John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Samuel 11:1



INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 11



This chapter relates the distress the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead were in on account of the Ammonites, 1Sa 11:1 upon which they sent messengers to Saul, whose spirit was immediately stirred up to help them, 1Sa 11:4, and prepared for it, and came up soon enough for their relief, and slew their enemies, 1Sa 11:7, which gained him much honour and reputation among the people, and occasioned the renewal of the kingdom to him, 1Sa 11:12.



Ver. 1. Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead,.... A month after, as in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, that is, a month after Saul was chosen king; so Josephus {p}: this prince was preparing for war against Israel before, which they hearing of, requested they might have a king to go before them in battle, 1Sa 12:12 but now he actually marched from his own country, and besieged Jabeshgilead, a city in the land of Gilead, from whence it had its name, and lay in the half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side Jordan, see Jud 21:8. It lay near to the Ammonites, and was part of the country they laid claim to in the times of Jephthah, which they now renewed, and attempted to gain it by force. This Nahash was king of the Ammonites, as he is called in the Targum, and by Josephus {q}, and so in the Arabic version, see

1Sa 12:12



and all the men of Jabeshgilead said unto Nahash, make a covenant with us; they desired to be his allies and confederates, live in peace and friendship with him, and enjoy their religion and liberties on certain conditions they were willing to come into; and this was the sense of them all, or at least the greatest part, which showed a mean and abject spirit in them, to make no defence of themselves, but as soon as besieged to move for a capitulation. This doubtless arose from a sense of their weakness, not being able to hold it out long, and from an apprehension that their brethren the Israelites, on the other side Jordan, could give them no assistance, being in an unsettled condition, having chosen a king, and he scarcely on the throne, and the Philistines having great power over them:



and we will serve thee; not as slaves, but as tributaries; they were willing to pay a yearly tax to him.



{p} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 1. {q} Ibid.





1 Samuel 11:2



Ver. 2. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them,.... In a very haughty and scornful manner:



on this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes; some Jewish writers go into a mystical and allegorical sense of these words, as that Nahash ordered the book of the law to be brought, which was their right eye, that he might erase out of it these words,



an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; others understand it of the sanhedrim, which were the eyes of Israel; and others, which come a little nearer to the sense, of the slingers and archers, the desire of the eyes of Israel; and who, by having their right eyes thrust out, would be in a great measure spoiled for taking aim; for the words are to be understood literally; the intention of Nahash was to disable them for war, and that they might become quite unfit for it, as Josephus observes {r}; the left eye being under the shield, as it usually was in war, and the right eye plucked out, they would be as blind men: he did not choose to have both their eyes thrust out, for then they could have been of no use and service to him as slaves or tributaries:



and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel; that they did not come up to the relief of their brethren, and defend them, and signifying that they must all expect the same treatment from him.



{r} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 1.





1 Samuel 11:3



Ver. 3. And the elders of Jabesh said,.... The magistrates and principal men of the city:



give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel; that is, cease from besieging them, from throwing in darts into the city, or any other missive weapons, and from attempting to break open the gates, or break down the walls of it, and storm it; such a space of time they desire, which was as little as could be granted, to go and return in, and without this it would not be a reproach to all Israel, if they were ill used by them, since they had no knowledge of their case, nor time to come up for their assistance:



and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee; and submit to be used at thy pleasure. And it seems that this was granted by Nahash out of a bravado, and to reproach and insult all Israel, and bid them defiance; with whom he sought to quarrel, having a design upon their land, and knowing very well their condition, being awed by the Philistines; and having just chosen a king, and he an inexperienced man in the affairs of war, and had no army; nor was it likely that one could be assembled in so short a time, and come to the relief of this people, and therefore he thought himself safe enough in granting their request.





1 Samuel 11:4



Ver. 4. Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul,.... Where he was born, and brought up, and now dwelt; and he being elected king, it brought an honour to the place; and from hence had this name, to distinguish it from the others, and this is the first time it was so called. Now the messengers from Jabesh came hither directly, because they knew that Saul, the chosen king, dwelt here, and the Benjaminites, of all the tribes, had great reason to show regard to them, since it was from thence they had four hundred wives, when they were reduced to six hundred men only, in order to raise up their tribe:



and told the tidings in the ears of the people; Saul being not at home in the city, but in the fields, they reported to them the hardships their city was under, being besieged by the Ammonites, and threatened that if not relieved in such a time, all their right eyes would be plucked out:



and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept; moved with sympathy to their brethren, and who by their intermarriage with them were nearly related to them; and who might fear they would not stop there, but having taken that place would march forward, and come to them, and use them in like manner; the thought of which was very distressing to them.





1 Samuel 11:5



Ver. 5. And, behold, Saul came after the herd out the field,.... Where he had been to look after the and take care of them, and see what condition they were in, and followed them on their return home; for though he was elected king, he was not inaugurated, and did not take upon him any state; and being despised by some, and no provision as yet made for his support and maintenance as a king, and no business as such for him to do, Samuel still acting in his office, he returned to his father's house, and employed himself in rustic affairs, as he used to do: though some think this was casual, that he had been in the field to recreate himself, or to meditate on the affairs of government, and happened to return just as the herd came out of the field, and so followed them; thus Jarchi interprets it not of his coming after the herd, but of his coming after the fixed and usual time of the herd's coming out of the field; but Josephus {r} is clear for it, that he had been about some rustic business, some part of husbandry in the field, and returned to the city; nor has it been unusual for emperors and kings, and persons in high offices among Greeks and Romans, and other nations, in times of peace, to employ themselves in husbandry; so did the judges of Israel, as Shamgar, and Gideon, and Boaz, Jud 3:31 so Quinctius Cincinnatus being taken from the plough and made dictator, after he had conquered his enemies, returned to his husbandry {s}:



and Saul said, what aileth the people, that they weep? he supposed some evil had befallen them, and desired to know what it was, that, if it lay in his power to help them, he might:



and they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh; the message they brought, and the account they gave of the distressed case of their city.



{r} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 2. {s} Flor. Hist. Roman. l. 1. c. 11. Aurel. Victor. de Vir. Illustr. c. 20. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 11.





1 Samuel 11:6



Ver. 6. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,.... And filled him with pity and compassion to the inhabitants of Jabesh, and with wisdom and prudence, and set his thoughts at work to contrive ways and means for their relief, and with fortitude, courage, and resolution, to attempt their deliverance; so the Targum,



"the spirit of fortitude from the Lord dwelt on Saul:''



and his anger was kindled greatly; against Nahash the Ammonite for insulting Israel, and threatening to use the inhabitants of Jabesh in such a cruel manner.





1 Samuel 11:7



Ver. 7. And he took a yoke of oxen,.... Of his own or his father's, which he had just followed out of the field, and for which chiefly that circumstance is mentioned:



and hewed them in pieces; as the Levite did his concubine, Jud 19:29



and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers; some carrying a piece one way, and some another, throughout all the tribes; for to them all the government of Saul extended, and which by this he let them know it did:



saying, whosoever cometh not after Saul and after Samuel; he names both, because he himself, though chosen king, was not inaugurated into his office, nor was Samuel put out of his; and because he knew he was despised by some, who would not object to and refuse the authority of Samuel, and therefore if they would not follow him, they would follow Samuel; and he mentions himself first, because of his superior dignity:



so shall it be done unto his oxen; be cut to pieces as these were; he does not threaten to cut them in pieces, but their oxen, lest he should seem to exercise too much severity at his first coming to the throne:



and the fear of the Lord fell on the people; they feared, should they be disobedient, the Lord would cut them to pieces, or in some way destroy them, as well as Saul would cut their oxen to pieces; for their minds were impressed with a sense of this affair being of the Lord:



and they came out with one consent; or "as one man" {t}, as if they had consulted together; being under a divine impulse, they set out from different parts about much the same time, and met at a place of rendezvous next mentioned.



{t} dxa vyak "tanquam vir unus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





1 Samuel 11:8



Ver. 8. And when he numbered them at Bezek,.... Which was the place appointed to meet at, the same with that in Jud 1:4,

See Gill on "Jud 1:4" though some take the word to be an appellative, and not, the proper name of a place, and render it, "with a stone"; with which he numbered, taking a stone from each, and laying them on a heap, and then telling them {u}; so Bizakion signifies little stones {w} with the Greeks: or "with a fragment"; either of an earthen vessel, or of a stone, or of the branch of a tree they carried in their hands, and so the king's servants numbered not the men, but the branches {x}:



and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand men; who came together on this occasion; these were of the eight tribes and a half on this side Jordan:



and the men of Judah thirty thousand; which tribe is mentioned distinctly, because a noble and warlike tribe, which usually first went up to battle; and though the number of them at this time assembled may seem comparatively small, yet this may easily be accounted for; because they bordered upon the Philistines, who watched every opportunity to take an advantage of them, and therefore could not leave their tribe destitute, but reserved a sufficient number to guard their coasts, and yet were desirous to testify their obedience to Saul, though chosen king out of another tribe, when they might have expected from prophecy that the dominion belonged to them. Josephus {y} has made a gross mistake in the numbers here, he makes the men of Israel to be 700,000, and the men of Judah 70,000, contrary to the text, the Targum, Syriac and Arabic versions; but the Septuagint comes pretty near him, which has 600,000 of the men of Israel, 70,000 of the men of Judah.



{u} Vid. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 22. 2. & Gloss. in ib. {w} Suidas in voce bizakiwn {x} Vid. Sheringham. in Misn. Yoma, c. 2. sect. 1. p. 14. {y} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 3.





1 Samuel 11:9



Ver. 9. And they said unto the messengers that came,.... From Jabeshgilead, that is, Saul and Samuel said to them, as follows:



thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead: when they returned unto them, as they were now upon the departure:



tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot; when it smites with the greatest heat, as at noon: this morrow seems not to be the next from their return home, or going from Saul, but the morrow after they were got home, and should deliver the message to those that sent them, 1Sa 11:10 and so Josephus {z} says, it was on the third day the assistance was promised them:



ye shall have help; Saul with his army by that time would come and raise the siege: and the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; what Saul had promised, and what a numerous army he had raised, and had now upon the march for their relief, and tomorrow would be with them:



and they were glad; it was good news and glad tidings to them; it cheered their hearts, and gave them spirit.



{z} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 3.





1 Samuel 11:10



Ver. 10. Therefore the men of Jabesh said,.... To Nahash the Ammonite:



tomorrow we will come out unto you; meaning if they had no help, which they were well assured they should have; but this condition they expressed not, which they were not obliged to, but left him to conclude they had no hope of any, the messengers being returned, and the next being the last of the seven days' respite; and by this artifice the Ammonites were secure, and not at all upon their guard against an approaching enemy:



and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you; make shows of them, pluck out their eyes, or put them to death, or do what they would with them.





1 Samuel 11:11



Ver. 11. And it was so on the morrow,.... After the messengers were returned, and delivered their message, and the men of Jabeshgilead had given the Ammonites reason to expect that they would come out to them according to their agreement:



that Saul put the people into three companies; or "heads" {a}, under so many commanders, assigning to each their number, if equally, 110,000 in each, as Gideon divided his three hundred into three companies, one hundred in each, Jud 7:16 and Abimelech, Jud 9:43 it seems to have been their way of fighting in those days:



and they came unto the midst of the host: that is, of the Ammonites:



in the morning watch; the third and last watch of the night, by break of day, or before, however before the sun was up; so quick was Saul and his men in their march, though on foot. Bunting {b} computes the distance from Gibeah to Bezek forty miles, and from thence to Jabesh sixteen; it is commonly reckoned that it was about sixty miles from Gibeah to Jabesh. Josephus {c} says it was ten "schaeni", each of which contained five or six miles:



and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day; that is, till noon, so that from the morning watch till noon he was making slaughter of them:



and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered; those that were not cut off by the sword of Saul were broken and dispersed, they could not stand their ground against him:



so that two of them were not left together; to flee together, but every one shifted for himself, and fled alone.



{a} Myvar "capita", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {b} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 126. {c} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.)





1 Samuel 11:12



Ver. 12. And the people said unto Samuel,.... By which it seems that Samuel accompanied Saul in this expedition; though it is somewhat difficult to account for it, that a man of his years should be able to attend so quick a march that Saul made; it may be, therefore, that he might follow after him gently, and meet him quickly after the battle was fought, when the people made the following speech to him:



who is he that said, shall Saul reign over us? is such a mean inexperienced man fit to rule over us? who can bear his government, and submit to it? what can be expected from him, that he should deliver and save us out of the hands of our enemies? in this they had respect to the sons of Belial, and what they said, 1Sa 10:27, but now it appeared he was sufficiently qualified, and God had made him an instrument of salvation, and was a proper person to be king over them:



bring the men, that we may put them to death; so transported were they with affection to Saul, and indignation against those men.





1 Samuel 11:13



Ver. 13. And Saul said,.... Preventing Samuel from giving an answer, being ready to forgive injuries; as it was in his power as a king, and him only, to pardon those persons that treated him in so ill a manner, and it was policy so to do, especially in the beginning of his reign; and it plainly appears that this temper did not always continue with him; though there is no reason to believe otherwise, that this was now owing to his lenity as well as his prudence:



there shall not be a man put to death this day; who by their appearance to his summons had testified their obedience, and by their courage and valour had showed their attachment to him, and to the interest of their country. Ben Gersom takes the sense to be, that it might be right after, but not on this day to put them to death; or that this was an artifice of Saul to deliver those men out of the hands of the Israelites, suggesting as if it was his intention hereafter to put them to death, though not now, for the following reason:



for today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel; he does not ascribe the victory to the quick dispatch he made, to his wisdom and prudence in forming the scheme he did, and to his valour and courage, and that of his troops, but to the power and goodness of God.





