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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v45 The people thought it their duty to rescue him,…
The people thought it their duty to rescue him, who of ignorance had but broken a rash law, and by whom they had received so great a benefit.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv43–45 1Sa 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me…
1Sa 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that [was] in mine hand, [and], lo, I must die.
Ver. 43. And, lo, I must die.] This he speaketh, saith Josephus, out of his constancy and contempt of death. Others in this speech note his candour, ingenuousness, and honest simplicity; neither accusing his father, nor excusing himself, nor appealing to the army, whose darling he was.
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 vv43–45 I am sentenced to death for it; which is…
I am sentenced to death for it; which is hard measure. He had another answer, that he knew not of his father’s command; but that being said before, 1Sa 14:27, it was needless here to repeat it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv43–45 Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what thou…
Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what thou hast done,.... What sin he had committed, the lot having fallen on him, and found him out:
and Jonathan told him; the whole of the matter, all the truth, without any reserve:
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and said, I did but take a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand; he speaks of the fact as a trivial thing, as if it was not deserving of death, though he was willing to submit to it; yet it seems strange he should say nothing of his ignorance of the charge and oath of Saul, and plead that in excuse of it; though Josephus (h) makes him to take notice of it: and, "lo, I must die"; am condemned to die, as the Targum; for which he was prepared and ready, being willing to testify an entire subjection to his father's authority and will. Josephus (i) represents him speaking with a generosity and greatness of soul, after this manner,"death is most sweet to me, which is for the sake of maintaining thy piety and religion; and after so glorious a victory, it is the greatest consolation to me to leave the Hebrews conquerors of the Philistines.''
(h) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4. (i) lbid.
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 vv44–45 For thou,&c. - We have no proof, that Saul…
For thou,&c. - We have no proof, that Saul did not act in this whole affair from a real fear of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv44–45 Verse 44. And Saul answered - thou shalt surely…
Verse 44. And Saul answered - thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.] To save thy rash oath! So must John Baptist's head be taken off at the desire of an impure woman, because a Herod had sworn to give her whatever she might request! Unfeeling brute! However, the king was JUDGE. But what said the people, who were the JURY?
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 v44 1Sa 14:44-45. Thou shalt surely die, Jonathan — This…
1Sa 14:44-45. Thou shalt surely die, Jonathan — This again was most rashly spoken. Saul, however, seems to have been influenced by a real fear of God, and certainly is to be commended for having a greater regard to his oath than to his kindred and natural affection. The people said, Shall Jonathan die? — Hitherto they had expressed themselves in a way that manifested their obedience to Saul, and acquiesced in what seemed good to him. But now that Jonathan is in danger, Saul’s word is no longer a law to them; but with the utmost zeal they oppose the execution of his sentence. Who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel — Shall that life be sacrificed which was so bravely exposed for the public service, and to which we owe our lives and triumphs? No, we will never stand by and see him thus treated whom God has delighted to honour. As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground — Saul had sworn that he should die; but they oppose their oath to his, and swear he shall not die. They did not rescue him by violence, but by reason and resolution. And Josephus says, “They offered prayers to God that he would forgive Jonathan’s sin,” and that he might be loosed from the curse. He hath wrought with God this day — It is plain the blessing and favour of God have been with him. It has been in concurrence with God that he has wrought this salvation. And God is so far from being offended with Jonathan, that he hath graciously owned him in the great services of this day. We may suppose Saul had not so perfectly forgot the relation of a father, but that he was willing enough to have Jonathan rescued, and well pleased to have that done which yet he would not do himself; and he that knows the heart of a father, knows not how to blame him.
