1 Samuel 14
14
1That same day Saul’s son Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” However, he did not tell his father.
2Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron#Is 10:28 on the outskirts of Gibeah.#14:2 LXX reads on top of the hill#1Sm 13:15–16 The troops with him numbered about six hundred.#1Sm 13:15 3Ahijah,#1Sm 22:9–12,20 who was wearing an ephod,#1Sm 2:28 was also there. He was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod#1Sm 4:21 son of Phinehas, son of Eli the Lord’s priest at Shiloh.#1Sm 1:3 But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
4There were sharp columns#14:4 Lit There was a tooth of rock on both sides of the pass#1Sm 13:23 that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine garrison. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh; 5one stood to the north in front of Michmash and the other to the south in front of Geba. 6Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men.#1Sm 17:26,36; Jr 9:25–26 Perhaps the Lord will help us. Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”#Jdg 7:4–7
7His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. Go ahead! I’m completely with you.”
8“All right,” Jonathan replied, “we’ll cross over to the men and then let them see us. 9If they say, ‘Wait until we reach you,’ then we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we’ll go up, because the Lord has handed them over to us — that will be our sign.”
11They let themselves be seen by the Philistine garrison, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!” 12The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said.
“Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.”#2Sm 5:24 13Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. Jonathan cut them down, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off. 14In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.
A Defeat for the Philistines
15Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties#1Sm 13:17–18 were terrified. The earth shook,#1Sm 7:10 and terror spread from God.#14:15 Or and a great terror spread#2Kg 7:6 16When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction. 17So Saul said to the troops with him, “Call the roll and determine who has left us.” They called the roll and saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.
18Saul told Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God,” for it was with the Israelites#14:18 LXX reads “Bring the ephod.” For he wore the ephod before Israel at that time. 19While Saul spoke to the priest,#Nm 27:21 the panic in the Philistine camp increased in intensity. So Saul said to the priest, “Stop what you’re doing.”#14:19 Lit “Withdraw your hand”
20Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there the Philistines were, fighting against each other in great confusion!#Jdg 7:22; 2Ch 20:23 21There were Hebrews from the area who had gone earlier into the camp to join the Philistines, but even they joined the Israelites#1Sm 29:4 who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim#1Sm 13:6 heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle. 23So the Lord saved Israel that day.#Ex 14:30
Saul’s Rash Oath
The battle extended beyond Beth-aven, 24and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had#14:24 LXX adds committed a great act of ignorance and placed the troops under an oath:#Jos 6:26 “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
25Everyone#14:25 Lit All the land went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it#14:26 Lit but there was none who raised his hand to his mouth because they feared the oath. 27However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb.#1Sm 14:43 When he ate the honey,#14:27 Lit he returned his hand to his mouth he had renewed energy.#14:27 Lit his eyes became bright#1Sm 30:12 28Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”
29Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land.#1Kg 18:17–18 Just look at how I have renewed energy#14:29 Lit how my eyes became bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”
31The Israelites struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash#1Sm 14:5 all the way to Aijalon.#Jos 10:12 Since the Israelites were completely exhausted, 32they rushed to the plunder,#1Sm 15:19 took sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate meat with the blood still in it. 33Some reported to Saul, “Look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.”#Gn 9:4; Lv 17:10–12
Saul said, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once.” 34He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Let each man bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.’” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. 35Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had built an altar to the Lord.#1Sm 7:12,17
36Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!”
“Do whatever you want,” the troops replied.
But the priest#1Sm 14:3,18–19 said, “Let’s approach God here.”#Jdg 18:5–6
37So Saul inquired of God,#1Sm 10:22 “Should I go after the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.#1Sm 28:6
38Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let’s investigate#14:38 Lit know and see how this sin has occurred today. 39As surely as the Lord lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him.
40So he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.”
And the troops replied, “Do whatever you want.”
41So Saul said to the Lord, “God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan, Lord God of Israel, give Urim; but if the fault is in your people Israel, give Thummim.”#14:41 LXX; MT reads said to the Lord, “God of Israel, give us the right decision.”#Ac 1:24 Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.
42Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,” and Jonathan was selected. 43Saul commanded him, “Tell me what you did.”#Jos 7:19
Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey#1Sm 14:27 with the end of the staff I was carrying. I am ready to die!”