1 Samuel 11:14



Ver. 14. Then said Samuel to the people,.... Agreeing to what Saul had said, and in order to put them off from demanding the lives of the offenders, and willing to take them while they were in a good disposition:



come, and let us go to Gilgal; which was the nearest place to them, on the other side Jordan, from which they now were, and where the children of Israel first encamped when they passed over Jordan, where the tabernacle and ark first were, and an altar was built, and where meetings used to be held on certain occasions; all which might be reasons why Samuel proposed to go to this place. According to Bunting {d}, this place was thirty six miles from Jabeshgilead:



and renew the kingdom there; that is, recognize Saul, own and declare him king of Israel.



{d} Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 126.)





1 Samuel 11:15



Ver. 15. And all the people went to Gilgal,.... Agreed to the motion, and marched along with Saul and Samuel thither:



and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; that is, they declared him to be king there; he was inaugurated into, and invested with his office, otherwise it was God only that made him king, who only had the power of making one, see Ac 2:36. Josephus says {e} that Samuel anointed him with the holy oil; and so the Septuagint version here renders it,



"and Samuel anointed Saul there to be king;''



and it is not improbable, that as he privately anointed him, he did it publicly also; if not at the election of him, then at this time; and it is observable, that in the next chapter, and not before, he is called the Lord's anointed. Now this was "before the Lord"; in this place; this being, as Abarbinel observes, a sanctified place, where the tabernacle and ark of God had been; and he supposes it probable that the ark was brought hither; but it was enough that the people and congregation of the Lord were here, and who, when assembled in his name, his presence was with them:



and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; where an altar was built, and on which they offered these peace offerings by way of thanksgiving, partly for the victory obtained over the Ammonites, and partly for the renewal of the kingdom to Saul, and their unanimity in it, as well as to implore and obtain future peace and prosperity:



and there Saul, and all the people of Israel, rejoiced greatly; they in their king, and he in the good will of his people, and both in the great salvation God had wrought for them.



{e} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5.) sect. 4.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Samuel 12:1



INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 12



In this chapter Samuel, resigning the government to Saul, asserts the integrity with which he had performed his office, and calls upon the people of Israel to attest it, who did, 1Sa 12:1, he then reminds them of the great and good things the Lord had done for them in times past, 1Sa 12:6 and whereas they had desired a king, and one was given them, it was their interest to fear and serve the Lord; if not, his hand would be against them, 1Sa 12:10 he terrifies them by calling for thunder in an unusual time, 1Sa 12:16 and then comforts and encourages them, that in doing their duty God would be with them, and not forsake them, otherwise they might expect nothing but ruin and destruction, 1Sa 12:20.



Ver. 1. And Samuel said unto all Israel,.... When assembled at Gilgal, after they had recognized Saul as their king, and he was established in the kingdom, and while in the midst of their mirth and joy:



behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye have said unto me; respecting the affair of a king, to which it must be limited, as appears by what follows; otherwise it is possible, in some things they might apply to him about, he did not think fit to hearken to them, and grant their request, or speak for them:



and have made a king over you; that is, had by the direction and appointment of God chosen one by lot, anointed and declared him king; for it was the Lord alone, that, properly speaking, made him a king.





1 Samuel 12:2



Ver. 2. And now, behold, the king walketh before you,.... He invested with his office, and in the exercise of it, and goes in and out as the captain, commander, and leader of the people; it is expressive of his being in the full possession of regal power and authority, and therefore Samuel might speak the more freely, as he could not be thought to have any hope and expectation of being reinstated in his government, or to have parted with it with any regret; and he wisely took this opportunity of reproving the people for their sin of desiring a king, when Saul was settled and established in his kingdom, and when they were in the midst of all their mirth and jollity, who might, from the success that had attended this first adventure of their king, conclude that they had done a right and good thing in requesting to have one:



and I am old, and grey headed; and so unfit for government, and very willing to be eased of the burden of it: he must surely be more than fifty two years of age, as the Jews generally say he was, since it is not usual at such an age to be grey headed, See Gill on "1Sa 8:1"; however, on this account he merited reverence and respect, and demanded attention:



and, behold, my sons are with you; as private persons in the condition of subjects, making no pretension to government; and if they had committed anything criminal, they were open to the law, and might be charged, and tried, and treated according to their deserts; and there they were, and might be asked what questions they thought proper with respect to what they knew of his conduct; and to be hostages or bail for him, if they could prove anything against him; or to be taken to make satisfaction for any injuries committed by him:



and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day; his manner of and conversation from his infancy to this time was well known to them, and he had spent all his days in the service of God, and for the good of Israel.





1 Samuel 12:3



Ver. 3. Behold, here I am,.... No longer the supreme governor, but a subject, and accountable for any misdemeanour charged upon me, and to which I am ready to give answer, being now at your bar to be tried and judged before you:



witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed; signifying, that if they had anything to lay to his charge, that they would produce it, and give proof and evidence of it in the presence of God, in whose name they met, and of Saul, anointed king, and supreme judge and ruler of the nation:



whose ox have I taken? by force to employ in his own service in ploughing his ground, or treading out his corn:



or whose ass have I taken? to ride about on in his circuit, or to carry any burden for him:



or whom have I defrauded? of their money or goods, by any artifice circumventing and cheating them:



whom have I oppressed? struck, beaten, broken, or caused to be so used wrongfully; to whose person have I been injurious any more than to their property? Some derive the word from a root which signifies favour and goodwill, and interpret it as some of the Rabbins do, of his not taking money of persons with their goodwill; or rather, that he had done nothing as a judge for favour and affection, but had acted the upright part, without regard to rich or poor, friends or foes:



or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? his meaning is, that he had never taken a gift or present from any person to favour his cause, that was to be brought before him, and give it for him right or wrong; to connive at any injury he had done, or to turn away his eyes from seeing where the justice of the cause lay; or that he had not received money to spare the life of a criminal that deserved to die; for the word used for a bribe signifies a ransom price, see De 16:19



and I will restore it to you; the ox or ass, money or goods, gifts and presents, or bribes taken, or make compensation for any injury done to the persons or estates of men. Some render it, "I will answer you" {f}, or give in an answer to any such charges when exhibited.



{f} Mkl byva "respondebo vobis", Munster.





1 Samuel 12:4



Ver. 4. And they said,.... One in the name of the rest, or they all cried out as one man:



thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us; had done them no wrong, neither privately nor publicly, by fraud or by force:



neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand; as a gift, present, or bribe, to fit your his cause. Some would infer hence that be took nothing of them for his support and maintenance, and that he lived upon his own substance; but that is not likely or reasonable; it was but just that they should support him and his family suitably to his character as a judge, whose whole life was spent in their service.





1 Samuel 12:5



Ver. 5. And he said unto them, the Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day,.... Should they hereafter reproach and vilify him, and charge him with any acts of corruption, injustice, and violence:



that ye have not found ought in my hand; that they had nothing to accuse him of and charge him with throughout his whole administration, but had asserted his innocence and integrity, had honourably acquitted him, and given him a fair character: and they answered, he is witness; the omniscient God is a witness against us, should we depart from this testimony, and Saul, the Lord's anointed, is a witness that we have fully cleared thee from any imputations of maladministration. The word is singular, he "said" or answered {g}, that is, Israel said, the whole body of the people, they all replied as one man: the reason why Samuel made such a speech at this time, when he resigned his government to Saul, was not only to secure his own character, but to suggest to Saul how he should rule and govern according to his example; and that having established his own character, he could the more freely, and with the better grace, reprove the people for their sin, as in some following verses.



{g} rmayw "et dixit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; Drusius.





1 Samuel 12:6



Ver. 6. And Samuel said unto the people,.... Having cleared and established his own character, he proceeds to lay before the people some of the great things God had done for them formerly, and quite down to the present time, the more to aggravate their ingratitude in rejecting God as their King:



[it is] the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron; raised them from a low estate, the one in a foreign country in Midian, the other in bondage in Egypt, to be deliverers, guides, and governors of his people Israel. Kimchi thinks this refers to what goes before, and that the sense is, that God, that raised Moses and Aaron to great honour and dignity, was a witness between him and the people; in which he is followed by some Christian interpreters. Ben Gersom makes mention of the same, but rather approves of the connection of the words with what follows, as does Abarbinel, and is doubtless most correct; the Targum is,



"who hath done mighty things by the hands of Moses and Aaron:''



and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt; when they were in bondage there, and that by the means of Moses and Aaron, by whose hands he wrought signs and wonders and inflicted plagues on the Egyptians, which made them willing at last to let Israel go.





1 Samuel 12:7



Ver. 7. Now therefore stand still,.... Keep your place, and do not as yet break up the assembly, but wait a little longer patiently, and with reverence and attention hearken to what I have further to say:



that I may reason with you before the Lord; as in his presence; and which he observes to command the greater awe upon their mind, and the greater regard to the subject of his discourse and resolutions; which would be,



of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers; not only in a way of judgment delivering them into the hands of their enemies, when they sinned against him, but rather in a way of mercy and kindness in delivering them out of their hands.





1 Samuel 12:8



Ver. 8. When Jacob was come into Egypt,.... With his family to see his son Joseph, and dwelt there; or rather the posterity of Jacob are meant, who settled in Egypt, and continued there many years, and at length were oppressed by the Egyptians, and brought into hard bondage:



and your fathers cried unto the Lord; by reason of their bondage, for help and deliverance:



then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt; after various messages carried by them from the Lord to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and after many signs and wonders wrought by them, by which the heart of that king was at last brought to consent to their dismission:



and made them dwell in this place; the land of Canaan; they conducted them through the Red sea, guided them through the wilderness, and accompanied them, especially Moses, to the borders of the land of Canaan; for neither of them went into it, but died before the people's entrance there. Joshua, the successor of Moses, of whom Samuel makes no mention, introduced Israel into it, conquered the land for them, and settled them in it; though Moses and Aaron, as they were the instruments of bringing them out of Egypt, were the cause, by conducting them through the wilderness, and by their prayers, counsels, and instructions, of their entrance into and settlement in it: besides, Moses appointed Joshua in his stead, and ordered him to lead the people there, and directed to the division of the land among them, yea, two tribes and an half were settled by him on the other side Jordan; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read in the singular number, "he made them dwell, that is, the Lord".





1 Samuel 12:9



Ver. 9. And when they forgat the Lord their God,.... The worship of the Lord their God, as the Targum; that is, they fell into idolatry, which is a plain instance and proof of forgetfulness of God; for such that neglect his worship, and serve idols, may be truly said to forget him:



he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor; who was general of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, Jud 4:2, where they are said to be sold into the hands of Jabin, here into the hands of Sisera; because it is highly probable he was sent against them by Jabin, and subdued them, as he afterwards was sent by him, when they rebelled against him, and were delivered out of his hand:



and into the hand of the Philistines: as they were in and before the times of Samson, Jud 13:1



and into the hand of the king of Moab; as in the times of Ehud, Jud 3:14, the exact order of these things is not observed:



and they fought against them; the king of Moab, Sisera, and the Philistines, and overcame them, and so they fell into their hands.





1 Samuel 12:10



Ver. 10. And they cried unto the Lord,.... When in the hands of their enemies, and in bondage to them, and cruelly oppressed by them:



and said, we have sinned; the word for "said" is in the Cetib, or written text, singular, and in the Keri, or marginal reading, plural; and may signify, that everyone of them had a sense of their sin, and made acknowledgment of it; their confession was universal, as their sin was:



because we have forsaken the Lord; the Word of the Lord, as the Targum:



and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth; See Gill on "Jud 2:11",

See Gill on "Jud 2:13".



but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee; they did not ask for a king to go before them, and fight their battles, as they did now, but applied to the Lord for deliverance, promising to serve him as their King and their God.





1 Samuel 12:11



Ver. 11. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal,.... Or Gideon, as the Targum, for Jerubbaal was the name given to Gideon, when he first became a judge, Jud 6:32



and Bedan; if this was one of the judges, he must have two names, or is one that is not mentioned in the book of Judges; the Targum interprets it of Samson; so Jerom {h}, for the word may be rendered "in Dan"; one in Dan, who was of the tribe of Dan, as Samson was; and it was in the camp of Dan the Spirit of God first came upon him; and Kimchi observes that it is the same as Bendan, the son of Dan, that is, a Danite; and though he was after Jephthah, yet is set before him, because he was a greater man than he; and this way go the generality of Jewish writers {i}; but a man of this name being among the posterity of Manasseh, 1Ch 7:17. Junius, and who is followed by others, thinks that Jair is meant, and is so called to distinguish him from a more ancient Jair, the son of Manasseh, and with whom the order of the judges better agrees, see Nu 32:41 but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions read Barak; and he may rather be thought to be meant, because he was the instrument of delivering Israel out of the hand of Sisera, the captain of the host of Hazor before mentioned, 1Sa 12:9 and agrees with the words of the apostle, Heb 11:32, who mentions those judges much in the same order:



and Jephthah, and Samuel; meaning himself, who was the last of the judges, and who speaks of himself as of a third person, as Lamech does, Ge 4:23 and this he did not out of ostentation, but to observe that God had made him an instrument of delivering them out of the hand of the Philistines, which must be fresh in their memory, as he had made use of others before him, when he sent judges, and not kings, and therefore they had no need to ask a king. The Syriac and Arabic versions read Samson instead of Samuel, and which also agrees best with

Heb 11:32



and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side; not the judges, but the Lord; for the word for "delivered" is of the singular number:



and ye dwelled safe; in the greatest security and confidence, without any fear of enemies, having God their King in the midst of them, and stood in no need of any other king to protect and defend them.



{h} Heb. Trad. in lib. Reg. fol. 75. K. {i} So in T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 25. 1.