It may be edifying to the reader, and therefore not improper to copy here, the following important observations of a late but anonymous writer, on the foregoing verses: “It may, at first sight, appear strange that the Divine Providence should so order things, by giving no answer to the high-priest, and causing the lots so to fall, that Jonathan, who appears entirely guiltless, should be brought into imminent danger of his life. If we consider this only in respect to Jonathan, it does indeed appear unaccountable; but if we take in his father Saul, it will appear to have been an act of divine wisdom. It is manifest, as well from the unnecessary and unprofitable oath that Saul here exacted from the people, as from many other passages of his life, that Saul was of a hasty, precipitate temper. What better lesson then could God give to him, and to all of such hasty, precipitate tempers, than to bring him into the grievous strait of either breaking a solemn oath or putting his own son to death? That this was the main intention of all that happened on this occasion appears evident, in that God inspired the people with such a courage and love for Jonathan, that they would not, upon any terms, permit even a hair of his head to fall to the ground. For we cannot suppose, if God had intended to punish Jonathan, as guilty of any crime, that the disposition of the people could have prevented his purposes, though they did those of Saul, which had no foundation in justice.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv44–45 Die. We may here admire the respect which the…
Die. We may here admire the respect which the ancients had for an oath, without seeking for any modification; and the blindness of Saul, who condemns his son with as much haste as he had pronounced the curse, thinking thus to honour God. The thing surely required some deliberation, and he ought to have consulted the Lord about it. The action of Jonathan was not criminal, and the former silence of God did not prove that he deserved death. (Calmet) --- If it had, the people would never have been able to have rescued him, no more than the unhappy Achan, Josue vii. (Haydock) --- If Saul had been more enlightened, and more humble, he would have concluded that God was displeased at him, and not at Jonathan. (Calmet) --- Yet Cajetan and Serarius find fault with the latter. (Menochius)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v45 the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not--When Saul…
the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not--When Saul became aware of Jonathan's transgression in regard to the honey, albeit it was done in ignorance and involved no guilt, he was, like Jephthah [Jdg 11:31, Jdg 11:35], about to put his son to death, in conformity with his vow [Sa1 14:44]. But the more enlightened conscience of the army prevented the tarnishing the glory of the day by the blood of the young hero, to whose faith and valor it was chiefly due.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv43, 45 43. Tell me] In like manner Joshua moved Achan…
43. Tell me] In like manner Joshua moved Achan to confess, when the lot had fixed upon him as the “troubler of Israel” (Jos_7:19).
I did but taste, &c.] I did certainly taste … here I am: I will die. Jonathan’s words are not a lamentation over his hard fate, as the E. V. implies, but a confession that the guilt, though involuntary, was his, and an heroic expression of readiness to sacrifice his life for his country even in the hour off victory.
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 v43 (43, 44) Lo, I must die.—These wild and thoughtless…
(43, 44) Lo, I must die.—These wild and thoughtless vows are peculiarly characteristic of this half-barbaric period. We have already observed that the age now closing had been peculiarly the age of vows. A similar terrible oath, equalling Saul’s in its rashness, had been taken by Jephthah. It is noticeable that not only Saul, who vowed the vow, but Jonathan, its victim, were convinced that the vow, though perhaps hastily and rashly made, must be kept. “Against both these,” says Erdman in Lange with great force “rises the people’s voice as the voice of God, the question (in 1Sa_14:45), ‘Shall Jonathan die? ‘and the answer,’ Far be it,’ expresses the sorrowful astonishment and the energetic protest of the people, who were inspired by Jonathan’s heroic deed and its brilliant result. . . . Over against Saul’s oath the people set their own: ‘As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground.’ Probably Saul was not unwilling in this awful question, when his son’s life trembled in the balance, to submit his will for once to the people’s.”
“Take then no vow at random: ta’en in faith,
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Preserve it; yet not bent, as Jephthah once,
Blindly to execute a rash resolve,
Whom better it had suited to exclaim,
‘I have done ill than to redeem his pledge
By doing worse.”—Dante, Paradise, 5:63-68.
