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1 Samuel 14
American Standard Version

14 Now it fell upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on yonder side. But he told not his father. 2 And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; 3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. 4 And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Jehovah will work for us; for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few. 7 And his armorbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thy heart: turn thee, behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. 8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto the men, and we will disclose ourselves unto them. 9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up; for Jehovah hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign unto us. 11 And both of them disclosed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. 12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armorbearer, Come up after me; for Jehovah hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. 13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew them after him. 14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armorbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were [a]half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. 15 And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was [b]an exceeding great trembling.

16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went hither and thither. 17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. 18 And Saul said unto Ahijah, [c]Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was there at that time [d]with the children of Israel. 19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thy hand. 20 And Saul and all the people that were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. 21 Now the Hebrews that were with the Philistines as beforetime, and that went up with them [e]into the camp, from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 Likewise all the men of Israel that had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. 23 So Jehovah saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth-aven.

24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted food. 25 And all [f]the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground. 26 And when the people were come unto the forest, behold, [g]the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. 28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food this day. And the people were faint. 29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? [h]for now hath there been no great slaughter among the Philistines.

31 And they smote of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint; 32 and the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people did eat them with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against Jehovah, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have dealt treacherously: roll a great stone unto me this day. 34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against Jehovah in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. 35 And Saul built an altar unto Jehovah: the same was the first altar that he built unto Jehovah.

36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. 37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. 38 And Saul said, Draw nigh hither, all ye [i]chiefs of the people; and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. 39 For, as Jehovah liveth, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. 40 Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. 41 Therefore Saul said unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, [j]Show the right. And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot; but the people escaped. 42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and, lo, I must die. 44 And Saul said, God do so and more also; for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. 45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Jehovah liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people [k]rescued Jonathan, that he died not. 46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.

47 Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he put them to the worse. 48 And he did valiantly, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that despoiled them.

49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the first-born Merab, and the name of the younger Michal: 50 and the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51 And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he [l]took him unto him.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 14:14 Or, half an acre of land
  2. 1 Samuel 14:15 Hebrew a trembling of God.
  3. 1 Samuel 14:18 Some editions of Septuagint have, Bring hither the ephod. For he wore the ephod at that time before Israel.
  4. 1 Samuel 14:18 Hebrew and.
  5. 1 Samuel 14:21 Or, in the camp, round about
  6. 1 Samuel 14:25 Hebrew the land.
  7. 1 Samuel 14:26 Or, a stream of honey
  8. 1 Samuel 14:30 Or, for had there not been now a much greater slaughter etc.?
  9. 1 Samuel 14:38 Hebrew corners.
  10. 1 Samuel 14:41 Or, Give a perfect lot
  11. 1 Samuel 14:45 Hebrew ransomed.
  12. 1 Samuel 14:52 Hebrew gathered.
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1 Samuel 14
Lexham English Bible

Jonathan Leads the Counterattack

14 One day[a] Jonathan the son of Saul said to his armor bearer,[b] “Come and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines which is over there.” But he did not tell his father. 2 Now Saul was staying at the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that was in Migron, and the troops that were with him were about six hundred men. 3 Now Ahijah, the son of Ahitub (the brother of Ichabod), the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, was carrying an ephod. The troops did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 Now between the passes where Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines there was a crag of rock on one side[c] and a crag of rock on the other.[d] The name of the one was Bozez and the name of the other was Seneh. 5 The one crag on the north was opposite Micmash and the other on the south was opposite Geba. 6 So Jonathan said to his armor bearer,[e] “Come, let us go over to the garrisons of these uncircumcised; perhaps Yahweh will act for us, for there is no hindrance for Yahweh to save by many or by few.” 7 And his armor bearer[f] said, “Do all that is in your heart that you are inclined to do.[g] I am with you all of the way![h] 8 Then Jonathan said, “Look, we are about to go over to the men; and we will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us: ‘Wait until we reach you,’ then we will stand as we are[i] and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for Yahweh has given them into our hand, and this will be the sign for us.” 11 So the two of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, “The Hebrews are coming out from the holes in which they have hidden themselves.” 12 Then the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer,[j] “Come up to us and we will show you something!” Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer,[k] “Come up after me, for Yahweh has given them into the hand of Israel!” 13 So Jonathan went up on his hands and his feet, with his armor bearer[l] after him. They fell before Jonathan and then his armor bearer[m] would kill them after him. 14 So was the first attack in which Jonathan and his armor bearer[n] killed about twenty men within about half of a furrow in an acre of an open field. 15 Then there was terror[o] in the camp, in the open field, and among all the army of the garrison. Even the raiders[p] trembled. The earth shook, and it became a very great panic.[q]