1 Samuel 12:12



Ver. 12. And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you,.... Or "but yet" {k}; however, notwithstanding though the Lord had been so kind and gracious to them, as to raise up judges one after another to deliver them, when they cried unto him, yet when they perceived that Nahash the Ammonite was preparing to make war with them, instead of applying to the Lord for his protection, they desired to have a king to go before them, and fight their battles, as follows: nay,



but a king shall reign over us; though Samuel told them they had no need of one:



when the Lord your God was your King; and would protect and defend them, if they applied to him, and would put their trust in him; and he himself Samuel was their judge, and would be their general and commander, and they had experience of success under him to the utter destruction of their enemies, 1Sa 7:10 and yet, notwithstanding all this, they insisted upon it to have a king. According to Abarbinel, this preparation of Nahash to war with them was after they had asked for a king, and was a punishment of them for their request; and yet they repented not of it, but in effect said, though Nahash, and all the enemies in the world come against us, we will not go back from our request, but insist on it, that we have a king to reign over us; such was their obstinacy and perverseness.



{k} wartw "videntes autem", V. L. "sed", Tigurine version; "et tamen", Vatablus, Piscator.





1 Samuel 12:13



Ver. 13. Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired,.... For though God chose their king for them, it was at their request; they chose to have a king, and desired one, and they approved of and consented to, and confirmed the choice he had made, and so it was in effect their own:



and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you; he gratified them in their desires; though he did not suffer them to make themselves a king, he suffered them to have one, and he gave them one; this power he reserved to himself of setting up and pulling down kings at his pleasure.





1 Samuel 12:14



Ver. 14. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice,.... All worship and service of God, and obedience to his word and ordinances, should spring from fear and reverence of him; and therefore the whole of worship, both external and internal, is sometimes expressed by the fear of the Lord:



and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord; break it, and thereby exasperate him, and provoke him to wrath and bitterness:



then shall both ye, and also the king that reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God; the Targum is,



"after the worship of the Lord your God;''



which was their duty to do, and is expressed in the preceding clauses; and this therefore is rather a promise of some benefit and privilege to their duty, and to encourage them to it, since it stands opposed to the threatening of punishment in the next verse; and the words in the original are, "then shall ye &c. be after the Lord your God" {l}: that is, though they had in effect rejected the Lord from being their King, by asking and having one; yet notwithstanding, if they and their king were obedient to the commands of the Lord, he would not cast them off; but they should follow him as their guide, leader, and director, and he would protect and defend them as a shepherd does his sheep that follow after him; so Jarchi takes it to be a promise of long life and happiness to them and their king,



"ye shall be established to length of days, both ye and the king.''



{l} hwhy rxa-Mtyyh "eritis post Dominum", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator.





1 Samuel 12:15



Ver. 15. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord,.... They and their king, by sinning, disregarding his precepts, both affirmative and negative:



then shall the hand of the Lord be against you; by sending some judgments upon them, as famine, sword, or pestilence, particularly captivity and subjection to their enemies:



as it was against your fathers; who had no king; and it is suggested that their case, who had one, would be no better than theirs; their king would not be able to save them from the hand of God: the words in the original are, "and against your fathers" {m}; which is interpreted in the Talmud {n} of their fathers dead, and in their graves, and of their enemies digging them up, and taking them out in contempt; but much better, by Kimchi, of their kings, who are, or should be, fathers of their subjects, as Augustus Caesar was called the father of his; and so the Septuagint version renders it, "and upon their king"; signifying that both they and their king should feel the weight of the hand of the Lord, if they rebelled against him.



{m} Mkytbabw "et contra patres vestros", Pagninus, Tigurine version. {n} T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 63. 2.





1 Samuel 12:16



Ver. 16. Now therefore stand,.... Which does not so much respect the position of their bodies as the fixed attention of their minds:



and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes; meaning the storm of thunder and rain which presently followed; which coming at a time when such things were not usual, and on a day when there was no appearance or likelihood of anything of this kind, and suddenly, at once, upon the prayer of Samuel, it was no less than a miracle, and might be called a "great thing", new and unheard of, and the pure effect of almighty power.





1 Samuel 12:17



Ver. 17. Is it not wheat harvest today?.... Of the time of wheat harvest, See Gill on "1Sa 6:13". Rain usually fell in Judea only twice a year, called the former and the latter rain; and from the seventeenth of Nisan or March, to the sixteenth of Marchesvan or October, it was not usual for rain to fall, and so not in harvest, at that time especially, see Pr 26:1. R. Joseph Kimchi says, in the land of Israel rain never fell all the days of harvest; and this is confirmed by Jerom, who lived long in those parts; who says {o}, at the end of the month of June, and in the month of July, we never saw rain in those provinces, especially in Judea. And Samuel not only by putting this question would have them observe that it was the time of wheat harvest in general, but on that day in particular the men, were at work in the fields reaping the wheat, &c. and so was not cloudy, and inclining to rain, but all serene and clear, or otherwise they would not have been employed in cutting down the corn; all which made the following case the more remarkable:



I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; in a miraculous and preternatural way, there being nothing in nature preparatory thereunto, and this purely at the prayer of Samuel:



that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king; was attended with aggravated circumstances, and highly offensive to God, though he had gratified them in it, of which this violent storm would be an indication, and might serve to convince them of their folly, as well as of their wickedness, and that they had no need of a king, since Samuel their judge could do as much or more by his prayers than a king could do by his sword; and of which they had had sufficient proof before this, and that in the same way, 1Sa 7:10.



{o} Comment. in Amos iv. 7.





1 Samuel 12:18



Ver. 18. So Samuel called unto the Lord,.... Not in an authoritative way, or by way of command, but by prayer; so the Targum renders the clause in the preceding verse,



"I will pray before the Lord:''



and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; immediately, though there was no appearance of it; it was harvest time, and a fine harvest day. Josephus says {p} he sent thunder, lightning, and hail, a terrible storm and tempest it was:



and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel; the Lord that sent this tempest, and Samuel who had such power with God in prayer. Clement of Alexandria {q} thinks that from hence the Greeks borrowed their fable concerning Aeacus invoking God, when there was a drought in Greece; and as soon as he prayed, immediately there was thunder, and the whole air was covered with clouds; but perhaps they rather framed it from the instance of Elijah praying for rain {r}, at whose request it came, 1Ki 18:42.



{p} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 6. {q} Stromat. l. 6. p. 630. {r} Vid. Schmid. in Pindar. Nemea, Ode 5. p. 110.





1 Samuel 12:19



Ver. 19. And all the people said unto Samuel, During the tempest, and in the midst of it; it was the general cry of the people, they were unanimous in it:



pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not; though they had rejected him as their judge and supreme governor in desiring a king, now they were his humble servants, at least feignedly; and knowing what interest he had with God in prayer, they entreat him to make use of it on their behalf, who having sinned so greatly, had not the assurance to call the Lord their God, though they had no doubt of his being the God of Samuel, whose prayers he had heard, of which this tempest was a full proof; and was so violent, that if it continued, they were afraid they should be destroyed by the thunder and lightning, or they and their cattle, with the fruits of the earth, be washed away with the prodigious rain:



for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king; though Samuel had laid before them the evils and inconveniences of having a king, and had in the name of the Lord charged them with rejecting God as their king; yet nothing convinced them of their evil till this storm came, and then all their sins came fresh to their minds; and this added to the weight of them, and lay heaviest on them, that they had rejected the Lord, and slighted his prophets, and, notwithstanding all remonstrances, resolved on having a king.





1 Samuel 12:20



Ver. 20. And Samuel said unto the people, fear not,.... Being destroyed by the tempest:



ye have done all this wickedness; in asking a king; that is, though they were guilty of so heinous a sin, yet there were grace and mercy with God, and they should not despair of it, so be it that they did not depart from him, but cordially served him; the Targum is,



"ye have been the cause of all this evil;''



the storm of thunder and rain; and though they had, he would not have them despond or indulge slavish fear;



yet turn not aside from following the Lord; the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; provided they did not depart from the Lord, and forsake his worship, word, and ordinances, they need not fear utter ruin and destruction, though they had been guilty of this sin:



but serve the Lord with all your heart; if their service of God was kept up, and was hearty and sincere, they might still expect things would go well with them.





1 Samuel 12:21



Ver. 21. And turn ye not aside,.... From his worship: for then; if they turned aside from that:



should ye go after vain things; idols, which are vanity, and less than vanity:



which cannot profit nor deliver; neither bestow good things on their votaries, nor deliver them from evils, or from the hands of their enemies



for they are vain; empty, useless, and unprofitable; an idol is nothing in the world, 1Co 8:4.





1 Samuel 12:22



Ver. 22. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake. For the sake of himself, his honour and glory; should he forsake his people, and suffer them to come to ruin, his name would be blasphemed among the Heathens; he would be charged either with want of power to help them, or with want of faithfulness to his promise to them, and with inconstancy to himself, or want of kindness and affection for them; all which would reflect upon his honour and glory:



because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people; it was not owing to any worth or worthiness in them that they became his people, but to his own sovereign good will and pleasure; and therefore, as it was nothing in them that was the cause of their being taken by him for his people, so nothing in them could be the cause of their being rejected by him as such; it was of free grace and favour that they were taken into covenant with him, and by the same would be retained: the Vulgate Latin version is,



"the Lord hath sworn to make you a people for himself;''



so Jarchi interprets it, he swore, and takes it to have the same sense as in 1Sa 14:24.





1 Samuel 12:23



Ver. 23. Moreover, as for me,.... As he had given them reason to believe that God would forgive their sin, by which they had offended him, rejecting him as their King, so he likewise forgave their offence against him in rejecting him as their governor under him, and so neither need fear the Lord nor him with a servile fear; and as God would still be gracious to them, if they abode by his service, so he, Samuel, would do all the good offices for them that lay in his power:



God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, in ceasing to pray for you; for since they had returned to the Lord, and acknowledged their sin, it would have been an evil in him not to pray for them, that they might share in the pardoning grace and mercy of God, and have all good things bestowed upon them they stood in need of; this he judged to be his duty to do, and therefore abhorred the thought of being indifferent to it, negligent of it, or of dropping it:



but I will teach you the good and the right way; would not only pray for them, but instruct them in the way of their duty; a way that was a good one, agreeable to the will and word of God, and in walking in which good things were enjoyed, and which being a good way, must needs be a right way; though Samuel ceased to be a judge and chief magistrate among them, he should not cease to act the part of a prophet to them, both by his prayers and by his instructions.





1 Samuel 12:24



Ver. 24. Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart,.... Fear him not with a servile fear, which is before dehorted from, but with a filial fear, a reverential affection for God; and includes the whole of religious worship, internal and external; explained further by serving him according to the truth of his word, and in a cordial, sincere, and affectionate manner; and if this was wanting in them, he suggests that his prayers and instructions would be of little avail, and not to be depended on:



for consider how great things he hath done for you; in bringing them out of Egypt: settling them in the land of Canaan; giving them his laws, statutes, commands, and ordinances; sending prophets unto them, and raising up judges for them, and bestowing all good things on them, in nature, providence, and grace; though some restrain this to the great thing he had done that day, to convince them of their sin, and by which they were returned to the Lord, namely, the violent storm of thunder; which wonderful instance of the power of God, and token of his displeasure against them, they were to lay up in their minds, and not forget, that it might be a means of preserving them from sin for the future.





1 Samuel 12:25



Ver. 25. But if ye shall still do wickedly,.... Continue to rebel against God, revolt from him, and depart from his worship, and despise his prophets, and serve idols:



ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king; their king would be so far from protecting, that he should perish with them, be killed by the sword, as Saul their first king was, or go into captivity, as others of their kings did.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Samuel 13:1



INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 13



This chapter relates how Saul disposed of his army, 1Sa 13:1 that Jonathan his son smote a garrison of Philistines, which provoked them to come out with a large army against them, to the great terror of the Israelites, many of whom fled to secret places, and to distant parts, 1Sa 13:3, that Saul tarried at Gilgal waiting for Samuel, but he not coming so soon as expected, offered sacrifice himself, 1Sa 13:8 for which Samuel, when he came, reproved him, and told him the kingdom should not continue with him, but be given to another man, 1Sa 13:11 on which Saul departed to Gibeah, where he continued, the Philistines being encamped at Michmash, 1Sa 13:15 from whence went out spoilers, in three companies, into the land of Israel, where they met with no opposition; for there were no weapons in the hands of any but Saul and Jonathan, the Philistines having taken care that there should be no smith in the land of Israel to make them any, so that they were defenceless, 1Sa 13:17.



Ver. 1. Saul reigned one year,.... "Or the son of a year in his reigning" {s}; various are the senses given of these words: some interpret them, Saul had a son of a year old when he began to reign, Ishbosheth, and who was forty years of age when his father died, 2Sa 2:10, others, who understand the words of Saul himself, think there is an "ellipsis" or defect of the number, and that it may be supplied, that Saul was the son of thirty or forty years, or whatsoever age he may be supposed to be at when he began his reign; others take the words in a figurative sense, that he was like a child of a year old, for purity and innocence; so the Targum,



"as the son of a year, in whom there are no faults, so was Saul when he reigned;''



or he was but a year old, reckoning from the time he was turned into another man, and had another heart, which was immediately after he was anointed king at Ramah by Samuel; or he was but a year old with respect to his kingdom: the inauguration of a king is "natalis imperil", the birthday of his kingdom, and therefore the words are well enough rendered by us, "Saul reigned one year"; which is to be reckoned either from his unction at Ramah, or rather from his election at Mizpeh, to the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal:



and when he had reigned two years over Israel; which the Jewish chronologers {t} make to be the whole of his reign, which is not probable, considering the many things done in his reign, the many battles he fought with all his enemies on every side of him, and his long persecution of David; and there were no less than three high priests in his reign; Josephus says {q} he reigned eighteen years in the lifetime of Samuel, and twenty two years after his death, in all forty; which agrees with Ac 13:21. Some interpret it he reigned two years well, and the rest in a tyrannical way; or that at the end of two years, when David was anointed, the kingdom was not reckoned to him, but to David; and to this purpose Dr. Lightfoot writes, that he had been king one year from his first anointing by Samuel at Ramah, to his second anointing by him at Gibeah (Gilgal I suppose he means); and he reigned after this two years more, before the Lord cast him off, and anointed David; and the time he ruled after that was not a rule, but a tyranny and persecution {r}; but the sense Ben Gersom gives is best of all, that one year had passed from the time of his being anointed, to the time of the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, then he did what follows, chose 3000 men, &c. In the first year of his reign was done all that is recorded in the preceding chapter; and when he had reigned two years, not two years more, but two years in all, then he did what is related in this chapter.