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 vv44–45 God do so, etc. Again Saul takes an oath…
God do so, etc. Again Saul takes an oath to put Jonathan to death, supposing himself bound by his former words. But he must have been pained beyond measure at the miserable consequences of his rashness, and have bitterly reproached himself for thus twice marring the happiness of the day by unhallowed oaths. Jonathan"s trespass, committed unwittingly, required nothing more than a trespass offering for its expiation, nor did the silence of the Urim and Thummim imply any fault in him. The fault lay in Saul having imposed an oath upon the army; that oath had been broken, and a formal expiation must be made. But Saul was by nature a despot, and could endure nothing that seemed even for the moment to stand in his way.
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 vv43, 45 I did but taste a little honey.
1Sa_14:43
I did but taste a little honey.
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A little thorn makes a great pain
When Admiral Blake after driving the enemy from the ocean was on his return voyage to England, he was met at the mouth of the Thames by a storm which hindered his passage and made havoc of his sails, whereupon the Admiral said in a pet, Shall we who have braved the ocean storms be drowned in this ditch? Of course, when the gale subsided, the brave Admiral was able to sail up to London to receive the honours which awaited him. It is often the storm in the little ditch which throws us on our beam ends, and what is commonly called the storm in a teapot, is sometimes more to be dreaded than the tempest of an ocean. It is not always great failings that ruin us; it is oftener the little faults and flaws in our character and conduct, which by accumulation damage us irretrievably so far as earthly prospects are concerned. Resolutions and ideas which at the moment have been esteemed as of little importance, have often caused great results. You will remember in English history that our Parliament resolved to put a duty on the tea received into the American ports, which then belonged to this country. It was a little thing to do, but its result was the freedom of America from the yoke of England, and the formation of the United States. It has been wisely said that it is but the littleness of man that sees no greatness in trifles. Let us look at one or two phases in which little things produce great personal results.
I. We often make ourselves wretched about little things. Great calamities we overcome by bearing them patiently; but little troubles overcome us because we chafe under them. A very little thing may put your body out of condition or even endanger your life. When you are eating carelessly; a fish bone not an inch long may stick in your throat, and there is no peace until you get it out. When you are walking or riding on a dusty day, a tiny speck gets into your eye, and you cannot rest, or sleep until that irritating speck of matter is removed. Everybody has probably at some time, after a days blackberrying experienced considerable pain in some finger from a little thorn. There are little annoyances of a mental kind which are apt to worry us if we do not learn wisdom from their recurrence. We stop to take the stone from our shoe or wipe the speck from our eye; but we let these little worrying mental unpleasantnesses rankle in our mind and heart like a permanent splinter in the flesh. I refer to the little things said at home or abroad which ruffle us because they go against our notion of what is right and just to ourselves; and as we do not dismiss them from our thoughts, but, as Burns says, nurse our wrath to keep it warm, they become fixed in us like a graft in a tree, and sometimes remain as torments to people until they die Do right; trust in God, and do not be over-much troubled about what anybody says about you. If the aspersion be true, amend your ways, and be grateful to the fault finder; but if what is said be untrue, why should you mind it? Let the galled jade wince; but if what is said of you is not true, you are not galled, and should therefore go on your way rejoicing. One of the most laughable pictures I ever saw was from the pencil of Leech in the pages of Punch. It depicted a stout gentleman chasing a blue-bottle fly, which had disturbed his nap alter dinner. With his knotted handkerchief, he banged at the blue-bottle, broke the windows and ornaments, tumbled down the chairs, worked himself into a passion, but could not capture or quiet his tormentor. Our fume and fuss over the trifling annoyance of life must seem quite as ridiculous in the eyes of the angels.
II. We often make other people miserable by something we do or say, or by something we omit to do or say. When a man with an infectious disease is carried in a coach to the infirmary, we expect the cabman will say to us, There has been a man in here with the smallpox, and I have not yet had the cab fumigated; so you should not corer it. That would be a just and kind act but if be says, All right, sir, and we jump into the cab, we may catch the infection. In the same way, by our thoughtlessness, or perhaps by our haste and unkindness, we may say things that hurt others like an infection. And what is strange, the most sensitive and best, educated are often the worst offenders. It may be a little thing we say or do, built greatly hurts other people. It is shamefully wrong for any of us to say and do things which may spread mental or mortal contagion. An unguarded and unfounded remark may upset a whole neighbourhood, lust as one squeaking puppy may keep the inhabitants of a whole street awake all night. A few thoughtless words may destroy the peace not only of a family but of an entire community. We ought to be careful to give no offence in anything. How unpleasant when some neighbours unswept chimney takes fire and emits volumes of noxious smoke I Let us be careful to keep our moral chimney swept, so that our words and actions may not become like offensive smoke. Let us try to bless the world and make it pleasanter; why should any mans words injure and deface the world?
