1 Samuel 14
The Voice
14 One day Saul’s son, Jonathan, came up with a plan. He turned to his armor-bearer.
Jonathan: Come on. Let’s go down to the Philistines over there.
But he didn’t tell his father what he had decided.
2 Saul remained outside Gibeah under the pomegranate tree at Migron with about 600 of his soldiers. 3 Ahijah, the son of Ahitub and nephew of Ichabod (who was a son of Phinehas, who was born to Eli, who had been the priest of the Eternal One in Shiloh), was also there with Saul, bearing the priestly vest. None of the people knew that Jonathan had gone.
4-5 The mountain pass that Jonathan took to reach the Philistines was bordered on either end by rocky crags. The one on the north in front of Michmash was called Bozez, and the other on the south near Geba was called Seneh.
Jonathan (to his armor-bearer): 6 Come on! Let’s cross over to this force of Philistines, these uncircumcised, these idol-worshipers. Maybe the Eternal One will fight for us. If He wants to save us, then no force is too big or too small.
Armor-bearer: 7 Do whatever you think is right, and I will follow you. My decision will be your decision.
Jonathan: 8 Now we will approach the Philistines and let them see us. 9 If they say, “Wait there. We are coming to you,” then we will stay where we are, and we will not advance. 10 But if they say, “Come here,” then we will go to them, and that will be the sign that the Eternal has given us power over them.
11 So they let the Philistines see them, and the Philistine soldiers ridiculed them.
Soldiers: Look! There are some Hebrews climbing out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!
12 They signaled to Jonathan and his armor-bearer.
Soldiers: Come here, you two! Come here, and we’ll show you something!
The Philistines believe no one can climb up to them.
Jonathan (to the armor-bearer): Follow me! The Eternal One has assured victory for Israel.
13 Jonathan scrambled up the steep incline on his hands and feet to the Philistine soldiers, his armor-bearer right behind. When he appeared before the Philistines, they fell before him, and he and his armor-bearer killed them right and left. 14 In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about 20 men within an area of about a half-acre. 15 When the news of this slaughter spread, it caused trembling in the Philistine camp, among the soldiers in the field, even among the whole nation. The garrison of troops was confused and afraid, and the raiding parties who had terrorized Israel trembled. Soon the earth itself quaked, and an awesome trembling abounded.
16 From a distance Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the multitude of Philistines melting away, rushing back and forth.
Saul (to his soldiers): 17 Call the roll. I want to know who is missing from our camp.
After the roll call, they realized Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.
Saul (to Ahijah the priest): 18 Bring the covenant chest of the True God here.
The chest of God was traveling with the Israelites in those days. 19 While Saul was talking with Ahijah the priest, the raucous commotion in the Philistine ranks grew. He turned to Ahijah the priest who was consulting the oracle of the Urim and Thummim to determine God’s will.
Saul (to the priest): Withdraw your hand!
20 Then Saul rallied all his troops and led them into battle, and there was so great a confusion that no one knew exactly whom they were fighting. 21 Those Hebrews who had been with the Philistines in their camps changed sides and began fighting alongside the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan, 22 and those Israelites who had gone into hiding in the hill country of Ephraim came flooding out of the hills to fight when they heard the Philistines were running away.
23 So the Eternal One gave Israel the victory that day, and the battle passed beyond Beth-aven. 24 But Saul did a foolish thing: he placed all of his troops under an oath that caused added pressure.
Saul: A curse on anyone who stops to eat before evening comes and I have my revenge on my enemies!
So none of the army ate anything, 25 [although they passed through a forest and by a honeycomb][a] with honey on the ground. 26 The people passed and the honey was dripping out, but none of them reached out for a taste because they were afraid of Saul’s curse. 27 But Jonathan had not heard Saul’s words, so when he passed the honeycomb, he reached out with the staff he was carrying, took some honey, put it in his mouth, and immediately felt refreshed.
Soldier: 28 Your father strictly charged us not to eat anything! He said we would be cursed if we did; that is why we are so weak with hunger.
Jonathan: 29 Then my father has troubled our people for no reason. See how much stronger I am after tasting the honey? 30 Wouldn’t it have been better if our soldiers had been free to eat some of the food they had taken from the enemy? Our slaughter of the Philistines is not as great as it could be because we are too weak to pursue it!
31 So after this victory, after the Israelites had crushed the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, they were faint. 32 When evening came and they were permitted to eat, they seized the spoils of battle, took sheep and oxen and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate them with their blood, which is strictly forbidden by the law of Moses. 33 This was reported to Saul.
Soldier: Look, our soldiers are sinning against the Eternal One by eating the meat together with the blood of those animals!
Saul: You should not have done this. Roll a large stone before me here so I can prepare an altar. 34 Go among the people and tell them, “Bring your oxen or sheep; kill them here, and eat, but do not sin against the Eternal by eating the meat together with the blood.”