{s} wklmb lwav hnv Nb "filius anni Saul in regnando ipsum", Montanus. {t} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 35. Juchasin, fol. 11. 1. {q} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 9. {r} Works, vol. 1. p. 55.





1 Samuel 13:2



Ver. 2. Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel,.... Out of the 300,000 that went with him to fight the Ammonites, and returned with him to Gilgal, where he now was, and had stayed as may be supposed about a year, since now he had reigned two years. These 3000 men some of them doubtless were appointed as a guard about his person, and the rest were a standing army to preserve the peace of the nation, to protect them from their enemies, to watch the motions of the Philistines, and to be ready on any sudden invasion:



whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash, and in Mount Bethel; "Michmash", according to Bunting, {s} was four miles from Gilgal. Jerom {t} says, in his time it was shown a large village on the borders of Aella, or Jerusalem, retaining its ancient name, nine miles distant from it, near the village Rama. Adrichomius {u} says it is now called Byra, and Mr. Maundrell {w} observes that it is supposed by some to be the same with Beer, whither Jotham fled after he had delivered his parable, Jud 9:21. Michmash is in the Misnah {x} celebrated for the best wheat being brought from it; and near to it, as appears from hence, was Bethel, and the mount of that name; and so Jerom {y} speaks of Bethel as over against Michmash; and this mount very probably is the same said to be on the east of Bethel, where Abraham built an altar, Ge 12:8 for Michmash lay to the east of Bethel:



and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the native place of Saul, and this Jonathan was the son of Saul, 1Sa 13:16. According to Bunting {z}, Gibeah, where Jonathan was stationed, was eight miles from Michmash:



and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent; to their own houses; or, as the Targum, to their cities; these were they that came at his summons, and were numbered at Bezek, and went with him to the relief of Jabeshgilead, and had been with him ever since, and now dismissed.



{s} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 126. {t} De loc Heb. fol. 93. F. {u} Thestrum Terrae S. p. 28. {w} Journey from Aleppo, p. 64. {x} Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1. {y} Ut supra, (De loc Heb.) fol. 89. G. {z} Ut supra, (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c.) p. 127.





1 Samuel 13:3



Ver. 3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba,.... Not the same with Gibeah of Benjamin, as Jarchi; for it can hardly be thought that Jonathan should place himself with his thousand men where the Philistines had a garrison; or that if this was the same with that in the preceding verse, that it should be called by another name in this; but Gibeah and Geba were two places, as Kimchi observes, both indeed in the tribe of Benjamin, and it is very probable not far from one another; see Jos 18:24. This seems to be the same with the hill of God, where was a garrison of the Philistines, 1Sa 10:5, who after their defeat by Samuel contented themselves with some strong holds and garrisons in some parts of the land to keep Israel in awe; the Targum understands this of a single person, a governor of the Philistines in this place, whom Jonathan slew, and so Jarchi; and according to R. Isaiah he was one that was appointed to gather the tax for them:



and the Philistines heard of it, which alarmed them, and made them prepare for war:



and Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land; not he in person, for he was at Gilgal, as the next verse shows; but he ordered it to be blown, being aware of the preparations the Philistines were making to attack him:



saying, let the Hebrews hear; both what his son had done, and what the Philistines were doing.





1 Samuel 13:4



Ver. 4. And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines,.... For though it was smitten by Jonathan, yet it was by the order of Saul, and so ascribed to him; it seems to be a concerted thing to fall upon the garrisons of the Philistines, and get them out of their hands, and so deliver Israel entirely from them; but it was not wise for Saul, if he had such a scheme in his head, to disband his large army, as he had lately done:



and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines; who were highly incensed against them by this action, and vowed revenge; the name of an Israelite was abhorred by them; and perhaps this action might be attended with much craft and cruelty; and if these garrisons were held by agreement, they might charge them with perfidy, with breach of articles, and so their name was made to stink among them, as the word signifies:



and the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal; by sound of trumpet.





1 Samuel 13:5



Ver. 5. And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel,.... To prevent their further encroachments on them, and designs against them; for they perceived they intended to cast off their yoke, and free themselves entirely from them:



thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen; it may seem incredible that so small a people as the Philistines were, who only were possessed of five cities, or lordships, with the villages belonging to them, except what they had taken from Israel; and even if assisted by the Tyrians, the author of Sirach in the Apocrypha says:



"And he destroyed the rulers of the Tyrians, and all the princes of the Philistines.'' (Sirach 46:18)



though he seems to have respect not to this time, but when Samuel discomfited them, 1Sa 7:10. I say it may seem incredible that they should bring such a number of chariots into the field; wherefore this must either be understood of 30,000 men that fought in chariots, as Lyra interprets it, and in which sense it is plain and certain the word chariots is sometimes used, as in 2Sa 10:18, or else of some sort of carriages, not chariots of war, at least not all of them; but what were brought to carry the baggage of their infantry, which was very large, and to carry away the goods and substance of the Israelites; some have thought that there is a mistake of the copier, who instead of vlv, "three", read Myvlv, "thirty": so Capellus; and the rather because in the Arabic and Syriac versions it is only "three thousand"; but even this is too great a number, understood of chariots of war; for never any people in the world was known to have so many chariots of war; Pharaoh in his large host had but six hundred, Ex 14:7 Jabin king of Canaan had indeed nine hundred, Jud 4:3 and David took from the king of Zobah one thousand chariots; but whether they were all chariots of war is not certain, 2Sa 8:4. Solomon indeed had one thousand and four hundred chariots, but they do not appear to be chariots of war, but some for use, and some for state and grandeur. Wherefore, if a mistake in the copy is admitted of, and this can be confirmed by some MSS, yet we must recur to one or other of the above senses; some of them must be understood of other sort of carriages, or of men that fought in these chariots; and allowing ten men to a chariot, which seems to be the usual number by comparing 2Sa 10:18 with 1Ch 19:18 then 3000 men would fill three hundred chariots, which are as many as it can well be thought the Philistines had Zerah the Ethiopian, who brought into the field an army of million men, had no more than three hundred chariots, 2Ch 14:9, and no more had Antiochus Eupator in his army,



"And with him Lysias his protector, and ruler of his affairs, having either of them a Grecian power of footmen, an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with hooks.'' (2 Maccabees 13:2)



Darius in his vast army had but two hundred {a}, and in the very large one which Mithridates brought against the Romans there was but one hundred; and now 3000 men in three hundred chariots were but a proportion to 6000 horsemen, which in those times and countries was a large cavalry:



and the people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude; the infantry was so large as not to be numbered; however, the phrase denotes a great multitude of them; Josephus says {b} there were 300,000 footmen:



and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven; where Saul, before he went to Gilgal, had his quarters, 1Sa 13:2. Bethaven was a place near Bethel, on the east of it, Jos 7:2 though Bethel itself was afterwards so called when Jeroboam had set up the worship of the calves there, Ho 4:15 it signifying the house of vanity or iniquity.



{a} Curtius, l. 4. c. 9. {b} Antiqu, l. 6. c. 6. sect. 1.





1 Samuel 13:6



Ver. 6. When the men of Israel saw they were in a strait, for the people were distressed,.... By reason of the vast army that the Philistines brought into the field, greatly superior to theirs, and were likely to be encompassed by them on every side; so that nothing but destruction was expected, which gave them the utmost anxiety and uneasiness; though Abarbinel refers this last clause, not to the people of Israel, but to the people of the Philistines, and takes it in this sense,



for the people drew nigh; the army of the Philistines was approaching, and got near to them; and so they were in great danger of being quickly attacked by them, and destroyed, their numbers being so great:



then the people did hide themselves in caves; of which there were many in the land of Judea, capable of receiving a large number, as the cave of Adullam, the cave of Engedi, &c. and such as the Israelites made to hide themselves when oppressed by the Midianites, Jud 6:2



and in thickets; woods and forests, or among thorns, as Jarchi; where there was a very great number of brambles and thorn bushes; some, as Kimchi, interpret the word of munitions, garrisons, and fortified places, to which they betook themselves:



in rocks, and in high places, and in pits; in the holes of rocks and mountains, particularly in Mount Ephraim; see 1Sa 14:22 and where there were any pits or ditches, high or deep places, where they might be out of sight, and be sheltered from their enemies.





1 Samuel 13:7



Ver. 7. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead,.... As far off as they could from the Philistines, who lay on the west of the land of Israel, and these countries were to the east. Kimchi observes, that the land of Reuben is not mentioned, which was on the other side Jordan also; because that was nearer to it than what was inhabited by Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; and therefore they chose to go further, thinking themselves there safer:



as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal; where he stayed till Samuel should come to him, as directed, 1Sa 10:8 to have his advice and counsel:



and all the people followed him trembling; all that were with him, the army as distinct from the common people; they abode by him, and were at his command, and were ready to go where he should direct them; but with trembling hearts when they saw the pain of the people, fleeing into holes and corners, and considered what a huge host the Philistines were coming upon them with, and Samuel their prophet not with them to encourage and counsel them.





1 Samuel 13:8



Ver. 8. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed,.... He tarried to the seventh day, but not to the end of it, or towards the close of it, as he should have done:



but Samuel came not to Gilgal; so soon as Saul expected:



and the people were scattered from him; many deserted him, the Philistines drawing nigh, and Samuel not coming, as Saul expected, and had given the people reason to expect.





1 Samuel 13:9



Ver. 9. And Saul said,.... Being impatient, and seeing the people deserting him apace, and unwilling to engage in a battle without first sacrificing to God, and imploring his help and assistance:



bring hither a burnt offering to me; that is, a creature for a burnt offering, a bullock, sheep, goat, or lamb:



and peace offerings; which also were either of the herd, or of the flock:



and he offered the burnt offering; either he himself, or by a priest. In this unsettled time, while the tabernacle, altar, and ark, were at different places, and not yet fixed, it is thought that such who were not priests might offer, and that in high places, and where the tabernacle and altar were not.





1 Samuel 13:10



Ver. 10. And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burn offering,.... And before he could offer the peace offerings:



behold, Samuel came; and it was told Saul that he was come:



and Saul went out to meet him; left off sacrificing, and would proceed no further, leaving the rest for Samuel and out of respect to him, and to prevent a chiding of him, he went forth to meet him:



that he might salute him, or "bless him" {c}; congratulate him on his coming, ask of his health and welfare, and wish him all peace and prosperity.



{c} wkrbl "ad benedicendum ei", Montanus.





1 Samuel 13:11



Ver. 11. And Samuel said, what hast thou done? This question he put to bring him to a confession of what he had done, otherwise he guessed at it by his countenance; or rather, by the prophetic spirit he was endowed with, he knew it certainly that he had offered the sacrifices without waiting for him:



and Saul said because I saw the people were scattered from me; they were deserting, and he feared, if he stayed any longer, they would all leave him; this was one reason of doing what he did:



and that thou camest not within the days appointed; seven days were appointed, and because the seventh day was come, though it was not gone, he concluded Samuel would not come at all; and that was another reason why he did what he did; and by this would have laid the blame on Samuel, as if he did not keep his time; whereas it was Saul's impatience that hurried him to this action:



and that the Philistines gathered themselves together to Michmash; where his station before was, and from thence he might quickly expect them at Gilgal; and this was another reason why he hastened the sacrifice.





1 Samuel 13:12



Ver. 12. Therefore said I..... That is, within himself:



the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal; on a sudden, unprepared for them, especially in a religious way:



and I have not made supplication to the Lord; for his direction and assistance, and for success in the war; which it seems went along with sacrifices, or was implied in them:



I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering; it was reluctant to him, it was against his will as well as the command of Samuel, to offer before he came, he suggests; but such were the circumstances he was in, that he was obliged to it; these are the reasons or excuses he made, and some of them have a specious appearance in them.





1 Samuel 13:13



Ver. 13. And Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly,.... Not by intruding himself into the priest's office, with that he is not charged, but not waiting the full time till Samuel came; which showed his impatience, disregard to Samuel, and distrust of God; and though he thought he had acted wisely, and taken the proper precautions in his circumstances, yet he acted foolishly; and though a king, Samuel being a prophet of the Lord, and in his name, spared not to tell him so:



thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee; by his prophet, that he should wait seven days for his coming, who would then offer sacrifices, and tell him what he should do; and not to keep the commandment of God was acting a foolish part:



for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever; that is, for a long time, on his son, and son's son; and then, according to promise and prophecy, it would come to one of the tribe of Judah; but now seeing he had acted such a part, it should not continue long in his family, no longer than his own life, and quickly come into other hands.





1 Samuel 13:14



Ver. 14. But now thy kingdom shall not continue,.... That is, in his family, nor in his tribe, but be removed to another:



the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart: who was David; though as yet Samuel knew him not, he knew by divine revelation that there was another one chosen, to whom the kingdom would be given; a man every way agreeable to the will of God, and who would fulfil his will, though he knew not particularly who he was:



and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people; that is, had appointed him to be king over Israel. God's decrees have the force of a law in them, and must be fulfilled; and cannot be resisted so as to be frustrated:



because thou hast not kept that which the Lord hath commanded thee; it matters not whether the thing commanded is greater or less, it is disobedience to the command that is the sin, and is resented: this might seem a small thing, since to offer the sacrifice was not criminal; but doing it before the time, a little before it should have been done, not waiting long enough for the prophet; yet it being against the command of God, or in neglect of it, it was sinful, and severely chastised; and the rather, that it might be an example to all succeeding kings how they offended, or broke the least of God's commandments; and this being the first king of Israel, he was made an example of to the rest.