III. In the third place, let me remind you that things which seem to be of little consequence often produce great results. A small leak may sink a great ship, and a trifling escape of gas, if neglected, may blow up your house. So, these little flaws and faults and omissions in your moral nature which you think will never be noticed and can do no harm, are enough to ruin you. Those who by wilful neglect or carelessness cause the death of others are their murderers; and even if men neglect their little vices until they become uncontrollable, they are responsible for their own doom. Take care of the littles; for great results may come from little things In thousands of instances little things have produced great results. So little deeds of kindness and self-denial often make or mar a lifes happiness. Despise not the day of small things. Do not suppose you are too little to be of any consequence in this great world. No one has been created without a purpose and a mission. (W. Birch.)
A little honey
Stop the beginnings, said the old Romans; arrest the evil in the bud; put your foot upon the spark and stamp out the conflagration. Behold how great, a forest a little fire kindleth. I did but taste a little honey on the end of the rod in mine hand, and lo! I must die!
1. A little honey. So all sin appears at the moment of conception. Had the devil proffered to Jonathan the whole land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey, assured him of its heirship and possession, as he pressed on in eager pursuit of his fathers enemies, he had not succeeded; but he offered a little on the end of his staff, which he could eat as he ran, and instantly the young warrior was caught by the bait and snared. So it has ever been. By little and little. The merchant of Panama, says Beecher, builds his warehouse near the docks. He drives into the water the strongest piles which his native woods can furnish. He is anxious to lay a foundation which fire cannot reach, and neither wind nor wave displace. Thereon he erects his store houses and bestows his goods and fruits. Alas! for human foresight. Presently a small madrepore, whose presence a microscope can scarcely detect, fastens upon the pile; gradually it draws to its aid a myriad little perforators from the water, and by the implements at their command they eat it, saw it, bore and honeycomb it so that in a few years, if a child but, touch it it will crumble to pieces. Even so, under the most insignificant of forms, in the quietest manner, by the weakest of agencies, little sins, vices, foolish habits and excesses, work into and undermine the strongest and purest characters, renders abortive the noblest of purposes, work wreck and ruin in the grandest of lives, till the man, or family, or church, or nation affected by them, honeycombed at the heart, perishes in corruption
2. A little honey! We might consider how often our little sins come between us and our Maker, shut out from us all true and clear views of His character, and interrupt the sunshine of His favour and love to us in Christ. An eminent London minister, in one of his books, tells us he was once sailing over a beautiful Scottish lake. He raised his eyeglass to get a better view of Ben Lomond; but a small leaf, hanging across the line of his vision, shut out the entire mountain. And something much less than a leaf could have marred the prospect. He had only to breathe on the glass for a moment, and the dimness produced on its surface would have been sufficient to intercept and becloud for him all the beauty of the world. And little sins, fashionable vices, selfish indulgences in things forbidden, freaks of temper, fits of petty wilfulness, take off the edge of our keenest feelings of attachment to God and His service, blunt our susceptibilities of receiving Divine impressions, chill the ardour of youthful enthusiasm, and shut us out from the influences of the world to come. A little honey! Our Lord took three of his disciples to act as a sort of bodyguard, and keep watch, while he prayed in Gethsemane. Eight more held vigil on an outer circle. But the day had been long, and the journey had been fatiguing, and the work had been exciting, and their eyes were heavy with sleep. The little honey of refreshing slumber was not to be resisted. Their Lord withstood the temptation and was ready. The traitor found Him prepared. But His followers were surprised in their sentinel duty, and they all forsook Him and fled. A little sleep!
