1 Samuel 14:16-23
New English Translation
16 Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin[a] looked on[b] as the crowd of soldiers seemed to melt away first in one direction and then in another.[c] 17 So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops,[d] Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,”[e] for he was at that time wearing the ephod in front of the Israelites.[f] 19 While[g] Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines’ camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Saul and all the army assembled and marched into battle, where they found[h] the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords.[i] 21 The Hebrews who had earlier gone over to the Philistine side[j] joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them in battle. 23 So the Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle shifted over to Beth Aven.[k]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “saw, and look!”
- 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “the crowd melted and went, even here.”
- 1 Samuel 14:17 tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”
- 1 Samuel 14:18 tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v. 19. There are also quotations of this reading in rabbinic literature and medieval Jewish literature according to V. Aptowitzer, The Scripture in the Rabbinic Literature and Medieval Jewish Literature, Prolegomena (3 parts, Vindobonae, 1906, 1908, 1911). It is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, NJB, GWN, TEV, NLT, CEB, BBE).
- 1 Samuel 14:18 tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.
- 1 Samuel 14:19 tn Or perhaps “until.”
- 1 Samuel 14:20 tn Heb “and look, there was.”
- 1 Samuel 14:20 tn Heb “the sword of a man against his companion, a very great panic.”
- 1 Samuel 14:21 tn Heb “and the Hebrews were to the Philistines formerly, who went up with them in the camp all around.”
- 1 Samuel 14:23 tc The LXX includes the following words: “And all the people were with Saul, about ten thousand men. And the battle extended to the entire city on mount Ephraim.”
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