a disorderly courage. Disorderly courage has often been crowned with successes, and has therefore presented a strong temptation to ill-controlled natures. Free lances have unquestionably done good service in many a man, physical and moral. At the same time there ought to be a great central authority in all well-conducted operations. Room should always be left for genius, and for those sudden impulses of the soul which it is sometimes impossible to distinguish from inspiration: but taking the rank and file, and looking upon the Church as a whole, it will he found that a quiet exercise of discipline and a steady pursuit of paths of order will answer best in the great issue. In the Church, let us repeat, room should be found for all sorts of men: for the great king and the young soldier, for the flashing genius and the slow moving mind. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 24
CHAPTER X I X.
JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH.
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1Sa_14:1-23.
IT has sometimes been objected to the representation occurring at the end of the thirteenth chapter of the utter want of arms among the Hebrews at this time that it is inconsistent with the narrative of the eleventh. If it be true, as stated there, that the Israelites gained a great victory over the Ammonites, they must have had arms to accomplish that; and, moreover, the victory itself must have put them in possession of the arms of the Ammonites. The answer to this is, that the invasion of the Philistines subsequent to this in such overwhelming numbers seems to have been the cause of the miserable plight to which the Hebrews were reduced, and of the loss of their arms.
Whether we are to take the statement as quite literal that in the day of battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people save Saul or Jonathan, or whether we are to regard this as just an Oriental way of saying that these were the only two who had a thorough equipment of arms, it is plain enough that the condition of the Hebrew troops was very wretched. That in their circumstances a feeling of despondency should have fallen on all save the few who walked by faith, need not excite any surprise.
The position of the two armies is not difficult to understand. Several miles to the north of Jerusalem, a valley, now named Wady Suweinet, runs from west to east, from the central plateau of Palestine down towards the valley of the Jordan. The name Mûkmas, still preserved, shows the situation of the place which was then occupied by the garrison of the Philistines. Near to that place, Captain Conder* believes that he has found the very rocks where the exploit of Jonathan occurred. On either side of the valley there rises a perpendicular crag, the northern one, called in Scripture Bozez, being extremely steep and difficult of ascent. "It seems just possible that Jonathan, with immense labour, might have climbed up on his hands and his feet, and his armour-bearer after him." (*"Tent Work in Palestine.")
It is evident that Saul had no thought at this time of making any attack on the Philistines. How could he, with soldiers so poorly armed and so little to encourage them? Samuel does not appear to have been with him. But in his company was a priest, Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, grandson of Eli, perhaps the same as Ahimelech, afterwards introduced. Saul still adhered to the forms of religion; but he had too much resemblance to the Church of Sardis - "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
The position of the army of Israel with reference to the Philistines seems to have been very similar to what it was afterwards when Goliath defied the army of the living God. The Israelites could only look on, in helpless inactivity. But just as the youthful spirit of David was afterwards roused in these circumstances to exertion, so on the present occasion was the youthful spirit of Jonathan. It was not the first time that he had attacked the garrison of the Philistines. (See 1Sa_13:3.) But what he did on the former occasion seems to have been under more equal conditions than the seemingly desperate enterprise to which he betook himself now. A project of unprecedented daring came into his mind. He took counsel with no one about it. He breathed nothing of it to his father. A single confidant and companion was all that he thought of- his armour-bearer, or aide-de-camp. And even him he did not so much consult as attach. ''Come," said he, "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 by the Lord to save by many or by few." No words are needed to show the daring character of this project. The physical effort to climb on hands and feet up a precipitous rock was itself most difficult and perilous, possible only to boys, light and lithe of form, and well accustomed to it; and if the garrison observed them and chose to oppose them, a single stone hurled from above would stretch them, crushed and helpless, on the valley below. But suppose they succeeded, what were a couple of young men to do when confronted with a whole garrison? Or even if the garrison should be overpowered, how were they to deal with the Philistine host, that lay encamped at no great distance, or at most were scattered here and there over the country, and would soon assemble? In every point of view save one, the enterprise seemed utterly desperate. But that exception was a very important one. The one point of view in which there was the faintest possibility of success was, that the Lord God might favour the enterprise. The God of their fathers might work for them, and if He did so, there was no restraint with Him to work by many or by few. Had He not worked by Ehud alone to deliver their fathers from the Moabites? Had he not worked by Shamgar alone, when with his ox goad he slew six hundred Philistines? Had he not worked by Samson alone in all his wonderful exploits? Might he not work that day by Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and, after all, only produce a new chapter in that history which had already shown so many wonderful interpositions? Jonathan's mind was possessed by the idea. After all, if he failed, he could but lose his life. And was not that worth risking when success, if it were vouchsafed, might rescue his country from degradation and destruction, and fill the despairing hearts of his countrymen with emotions of joy and triumph like those which animated their fathers when on the shores of Sinai they beheld the horse and his rider cast into the sea?