3. I did but taste a little honey and, lo! I must die! Israel very naturally took one view of Jonathans case, and his father as naturally took another. In the eyes of the army it was but a trifling oversight; in the eyes of the king it was a capital offence. And our little sins appear in different lights as they are viewed in the court of heaven and before the tribunal of our fellow men. Had Adams transgression been punished on the day wherein it was committed, and the guilty pair been swept from the earth and hurried to their account, the severity of the penalty might have seemed to them disproportioned to the offence But ages have elapsed since then, and that little sin has borne its fruit. What should be its punishment now? Thank God! the question need not be put. If, has already been asked and answered. It brought the Son of God out of heaven We did but taste a little honey, and, lo! He must die. Sin, so sweet to us, was the bitterness of death to Him. But let us remember that, like Jonathan, we are sons of the King. Our interests are identical with those of our Father in heaven. What seems a little sin to us is a great source of grief and wrong to Him. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Let us be true to our God and Saviour, in little things as well as great, striving to be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke holding forth the word of life. (R. Balgarnie, D. D.)
Forbidden honey
what multitudes of people in all ages have been damaged by forbidden honey, by which I mean temptation, delicious and attractive, but damaging and destructive!
1. Corrupt literature, fascinating but deathful, comes in this category Taste for pure literature is poisoned by this scum of the publishing house. Corrupt literature is doing more today for the disruption of domestic life than any other cause. When a woman, young or old, gets her head thoroughly stuffed with the modern novel she is in appalling peril. See all the forests of good American literature dripping with honey. Why pick up the honey-combs that have in them the fiery bees which will sting you with an eternal poison while you taste it?
2. Stimulating liquids also come into the category of temptations delicious but deathful.
3. Furthermore, the gamesters indulgence must, be put in the list of temptations delicious but destructive I have crossed the ocean eight times, and always one of the best rooms has, from morning until late at night, been given up to gambling practices. To many there is a complete fascination in games of hazard or the risking of money on possibilities. Down under its power went glorious Oliver Goldsmith, and Gibbon the famous historian, and Charles Fox the renowned statesman, and in olden times senators of the United States, who used to be as regularly at the gambling house all night as they were in the halls of legislation by day. Honey at the start, eternal catastrophe at the last.
4. Stock gambling comes into the same catalogue.
5. The best honey is not like that which Jonathan took on the end of the rod and brought to his lips, but that which God puts on the banqueting table of mercy, at which we are all invited to sit. When a man may sit at the Kings banquet, why will he go down the steps sad contend for the refuse and bones of a hounds kennel? Sweeter than honey and gee honeycomb, says David, is the truth of God. With honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee, says God to the recreant. Here is honey gathered from the blossoms of trees of life, and with a rod made out of the wood of the Cross I dip it up for all your souls. The poet Hesiod tells of an ambrosia and a nectar, the drinking of which would make men live forever, and one sip of the honey from the Eternal Rock will give you eternal life with God. Come off of the malarial levels of a sinful life. Come and live on the uplands of grace where the vineyards sun themselves. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is gracious! Be happy now and happy foreverse For those who take a different course the honey will turn to gall. Beware of the forbidden honey. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv43, 45 General Information:
General Information:
The lots had just showed that Jonathan had sinned.
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Tell me what you have done
"Tell me how you have sinned" or "Tell me what you have done that was wrong"
I will die
Possible meanings are 1) "I am willing to die" or 2) "do I deserve to be executed because of doing that?"
God do so and more also to me, if you do not die, Jonathan
Saul makes a second foolish oath in less than one day. AT: "May God kill me if I do not kill you, Jonathan"
translationWords
Saul (OT)
rod
God
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 v45 14:45 The people, aware of God’s blessing on the…
14:45 The people, aware of God’s blessing on the real hero of the day, were wiser than their king.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.