44Saul declared to him, “May God punish me and do so severely#1Sm 25:22 if you do not die, Jonathan!”
45But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die? He accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel! No, as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground,#2Sm 14:11; 1Kg 1:52; Ac 27:34 for he worked with God’s help today.”#Jn 3:21 So the people redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die. 46Then Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory.
Summary of Saul’s Kingship
47When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites,#1Sm 11:1–13 Edom, the kings of Zobah,#2Sm 8:3–10 and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.#14:47 LXX reads he was victorious 48He fought bravely, defeated the Amalekites,#1Sm 15:3,7 and rescued Israel from those who plundered them.
49Saul’s sons#1Sm 31:2; 1Ch 10:2 were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab,#1Sm 18:17–19 his firstborn, and Michal,#1Sm 18:20,27; 19:12; 2Sm 6:20–23 the younger. 50The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner son of Saul’s uncle Ner.#2Sm 2:8 51Saul’s father was Kish.#1Sm 9:1,21 Abner’s father was Ner son of Abiel.
52The conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul’s days, so whenever Saul noticed any strong or valiant man, he enlisted him.#1Sm 8:11
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1 Samuel 14: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
1 Samuel 14
14
1-3Later that day, Jonathan, Saul’s son, said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to the Philistine garrison patrol on the other side of the pass.” But he didn’t tell his father. Meanwhile, Saul was taking it easy under the pomegranate tree at the threshing floor on the edge of town at Geba (Gibeah). There were about six hundred men with him. Ahijah, wearing the priestly Ephod, was also there. (Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli the priest of God at Shiloh.) No one there knew that Jonathan had gone off.
4-5The pass that Jonathan was planning to cross over to the Philistine garrison was flanked on either side by sharp rock outcroppings, cliffs named Bozez and Seneh. The cliff to the north faced Micmash; the cliff to the south faced Geba (Gibeah).
6Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on now, let’s go across to these uncircumcised pagans. Maybe God will work for us. There’s no rule that says God can only deliver by using a big army. No one can stop God from saving when he sets his mind to it.”
7His armor bearer said, “Go ahead. Do what you think best. I’m with you all the way.”
8-10Jonathan said, “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll cross over the pass and let the men see we’re there. If they say, ‘Halt! Don’t move until we check you out,’ we’ll stay put and not go up. But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ we’ll go right up—and we’ll know God has given them to us. That will be our sign.”
11So they did it, the two of them. They stepped into the open where they could be seen by the Philistine garrison. The Philistines shouted out, “Look at that! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!”
12Then they yelled down to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come on up here! We’ve got a thing or two to show you!”
13Jonathan shouted to his armor bearer, “Up! Follow me! God has turned them over to Israel!” Jonathan scrambled up on all fours, his armor bearer right on his heels. When the Philistines came running up to them, he knocked them flat, his armor bearer right behind finishing them off, bashing their heads in with stones.
14-15In this first bloody encounter, Jonathan and his armor bearer killed about twenty men. That set off a terrific upheaval in both camp and field, the soldiers in the garrison and the raiding squad badly shaken up, the ground itself shuddering—panic like you’ve never seen before!
Straight to the Battle
16-18a Saul’s sentries posted back at Geba (Gibeah) in Benjamin saw the confusion and turmoil raging in the camp. Saul commanded, “Line up and take the roll. See who’s here and who’s missing.” When they called the roll, Jonathan and his armor bearer turned up missing.
18b-19 Saul ordered Ahijah, “Bring the priestly Ephod. Let’s see what God has to say here.” (Ahijah was responsible for the Ephod in those days.) While Saul was in conversation with the priest, the upheaval in the Philistine camp became greater and louder. Then Saul interrupted Ahijah: “Put the Ephod away.”
20-23Saul immediately called his army together and they went straight to the battle. When they got there they found total confusion—Philistines swinging their swords wildly, killing each other. Hebrews who had earlier defected to the Philistine camp came back. They now wanted to be with Israel under Saul and Jonathan. Not only that, but when all the Israelites who had been hiding out in the backwoods of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were running for their lives, they came out and joined the chase. God saved Israel! What a day!