It is this working of faith that must be regarded as the most characteristic feature of the attempt of Jonathan. He showed himself one of the noble heroes of faith, not unworthy to be enrolled in the glorious record of the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews. He showed himself pre-eminent for the very quality in which his father had proved deficient. Though the earnest lessons of Samuel had been lost on the father, they had been blessed to the son. The seed that in the one case fell on stony places fell in the other on good ground. While Samuel was doubtless disconsolate at the failure of his work with Saul, he was succeeding right well, unknown perhaps to himself, with the youth that said little but thought much. While in spirit perhaps he was uttering words like Isaiah's, "Then said I, I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nought and in vain," God was using him in a way that might well have led him to add, "Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." And what encouragement is here for every Christian worker! Don't despond when you seem to fail in your first and most direct endeavour. In some quiet but thinking little boy or girl in that family circle, your words are greatly regarded. And just because that young mind sees, and seeing wonders, that father or mother is so little moved by what you say, it is the more impressed. If the father or the mother were manifestly to take the matter up, the child might dismiss it, as no concern of his. But just because father or mother is not taking it up, the child cannot get rid of it. ''Yes, there is an eternity, and we ought all to be preparing for it. Sin is the soul's ruin, and unless we get a Saviour, we are lost. Jesus did come into the world to save sinners; must we not go to Him? Yes, we must be born again. Lord Jesus, forgive us, help us, save us!" Thus it is that things hid from the wise and prudent are often revealed to babes; and thus it is that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings God perfects praise.
But Jonathan's faith in God was called to manifest itself in a way very different from that in which the faith of most young persons has to be exercised now. Faith led Jonathan to seize sword and spear, and hurry out to an enterprise in which he could only succeed by risking his own life and destroying the lives of others. We are thus brought face to face with a strange but fascinating development of the religious spirit - military faith. The subject has received a new and wonderful illustration in our day in the character and career of that great Christian hero General Gordon. In the career of Gordon, we see faith contributing an element of power, an element of daring, and an element of security and success to a soldier, which can come from no other source. No one imagines that without his faith Gordon would have been what he was or could have done what he did. It is little to say that faith raised him high above all ordinary fears, or that it made him ready at any moment to risk, and if need be, to sacrifice his life. It did a great deal more. It gave him a conviction that he was an instrument in God's hands, and that when he was moved to undertake anything as being God's will, he would be carried through all difficulties, enabled to surmount all opposition, and to carry the point in face of the most tremendous odds. And to a great extent the result verified the belief. If Gordon could not be said to work miracles, he achieved results that even miracles could hardly have surpassed. If he failed in the last and greatest hazard of his life, he only showed that after much success one may come to believe too readily in one's inspiration; one may mistake the voice of one's own feeling for the unfailing assurance of God. But that there is a great amount of reality in that faith which hears God calling one as if with audible voice, and goes forth to the most difficult enterprises in the full trust of Divine protection and aid, is surely a lesson which lies on the very surface of the life of Gordon, and such other lives of the same kind as Scripture shows us, as well as the lives of those military heroes of whom we will speak afterwards, whose battle has been not with flesh and blood, but with the ignorance and the vice and the disorder of the world.
One is almost disposed to envy Jonathan, with his whole powers of mind and body knit up to the pitch of firmest and most dauntless resolution, under the inspiration that moved him to this apparently desperate enterprise. All the world would have rushed to stop him, insanely throwing away his life, without the faintest chance of escape. But a voice spoke firmly in his bosom, - I am not throwing away my life. And Jonathan did not want certain tokens of encouragement. It was something that his armour-bearer neither flinched nor remonstrated. But that was not all. To encourage himself and to encourage his companion, he fixed on what might be considered a token for them to persevere in one alternative, and desist in another. The token was, that if, on observing their attempt, the Philistines in the garrison should defy them, should bid them tarry till they came to them, that would be a sign that they ought to return. But if they should say, "Come up to us," that would be a proof that they ought to persevere. Was this a mere arbitrary token, without anything reasonable underlying it? It does not seem to have been so. In the one case, the words of the Philistines would bear a hostile meaning, denoting that violence would be used against them; in the other case they would denote that the Philistines were prepared to treat them peaceably, under the idea perhaps that they were tired of skulking and, like other Hebrews (1Sa_14:21), wishing to surrender to the enemy. In this latter case, they would be able to make good their position on the rock, and the enemy would not suspect their real errand till they were ready to begin their work. It turned out that their reception was in the latter fashion. Whether in the way of friendly banter or otherwise, the garrison, on perceiving them, invited them to come up, and they would "show them a thing." Greatly encouraged by the sign, they clambered up on hands and feet till they gained the top of the rock. Then, when nothing of the kind was expected, they fell or the garrison and began to kill. So sudden and unexpected an onslaught threw the garrison into a panic. Their arms perhaps were not at hand, and for anything they knew, a whole host of Hebrews might be hastening after their leaders to complete the work of slaughter. In this way, nearly twenty Philistines fell in half an acre of ground. The rest of the garrison taking to flight seems to have spread a panic among the host. Confusion and terror prevailed on every side. Every man's sword was against his fellow. "There was trembling in the host, in the field, and among the people; the spoilers and the garrison, they also trembled, and the earth quaked; so it was a very great trembling. Whether this implies that the terror and discomfiture of the Philistines was increased by an earthquake, or whether it means that there was so much motion and commotion that the very earth seemed to quake, it is not very easy to decide; but it shows how complete was the discomfiture of the Philistines. Thus wonderfully was Jonathan's faith rewarded, and thus wonderfully, too, was the unbelief of Saul rebuked.