1 Samuel 13:15



Ver. 15. And Samuel arose,.... Seemingly in wrath and displeasure, not staying to offer up the peace offerings which remained; and though no mention is made of Saul's going with him, yet it seems as if he did, or at least quickly followed him, as appears from the next verse:



and got him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin; the native place of Saul, thereby directing Saul where he should go, and which might be a stronger place than Gilgal; or however where he might expect to be joined by more persons of his own tribe, as well as in the first place protect and defend that; and it looks by Samuel's going thither, though he was displeased with Saul, yet that he did not intend to forsake him directly and entirely:



and Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men: which was done either before he left Gilgal, or as soon as he came to Gibeah; so great a desertion was there from him, that of the 3000 first chosen by him, and of the people after called and gathered to him at Gilgal, only six hundred remained with him; a small number indeed to encounter so large an army the Philistines had brought into the field, and which therefore Saul could not face.





1 Samuel 13:16



Ver. 16. And Saul, and Jonathan his son,.... Who were now joined to their men, on Saul's coming to Gibeah:



and the people that were present with them; the six hundred men before numbered: abode in Gibeah of Benjamin; being perhaps a strong fortified place, not choosing to go forth to meet the army of the Philistines, so vastly superior to them:



but the Philistines encamped at Michmash; the old quarters of Saul before he went to Gilgal, 1Sa 13:2.





1 Samuel 13:17



Ver. 17. And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies,.... Saul not daring to come out to fight them, and there being none throughout the land to oppose them, they sent out three companies of soldiers to ravage and spoil the country; of so little use and service was a king to Israel, they were so extremely desirous of; and this was suffered, to convince them of their vain confidence in him, and that their trust ought to be in the Lord their God; never was their country more exposed to rapine and violence than now:



one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah; a city in the land of Benjamin, of which see Jos 18:23 and lay southwest from Michmash, where the army of the Philistines were:



unto the land of Shual: which the Targum paraphrases,



"the land of the south;''



it seems to have had its name from the multitude of foxes in it, Shual signifying a fox.





1 Samuel 13:18



Ver. 18. And another company turned the way to Bethhoron,.... Of which name there were two cities, the upper and nether, and both in the tribe of Ephraim, of which see Jos 16:3 this lay northwest from the camp of the Philistines at Michmash; eight miles from it, according to Bunting {d}:



and another company turned to the way of the border, that looketh towards the valley of Zeboim, toward the wilderness; some take this to be the Zeboim which was destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah; and the wilderness, the wilderness of Jordan; but as that, so the valley in which it stood, was turned into a bituminous lake; this seems to be a city in the land of Benjamin, Ne 11:34 near to which was a valley, and this towards the wilderness of Jericho, and so lay eastward; the Targum calls it the valley of vipers, perhaps from its being infested with many; and so David de Pomis {e} says it is the name of a place where plenty of serpents were found, and which he says were called so because of the variety of colours in them; with which agrees Kimchi's note on the place; they seem to mean serpents spotted {f}, as if they were painted and dyed of various colours, as the Hebrew word which is thus paraphrased signifies: according to Bunting {g}, it was eight miles from Michmash.



{d} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 133. {e} Tzemach David, fol. 13. 2. & 153. 1. {f} aiolon ofin, Homer. Iliad. 12. ver. 208. "notis maculosus grandibus", Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. v. 427. {g} Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 133.)





1 Samuel 13:19



Ver. 19. Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel,.... The Philistines, when they ruled over them, having removed them into their own country, and forbid any to learn or exercise that trade in Israel:



for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make swords or spears: this they did to prevent their having arms, and the use of them, that they might not rebel against them, and fight with them, and overcome them; it was a piece of policy to keep them subject to them; so Nebuchadnezzar, when he conquered the Jews and carried them captive, took care particularly to carry away their smiths, and left none but the poorest sort of people in the land, 2Ki 24:14 and Porsena, king of the Etrusci, when he made a covenant with the Romans, upon the expulsion of their kings, made this a condition of peace with them, that they should use no iron but in husbandry {h}. When this course was taken by the Philistines with the Israelites, and how long it had continued is not certain; it is probable it might be in the space of forty years they ruled over Israel, in which Samson was born, for we never read of any sword or spear that he made use of; and though there were two battles in the times of Eli, in both which Israel were beaten, they might make use only of bows and arrows, slings, and stones, clubs, &c, as also in the battle of Saul with the Ammonites; and as for the defeat of the Philistines in the time of Samuel, it was by thunder; and though the Philistines were then subdued, yet, as Samuel grew old, they regained their power in a good measure, and the Israelites had not spirit enough to oppose them, nor diligence and industry to learn and revive the trade of smiths among them; not even for what was necessary to husbandry, as the following verse shows.



{h} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 34. c. 14.





1 Samuel 13:20



Ver. 20. But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines,.... Were obliged to go into Palestine, into some one or other of the cities of the Philistines, or to their garrisons, where the trade of a smith was exercised:



to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter; which are the parts of the plough made of iron, with which the earth is cut and thrown up:



and his axe and his mattock; or pick axe; with the one wood is felled and cut, and with the other stones are dug; and each of these for their several uses needed sharpening; and when they did, they were obliged to go to the Philistines to have them done, they having no smiths among them.





1 Samuel 13:21



Ver. 21. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes,.... Those that would not go to the Philistines, or were not able, or thought it too much trouble, these kept files by them to sharpen those several instruments with upon occasion; though the words are by some rendered in connection with the preceding, to this sense, that they went to the Philistines to sharpen them, when the mouths, or edges, of the mattocks, coulters, &c. were dull; or "blunt" {i}; and so needed sharpening; and even



to sharpen the goads; with which they pricked and pushed on the oxen in ploughing, when sluggish and remiss.



(The word for "file" in the verse is Myp "pim", and occurs only here in the Hebrew scriptures. It is not used elsewhere in other Hebrew writings. Therefore the translators of the 1611 Authorised Version had only the root derivation to deduce what the word meant. Literally, it means "a file with mouths". However, recently archaeologists have found a stone inscribed with this word. Also they found a stone inscribed with the word "shekel". Hence they deduced that the word was really a weight of measure equal to about one third of a shekel. Newer translations usually translate this as "the charge was a third of a shekel ...", hence removing the obvious contradiction between this verse and the preceding one. Editor.)



{i} Myp hryuph htyhw "retusae itaque erant acies vomerum", V. L. "quandoquidem acies cultrorum aratri", &c. "obtusae erant", Tigurine version.





1 Samuel 13:22



Ver. 22. So it came to pass in the day of battle,.... When that drew near, and they were called to it, and obliged to fight or flee, or surrender:



that there were neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: which was not owing to their leaving them behind in the camp, or casting them away from them through fear, as they followed Saul with trembling, but to the cause now mentioned. In what manner some preceding battles were fought with the Philistines and Ammonites, notwithstanding, have been accounted for on

1Sa 13:19, but it is strange that the Israelites did not furnish themselves with the arms of the Philistines at the defeat of them in Ebenezer, 1Sa 7:10 and with the arms of the Ammonites at Jabeshgilead, 1Sa 11:11 and that such a warlike prince as Saul appeared at his first setting out to be should not in the first place take care to provide armour for his men by some means or another; for that those that left him should have arms, and not those that abode with him, does not seem reasonable. It may be the Benjamites, being expert in slinging, were indifferent to and neglected the use of any other weapon, or method of fighting:



but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found; swords and spears, and with them only.





1 Samuel 13:23



Ver. 23. And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. According to Jarchi, these two places, Michmash where the Philistines were, and Gibeah where Saul and Jonathan were, lay on two hills over against each other, and there was a valley between them; and the garrison of the Philistines drew nigh to the passage of Michmash, which led to the side of Gibeah, to the valley between them, either with an intention to besiege Gibeah, or to dare Israel to come out and fight them: but rather it seems to be some strong pass between the rocks near Michmash, where the garrison placed themselves to guard and keep against any sudden surprise; see 1Sa 14:4. The Targum is,



"the governor of the Philistines went out to the ford or passage of Michmash;''



and Kimchi interprets it of the princes or generals of the army; these might go to mark out a camp, and pitch upon a proper place to draw up in a line of battle.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Samuel 14:1



INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 14



This chapter gives an account of an adventure of Jonathan and his armourbearer smiting a garrison of the Philistines, 1Sa 14:1, which with other circumstances struck terror into the whole army; which being observed by Saul's spies, he and his men went out against them, and being joined by others, pursued them, and obtained a complete victory, 1Sa 14:15, but what sullied the glory of the day was a rash oath of Saul's, adjuring the people not to eat any food till evening which Jonathan not hearing of ignorantly broke, 1Sa 14:24 and which long fasting made the people so ravenous, that they slew their cattle, and ate them with the blood, contrary to the law of God, for which they were reproved by Saul, 1Sa 14:32, upon which he built an altar, and inquired of the Lord whether he should pursue the Philistines all that night till morning, but had no answer; which made him conclude sin was committed, and which he inquired after, declaring that if it was his own son Jonathan that had committed it he should surely die, 1Sa 14:35, the people being silent, he cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonathan; who had it not been for the resolution of the people that rescued him out of his hands, because of the great salvation he had wrought, must have died, 1Sa 14:40 and the chapter is cited with an account of Saul's battles with the neighbouring nations in general, and of his family, 1Sa 14:47.



Ver. 1. Now it came to pass upon a day,.... At a certain time, a little after the garrison of the Philistines had made the movement, 1Sa 13:23 and it is not to be taken strictly for the day time; for it is probable it was in the night that the following proposal was made, and began to be carried into execution; for Josephus {k} says it was day light when Jonathan and his armourbearer came to the camp of the Philistines; he had formed his scheme perhaps the night before, and he and his man set out in the night time, and by break of day came up to the garrison, as after related:



that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour; as was usual in those times for generals of armies to have such, and so in later times; such were Automedon to Achilles, and Achates to Aeneas, as Grotius observes:



come and let us go over to the Philistine garrison that is on the other side; that is, go over the valley which lay between Michmash and Gibeah, to the Philistines, that lay on the other side the valley beyond it; and so was not in it, but at a pass on the hills, at the bottom of which this valley lay, and could be seen at a distance, and pointed at with the finger, as Jarchi notes:



but he told not his father; lest he should disapprove of his project, and hinder him from pursuing it; and had not his spirit been stirred up to this by the Lord, of which he was fully persuaded, he would have acted not only a rash part, but contrary to military discipline, in engaging in an enterprise without the knowledge and direction of his general; unless we can suppose he had all unlimited commission from his father to attack the enemy, at discretion, at any time, and any where.



{k} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 2.





1 Samuel 14:2



Ver. 2. And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah,.... Not daring to go out against the Philistines, but remained in the furthest part of Gibeah, at the greatest distance from the camp of the Philistines, in the strongest part of the city, or deeply entrenched in the outer, part of it in the field:



under a pomegranate tree; where were his headquarters; his tent or pavilion was erected under a large spreading pomegranate, which protected him from the heat of the sun: or



under Rimmon; the rock Rimmon; under the shelter of that, and in the caverns of it; where a like number of Benjaminites he now had with him formerly hid themselves, Jud 20:47



which is in Migron; a part of Gibeah, or rather of the field of Gibeah, so called; for near it it certainly was; and is also mentioned along with Michmash, and as lying in the way of the march of Sennacherib king of Assyria, to Jerusalem, Isa 10:28



and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; which is observed to show that no addition was made to his little army; it was the same it was when he came thither, the people did not flock to his assistance, being in fear of the army of the Philistines, which was so powerful; see 1Sa 13:15.





1 Samuel 14:3



Ver. 3. And Ahiah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother,.... Ichabod was the child that Phinehas's wife bore prematurely on hearing the news of the ark being taken and of the death of her husband and father-in-law, which name she gave him on that account, and died; see 1Sa 4:19, he, it seems, had an elder brother, called Ahitub, who died young, and this Ahiah was the son of him; for not he, but Ahitub, was Ichabod's brother:



the son of Phinehas; so Ichabod was:



the son of Eli; so Phinehas was:



the Lord's priest in Shiloh; this refers not to Ahiah for he was not now priest in Shiloh, which was destroyed: and besides, he was now in the camp of Saul; but to Eli, who when living exercised the priest's office in Shiloh:



wearing an ephod; as Ahiah now did; not such as common priests wore, but the ephod the high priest wore, which had the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and Thummim, in it, by which inquiry was made, 1Sa 14:37. The meaning of all this is, that the high priest is now with Saul, and the ark also, which and the high priest might be sent for on this occasion, 1Sa 14:18



and the people knew not that Jonathan was gone; or they would have gone with him, namely, the military men that were particularly with him; he and Saul were in two different parts of Gibeah, with distinct bodies of men; whether the thousand that Jonathan first had with him all continued is not certain; it seems probable they did not; it can hardly be thought he should have more with him than were with Saul; see

1Sa 14:2, though from 1Sa 14:17 they seem now to have been together.





