Chapter Fourteen

Defeat of the Philistines. Successful wars of the Hebrews against the Moabites, Ammonites, Amalekites, and others.

1 Samuel 14:13. And Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer followed him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them behind him. 1 Samuel 14:14. And in that first attack, Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men, in half a field that a yoke of oxen might plow in a day. 1 Samuel 14:15. And there was a panic in the camp of the Philistines, on the field, and among all the people; the raiding parties and those destroying the land were seized with terror [and did not want to fight]; the whole earth trembled, and there was a great terror from the Lord. 1 Samuel 14:16. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin saw that the crowd was scattering and running here and there. 1 Samuel 14:17. And Saul said to the people with him: muster the troops and see who has gone from us. And when they had mustered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 1 Samuel 14:18. And Saul said to Ahijah: “bring [the ark] of God”; for the ark of God was with the Israelites at that time. 1 Samuel 14:19. While Saul was speaking to the priest, the confusion in the camp of the Philistines was growing more and more [widespread and] increasing. Then Saul said to the priest: withdraw your hands. 1 Samuel 14:20. And Saul and all the people with him gathered and rushed to the battle, and behold, every man’s sword was turned against his neighbor; the confusion was very great. 1 Samuel 14:21. Then the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and who had gone about with them everywhere in the camp, joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan; 1 Samuel 14:22. And all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had fled, also joined their own in the battle. 1 Samuel 14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day; and the battle spread as far as Beth-aven. [All the men with Saul were about ten thousand, and the battle was waged throughout the hill country of Ephraim.] Subjected to a swift and skillful attack, the Philistines were seized with fear and, imagining that by their carelessness they had allowed a whole enemy detachment to approach them, hidden by a ravine of the hills (1 Sam 14:4-6), rushed into wild flight, created terrible confusion in the camp at Michmash, and threw the other Philistine companies into turmoil. The confusion of the Philistines was further aided by the fact that there were many Hebrews in their army. Emboldened by the favorable turn of events, they drew their swords against their oppressors. To them were also added those Israelites who at the beginning of the Philistine invasion had in fear hidden themselves in ravines and pits (see note to 1 Sam 13:6-7). “Then Saul said to the priest” (Ahijah): “withdraw” (in prayer) “your hands” (verse 19), so that through the intermediary of the sanctuary (verse 18) we might learn God’s will. “And Saul and all the people with him shouted” (verse 20): the Lord made it known to the Hebrews that the Philistines were delivered into their hands. Naturally, after assuring himself of the confusion of the Philistines, Saul rushed with his army to complete the defeat of the enemies and pursued them from Michmash to Beth-aven (Aijalon).

1 Samuel 14:24. The men of Israel were exhausted that day; and Saul [very foolishly] put the people under a curse, saying: cursed be anyone who eats food until evening, until I have avenged myself on my enemies. And none of the people tasted food. 1 Samuel 14:25. And all the people came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground. 1 Samuel 14:26. And the people went into the forest, saying: behold, the honey flows. But no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the curse. 1 Samuel 14:27. But Jonathan did not hear when his father put the people under the curse; and he stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, dipped it in the honeycomb, and brought it to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. 1 Samuel 14:28. And one of the people said to him, saying: your father has put the people under a curse, saying: “cursed be anyone who eats food today”; and the people are exhausted. 1 Samuel 14:29. And Jonathan said: my father has troubled the land; see how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey; 1 Samuel 14:30. if only the people had eaten today from the spoil that they found from their enemies, would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been greater? 1 Samuel 14:31. And they struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon; and the people were very exhausted. 1 Samuel 14:32. And the people rushed upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate them with blood. 1 Samuel 14:33. And it was told to Saul, saying: behold, the people are sinning against the Lord, eating with blood. And Saul said: you have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me now. 1 Samuel 14:34. Then Saul said: go through the people and say to them: let each man bring his ox and his sheep to me, and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with blood. And all the people brought, each one his ox in his hand [and his sheep] that night, and slaughtered them there. “Saul very foolishly put all the people under a curse”. The consequences of Saul’s thoughtless curse upon his warriors were felt very soon. “Its first result was that the oath was violated, and precisely by him who most of all thought about pursuing the enemy, who most of all contributed to their defeat – the hero of the day, the prince Jonathan, who did not know of the curse. When evening came, the starving people rushed with fury upon the Philistine spoil – small and large cattle – and indulged in bloody eating of almost raw, steaming meat, in violation of the direct decree of the law (Deut 12:16). So Saul was compelled to personally oversee the proper preparation of each animal for eating” (I. Bogorodskii, “The Hebrew Kings”, p. 51–52). “And his eyes brightened” (verse 27), dimmed by exhaustion and hunger. “My father has troubled the land” (verse 29), by pronouncing a hasty curse. “Roll a large stone to me now” (verse 33) and then “let each man bring his ox and his sheep to me and slaughter them here” (on the stone) “and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with blood” (verse 34).

1 Samuel 14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: it was the first altar that he built to the Lord. A remark very characteristic of Saul’s character: only now, having triumphed over his enemies, did Saul feel the need for a sacrifice to the Lord God on his own initiative, without encouragement from the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 10:8).

1 Samuel 14:36. And Saul said: let us pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a single one among them. And they said: do all that seems good to you. And the priest said: let us draw near to God here. “Let us draw near to God”, so that we might learn his will.

1 Samuel 14:37. And Saul asked of God: shall I go down after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer him that day. “And Saul asked of God”, through the intermediary of the Lord’s sanctuary (see 1 Sam 14:18-19).

1 Samuel 14:38. Then Saul said: let all the leaders of the people come here and learn and find out who has sinned this day. “Who has sinned this day”, preventing us from learning the will of the Lord?

1 Samuel 14:39. For as the Lord lives, who has saved Israel, if the guilt lies even on Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But no one answered him from all the people. “But no one answered him from all the people”. The people undoubtedly knew of Jonathan’s violation of Saul’s curse (1 Sam 14:27-30), but, recognizing the foolishness of this curse (1 Sam 14:24) and cherishing a completely justified feeling of love and gratitude toward Jonathan, the hero of the day, whom God himself evidently helped in overcoming the enemy (1 Sam 14:42), decided not to allow Saul to commit another, even more foolish, act. “And the people freed Jonathan, and he did not die” (1 Sam 14:45).

1 Samuel 14:47. And Saul established his kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab and against the Ammonites and against Edom [and against Bethel] and against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he was victorious. Moab – on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; Ammon – in the southern parts of the eastern Transjordan; Bethel – one of the tribes unknown at the present time; Zobah (or Suva, Tsoba) – a kingdom in Syria; the Philistines occupied the southwestern corner of Canaan.

1 Samuel 14:52. And there was constant war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And whenever Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him to himself. “He took him to himself”, into his army. * * * In the Greek translation: [ephod]