Seen from the watch-tower at Gibeah, the affair was shrouded in mystery. It seemed as if the Philistine troops were retreating, while no force was there to make them retreat. When inquiry was made as to who were absent, Jonathan and his armour-bearer alone were missed. So perplexed was Saul, that, to understand the position of affairs, he had called for Ahiah, who had charge of the ark (the Septuagint reads, ''the ephod"), to consult the oracle. But before this could be done, the condition of things became more plain. The noise in the host of the Philistines went on increasing, and when Saul and his soldiers came on the spot, they found the Philistines, in their confusion, slaughtering one another, amid all the signs of wild discomfiture. Nothing loath, they joined in harassing the retreating foe. And as the situation revealed itself others hastened to take part in the fray. Those Hebrews that had come for protection within the Philistine lines now turned against them, all the more heartily perhaps because, before that, they had had to place their feelings so much under restraint. And the Hebrews that lay hid in caves and thickets and pits, when they saw what was going on, rushed forth to join in the discomfiture of the Philistines. What a contrast to the state of things that very morning! - the Israelites in helpless feebleness, looking with despair on the Philistines as they lay in their strong- hold in all the pride of security, and scattered defiant looks and scornful words among their foes; now the Philistine garrison surprised, their camp forsaken, their army scattered, and the only desire or purpose animating the remnant being to escape at the top of their speed from the land of Israel, and find shelter and security in their native country. "So the Lord saved Israel that day; and the battle passed over unto Bethaven."
And thus the faith of Jonathan had a glorious reward. The inspiration of faith vindicated itself, and the noble self-devotion that had plunged into this otherwise desperate enterprise, because there was no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few, led thus to a triumph more speedy and more complete than even Jonathan could have ventured to dream of. None of the judges had wrought a more complete or satisfactory deliverance; and even the crossing of the Red Sea under Moses had not afforded a more glorious evidence than this achievement of Jonathan's of the power of faith, or given more ample testimony to that principle of the kingdom of God, which our Lord afterwards enunciated, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence unto yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
This incident is full of lessons for modern times. First, it shows what wide and important results may come from individual conviction. When an individual heart is moved by a strong conviction of duty, it may be that God means through that one man's conviction to move the world. Modesty might lead a man to say, I am but a unit; I have no influence; it will make very little difference what I do with my conviction, whether I cherish it or stifle it. Yet it may be of just world-wide importance that you be faithful to it, and stand by it steadfastly to the end. Did not the Reformation begin through the steadfastness of Luther, the miner's son of Eisleben, to the voice that spoke out so loudly to himself? Did not Carey lay the foundation of the modern mission in India, because he could not get rid of that verse of Scripture, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature"? Did not Livingstone persevere in the most dangerous, the most desperate enterprise of our time, because he could not quench the voice that called him to open up Africa or perish? Or to go back to Scripture times. A Jewish maiden at the court of the great king of Persia becomes the saviour of her whole nation, because she feels that, at the risk of her life, she must speak a word for them to the king. Saul of Tarsus, after his conversion, becomes impressed with the conviction that he must preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and through his faithfulness to that conviction, he lays the foundation of the whole European Church. Learn, my friends, everyone, from this, never to be faithless to any conviction given to you, though, as far as you know, it is given to you alone. Make very sure that it comes from the God of truth. But don't stifle it, under the notion that you are too weak to bring anything out of it. Don't reason that if it were really from God, it would be given to others too. Test it in every way you can, to determine whether it be right. And if it stands these tests, manfully give effect to it, for it may bear seed that will spread over the globe.
Second, this narrative shows what large results may flow from individual effort. The idea may not have occurred for the first time to someone; it may have been derived by him from another; but it has commended itself to him, it has been taken up by him, and worked out by him to results of great magnitude and importance. Pay a visit to the massive buildings and well-ordered institutions of Kaiserswerth, learn its ramifications all over the globe, and see what has come of the individual efforts of Fliedner. Think how many children have been rescued by Dr. Barnardo, how many have been emigrated by Miss Macpherson, how many souls have been impressed by Mr. Moody, how many orphans have been cared for by Mr. Müller, how many stricken ones have been relieved in the institutions of John Bost. It is true, we are not promised that every instance of individual effort will bring any such harvest. It may be that we are to be content with very limited results, and with the encomium bestowed on the woman in the Gospel, ''She hath done what she could." But it is also true that none of us can tell what possibilities there are in individual effort. We cannot tell but in our case the emblem of the seventy-second Psalm may be verified, "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth."
Lastly, we may learn from this narrative that the true secret of all spiritual success lies in our seeking to be instruments in God's hands, and in our lending ourselves to Him, to do in us and by us whatever is good in His sight. Thus it was eminently with Jonathan. "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." It was not Jonathan that was to work with some help from God; it was the Lord that was to work by Jonathan. It was not Jonathan's project that was to be carried out; it was the Lord's cause that was to be advanced. Jonathan had no personal ends in this matter. He was willing to give up his life, if the Lord should require it. It is a like consecration in all spiritual service that brings most blessing and success. Men that have nothing of their own to gain are the men who gain most. Men who sacrifice all desire for personal honour are the men who are most highly honoured. Men who make themselves of no reputation are the men who gain the highest reputation. Because Christ emptied Himself, and took on Him the form of a servant, God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name. And those who are like Christ in the mortifying of self become like Christ also in the enjoyment of the reward. Such are the rules of the kingdom of heaven. "He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal"
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 17, 47 1Sa_14:1. “Garrison of the Philistines.” The advanced post mentioned…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES
1Sa_14:1. “Garrison of the Philistines.” The advanced post mentioned in 1Sa_13:23. For the situation of the armies see note on 1Sa_13:6.