1 Samuel 14:4



Ver. 4. And between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison,.... One of which is called the passage of Michmash, 1Sa 13:23 and was that by which they went from Gibeah to Michmash; the other, which might be called the passage of Gibeah, was that by which they went from Michmash to Gibeah, and in effect was but one; and this was seized by the garrison of the Philistines, on that part of it which was towards Michmash; so that there was no way of access to the camp of the Philistines, which Jonathan therefore proposed to go over to and destroy, but his difficulties were very great:



there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side; not that there was on each side of the passage or passages to the right and left a cragged rock, between which men passed as they went from place to place; for the position of them in the next verse shows the contrary; but there was "the tooth of a rock" {l}, as it is in the original text; or a promontory or prominence on the one side towards Michmash, which stood out like a tooth; and another promontory or prominence on that towards Gibeah; so that both must be gone over to get to the camp, the only passage being guarded by the garrison; and indeed it seems to me there was but one rock, and two precipices at the opposite parts of it, and which stood between the passages, which precipices must be climbed over:



and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh; which, according to the Targum, the one signifies "lubrication", being smooth and slippery, and the other "treading", being more trodden and beaten: but Hillerus {m} derives both from clay, which seems not so agreeable to a rock; though in another place {n} he makes the former to have its name from whiteness, which is the colour of some rocks and clifts; and one should think the latter rather has its name from bushes, brambles, and thorns, that might grow upon it.



{l} eloh Nv "dens petrae", Pagninus, Montanus; "scopulus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {m} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 73, 82. {n} Ibid. p. 43.





1 Samuel 14:5



Ver. 5. The forefront of the one was situate northward, over against Michmash,.... The northern precipice of this rock was towards Michmash, where the Philistines lay encamped, and where was the passage of Michmash the garrison went into and possessed:



and the other southward, over against Gibeah; the southern precipice faced Gibeah, and both precipices were to be got over before he could get to the garrison, these lying between the two passages; the one at one end, called the passage of Michmash, the other at the other, which might be called the passage of Gibeah.





1 Samuel 14:6



Ver. 6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour,.... A second time, as Abarbinel thinks; the young man giving no answer to him the first time, perhaps through fear, he repeats it, and enlarges upon it for his encouragement:



come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; as these Philistines were, whereas several of the other nations, though Heathen, were circumcised; as the Edomites, Arabians, and others; and this Jonathan observes to the young man, in hope that they being such the Lord would deliver them into their hand:



it may be that the Lord will work for us; a sign, as the Targum, a miracle, as indeed he did; and of which Jonathan was persuaded in his own mind, though he did not choose to express himself in a confident way; not knowing in what manner, and whether at this time the Lord would appear, and work salvation and deliverance; and yet had a strong impulse upon his mind it would be wrought, and therefore was encouraged to try this expedient:



for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few; he is not limited to numbers, and can easily work salvation by a few as by many. It is no difficult thing to him to save by few, nor can anything hinder him, let the difficulties be what they will, when he has determined to deliver his people.





1 Samuel 14:7



Ver. 7. And his armourbearer said unto him,.... Very readily and cheerfully:



do all that is in thine heart; whatever is thy pleasure, that thou hast a mind to do, that is upon thy heart, and thou art desirous of, and strongly inclined and affected to:



turn thee; which way thou wilt, towards the garrison of the Philistines, or elsewhere:



behold, I am with thee, according to thy heart; I will go with thee wherever thou goest, and do whatsoever thou wouldest have me to do; I am at thy command, and according to thy wish and desire, and in all things subject to thy will; I am as thine own heart.





1 Samuel 14:8



Ver. 8. Then said Jonathan, behold, we will pass over to these men,.... Over the precipices to them, as steep and as cragged as they are:



and we will discover ourselves to them; present themselves to them at daylight, and let them know plainly who they were, that they were Hebrews.





1 Samuel 14:9



Ver. 9. If they say thus unto us,.... By this and what follows he gives his man a sign by which both might know how they should conduct themselves in this expedition, and what would be the issue, whether they should succeed or not: should they say,



tarry until we come to you; this, as it would express boldness in the men of the garrison, and show that they were ready to come out and fight, would portend evil, and then what they had to do was to be upon the defensive:



then we will stand still in our place; wait till they came to them, and make the best defence of themselves as they could, showing as little fear as possible, and not attempting to retreat and flee:



and will not go up unto them; neither go backwards nor forwards; not backward, which would show fear; nor forward, to expose themselves to too much danger from the garrison, they appearing to be bold and intrepid.





1 Samuel 14:10



Ver. 10. But if they say unto us, come up unto us,.... Which however spoken in contempt of them, yet would discover some fear, that they did not care to come out of their hold to them, and expose themselves to any danger; and besides being bid to come up, though it might be in a sneering ironical way, as supposing it impracticable for them; yet this would lead them on to make the attempt; and while the men were careless and secure, they might obtain their point:



then we will go up: the precipice, which was supposed impassable:



for the Lord hath delivered them into our hands: they being afraid to come out, and scornful and self-confident in their garrison: and this shall be a sign unto us; a direction how to behave, what steps to take, and a confirming sign assuring of success. Bishop Patrick and others observe, from Herodotus {o}, something similar to this, of the Paeonians, who went to war with the Perinthians, directed by the oracle; and were ordered that if the Perinthians provoked them to fight, calling them by name, then they should invade them; but, if not, should abstain; and so they did, and overcame; for when they met, there were three single combats; in the two first the Perinthians were conquerors, and began to triumph and insult; upon which the Paeonians said to one another, now is the oracle fulfilled, now is our business, and so fell upon them, and left few of them.



{o} Terpsichore, sive, l. 5. c. 1.





1 Samuel 14:11



Ver. 11. And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines,.... They passed over the valley that lay between Michmash and Gibeah, and presented themselves at the bottom of the hill or rock on which the garrison was, to the open view of it; and who might easily discern who they were, that they were Hebrews, as they did, as follows:



and the Philistines said, behold, the Hebrews came forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves, being in want of provisions, and almost starved, and so obliged to come out to seek for sustenance; see

1Sa 14:6.





1 Samuel 14:12



Ver. 12. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer,.... The guards that were set to watch the garrison, who descrying them, called to them, and said:



come up to us, and we will show you a thing; we have something to say to you, a pretty thing to show you, when you shall pay dear for your boldness and impudence, in daring to come so near; not imagining that they could come, or would dare to attempt to come any further:



and Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, come up after me; follow me, and never fear but we will find a way to come up to them, however difficult it may be:



for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel; he knew by their language that God had given them a spirit of fear, that they durst not come out of their hold, and come down to them; and that he had cast them into a spirit of security and vain confidence, that they could never come at them, and give them any trouble; and from thence he concluded deliverance was at hand for the people of Israel, he seeking not his own private interest and glory, but the public good; and which he was ready to ascribe not to his own valour and courage, but to the power, kindness, and goodness of God.





1 Samuel 14:13



Ver. 13. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet,.... He did not attempt to go up the way or pass the Philistines kept, but turned aside and climbed up a precipice thought inaccessible, and came upon them unseen, and at unawares; for had he attempted to come up in any part where he was seen, they could easily have beat him down, and prevented his ascent; but though the place he climbed was so very steep and cragged, yet going on all four, as we say, he surmounted the difficulty; for he took this method of going on his hands and feet, not so much that he might not be seen; but because otherwise he could not have got up, not being able to stand on his feet; some think it was the precipice called Bozez he climbed, which, according to the Targum, had its name from its being lubricous and slippery:



and his armourbearer after him; who clambered up in the same manner, in imitation of his master, and as taught and directed by him:



and they fell before Jonathan, and his armourbearer slew after him; Jonathan, coming upon them at an unawares, knocked them down; or falling upon them, and laying about him with great dispatch, wounded them, and laid them prostrate to the ground; and his armourbearer following them, put them to death, dispatched them at once; and so between them both made quick riddance of them.





1 Samuel 14:14



Ver. 14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made was about twenty men,.... Or the first blow they struck, as the Targum, they killed about twenty men; that is, they did not stop smiting, but followed their blows so quickly, that in a very little time, as well as in a very small space of ground, so many were killed:



even within as it were an half acre of land, which a "yoke" of oxen might plough; that is, in one day; the word is used for a furrow, Ps 129:3 and is supposed by some {p} to be the length of one furrow; but if so, it must be a circular furrow; so much ground was given to Horatius Cocles as could be ploughed round about in one day, for his brave opposition to Porsena, king of the Etruscans, when he endeavoured to restore the family of the Tarquins {q}. This was a space of ground which the Romans call "actus", a measure of land one hundred and twenty feet square, which being doubled made an acre, called by them "jugerum", being as much as a yoke of oxen could plough in one day, as Pliny says {r}; so that an acre was two hundred and forty feet long, and one hundred and twenty broad, and contained an area of 28,800 four square Roman feet; and this space here mentioned, which was half an acre, contained 14,400 Roman feet {s}; and within this space of ground, without going any further, twenty men were killed, which struck a panic into the whole garrison and host, supposing there was a large army of men behind them coming on, as follows. The Septuagint version renders these words as representing the slaughter made "with darts, and the casts of stones, and flints of the field" {t}.



{p} Vid. David. de Pomis Lexic. fol. 129. 1. {q} Aurel. Victor. de vir. illustr. c. 14. Liv. Hist. l. 2. c. 10. {r} Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 3. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 20. {s} Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. p. 487. {t} See Dr. Kennicett's Dissertat. 1. p. 453.





1 Samuel 14:15



Ver. 15. And there was trembling in the host in the field,.... Belonging to Michmash, where the army lay encamped:



and among all the people; the inhabitants of Michmash, or that attended the army, and furnished them with provisions, trafficking with them; the common people, as distinguished from the soldiers:



the garrison; those that were in it, who did not sally out, but perceiving a great slaughter made of their outer scouts, were seized with a panic:



and the spoilers they also trembled; who had been about the country, ravaging and plundering it, and were returned with their booty; see

1Sa 13:17



and the earth quaked; the inhabitants of it thereabout, or the earth itself literally; a real earthquake was caused at the same time, which increased the terror:



so that it was a very great trembling; both with respect to the numbers that were affected with it throughout the camp and garrison, and the causes of it; the terrible apprehension they had of a large army just ready to rush upon them; the earth quaking and opening in various places, threatening to swallow them up; and perhaps suspicions of treachery among themselves, they consisting of various nations, and some among them Hebrews; hence they fell upon and slew one another, 1Sa 14:20, or "a trembling of God" {u}; either in the same sense to which we translate it, as cedars of God, flame of God, &c. that is, large and great ones; or which came from God; it was he that sent this trembling among them, struck their minds with fear and dread, so that they were in the utmost consternation, and knew not what to do, nor which way to take, and had no heart to oppose the enemy, and defend themselves.



{u} Myhla tdrxl "in trepidationem Dei", Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus.





1 Samuel 14:16



Ver. 16. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked,.... The city of Gibeah was built on an hill, from where it had its name; and these watchmen or sentinels of Saul were set by him no doubt in the highest part of it, whereby they could overlook the army of the Philistines as they lay encamped, and could observe their motions, and give notice accordingly; and it being now broad day light, could see the condition they were in:



and, behold, the multitude melted away; like snow gradually, and yet apace; they could discern their numbers lessening more and more, through the slaughter of many made among them by one another, and the flight of others; and they went on beating down one another; they could perceive they fled with great precipitation, throwing one another down in running, tumbling over one another, and trampling on each other which were in their way.





1 Samuel 14:17



Ver. 17. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him,.... To some of the officers, particularly the muster master;



number now, and see who is gone from us: for he concluded that this agitation and confusion in the host of the Philistines were occasioned by an enterprise of some of his men, who by some stratagem or another had thrown them into this disorder:



and when they had numbered: which was soon done, being but six hundred men in all:



behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there; from whence it might be inferred, that this commotion the Philistines were in was occasioned by an onset of theirs on the outer guards or sentinels of their garrison or army, which had alarmed them.





1 Samuel 14:18



Ver. 18. And Saul said unto Ahiah, bring hither the ark of the Lord,.... That he, the high priest, might put on the ephod, with the Urim and Thummim, and inquire by them of the Lord before it, concerning the affair of Jonathan, what he had done, and the agitation that was in the host of the Philistines; so the Septuagint version, "bring the ephod", of which, with the Urim and Thummim, Kimchi interprets it; and ask, whether it was right for him to go out unto them, or continue where he was:



for the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel; and so it always was, except a few months it was in the hands of the Philistines; so it was at Kirjathjearim, where it was last. Jarchi thinks a word is wanting, and to be supplied thus,



"the ark of God was [there] at that time with the children of Israel,''



at Gibeah; perhaps it might be removed first to Gilgal, when Saul and Samuel were there, and when they came to Gibeah it was brought along with them; but the last words may be considered as a distinct clause, and, literally tendered, are, "and the children of Israel": which Abarbinel accounts for thus, and Saul said this,



bring hither the ark of the Lord; and the children of Israel said so likewise, joined with him in it: though the ark had been with Saul, and the people, some time, and also the high priest, yet we do not find that Saul in all his straits and difficulties consulted the Lord before; but perceiving something extraordinary was doing, and might turn to his advantage, he begins to inquire.





1 Samuel 14:19



Ver. 19. And it came to pass, while Saul talked with the priest,.... With Ahiah about bringing the ark, and inquiring before it:



that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on, and increased; the shrieks and cries of those that were beat down and trampled upon, and were bruised and wounded; and indeed the cry of the whole host, being alarmed with the enemy being upon them, or among them; and it seems that not only their motions could be seen, but the noise of them heard at this distance:



and Saul said unto the priest, withdraw thine hand; from putting on the ephod, or opening the breastplate of Urim and Thummim, or placing the ark in a proper position, to inquire before it, or from lifting up both hands in prayer for direction. Saul by the noise he heard concluded the army of the Philistines was routed, and therefore there was no need to consult the Lord, and he had no leisure for it; no time was to be lost, the advantage was to be taken directly, and the enemy pursued, to complete the victory. The Jews look upon this as a piece of profaneness in Saul, as no doubt it was, and reckon it one of the sins for which his kingdom was not prolonged {o}.



{o} Vajikra Rabba & Midrash Tillim apud Abarbinel in loc.