16 And the lookouts of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin saw that[r] the multitude surged back and forth.[s] 17 Saul said to the troops that were with him, “Please call the roll and see who has gone from us.” So they called the roll and found that[t] Jonathan and his armor bearer[u] were not present. 18 Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ark of God”[v] (for the ark of God was at that time[w] with the Israelites).[x] 19 While[y] Saul was still speaking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more,[z] so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!” 20 Then Saul and all the troops who were with him were assembled on command and came up to the battle, and look! Each Philistine’s sword was against his friend; and there was a very great confusion. 21 The Hebrews who had been for the Philistines previously,[aa] who had gone up with them into the camp all around, even they joined the Israelites[ab] who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 All the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, so even they pursued them closely in the battle. 23 So on that day Yahweh delivered Israel, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.

Saul’s Oath Leads to Trouble

24 Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats any food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the army tasted any food. 25 (Now all the people of the land used to go into the forest, for there was honey on the surface of the ground.) 26 When the army came to the forest, look! There was honey flowing, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the army was afraid of the solemn oath.

27 However, Jonathan had not heard about the oath of his father with the army, so he extended the end of the staff which was in his hand, and he dipped it into the honeycomb.[ac] Then he put his hand to his mouth and his eyes gleamed.[ad] 28 Then a man from the army informed him and said, “Your father made the army swear a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today,’” so the army is exhausted. 29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has brought trouble on the land! See now that my eyes have brightened because I have tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much more could have been done[ae] if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies that they had found! For now the loss among the Philistines is not great.” 31 They defeated the Philistines that day from Micmash to Aijalon, and the troops were very weary.

32 Then the troops took the plunder: they took sheep and cattle and calves[af] and slaughtered them on the ground and the troops ate them all with the blood. 33 So they reported it to Saul, saying, “Look! The troops are sinning against Yahweh by eating the animals with the blood!” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously! Roll to me a large stone today!”[ag] 34 Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the troops and say to them, ‘Bring to me each one his ox and each his sheep and slaughter them in this place and eat, but do not sin against Yahweh by eating the animals with the blood.’” So all the troops brought them, each leading his ox in his hand that night, and slaughtered it there.

Jonathan Rescued from His Father Saul

35 Then Saul built an altar to Yahweh; it was the first altar he built[ah] to Yahweh. 36 Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and let us plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave alive a man among them.” So they said, “Do all that is good in your eyes.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37 So Saul inquired of God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him on that day. 38 Then Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, so that we find out[ai] what the sin was this day. 39 For as Yahweh lives, who delivers Israel, I swear that even if it is in Jonathan my son, he will certainly die!”[aj] But nobody from all the army answered him. 40 Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side,[ak] and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other.”[al] And the army said to Saul, “Do what is good in your eyes.” 41 Then Saul said to Yahweh the God of Israel, “Render a decision perfectly.”[am] Jonathan and Saul were chosen by lot and the people went out. 42 Then Saul said, “Let them cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,” and Jonathan was chosen. 43 So Saul said, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him and said, “I merely tasted[an] a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die.” 44 Then Saul said, “So may God do to me and more,[ao] you will certainly die today, Jonathan!” 45 But the army said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who accomplished this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, not a hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the army ransomed Jonathan and he did not die.