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1Sa_14:2. “A pomegranate tree,” etc., rather the pomegranate, a well-known tree. “According to Jdg_20:45, a rock near Gibeah bore the name ‘Rock of the pomegranate’ (Rimmon), and was well adapted for a fortified position. It is a natural supposition that the same rock is meant here, named after the well-known pomegranate.” (Erdmann.) This is the more probable because a pomegranate tree is not sufficiently high to admit of the erection of a tent beneath its branches. “Migron.” A place of this name is mentioned in Isa_10:28. Its exact site is not known, but it lay in this neighbourhood. It may be, however, that this spot is another of the same name, as the word signifies a precipice, and the entire district is rocky and precipitous. “Six hundred men.” “His forces, then, had not increased since he came to Gibeah, as might have been expected.” (Wordsworth.)
1Sa_14:3. “Ahiah, the son of Ahitub.” This man was therefore a great-grandson of Eli. He is generally snpposed to be the same person as Abimelech, mentioned in 1Sa_22:9; 1Sa_22:11. The signification of Abijah (as it ought to be written) is “Friend of Jehovah,” and that of Abimelech is Friend of the King, viz., of Jehovah. It is quite possible, however, that Ahiah may have died without sons, and been succeeded by a brother named Abimelech. “The Lord’s priest in Shiloh.” “As Eli was so emphatically known and described as God’s priest in Shiloh, and as there is every reason to believe that Shiloh was no longer the seat of the ark (see chap 22; 1Ch_13:3-5), it is far better to refer these words to Eli.… This fragment of genealogy is a very valuable help to the chronology. The grandson of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was now High Priest; and Samuel, who was probably a few years older than Ahitub, was now an old man. All this indicates a period of about fifty years or upward from the taking of the ark by the Philistines.” (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa_14:4. “Between the passages,” etc. The ground is thus described by Robinson in his Biblical Researches—“In the gorge or valley are two hills of a conical or rather spherical form, having steep rocky sides, with small wadies running up behind each, so as almost to isolate them. One is on the side towards Geba, and the other on the side towards Michmash. These would seem to be the two rocks mentioned in Jonathan’s adventure. They are not indeed so sharp as the language of Scripture would seem to imply, but they are the only rocks of the kind in the vicinity.” In his Later Researches he says, “The ridges on either side of the valley exhibit two elevated points which project into the great wady; and the easternmost of these bluffs on each side were probably the outposts of the two garrisons of the Philistines and the Israelites. The road passes around the eastern side of the southern hill, the post of Israel, and then strikes over the western part of the northern one, the post of the Philistines and the scene of Jonathan’s adventure. These hills struck us now, more than formerly, as of sharp ascent, and as appropriate to the circumstances of the narrative. They are isolated cliffs in the valley, except so far as the low ridge, at the end of which they are found, connected them back with the higher ground on each side.”
1Sa_14:6. These uncircumcised. “It is remarkable that this epithet, used as a term of reproach, is confined almost exclusively to the Philistines. This is probably an indication of the long continued oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, and their frequent wars.” (Biblical Commentary.) “May be.” “This indicates not a doubt but the humility which was coupled with Jonathan’s heroic spirit.” (Erdmann.)
1Sa_14:10. “This shall be a sign,” etc. “All attempts to bring Jonathan’s conduct within the rules of ordinary human action are vain. Though it is not expressly said, as in the case of Gideon (Jdg_6:34), Othniel (1Sa_3:10), and others, that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, yet the whole course of the narrative, especially 1Sa_14:13-16, indicates an extraordinary Divine interposition and tends to place Jonathan on the same platform as the judges and saviours of Israel.” (Biblical Commentary.)
1Sa_14:11. “Behold the Hebrews come forth.” “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, as they were scrambling up the ridge.” (Jamieson.) “Come up to us,” etc. “They hoped to have sport with them, not supposing that they could there climb the rock.” (Clericus.)
1Sa_14:14. “Twenty men within, as it were, an half acre of land.” Rather a half furrow of a yoke of land. “This indicates the position of the fallen, after Jonathan, pressing impetuously on. had struck them down one after another, and his armour-bearer after him, had killed those that were not dead. This occurred in the space of about half a furrow in a piece of land which one with a yoke of oxen could plough in a day.” (Erdmann.) “Their terror and flight are perfectly conceivable, if we consider that the outposts of the Philistines were so stationed upon the top of the ridge of the steep mountain wall that they could not see how many were following, and the Philistines could not imagine it possible that two Hebrews would have ventured to climb the rock alone and make an attack upon them. Sallust relates a similar occurrence in connection with the scaling of a castle in the Numidian war. Bell. Jugurtha. c. 89, 90.” (Keil.)