So all the soldiers brought their own animals that night and slaughtered them at the stone altar. 35 This was the first altar Saul built to the Eternal One.
Saul: 36 Let us go down against the Philistine forces tonight and attack them until morning, until not one of them is left alive.
His followers encouraged him to do as he wished, everyone that is, except for the priest.
Priest (protesting): Let us consult the True God.
So Saul and his priest come before the Lord and perform the appropriate rituals so that he can know the will of God.
Saul (to God): 37 Do You want me to go after the Philistines tonight? If we go, will You give Israel victory?
But God did not answer him that day. 38 So he gathered the people together.
Saul: Come now, all you leaders of the land. Let us determine where we have sinned today. 39 For as the Eternal One—the God who delivers Israel—lives, wherever the sin lies, even in my son Jonathan, that person will surely die!
No one among the people answered him. 40 So Saul separated himself and Jonathan from the others, ordering the people to stand on one side and he and Jonathan on the other.
People: Do as you please.
41 Then Saul asked the Eternal One, the God of Israel, to reveal the truth. [The priest consulted the stones of the divine oracle to determine whether the sin was committed by the common people of Israel or by someone in his royal family.][b] The oracle indicated that the family of Saul, not the people of Israel, was at fault.
Saul (to the priest): 42 Cast again to see whether it is me or my son Jonathan.
The results indicated Jonathan.
Saul (to Jonathan): 43 What have you done?
Jonathan: I certainly tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff I carried. I am ready to die.
Saul: 44 May the True God do the same and more to me, my son. Jonathan, you must die.
But the people step in to protect Jonathan.
People (to Saul): 45 Would you execute Jonathan, the one who won Israel’s great victory? Of course not! As the Eternal One lives, not a hair of his head should be harmed because he worked with the True God today to give us victory!
So the people ransomed Jonathan, and he was not killed. 46 Saul, now humiliated, stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines who were left returned to their own land.
47 When Saul entered into his kingship, he made war with all of Israel’s enemies—Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Throughout his life he fought and condemned them. 48 He fought bravely and defeated the Amalekites and rescued Israel from the onslaught of all those who plundered her.
49 Saul’s three sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua, and his two daughters were Merab (the firstborn) and Michal (the younger). 50 Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz, and the commander of his forces was his cousin Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51 Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel.
52 The Israelites fought hard against the Philistines throughout Saul’s reign; and whenever Saul found a strong or brave fighter, he added him to his forces.
1 Samuel 14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 14
1 One day Jonathan, son of Saul, said to his armor-bearer, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not inform his father—(A) 2 Saul was sitting under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah; with him were about six hundred men. 3 Ahijah, son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, was wearing the ephod—nor did the soldiers know that Jonathan had gone.(B) 4 Flanking the ravine through which Jonathan intended to cross to the Philistine outpost were rocky crags on each side, one named Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One crag was to the north, toward Michmash; the other to the south, toward Geba. 6 Jonathan said to his armor-bearer: “Come, let us go over to that outpost of the uncircumcised. Perhaps the Lord will help us, because it is no more difficult for the Lord to grant victory by means of a few than it is by means of many.”(C) 7 His armor-bearer replied, “Do whatever you think best; I am with you in whatever you decide.” 8 Jonathan continued: “When we cross over to those men, we will be visible to them. 9 If they say to us, ‘Stay there until we can come to you,’ we will stop where we are; we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will go up, because the Lord has delivered them into our hand. That will be our sign.”[a](D) 11 When the two of them came into the view of the Philistine outpost, the Philistines remarked, “Look, some Hebrews[b] are coming out of the holes where they have been hiding.” 12 The men of the outpost called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come up here,” they said, “and we will teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” 13 Jonathan clambered up with his armor-bearer behind him. As the Philistines fell before Jonathan, his armor-bearer, who followed him, would finish them off. 14 In this first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men within half a furlong. 15 Then terror spread through the camp and the countryside; all the soldiers in the outpost and in the raiding parties shuddered in terror. The earth shook with an awesome shuddering.[c](E)
Rout of the Philistines. 16 Saul’s sentinels in Gibeah of Benjamin saw that the enemy camp had scattered and were running in all directions. 17 Saul said to those around him, “Count the troops and find out if any of us are missing.” When they had taken the count, they found Jonathan and his armor-bearer missing. 18 Saul then said to Ahijah, “Bring the ephod here.” (Ahijah was wearing the ephod before the Israelites at that time.) 19 While Saul was speaking to the priest, the uproar in the Philistine camp kept increasing. So he said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20 And Saul and all his men rallied and rushed into the fight, where the Philistines, wholly confused, were thrusting swords at one another.(F) 21 The Hebrews who had previously sided with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp turned to join the Israelites under Saul and Jonathan.(G) 22 Likewise, all the Israelites who were hiding in the hill country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines were fleeing, kept after them in the battle.(H) 23 [d]Thus the Lord saved Israel that day.
