1 Samuel 14

1Sa 14:1-14.

JONATHAN

MIRACULOUSLY

SMITES THE

PHILISTINES'

GARRISON.

1. the Philistines' garrison--"the standing camp"

(1Sa 13:23,

Margin) "in the passage of Michmash"

(1Sa 13:16),

now Wady Es-Suweinit. "It begins in the neighborhood of Betin (Beth-el)

and El-Bireh (Beetroth), and as it breaks through the ridge below these

places, its sides form precipitous walls. On the right, about a quarter

of an acre below, it again breaks off, and passes between high

perpendicular precipices" [ROBINSON].

2. Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah--Hebrew, "Geba";

entrenched, along with Samuel and Ahiah the high priest, on the top of

one of the conical or spherical hills which abound in the Benjamite

territory, and favorable for an encampment, called Migron ("a

precipice").

4. between the passages--that is, the deep and great ravine of

Suweinit.

Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison--a distance

of about three miles running between two jagged points; Hebrew, "teeth

of the cliff."

there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other

side . . . Bozez--("shining") from the aspect of the chalky rock.

Seneh--("the thorn") probably from a solitary acacia on its top. They

are the only rocks of the kind in this vicinity; and the top of the crag

towards Michmash was occupied as the post of the Philistines. The two

camps were in sight of each other; and it was up the steep rocky sides

of this isolated eminence that Jonathan and his armorbearer

(1Sa 14:6)

made their adventurous approach. This enterprise is one of the most

gallant that history or romance records. The action, viewed in itself,

was rash and contrary to all established rules of military discipline,

which do not permit soldiers to fight or to undertake any enterprise

that may involve important consequences without the order of the

generals.

6. it may be that the Lord will work for us--This expression did not

imply a doubt; it signified simply that the object he aimed at was not

in his own power--but it depended upon God--and that he expected

success neither from his own strength nor his own merit.

9, 10. if they say, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord

hath delivered them into our hand--When Jonathan appears here to

prescribe a sign or token of God's will, we may infer that the same

spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its

execution, and put into his heart what to ask of God.

(See on

Ge 24:12).

11. Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes--As it could not

occur to the sentries that two men had come with hostile designs, it

was a natural conclusion that they were Israelite deserters. And hence

no attempt was made to hinder their ascent, or stone them.

14, 15. that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer

made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land,

which a yoke of oxen might plow--This was a very ancient mode of

measurement, and it still subsists in the East. The men who saw them

scrambling up the rock had been surprised and killed, and the spectacle

of twenty corpses would suggest to others that they were attacked by a

numerous force. The success of the adventure was aided by a panic that

struck the enemy, produced both by the sudden surprise and the shock of

an earthquake. The feat was begun and achieved by the faith of

Jonathan, and the issue was of God.

16. the watchmen of Saul . . . looked--The wild disorder in the

enemies' camp was described and the noise of dismay heard on the heights

of Gibeah.

17-19. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number

now, and see who is gone from us--The idea occurred to him that it

might be some daring adventurer belonging to his own little troop, and

it would be easy to discover him.

18. Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God--There is no

evidence that the ark had been brought from Kirjath-jearim. The

Septuagint version is preferable; which, by a slight variation of

the text, reads, "the ephod"; that is, the priestly cape, which the

high priest put on when consulting the oracle. That this should be at

hand is natural, from the presence of Ahiah himself, as well as the

nearness of Nob, where the tabernacle was then situated.

19. Withdraw thine hand--The priest, invested with the ephod, prayed

with raised and extended hands. Saul perceiving that the opportunity

was inviting, and that God appeared to have sufficiently declared in

favor of His people, requested the priest to cease, that they might

immediately join in the contest. The season for consultation was

past--the time for prompt action was come.

20-22. Saul and all the people--All the warriors in the garrison at

Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the

fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the

pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.

23. So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over

unto Beth-aven--that is, "Beth-el." It passed over the forest, now

destroyed, on the central ridge of Palestine, then over to the other

side from the eastern pass of Michmash

(1Sa 14:31),

to the western pass of Aijalon, through which they escaped into their

own plains.

24. Saul had adjured the people--Afraid lest so precious an opportunity

of effectually humbling the Philistine power might be lost, the

impetuous king laid an anathema on any one who should taste food until

the evening. This rash and foolish denunciation distressed the people,

march, and materially hindered the successful attainment of his own

patriotic object.

25. all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey--The honey

is described as "upon the ground," "dropping" from the trees, and in

honeycombs--indicating it to be bees' honey. "Bees in the East are not,

as in England, kept in hives; they are all in a wild state. The forests

literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen hanging on the trees

as you pass along, full of honey" [ROBERTS].

31-34. the people were very faint. And the people flew upon the

spoil--at evening, when the time fixed by Saul had expired. Faint

and famishing, the pursuers fell voraciously upon the cattle they had

taken, and threw them on the ground to cut off their flesh and eat them

raw, so that the army, by Saul's rashness, were defiled by eating

blood, or living animals; probably, as the Abyssinians do, who cut a

part of the animal's rump, but close the hide upon it, and nothing

mortal follows from that wound. They were painfully conscientious in

keeping the king's order for fear of the curse, but had no scruple in

transgressing God's command. To prevent this violation of the law, Saul

ordered a large stone to be rolled, and those that slaughtered the oxen

to cut their throats on that stone. By laying the animal's head on the

high stone, the blood oozed out on the ground, and sufficient evidence

was afforded that the ox or sheep was dead before it was attempted to

eat it.

45. the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not--When Saul became

aware of Jonathan's transgression in regard to the honey, albeit it was

done in ignorance and involved no guilt, he was, like Jephthah

[Jud 11:31, 35],

about to put his son to death, in conformity with his vow

[1Sa 14:44].

But the more enlightened conscience of the army prevented the

tarnishing the glory of the day by the blood of the young hero, to

whose faith and valor it was chiefly due.

47, 48. So Saul . . . fought against all his enemies on every

side--This signal triumph over the Philistines was followed, not

only by their expulsion from the land of Israel, but by successful

incursions against various hostile neighbors, whom he harassed though

he did not subdue them.