1Sa_14:15. “The earth quaked.” Keil and others think that it merely trembled “with the noise and tumult of the frightened foe,” but there can be no reason why it should not be understood to describe a real earthquake—a supernatural interposition of God. “Just as a strong east wind” divided the waters of the Red Sea; just as the great hailstones smote the Canaanites to death “at the going down of Bethhoron” (Jos_10:11), as “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera;” “as the Lord thundered with a great thunder … and discomfited the Philistines at Ebenezer (1Sa_8:10), … so now the earth quaked at the presence of the Lord who fought for Jonathan.” (Biblical Commentary.) “A very great trembling”—“a trembling of God,” i.e., “a supernatural terror infused by God into the Philistines.” (Kiel.)
1Sa_14:16. “The watchmen of Saul looked.” This shows that the distance between the two encampments was not great. “The multitude melted away.” The Hebrew text is here very obscure. Multitude may be rendered tumult. Many read “the multitude,” or “the tumult, dispersed hither and thither.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_14:1-16
JONATHAN’S VICTORY OVER THE PHILISTINES
This victory—
I. Reveals the character of Jonathan. His words and his deeds proclaim him to have been a man of physical courage, and of humble piety. These two elements united in the character of one man make him as perfect a specimen of manhood as it is possible to find. The possession of either characteristic—and especially of the latter—gives to its possessor a claim on our respect. Courage—an absence of fear in the presence of bodily danger—a willingness to expose one’s body to risk for the sake of gaining a certain end—is a quality which is not met with in every person, and it deserves to be acknowledged and honoured wherever it is found. But there are many physically brave men who have no godliness: God, in whom they live and move and have their being, is never acknowledged by them, and their deeds of daring are undertaken and accomplished without any thought of seeking His help or rendering to Him thanksgiving for deliverance. And it cannot be denied that there are godly men who are naturally timid in the presence of bodily danger—that, although godliness has a tendency to make a man brave in every sense of the word, it does not so change his natural disposition as to make one who is constitutionally fearful bold and daring in a remarkable degree. But when a courageous man is a man of God—when his deeds of daring are undertaken in dependence upon God, and when he acknowledges Him in all his ways, he is a man in the highest sense of the word, and a consciousness of God’s favour increases his natural courage and makes him willing to do and to dare anything in the path of duty. That Saul was a physically brave man we have abundant proof. But he had now been for some time in the field, and had evidently done nothing. So far as can be gathered from the Scripture record, he had remained inactive since his interview with Samuel. We can but contrast his present hesitation with his decision in relation to the Ammonite invasion, and see in the change which had come over him how departure from God may make a naturally courageous man timid and hesitating. But Jonathan evidently added to his father’s natural bravery a spirit of humble dependence upon God, and reminds us of Israel’s first warlike leader Joshua, in whom were also united these two noble characteristics. “Let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison” speaks for the courage of the warrior-prince, while “It may be that the Lord will work for us” tells of his godly character.
II. Reveals God’s approval of His servant’s undertaking. This victory of Jonathan’s is one among the many instances upon record in the history of God’s Church of the special seal of Divine approval which is always set upon eminent faith. Old Testament history gives many illustrations of the truth of the Saviour’s words, “All things are possible to Him that believeth” (Mar_9:23), and the success which crowned this undertaking makes it a striking one. It is instructive to notice the increasingly evident marks of Divine approval which were vouchsafed to Jonathan on this occasion. God first condescends to give His servant just enough encouragement to lead him to persevere in his project by accepting the sign which he had proposed. Here was just enough token of God’s approval to lead him to go on, but not enough to do away with the exercise of faith. A man of less confidence in God might have faltered here, and have been tempted to regard the Philistines’ invitation as only a remarkable coincidence. But Jonathan’s faith was strong enough to see in it a token that “the Lord had delivered the enemy into the hand of Israel,” and the faith which could discern the Divine approval in an incident apparently so trivial was soon to receive an abundant reward in an unmistakable manifestation of Jehovah’s presence in the terror-stricken host, and in the quaking earth. This is the method of Divine working generally. God always looks with approval upon undertakings which are born of confidence in His power and goodness, but although He may, during their progress, vouchsafe sufficient tokens of His power and presence to encourage the hearts of His servants, He may withhold His most decisive and unmistakable manifestations until their courage and faith have been abundantly tested.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_14:6. Divine power of faith, which makes a man more than men! The question is not what Jonathan can do, but what God can do, whose power is not in the means, but in Himself. O admirable faith in Jonathan, whom neither the steepness of rocks nor the multitude of enemies can dissuade from such an assault!—Bp. Hall.
Hope, founded on faith.
1. It is certain,—a matter of faith—that the Lord can save by many or by few.
2. It may be a matter of hope that He will work for us. (People often say: “I have faith that we shall succeed in this enterprise.” That is not properly a matter of faith, but only of hope. We believe that God can give success when it is His will; we are persuaded that our enterprise is righteous and would have desirable results; therefore we hope it may be God’s will to give us success).—Translator of Lange’s Commentary.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 1 Samuel 14
1 Samuel 14
These were evil days for the people of Israel. But it was in these dark days that Jonathan shone so famous. It is yet true that difficulties prove our mettle, and that the greater the hardship or peril, the more is the victory worth telling. We learn from this chapter—
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I. That the presence of the enemy should rouse our courage. Jonathan could not allow the Philistines to be even at Michmash, strong as it was, without ever striking a blow. Is there not need for more chivalry among the soldiers of Christ?