1 Samuel 14:20



Ver. 20. And Saul, and all the people that were with him, assembled themselves,.... The six hundred men that were with him, unless we can suppose the 1000 that had been with Jonathan in Gibeah were here still, see 1Sa 13:2



and they came to the battle; to the field of battle, the place where the army of the Philistines had lain encamped:



and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow; taking one another for Hebrews, or treacherous and disaffected persons; so that, though the Israelites had neither swords nor spears, they needed none, for the Philistines destroyed one another with their own swords; and there was a



very great discomfiture; noise, tumult, confusion, slaughter, and destruction.





1 Samuel 14:21



Ver. 21. Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time,.... Who either were their servants and bondsmen they brought along with them, or such in whose cities they dwelt, or had taken as they came along, and forced into their army; or it may be some of them were renegades from the Israelites, deserters, who for safety and subsistence betook themselves to them as the stronger party. The Greek version reads,



"the servants that were with the Philistines:''



which went up with them into the camp [from the country] round about; either willingly or by force; the words, "from the country", are not in the text, wherefore some observe, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, that this respects their being round about the camp, and that they were not within it, but without it, that if possible they might escape fighting against the Israelites:



even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan; who were now joined; when they saw the dread and confusion in the camp of the Philistines, and them destroying one another, and the Israelites prevailing over them, victorious and pursuing, they took part with them, and assisted them in completing the victory.





1 Samuel 14:22



Ver. 22. Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in Mount Ephraim,.... In the caves and rocks, thickets and pits there, see 1Sa 13:6 when



they heard that the Philistines fled; now being delivered from their fears, and thinking themselves safe, ventured out of their lurking places:



even they also followed hard after them in the battle; they joined the pursuers who came their way, and stuck to them, and closely pursued the flying army of the Philistines. According to Josephus {p}, the army of Saul was now increased to 10,000.



{p} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 3.





1 Samuel 14:23



Ver. 23. So the Lord saved Israel that day, &c] And a wonderful salvation it was, that two men should throw such a vast army into confusion, which issued in the utter rout and destruction of them; this only could be of the Lord, to whom it is justly ascribed, and was the effect of his sovereign good will and pleasure, and of his unmerited goodness; a free favour bestowed on an undeserving prince, who had behaved ill to his prophet at Gilgal, and now to him and his high priest at Gibeah:



and the battle passed over unto Bethaven; the men of battle or war; those that made war, as the Targum, these pursued and went as far as Bethaven, or rather "passed Bethaven" {q}; they not only, went as far as that, but "from" it, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel interpret it; they passed that place, and went on from thence in pursuit of the Philistines; for their camp at Michmash was eastward from this place, and had it on the east, 1Sa 13:5.



{q} Nwa tyb ta hrbe "transiit Bethaven", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "vel, beliatores transierunt Bethaven", Pagninus, Vatablus, Drusius.





1 Samuel 14:24



Ver. 24. And the men of Israel were distressed that day,.... By reason of the following order Saul gave with an oath, forbidding any to taste meat till evening, when the people were faint and weary, which is the common sense of interpreters; but Jarchi interprets it, the men of Israel were ready, forward, and hasty, and drew nigh to fight with the Philistines, and so refers it to the persons before mentioned, who came out of their lurking places; and this sense is approved of by Abarbinel: "for", or "and Saul had adjured", or "did adjure the people"; or willed them, signified to them his will and pleasure, which would not have been so much amiss, had he not annexed a curse to it, as follows:



saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food until the evening: or "bread", which comprehends all food, and among the rest honey; the design of which was, that no time might be lost, and that he might make the victory over the Philistines, and their destruction, as complete as possible; though it may seem a little too hard and severe upon the people, and too imperious in him, as well as imprudent; since a little refreshment would have animated and enabled them to have pursued their enemies with more ardour and rigour; and yet by the lot afterwards made, it seems to have been countenanced by the Lord:



that I may be avenged on mine enemies; who long tyrannised over the people of Israel, more or less for many years, and lately had sadly spoiled and plundered them:



so none of the people tasted any food; so observant were they of, and so obedient to the order of their king, and so much awed by the oath or imprecation annexed to it; though they were faint and hungry, and had an opportunity of refreshing themselves as follows, which was no small temptation to disobedience.





1 Samuel 14:25



Ver. 25. And all they of the land came to a wood,.... Which lay between Bethaven and Aijalon; by whom are meant not all the inhabitants of the land of Israel, but all that came with Saul and Jonathan, and that joined them in the pursuit:



and there was honey upon the ground; which dropped upon it, as in the following verse, or where it was produced by bees; for Aristotle {r} reports, that bees in some places make their combs upon the ground; this was wild honey, which Diodorus Siculus {s} speaks of as common in Arabia, and which perhaps John the Baptist ate of, Mt 3:4. Jarchi says, this was the honey of canes, or sugar canes, which grew in the land of Israel; and affirms from Nathan an Ishmaelite, that in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language they call honey, sugar; but neither of these can be proved.



{r} Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 22. {s} Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 731.





1 Samuel 14:26



Ver. 26. And when the people came into the wood, behold, the honey dropped,.... Either from trees, which produced it; so Diodorus Siculus {t} speaks of trees in some countries which produce honey; or from the sugar canes, as Jarchi; or rather from the honeycombs which were framed in trees by bees; so Hesiod {u} speaks of bees making their nests or combs in trees. Ben Gersom thinks that bee hives were placed here in rows by the wayside, from whence the honey flowed; or "went" {w}, or there was a going of it; perhaps the combs being pressed by the Philistines as they fled: the land of Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey:



but no man put his hand to his mouth; that is, took not any of the honey and ate it, though it was so near at hand, and there was plenty of it:



for the people feared the oath: Saul adjured them by, or the imprecation he made on the person that should eat any food that day.



{t} Bibliothec. l. 17. p. 548. {u} Hesiod, Theogon. ver. 230. Vid. Diodor. Sic. ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 17. p. 548.) {w} vbd Klh "ambulatio mellis", Montanus; "itio mellis", Drusius; so in Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. fab. 3. "----jam flumina nectaris ibant".





1 Samuel 14:27



Ver. 27. But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath,.... Which charge was given, either before he came from Gibeah, before he came to Jonathan, or while pursuing, when Jonathan was with another party either fighting or pursuing:



wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand: the staff with which he walked, or rather the spear which he carried in his hand, and fought his enemies with:



and dipped it in an honeycomb; or sugar cane, as Jarchi; or in wood honey, as the margin of our Bibles; but best, in the honeycomb, as the word is rendered, So 5:1 and so the Targum, into the nest of honey {x}:



and he put his hand to his mouth; first he took the honey off of the top of his rod, and then put it to his mouth and ate it;



and his eyes were enlightened: which before were dim and dull through want of food, which is a common case; but became brisk and lively on eating the honey, nourishment being presently communicated, and he refreshed with it, and his spirits revived; and which quickly appeared in the briskness and sparkling of his eyes: honey being of a subtle nature, gives immediate refreshment and rigour; hence this phrase is frequently used by Jewish writers {y} for refreshment, after hunger, fatigue, and weariness; and which virtue is ascribed by them to fine bread, wine, oil, and particularly to honey.



{x} "Progeniem nidosque fovent----", Virgil. Georgic. l. 4. ver. 56. {y} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 42. 1, 2. Yoma, fol. 18, 2. & 83. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Maacolot Asurot, c. 14. sect. 16.





1 Samuel 14:28



Ver. 28. Then answered one of the people, and said,.... To Jonathan, who might direct and encourage the people to do as he had done, at least so he did by his example, if not by words; the latter is not improbable: and therefore one of the men that came along with Saul, and had now joined Jonathan, and who heard what Saul had said, replied,



thy father straitly charged the people with an oath; gave them a strict charge, with an oath or imprecation annexed to it:



saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food this day; that is, until the evening, as in 1Sa 14:24



and the people were faint; which is either the observation of the writer of the book; or it may be the words of the man, imputing the faintness of the people to this adjuration of Saul restraining them from food; or as taking notice how strictly the people observed it, though they were hungry, faint, and weary.





1 Samuel 14:29



Ver. 29. Then said Jonathan, my father hath troubled the land,.... The people of the land, as the Targum, the soldiers in his army; afflicted and distressed them, and made them uneasy in their minds, like troubled waters; the Arabic version is,



"my father hath sinned against the people;''



hath done them injury by forbidding them to eat. This was not wisely said by Jonathan; how much soever his father was to be blamed, it did not become him as a son thus to reflect upon him, and it might have tended to mutiny and sedition:



see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey; the benefit he received by it was very visible; it might easily be discerned that he was greatly refreshed with it, and his spirits invigorated by it; it was to be seen in the cheerfulness of his countenance, and the briskness of his eyes: and he suggests it would have had the same effect upon the people, had they eaten of it, as he had done.





1 Samuel 14:30



Ver. 30. How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found?.... That is, had they been, allowed eat freely of the provisions, of bread, wine, &c. they found in the enemy's camp, they would have been much more refreshed and strengthened than it could be supposed he was with eating a little honey; if that had had such an effect upon him, of what service would a full meal have been to the people?



for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? the people would have had more strength to smite them, and would have pursued them with greater ardour and swiftness, and so have made a greater slaughter among them than they had; he intimates that Saul's end would have been better answered by suffering the people to eat, than by forbidding them.





1 Samuel 14:31



Ver. 31. And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon,.... Michmash was the place where the camp of the Philistines was when Jonathan first attacked them, and from whence they fled, and they were pursued by the Israelites that day as far as Aijalon. There was a city of this name in the tribe of Dan, famous for the moon standing still in a valley adjoining to it, in the time of Joshua, Jos 10:12 and another in the tribe of Zebulun, Jud 12:12, but they both seem to be at too great a distance to be the place here meant, which rather seems to be Aijalon in the tribe of Judah, 2Ch 11:10 according to Bunting {z}, it was twelve miles from Michmash:



and the people were very faint; as they might well be, with pursuing the enemy so many miles, and doing so much execution among them, without eating any food.



{z} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 127.





1 Samuel 14:32



Ver. 32. And the people flew upon the spoil,.... Like a swift and ravenous bird, as the eagle, and which seems to have its name in Greek from this word, see Isa 46:11. When the evening was come, and they were free from the oath of Saul, and being extremely hungry, faint, and weary, they were even ravenous for food and with the greatest haste and eagerness laid hold on what came first to hand:



and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew [them] on the ground; and there they lay in their blood, which in such a position would not run out freely as when slain and hang up:



and the people did eat them with the blood; they were so hungry they could not stay the dressing of them, but ate them raw with the blood in them, not being squeezed or drained out, at least not half boiled or roasted. Some of the Jewish Rabbins {a} are of opinion



{a} See Jarchi in loc.





1 Samuel 14:33



Ver. 33. Then they told Saul,.... Some that were more conscientious and religious, were more circumspect, and strictly attended to the laws forbidding the eating of blood, and were concerned at the indecent behaviour of others, and therefore thought fit to acquaint Saul with it, to restrain it:



behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood; by breaking the laws of God respecting the eating of blood in Ge 9:4, especially in Le 19:26



and he said, ye have transgressed; the above laws of God; that is, Saul said to some persons who were accused of the breach of them, and were ordered to come before him, and did come:



roll a great stone unto me this day; pointing, perhaps, at one which lay at some distance from him, and which he ordered to be rolled to him; this was done, that the creatures might be slain on it, and their blood drawn out from them, or to offer sacrifice upon, and indeed for both.





1 Samuel 14:34



Ver. 34. And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people,.... In the camp, some one way, and some another, and make proclamation throughout it; this he said to some of his officers, whom he sent out as heralds, to publish his will and pleasure:



and say unto them, bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here; on the great stone he had ordered to roll to the place where he was:



and eat them; in the same place, being rightly slain, and the blood let out; all this was to be done, the slaying of the beasts, and eating them, in the presence of Saul, and under his inspection, that every thing might be done decently, and in order, and according to the law of God:



and sin not against the Lord, in eating with the blood; as some of them had done, 1Sa 14:32 and all the people brought every man his ox with him; and his sheep also, though not expressed, yet to be supplied from the preceding clause: and these every man brought "with him that night"; the Jewish Rabbins {c} are divided about these creatures slain, whether for sacrifices or common food; and those that think sacrifices are meant dispute whether it was lawful to slay them in the night, which some allow to be lawful, if on a small and private altar, but not upon a large and public one; but these were slain no doubt for common food, which all agree might be slain in the night:



and slew them there; before Saul, and on the great stone rolled unto him.



{c} T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 120. 1.





1 Samuel 14:35



Ver. 35. And Saul built an altar unto the Lord,.... To offer peace offerings upon, in thankfulness for the victory obtained over his enemies, or sin offerings to make atonement for the sin of the people, perhaps both, however the former:



the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord; for though he had offered sacrifice at Gilgal, there was an altar ready built for him: or "he began to build"; he laid the first stone of it, and the builders built upon it; so some others say, that he was the first of the kings that built an altar to the Lord {d}; others, the first of the judges that built one; though Gideon built one, it was for his own private use, not for all Israel, as this, so R. Isaiah; but Ben Gersom, and so Abarbinel, refer this to the great stone Saul ordered to be rolled to him, and take the sense to be, that that began to be built an altar to the Lord; that was the beginning of one; for he did not now stay to finish it, being eager on his pursuit of the Philistines, as follows.



{d} See Kimchi in loc.





