1 Samuel 14:40-42

Amplified Bible

⁴⁰Then he said to all the Israelites, “^[a]You shall be on one side; I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” ⁴¹Therefore, Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot [identifying the transgressor].” Then Saul and Jonathan were selected [by lot], but the other men went free. ⁴²Saul said, “Cast [lots] between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

1 Samuel 14:40 To identify the guilty party, Saul decided to have lots cast, which was a common and accepted means of finding God’s will. It may be that the Urim and Thummim that were kept in the priest’s breastpiece were used for this purpose (Ex 28:30). Saul chose to narrow the search by first separating Jonathan and himself from the rest of the people, only to discover (v 41) that the people were in fact innocent.