II. It was Jonathan who conceived the plan of attacking the Philistines, which leads us to say that princes should set the example. It is a shame when a private has to lead a forlorn hope, and yet too often in Church history we find the poor and ignorant more full of zeal for God than the rich and learned.
III. Earnest leaders should not lack brave followers. We are not told the name of the young man who was Jonathan’s armour-bearer, but he was worthy of the situation. The best of leaders is all the better for the knowledge that his followers will not fail him. Let those of us whose place is not to lead yet help our Commander by acting, so that whenever He looks at us He will see our faces say, "I am with Thee according to Thine heart."
IV. Jonathan knew that God can win by a minority. If, in fighting the Lord’s battles, we wait till we can outnumber the foe, we shall never do exploits. Joshua and Caleb were outvoted, but they said, "Let us go up and possess it." The fewer there are, the more room for Omnipotence. The units of Christian workers are the thin edge of the wedge.
V. At the battle of Michmash, we have been taught that God helps those who help themselves. God works by means, and delights in co-operating with His people. Do not wait till the enemy has fled, but turn the battle by your bravery, even if it be by a single hand.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 255.
References: 1Sa 14:6.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. i., p. 37. 1Sa 14:24.—W. Hanna, Sunday Magazine, 1865, p. 281.
1Sa 14:43-44
Saul had a right to give this general order that there should be no stopping; that that day should be dedicated to the overthrow of the enemy; that no man should taste food. And yet in this, as in all Saul’s conduct, there was a certain excess—an immoderation which carried it to rashness. For while, as a general order, it was wise, to make it special and particular was not wise. Jonathan made the poorest plea for a good cause that was ever made. Instead of saying, "I did not know your commands;" instead of saying, "Under God’s providence, the time came when that command ought to have been set aside for the sake of destroying the Philistines"—instead of saying these things, he said, "I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand."
I. A little thing is always enough for disobedience. Besides, there was in his heart the idea that moral quality depended in some sense upon magnitude. Little things become important as a part of a series—that is, by aggregation. They collect and become powerful unities.
II. A little thing, or that which men call little, may be very trifling indeed for one purpose and in one direction; and yet for another purpose and in another direction it may be extremely potent.
III. Single actions may be insignificant, and yet by repetition may become well-nigh omnipotent.
IV. There are times when the soul stands at equipoise, and when it will take very little to carry down the scale. At such times we must be careful of little things. The breaking off of one bad habit may be the first of a series of steps which will lead to a spiritual change.
H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 5th series, p. 147.
References: 1Sa 14:6.—Parker, vol. vii., p. 68. 1Sa 14:14.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 521. 1Sa 14:27.—S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 1. 1Sa 14:37.—Parker, vol. vii., p. 68. 1Sa 14:44.—Ibid., p. 69. 1Sa 14:52.—Ibid., p. 70. 1Sam 14.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 356.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Jonathan's Exploit. The Battle of Michmash. A Summary of…
Jonathan's Exploit. The Battle of Michmash. A Summary of Saul's Reign
3. Ahiah] RV 'Ahijah,' probably merely another form of Ahimelech (1Sa_21:1). Melech (king) was one of the titles of Jah or Jehovah.
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4. Between the passages] RV 'between the passes.'
9. It has been suggested that the reply would show that the Philistines were brave men, and Jonathan would give up the enterprise as impossible; but in view of 1Sa_14:6, it is better to take the sign as a purely arbitrary one: cp. Jdg_7:4.
14. An half acre of land.. plow] RV 'half a furrow's length in an acre of land,' i.e. half the length of one of the sides of an acre.
15. There was a trembling both in the (fortified) camp and in the (open) country; all the people, both garrison and. plundering bands, trembled.
16. Behold, the multitude.. one another] LXX reads, 'Behold the multitude melted away' (i.e. dispersed in confusion) 'hither and thither.'
18. LXX reads, 'Bring hither the ephod. For he wore the ephod.' It was the Urim and Thummim in the ephod and not the ark which was used to discover the will of God: see 1Sa_23:9; 1Sa_30:7.
19. Withdraw thine hand] Saul had not patience to wait: cp. 1Sa_13:9.
24. The purpose of this 'taboo 'on food was probably to secure by fasting the continued presence of Jehovah with the victorious army. Israel's battles were Jehovah's, and Saul's motive, according to the ideas of his time, was religious. The people acquiesce: cp. Jdg_21:18
25. All they of the land] Heb. 'all the land.' Saul's success had made all the country rise against the foreigners.
27. His eyes were enlightened] lit. 'became bright,' a sure sign of health and vigour. He had been weary with the day's exertions, and now recovers.
31. Aijalon] see on Jdg_1:35. It was the natural route by which the defeated Philistines would retreat to their own country.
32. Eat them with the blood] in direct opposition to the command of God: Gen_9:4 and Lev_20:26. This prohibition to eat with the blood is still carefully observed by strict Jews.