1 Samuel 14:36



Ver. 36. And Saul said,.... To his son Jonathan, or to some of the principal officers of his army:



let us go down after the Philistines by night; or tonight, that same night; which is another hardship he laid his troops under; as he had restrained them from eating all that day until evening, now he proposed they shall take no sleep that night, but proceed on in their pursuit of the Philistines, having eaten, and drank, and refreshed themselves. The Arabic version is, "let us go down to the Philistines"; and so Noldius {e} chooses to render the words; which I pretty much wonder at, and especially at what he observes in favour of it, and against the common rendering; that at this time the Philistines had not turned their backs, so that the Israelites could not be said to go after them, but were in a camp opposite to them; but that they had fled, and were pursued, is most certain from 1Sa 14:22,



and spoil them until the morning light; or kill of them, as the Targum, and so the Arabic version; for spoiling must be meant of killing; for as for the spoil of their provisions, riches, &c. that had already fallen into their hands, 1Sa 14:30, and this is confirmed by what follows:



and let us not leave a man of them; great numbers had been slain already, partly by their falling upon one another, and partly by the swords of Jonathan and his armourbearer at the first onset, and by Saul and his men in the pursuit of them; and so intent was Saul in the utter destruction of them, that he was for following and cutting them off, that none of their prodigious army might return home:



and they said, do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; they had religiously observed his oath, in refraining from food all the day, and now they were as willing to be obedient to his command in denying themselves refreshing rest in sleep:



then said the priest, let us draw near hither unto God; Ahiah the priest, Josephus {f} calls him Ahitob, who was present with the ark, agreed to the proposal of Saul, only moved, that before they set forward they would seek the Lord; perhaps reflecting upon the abrupt manner in which Saul departed from Gibeah, just as he was consulting the Lord, and not staying for an answer from him; which the priest might fear would be resented by him, and therefore proposes first to draw nigh to God; not to the altar Saul had built, or had just begun to build, but to the ark, with which the high priest was, and was a symbol of the divine Presence: the Targum is,



"let us draw near hither, and inquire by the word of the Lord.''



{e} Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 15. No. 92. {f} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4.





1 Samuel 14:37



Ver. 37. And Saul asked counsel of God,.... He agreed to the motion of the high priest, and asked counsel by Urim and Thummim; the Targum is, as before,



"inquired by the Word of the Lord:''



shall I go down after the Philistines? pursue after them in their flight to their own country, which, lying to the sea, was a descent:



wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? what remain of them, otherwise a victory over them was obtained:



but he answered him not that day; no answer was returned by Urim and Thummim, so that he was left in suspense whether he should pursue or no; the Targum is,



"he received not his prayer that day;''



this was treating him in a righteous manner; since he would not stay for an answer from the Lord, 1Sa 14:19, the Lord now will not give him any; though the principal view was, that he might take the step he did.





1 Samuel 14:38



Ver. 38. And Saul said, draw ye near hither all the chief of the people,.... Or, the corners of the peoples {g}; the princes, as Jarchi interprets it: and so the Targum, the heads of the people, in allusion to the cornerstones in buildings, which are the ornament, strength, and cement of them, see Zec 10:4, though Abarbinel thinks the tribes themselves are meant, which lay encamped everyone in a corner by themselves, separated from one another; and these he would have brought together; not the heads only, but everyone, small and great, that it might be seen and known where the sin lay; but he should have observed, that the tribes of Israel were not now present with Saul, but a small number of them:



and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day; he concluded, from having no answer from the Lord, that sin had been committed, which was the cause of it; but never thought of his own rash oath, which was the cause of the people's sinning, and had brought his son into danger; nor the sin of the people in eating the flesh with the blood; nothing ran in his mind but the breach of the oath with which he had adjured the people, and this he was determined to find out, if possible.



{g} Meh twnp "anguli populi", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





1 Samuel 14:39



Ver. 39. For as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel,.... And had saved them that day with a great salvation and had wrought a great deliverance for them in freeing them from the Philistines, who had threatened the ruin of the whole nation. This is the form of an oath:



though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die; that is, though the sin should be found in him, or he should be found guilty of the breach of what he had charged them with an oath to observe, namely, to eat no food that day till evening:



but there was not a man among all the people that answered him; who knew that Jonathan had tasted of honey, but they would not acquaint him with it; partly because they knew he did it ignorantly, having no knowledge of his father's charge and oath, and partly because of their great affection to him, who had been the instrument of their deliverance and salvation that day.





1 Samuel 14:40



Ver. 40. Then said he unto all Israel,.... As many of them as were present; not the principal men only, but the common people; not the officers only, but the common soldiers in the army:



be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side: so they divided to the right and left, one went one way, and the other the other; there were two boxes or urns, as Kimchi says, in one of which were the names of Saul and Jonathan, and in the other Israel; though Abarbinel observes, that such a partition of them on one side, and the other, is not according to the manner of lots; and he suspects that Saul knew that Jonathan had tasted of honey, being told it by the man that saw him eat it; and who said to him then, "thy father straitly charged", &c. 1Sa 14:27 but chose this way to make it manifest to the people, and to show what a strict regard he had to justice:



and the people said unto Saul, do what seemeth good unto thee; they were very obsequious to him in everything, see 1Sa 14:36.





1 Samuel 14:41



Ver. 41. Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel,.... After the division was made between him and his son on one side, and the people of Israel on the other, and everything was ready for the drawing of the lot; Saul put up to God the following petition, as knowing that though the lot is cast into the lap, the disposing of it is of the Lord:



give a perfect lot; or man, let it fall upon the guilty person, and let the innocent go free; the Targum is,



"cause it to come in truth;''



let truth and righteousness take place; let the right man be found out, and taken; the petition seems to be too arrogant and presumptuous, and insinuates as if the Lord did not always dispose the lot aright:



and Saul and Jonathan were taken; the lot being cast, it fell upon them:



but the people escaped; from the lot, and appeared to be innocent, clear of any blame; so that it was not the sin they had been guilty of, in eating flesh with the blood, which was the cause that no answer was returned.





1 Samuel 14:42



Ver. 42. And Saul said, cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son,..... Which showed his regard strict justice, and that he had no consciousness of guilt in himself, and should not spare his own son if found guilty:



and Jonathan was taken: the lot fell upon him, which was so directed, that his ignorance of his father's charge and oath might appear; and that the affection of the people might be discovered; and that a regard is to be had to the orders and commands of princes, and obedience to be yielded to them in all in which conscience is not concerned, though they may be grievous; and to bring Saul to a sense of rashness in making such an oath, which brought his own son into so much danger.





1 Samuel 14:43



Ver. 43. Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what thou hast done,.... What sin he had committed, the lot having fallen on him, and found him out:



and Jonathan told him; the whole of the matter, all the truth, without any reserve:



and said, I did but take a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand; he speaks of the fact as a trivial thing, as if it was not deserving of death, though he was willing to submit to it; yet it seems strange he should say nothing of his ignorance of the charge and oath of Saul, and plead that in excuse of it; though Josephus {h} makes him to take notice of it: and, "lo, I must die"; am condemned to die, as the Targum; for which he was prepared and ready, being willing to testify an entire subjection to his father's authority and will. Josephus {i} represents him speaking with a generosity and greatness of soul, after this manner,



"death is most sweet to me, which is for the sake of maintaining thy piety and religion; and after so glorious a victory, it is the greatest consolation to me to leave the Hebrews conquerors of the Philistines.''



{h} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4. {i} lbid.





1 Samuel 14:44



Ver. 44. And Saul answered, God do so and more also,.... A form of an oath imprecating evils upon him more and greater than he chose to mention, see the like form in Ru 1:17, though Abarbinel thinks this is not the form of an oath, but an asseveration of a curse that would befall him; as that God would not answer him when he inquired of him, and that he would add to do so again and again, if he died not:



for thou shall surely die, Jonathan; such words from a father must be very striking to a son, and argue a want of paternal affection in Saul, that could call his son by his name, and deliver such a speech unto him in so strong a manner.





1 Samuel 14:45



Ver. 45. And the people said unto Saul,.... Hearing such words, and filled with grief, pity, and sympathy for Jonathan, as Josephus {k} observes:



shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? no, he shall not; what, such a man as he die, who, under God, has been the instrument of so great deliverance, who first began it himself with one man only with him, and has proceeded in it to the finishing of it?



God forbid: this shall not be so; they speak of it with the utmost abhorrence and detestation, as a shocking piece of cruelty and ingratitude, unheard of, and not to be paralleled:



as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; as Saul swore he should die, they also swear he should not, expressing their firm resolution to stand by him, and preserve his life; and so far should it be from him to have his life taken away, that an hair of his head should not be touched, or the least injury done to his person; for though they had yielded a ready obedience to all the orders and commands of Saul, which were distressing to themselves, they were determined to oppose him in this case of his son:



for he hath wrought with God this day; God has been with him, assisted him to do great things for Israel, and therefore should not die for a thing so trivial; and it being not done in disobedience to his father, nor in contempt of him, but through pure ignorance, as some of them well knew; so the Targum,



"for it is known before the Lord, that in ignorance he did it this day:''



so the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not; not by force, but by their resolution and importunity; or "redeemed" him {l}, by exposing their own lives to danger in opposing their king, and by their petitions to him for him; and, as Josephus says {m}, by their prayers to God for him, that his fault might be forgiven.



{k} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4. {l} wdpy "redemerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {m} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6.) sect. 5.





1 Samuel 14:46



Ver. 46. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines,.... Returned home to his own city, finding that he could get no answer from the Lord, whether he should pursue further or not, and losing the time and opportunity of doing it, by examining into the affair of his son, and casting lots to find it out:



and the Philistines went to their own place; their country and cities, such of them as remained, who were not cut off by their own and the sword of the Israelites. Josephus {n} says, Saul killed about 60,000 of them. It seems to be the will of God that they should not now be utterly destroyed, that they might be a rod of correction in his hand, to chastise the people of Israel hereafter.



{n} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 5.





1 Samuel 14:47



Ver. 47. So Saul took the kingdom over Israel,.... Which seemed to be almost taken from him when he was shut up in Gibeah, and the Philistines ravaged his country at pleasure; but now, having obtained a victory over them, he recovered his kingdom, and reassumed his power and authority; or he was now strengthened in it, as Kimchi interprets it; the people seeing that he succeeded in his wars with their enemies, they readily submitted to his government without any hesitation, and obeyed his commands; so the Targum,



"Saul prospered in the kingdom over Israel;''



and, according to Abarbinel, these words will admit of another sense, that whereas, after he was anointed and made king, he followed the herd, and attended rustic affairs; but now, after this victory over the Philistines, he took upon him the state and majesty of a king, and no more concerned himself with his farm and cattle, but betook himself wholly to regal and military affairs, as follows:



and fought against all his enemies on every side; who invaded his kingdom from different quarters; he defended himself against them, and preserved his kingdom:



against Moab, and against the children of Ammon; who lay to the east of him:



and against Edom; which was on the southern border of his land:



and against the king of Zobah; a part of Syria, which was to the north of the land of Israel, and was near Damascus, see 2Sa 8:3, and, according to Benjamin of Tudela {o}, the same with Haleb, or Aleppo, There never were but two kings of it, Rehob and Hadadezer, who lived in the reigns of Saul and David, 2Sa 8:3



and against the Philistines; who were on the western border of the land of Canaan:



and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them; disturbed and disquieted them, and made them very uneasy; he terrified and distressed them; the Targum is, he "condemned" them, he treated them as wicked and ungodly persons, and punished them as such.



{o} Itinerar. p. 59.





1 Samuel 14:48



Ver. 48. And he gathered an host,.... A large army; for after the battle with the Ammonites he disbanded his army, and sent them home, retaining only 3000 men, and these deserted him to six hundred, which were all the men he had with him, when he fought last with the Philistines; but now, finding he had enemies on every side of him, he gathered a numerous host to defend his country against them, and particularly to attack the people next mentioned:



and he smote the Amalekites; a people that Israel, by the law of God, were bound to destroy, and blot out their name; a particular account of his expedition against them is given in the following chapter:



and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them; the nations before mentioned, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Syrians, and Philistines.





1 Samuel 14:49



Ver. 49. And the sons of Saul were Jonathan,.... Who seems to be his firstborn, of whom, his valour and success, we read in this and the preceding chapter:



and Ishui; the same with Abinadab, 1Ch 8:33 for he had two names:



and Melchishua; and besides these three there was another, whose name was Ishbosheth, sometimes called Eshbaal, 2Sa 2:8 who succeeded him in the kingdom; for which reason Abarbinel thinks he is not mentioned here, because he was a king; though it is generally supposed the reason why these only are named is, because they went out to war with him, and died with him, but this did not; he had other children by a concubine, or secondary wife, whose name was Rizpah, not mentioned here, 2Sa 21:8,



and the names of his two daughters were these, the name of the firstborn Merab; who was afterwards married to Adriel the Meholathite, 1Sa 18:19 and the name of the younger Michal; who became the wife of David, 1Sa 18:27.





1 Samuel 14:50



Ver. 50. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz,.... Who very probably was the mother of all the above children, and therefore taken notice of; and Abarbinel conjectures that Ishbosheth was not a son of her's, but the son of Saul by another wife, and which he takes to be another reason why he is not mentioned here; but though Saul had a concubine, we nowhere read of his having another wife:



and the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle; not Abner, but Ner, was Saul's uncle; for Kish the father of Saul, and Ner, were brothers, as Josephus {p} says, and as appears from the next verse; and Abner was first cousin to Saul, whom he raised and advanced to be captain of his army, and a very valiant man he was: we hear of him again in this history, and in the beginning of David's reign.



{p} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 5.)





1 Samuel 14:51



Ver. 51. And Kish was the father of Saul,.... See 1Sa 9:1



and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel; this Abiel was the father both of Kish and Ner, and the grandfather of Saul, see 1Sa 9:1.





1 Samuel 14:52



Ver. 52. And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul,.... For notwithstanding the late victory over them, and slaughter made among them, they recovered themselves, and came out again to battle, and gave Saul a great deal of trouble, and he at last died in battle with them:



and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him; to be his bodyguard, as Josephus {q} says; or for soldiers and officers in his army, even such, as the same writer observes, that exceeded others in comeliness of person, and in largeness and height; such as were in some measure like himself, that were strong, able bodied men, and of courage, and valour, and fortitude of mind.



{q} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 5.)

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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