The fighting moved on to Beth Aven. The whole army was behind Saul now—ten thousand strong!—with the fighting scattering into all the towns throughout the hills of Ephraim.
24Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: “A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I’ve wreaked vengeance on my enemies!” None of them ate a thing all day.
25-27There were honeycombs here and there in the fields. But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers to a man feared the curse. But Jonathan hadn’t heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Refreshed, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor.
28A soldier spoke up, “Your father has put the army under solemn oath, saying, ‘A curse on the man who eats anything before evening!’ No wonder the soldiers are drooping!”
29-30Jonathan said, “My father has imperiled the country. Just look how quickly my energy has returned since I ate a little of this honey! It would have been a lot better, believe me, if the soldiers had eaten their fill of whatever they took from the enemy. Who knows how much worse we could have whipped them!”
31-32They killed Philistines that day all the way from Micmash to Aijalon, but the soldiers ended up totally exhausted. Then they started plundering. They grabbed anything in sight—sheep, cattle, calves—and butchered it where they found it. Then they glutted themselves—meat, blood, the works.
33-34Saul was told, “Do something! The soldiers are sinning against God. They’re eating meat with the blood still in it!”
Saul said, “You’re biting the hand that feeds you! Roll a big rock over here—now!” He continued, “Disperse among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring your oxen and sheep to me and butcher them properly here. Then you can feast to your heart’s content. Please don’t sin against God by eating meat with the blood still in it.’”
And so they did. That night each soldier, one after another, led his animal there to be butchered.
35That’s the story behind Saul’s building an altar to God. It’s the first altar to God that he built.
Find Out What God Thinks
36Saul said, “Let’s go after the Philistines tonight! We can spend the night looting and plundering. We won’t leave a single live Philistine!”
“Sounds good to us,” said the troops. “Let’s do it!”
But the priest slowed them down: “Let’s find out what God thinks about this.”
37So Saul prayed to God, “Shall I go after the Philistines? Will you put them in Israel’s hand?” God didn’t answer him on that occasion.
38-39Saul then said, “All army officers, step forward. Some sin has been committed this day. We’re going to find out what it is and who did it! As God lives, Israel’s Savior God, whoever sinned will die, even if it should turn out to be Jonathan, my son!”
Nobody said a word.
40Saul said to the Israelites, “You line up over on that side, and I and Jonathan my son will stand on this side.”
The army agreed, “Fine. Whatever you say.”
41Then Saul prayed to God, “O God of Israel, why haven’t you answered me today? Show me the truth. If the sin is in me or Jonathan, then, O God, give the sign Urim. But if the sin is in the army of Israel, give the sign Thummim.”
The Urim sign turned up and pointed to Saul and Jonathan. That cleared the army.
42Next Saul said, “Cast the lots between me and Jonathan—and death to the one God points to!”
The soldiers protested, “No—this is not right. Stop this!” But Saul pushed on anyway. They cast the lots, Urim and Thummim, and the lot fell to Jonathan.
43Saul confronted Jonathan. “What did you do? Tell me!”
Jonathan said, “I licked a bit of honey off the tip of the staff I was carrying. That’s it—and for that I’m to die?”
44Saul said, “Yes. Jonathan most certainly will die. It’s out of my hands—I can’t go against God, can I?”
45The soldiers rose up: “Jonathan—die? Never! He’s just carried out this stunning salvation victory for Israel. As surely as God lives, not a hair on his head is going to be harmed. Why, he’s been working hand-in-hand with God all day!” The soldiers rescued Jonathan and he didn’t die.
46Saul pulled back from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines went home.
47-48Saul extended his rule, capturing neighboring kingdoms. He fought enemies on every front—Moab, Ammon, Edom, the king of Zobah, the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he came up with a victory. He became invincible! He smashed Amalek, freeing Israel from the savagery and looting.
49-51Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. His daughters were Merab, the firstborn, and Michal, the younger. Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz. Abner son of Ner was commander of Saul’s army (Ner was Saul’s uncle). Kish, Saul’s father, and Ner, Abner’s father, were the sons of Abiel.
52All through Saul’s life there was war, bitter and relentless, with the Philistines. Saul conscripted every strong and brave man he laid eyes on.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.