33. Transgressed] RV 'dealt treacherously,' i.e. disobediently, as if they had been enemies of Jehovah.
34. The stone would allow the blood to run down from the carcase.
35. Built an altar] to commemorate his victory: cp. Exo_17:15; Jos_22:34 or in reference to Jos_22:33 the word for 'altar' means, properly, 'place for slaughtering.'
41. Give a perfect lot] RV 'shew the right.'
43. And, lo, I must die] rather, 'Here am I, I will die.' Jonathan does not flinch. This 'taboo,' or 'ban,' which Saul had placed upon the taking of food (see on 1Sa_14:24) is regarded with as much reverence as Jephthah's vow (Jdg_11:35); but Jonathan's life, unlike that of Jephthah's daughter, is important to the whole nation, and Saul finds that his power is very strictly limited by the popular will.
45. Rescued] Heb. 'ransomed.' This does not mean that another person was killed in Jonathan's place. The ransom paid might be the life of an animal or a sum of money (1Sa_13:13, 1Sa_13:15).
47-51. These vv. form a conclusion to the life of Saul, after which the editor turns to another section of his history, 'Saul and David.'
47. The disastrous ending of the life of Saul must not blind us to his many virtues. The earlier part of his reign was a series of successes. To the end the nation was contented with his rule, and it remained faithful to his dynasty even after his death. See Intro. § 7. We know nothing from other sources as to any expedition against Zobah, and the victories over the Philistines would appear to be more sweepingly stated than seems warranted by the last disastrous battle on Mt. Gilboa. This brief summary aptly illustrates the fragmentary and episodic nature of the history of Saul.
48. Gathered an host] RV 'did valiantly.'
49. The two daughters are mentioned because of the important part they play in the later history.
51. Probably the v. originally ran, 'and Kish the father of Saul and Ner the father of Abner were the sons of Abiel.' Saul and Abner were first cousins.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v3 Called Ahimelech, 1Sa 22:9; 1Sa 22:11; 1Sa 22:20.
Ahiah
Called Ahimelech, 1Sa 22:9; 1Sa 22:11; 1Sa 22:20.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 7. Jonathan’s Heroic Deed of Faith
7. Jonathan’s Heroic Deed of Faith
CHAPTER 14
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1. Jonathan’s victory (1Sa 14:1-23)
2. Saul’s adjuration and Jonathan’s deed (1Sa 14:24-32)
3. Saul’s first altar and unanswered inquiry (1Sa 14:33-37)
4. Jonathan condemned and saved (1Sa 14:38-45)
5. Saul’s battle and success (1Sa 14:46-48)
6. Saul’s family (1Sa 14:49-52)
Jonathan, one of the most beautiful characters of the Bible, with a kindred spirit, his armour bearer, goes forward to attack once more the outpost of the Philistines. Saul knew nothing of it. The King is surrounded by a small company, among them the relations of Eli. They had an ephod, needed for inquiry from Jehovah, but we do not read of its use. Jonathan and his armour bearer and their conversation are blessed illustrations of true faith. What simplicity it reveals! Jonathan knew the Lord and knew that He loves His people and therefore would overthrow their enemies. He tells the armour bearer “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.” And the armour bearer, whose name we do not know, but known to God, answered him: “Do all that is in thine heart; turn thee; behold I am with thee according to thy heart.” They were in blessed unity. They cast themselves upon the Lord and let Him decide what they were to do. And the Lord, as He always does, answers to their faith. In spite of the difficulties, the sharp rocks, which they had to ascend, difficulties which are always connected with true faith, they overcome the foe. The Lord was there, for it was His battle and the earth quaked. But twenty men were slain by the two. A great confusion followed. The multitude melted away as they beat each other, and the Hebrews which had been with the Philistines turned against them. It was the Lord who saved Israel that day (verse 23).
Then Jonathan and his armour bearer were missed. Saul made an attempt in consulting the Lord, which did not succeed. Saul’s adjuration was unnecessary and made in self-will. His oath is but the working of the natural man. In his blindness he thinks he can help along the complete defeat of the enemy by his legal injunction. On account of this foolish oath the people were in distress; legalism always puts burdens and distress upon the people of God. His own son Jonathan, ignorant of his father’s commandment, takes a little honey on the end of the rod and receives refreshment by it. Honey is the type of natural things and their sweetness. Their use in the right way is not forbidden. Like Jonathan we must touch them only with the end of the rod and take a little. If Jonathan had gone down on his knees and filled himself with all the honey he could eat, it would not have refreshed, but incapacitated him for the conflict. Jonathan was revived by the little honey he had taken, while the people fainted. But a worse result of Saul’s commandment happened. The famished people ate meat with the blood. Thus Saul’s restriction of a lawful thing led to the breaking of a divine commandment.
Saul erects his first altar, for he feels the need; perhaps less than that, he only fears the judgment of God. There is no answer from God when he inquired “Shall I go down after the Philistines?” What follows shows us again the impetuous and stubborn heart of Saul. Self-righteous and self-willed he is ready to slay his own son; the people rescued him from his own hands. What humiliation for King Saul!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 24, 47 The Philistines Defeated
The Philistines Defeated
v. 1. Now it came to pass upon a day, a certain day came along, that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, the advanced post which was to guard against surprise attacks on the part of the Israelites, 1Sa 13:23, that is on the other side. But he told not his father, who probably would have forbidden the undertaking as too dangerous.