46 Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their place. 47 So Saul took the kingship over Israel, and he fought all around against his enemies, against Moab, against the Ammonites,[ap] against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. He inflicted punishment against all who rebelled. 48 He acted bravely and defeated the Amalekites and rescued Israel from the hand of those who plundered it.

49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua; the names of his two daughters were as follows: the name of the firstborn was Merab and the younger was Michal. 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz, and the name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51 Now Kish was the father of Saul, but Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel.

52 Warfare was severe against the Philistines all the days of Saul. Whenever Saul saw anyone who was a mighty warrior[aq] or any brave man,[ar] he conscripted him into his service.[as]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 14:1 Literally “And it happened the day”
  2. 1 Samuel 14:1 Literally “the young man carrying his weapons”
  3. 1 Samuel 14:4 Literally “from the beyond from this”
  4. 1 Samuel 14:4 Literally “from the beyond from this”
  5. 1 Samuel 14:6 Literally “the young man carrying his weapons”
  6. 1 Samuel 14:7 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  7. 1 Samuel 14:7 Literally “turn/incline for yourself”
  8. 1 Samuel 14:7 Literally “Behold, I am with you according to your heart”
  9. 1 Samuel 14:9 Literally “and we will stand under us”
  10. 1 Samuel 14:12 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  11. 1 Samuel 14:12 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  12. 1 Samuel 14:13 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  13. 1 Samuel 14:13 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  14. 1 Samuel 14:14 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  15. 1 Samuel 14:15 Or “panic”
  16. 1 Samuel 14:15 Literally “destroyers”
  17. 1 Samuel 14:15 Literally “like the panic/terror of God”; some interpreters understand this to be a panic caused by God, while others understand the expression merely as a superlative (“a very great panic”)
  18. 1 Samuel 14:16 Literally “and look”
  19. 1 Samuel 14:16 Literally “waved, going here and there”
  20. 1 Samuel 14:17 Literally “and look”
  21. 1 Samuel 14:17 Literally “the one carrying his weapons”
  22. 1 Samuel 14:18 LXX reads “bring near the ephod”
  23. 1 Samuel 14:18 Literally “on that day”
  24. 1 Samuel 14:18 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  25. 1 Samuel 14:19 Hebrew “And”
  26. 1 Samuel 14:19 Literally “and it went, going and increasing”
  27. 1 Samuel 14:21 Literally “as yesterday three days ago”
  28. 1 Samuel 14:21 Literally “were with Israel”
  29. 1 Samuel 14:27 Hebrew “the honeycomb of the honey”
  30. 1 Samuel 14:27 The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “saw”; the reading tradition (Qere) reads “gleamed”
  31. 1 Samuel 14:30 Literally “even that if”
  32. 1 Samuel 14:32 Literally “the children of cattle”
  33. 1 Samuel 14:33 Literally “the day”
  34. 1 Samuel 14:35 Literally “with it he began to build an altar”
  35. 1 Samuel 14:38 Literally “and know and see”
  36. 1 Samuel 14:39 Literally “surely dying he will die”
  37. 1 Samuel 14:40 Literally “opposite one”
  38. 1 Samuel 14:40 Literally “opposite one”
  39. 1 Samuel 14:41 Literally “give what is perfect”; the LXX includes additional words not found in the Masoretic Hebrew text but included in a number of modern English versions: “If this guilt is on me or in my son Jonathan, give Urim, but if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim”
  40. 1 Samuel 14:43 Literally “tasted I tasted”
  41. 1 Samuel 14:44 Literally “so may he add”
  42. 1 Samuel 14:47 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
  43. 1 Samuel 14:52 Literally “each man who was a mighty warrior”
  44. 1 Samuel 14:52 Literally “each son of ability”
  45. 1 Samuel 14:52 Literally “he gathered him to himself”
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