1 Samuel 14

CHAPTER 14

Jonathan Slaughters the Philistines

¹Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

²And Saul was staying in the outskirts of ^aGibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in ^bMigron. And the people who were with him were ^cabout six hundred men,

³and Ahijah, the ^ason of Ahitub, ^bIchabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh at ^cShiloh, ^dwas ¹wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

^4aNow between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

⁵The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.

⁶Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of ^athese uncircumcised; perhaps Yahweh will work for us, for ^bYahweh is not restrained to save by many or by few.”

⁷And his armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your heart.”

⁸Then Jonathan said, “^aBehold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.

⁹“If they ¹say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.

¹⁰“But if they ¹say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for Yahweh has given them into our hands; and ^athis shall be the sign to us.”

¹¹So both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, “Behold, ^aHebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”

¹²So the men of the garrison ¹hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us, and ^awe will make you know something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for ^bYahweh has given them into the hands of Israel.”

¹³Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.

¹⁴And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an ¹acre of land.

¹⁵And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and ^athe raiders trembled, and ^bthe earth quaked so ^cthat it became a ¹great trembling.

¹⁶Then Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away; and they went here and there.

¹⁷So Saul said to the people who were with him, “¹Number now and see who has gone from us.” And when they had ²numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

¹⁸Then Saul said to Ahijah, “^aBring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel.

^19aAnd it happened that while Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, ^aevery man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.

²¹Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even ^athey also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²Now all the ^amen of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, and they pursued them closely in the battle.

²³So ^aYahweh saved Israel that day, and the battle ¹spread beyond ^bBeth-aven.

Saul’s Oath Makes the People Weary

²⁴Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day. And Saul had ^aput the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food ¹before evening and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵Now all the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶So the people entered the forest, and behold, ^athere was a flow of honey; but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the sworn oath.

²⁷But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under a sworn oath; therefore, ^ahe put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and ^bhis eyes brightened.

²⁸Then one of the people answered and said, “Your father strictly put the people under a sworn oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’” And the people were weary.

²⁹Then Jonathan said, “^aMy father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰“How much more, if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹Then they struck among the Philistines that day from ^aMichmash to ^bAijalon. And the people were very weary.

^32aSo the people ¹rushed greedily upon the spoil, and they took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them ^bwith the blood.

³³Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people are ^asinning against Yahweh by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have acted treacherously; roll a great stone to me today.”

³⁴And Saul said, “Scatter yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against Yahweh by eating with the blood.’” So all the people that night brought each one his ox ¹with him and slaughtered it there.

³⁵And ^aSaul built an altar to Yahweh; it was the first altar that he built to Yahweh.

³⁶Then 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 whatever seems good in your eyes.” So ^athe priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”

³⁷And Saul ^aasked of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But ^bHe did not answer him on that day.

³⁸And Saul said, “^aDraw near here, all you ¹chiefs of the people, and know and see how this sin has happened today.

³⁹“For ^aas Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not one of all the people answered him.

⁴⁰Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good in your eyes.”

⁴¹Therefore, Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, “^aGive a perfect lot.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped.

⁴²And Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, “^aTell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him and said, “^bI indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I must die!”

⁴⁴And Saul said, “^aMay God do ¹this to me and more also, for ^byou shall surely die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who has ¹brought about this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, ^anot one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for ^bhe has worked with God this day.” So the people ²redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul went up from ¹pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Saul Fights Against His Enemies

⁴⁷Now Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, and he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, ^athe sons of Ammon, Edom, ^bthe kings of Zobah, and ^cthe Philistines; and wherever he turned, he ¹inflicted punishment.

⁴⁸And he acted valiantly and ^astruck down the Amalekites and delivered Israel from the hands of ¹those who plundered them.

⁴⁹Now ^athe sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn ^bMerab and the name of the younger ^cMichal.

⁵⁰And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And ^athe name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.

^51aAnd Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵²Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and Saul would see any mighty man or any man of valor and would ^agather him to ¹his staff.