Saul’s Oath. The battle continued past Beth-aven. 24 Even though the Israelites were exhausted that day, Saul laid an oath on them, saying, “Cursed be the one who takes food before evening, before I am able to avenge myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. 25 Now there was a honeycomb lying on the ground, 26 and when the soldiers came to the comb the honey was flowing; yet no one raised a hand from it to his mouth, because the people feared the oath.
Violation of the Oath. 27 Jonathan, who had not heard that his father had put the people under oath, thrust out the end of the staff he was holding and dipped it into the honeycomb. Then he raised it to his mouth and his eyes brightened. 28 At this, one of the soldiers spoke up: “Your father put the people under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who takes food today!’ As a result the people are weakened.” 29 (I)Jonathan replied: “My father brings trouble to the land. Look how bright my eyes are because I had this little taste of honey. 30 What is more, if the army had eaten freely of the enemy’s plunder when they came across it today, surely the slaughter of the Philistines would have been the greater by now!”
Consuming the Blood. 31 After the Philistines were routed that day from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were completely exhausted. 32 So the army pounced upon the plunder and took sheep, oxen, and calves, slaughtering them on the ground and eating the meat with the blood in it.(J) 33 Informed that the army was sinning against the Lord by eating the meat with blood in it, Saul said: “You have broken faith. Roll a large stone here for me.” 34 He continued: “Mingle with the people and tell each of them, ‘Bring an ox or sheep to me. Slaughter them here and then eat. But you must not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood in it.’” So that night they all brought whatever oxen they had seized, and they slaughtered them there; 35 and Saul built an altar to the Lord—this was the first time he built an altar to the Lord.(K)
Jonathan in Danger of Death. 36 Then Saul said, “Let us go down in pursuit of the Philistines by night, to plunder them until daybreak and leave no one alive.” They replied, “Do what you think best.” But the priest said, “Let us consult God.” 37 So Saul inquired of God: “Shall I go down in pursuit of the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he received no answer on this occasion.(L) 38 “All officers of the army,” Saul announced, “come forward. Find out how this sin was committed today. 39 As the Lord lives who has given victory to Israel, even if my son Jonathan has committed it, he shall surely die!” But none of the people answered him. 40 So he said to all Israel, “Stand on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will stand on the other.” The people responded, “Do what you think best.”(M) 41 And Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel: “Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, Lord, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim.”[e] Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free.(N) 42 Saul then said, “Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was designated. 43 Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” Jonathan replied, “I only tasted a little honey from the end of the staff I was holding. Am I to die for this?” 44 Saul declared, “May God do thus to me, and more, if you do not indeed die, Jonathan!”(O)
Rescue of Jonathan. 45 But the soldiers protested to Saul: “Is Jonathan to die, the man who won this great victory for Israel? This must not be! As the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for God was with him in what he did today!” Thus the soldiers rescued[f] Jonathan and he did not die.(P) 46 After that Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines, who returned to their own territory.
Saul’s Victories. 47 After taking possession of the kingship over Israel, Saul waged war on its enemies all around—Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he was successful(Q) 48 and fought bravely. He defeated Amalek and delivered Israel from the hand of those who were plundering them.(R)
Saul’s Family. 49 The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua; the name of his firstborn daughter was Merob; the name of the younger was Michal.(S) 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of his general was Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s uncle; 51 Kish, Saul’s father, and Ner, Abner’s father, were sons of Abiel.(T)
52 There was heavy fighting with the Philistines during Saul’s lifetime. Whenever Saul saw any strong or brave man, he took him into his service.
Footnotes
- 14:10 That will be our sign: Jonathan acknowledges that the battle is in God’s hands.
- 14:11 Hebrews: while this term is often used by foreigners of Israelites, in this verse it seems to be a derogatory epithet for soldiers who deserted Saul’s army while he was waiting for Samuel to arrive in Gilgal.
- 14:15 Awesome shuddering: lit., “shuddering caused by God”; the panic in the Philistine camp is the work of Israel’s warrior God.
- 14:23 The victory apparently cleared the Philistines off the main ridge of mountains in the territories of Benjamin and Ephraim.
- 14:41 Urim…Thummim: objects, one representing a positive response and the other a negative response, kept in the front pocket of the priest’s ephod, a garment worn as a breastplate, and used to ascertain God’s will in certain instances, e.g., whether Saul should help rout the Philistines. Saul consults the priest but is too impatient to finish the consultation and hurries impulsively into battle.
- 14:45 Rescued: the Hebrew word used is that for the “redemption” of the firstborn (Ex 13:13–15).
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