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v. 2. And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah, at the extreme northern edge of the city, under a pomegranate-tree which is in Migron, the place which he had chosen being apparently well adapted for military purposes, since it was on the edge of a precipice; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;
v. 3. and Ahiah, the son of Ahitus, Ichabod’s brother, 1Sa 4:21, the son of Phinehas, the son of Ell, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was still standing, although the ark was near Kirjath-jearim, wearing an ephod, performing the functions of the high priest. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone, it was a secret expedition on his part.
v. 4. And between the passages, the various passes which were made possible by several side valleys at that point, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, a pillar like rock with steep sides, and a sharp rock on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez and the name of the other Seneh, and these columns guarded the pass.
v. 5. The forefront, the highest crag, of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
v. 6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised, the name which the Jews usually applied to the heathen that were their enemies; it may be that the Lord will work for us, in helping them overcome their enemies; for there is no restraint to the Lord, He is at perfect liberty, to save by many or by few. Jonathan’s resolution was based upon the firm conviction that Israel was the people of God and that Jehovah was its almighty Lord, who would not refuse His children His assistance against the enemies of His kingdom if only they would place their trust firmly in Him.
v. 7. And his armor-bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart, cheerfully and courageously carrying out his intention. Turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
v. 8. Then said Jonathan, proposing a sign by which he could tell whether the Lord approved of his undertaking or not, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them, purposely letting the Philistines see them as they advanced.
v. 9. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you, this showing that they had plenty of courage for attacking; then we will stand still in our place and will not go up unto them.
v. 10. But if they say thus, Come up unto us, this showing that they did not have the courage to abandon their position, no matter how boastfully they talked, then we will go up, for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand; and this shall be a sign unto us.
v. 11. And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines, boldly showed themselves as they advanced; and the Philistines said, voicing their scornful contempt for the Israelites in general, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves, 1Sa 13:6.
v. 12. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing, their very scornful overconfidence making them unfit for battle. And Jonathan said unto his armor-bearer, Come up after me; for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
v. 13. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, scaling the steep cliff, and his armor-bearer after him; and they, the enemies, fell before Jonathan, he struck them down as he went along; and his armor-bearer slew after him, finishing the task left uncompleted by Jonathan.
v. 14. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow, literally, "in about a half-furrow of a yoke of land," the ground plowed by a yoke of oxen in half a day. The twenty men, fleeing before Jonathan, were killed and lay in a row of that length along the ridge.
v. 15. And there was trembling in the host, in the main camp, in the field, and among all the people, in the entire army; the garrison, the men of the outposts, and the spoilers, the companies of plunderers, they also trembled, the panic of fright spreading by quick contagion, and the earth quaked, under the confused uproar of the Philistines; so it was a very great trembling, a terror of God, sent upon the Philistines for their destruction.
v. 16. And the watchmen of Saul, the sentinels, in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, thrown into confusion by Jonathan’s attack, they dispersed hither and thither, they were disorganized and broken up, and they went on beating down one another, they were tossed to and fro and continued to be slain.
v. 17. Then said Saul, whose attention had been called to the confusion in the enemy’s camp, unto the people that were with him, Number now, call the roll, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
v. 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; it was often taken along to war, as being a symbol of God’s presence.
v. 19. And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, in the effort to get some statement of God, that the noise, the confused tumult, that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased; and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand; there was no need of a special Revelation the course which he ought to take was obvious.
v. 20. And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, raised the battle-cry, and they came to the battle, advancing against the enemy; and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture, a headless confusion.
v. 21. Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, either prisoners or levies serving in their army, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, they went over to Israel and turned their arms against their oppressors, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
v. 22. Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in Mount Ephraim, whose ranges extended down to this neighborhood, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in battle.
v. 23. So the Lord saved Israel that day, it was an obvious display of His power; and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven, it continued, at least for a large part of the army, in a northeasterly direction. If in the battles which the Church of the Lord must wage only a few men take the lead with a courageous stand, others will follow, and even the weak and those of little faith are inspired to stand on the Lord’s side.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 43, 45, 47, 49, 52 General Information:
General Information:
Jonathan begins his second raid on the Philistines' army.
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his young armor bearer
a teenage boy who is responsible for caring for his master's weapons of war
Philistines' garrison
This is an outpost staffed by the Philistine army.
translationWords
Jonathan
son
Saul (OT)
armor
Philistines
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37, 41, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52 14:1-52 Saul’s behavior in this chapter further justifies his…
14:1-52 Saul’s behavior in this chapter further justifies his dismissal as king (13:8-14; see also ch 15). Saul was alienated from both Samuel and his heroic son Jonathan. Chapter 14 anticipates the significant role that Jonathan played in the transition from Saul’s kingship to David’s.
14:1-15 Jonathan again fought in his father’s battles (see also 13:2-4; ch 31).
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14:1 armor bearer: See study note on 16:21. • Jonathan did not tell his father because he knew that Saul would not grant permission for the dangerous plan. But he also knew that Saul wanted no one—not even his own son—to upstage him.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.