1 Samuel 14:1-23
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Summary
- Jonathan attacks the Philistines. This is an example of trust in God - not a blind trust, but a trust based on the very character of God - the God who makes promises and then keeps them.
Details and/or Comments
- A contrast is seen in the rest of the chapter (and chapter 15). Here we begin reading about examples of Saul's poor decision-making, as he increasingly fails to rely on God. This would quickly become characteristic of his life, and would ultimately result in the God giving the kingdom to David and his descendants.
Scripture
1 Samuel 14:1-23 – Jonathan's example of relying on God's direction in his life; possibly also an example of Saul relying on his own judgment (something that eventually becomes the main characteristic of his life).
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| 1Sa 14:1 Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he didn't tell his father. | Introducing the account. |
| 1Sa 14:2 Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men;
1Sa 14:3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn't know that Jonathan was gone. |
Background information – where Saul was residing. |
| 1Sa 14:4 Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
1Sa 14:5 The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. |
Background information – a description of the terrain where Jonathan and his helper would be traveling. |
| 1Sa 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few.
1Sa 14:7 His armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart: turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart. |
Total trust in God. God had already promised (many times in the past) that he would do the fighting (whether or not people were also involved). Now it was simply a matter of finding out if this was the right moment... and if so, of trusting God to do what he promised he would do.
Already, before they have any idea what the outcome will be, Jonathan acknowledges that any victory will not be to his credit, but to God. (He was just being honest.) |
| 1Sa 14:8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them.
1Sa 14:9 If they say thus to us, Wait until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. 1Sa 14:10 But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign to us. |
When they disclosed themselves in this rocky terrain, the Philistines would not be able to see if there were other soldiers with them.
If the Philistines were willing to leave their garrison and go over to Jonathan and his helper, it would show that they were confident of victory... Jonathan and his helper would fight courageously and see what happened (that is, what God would do). Calling them up could be a sign of overconfidence or carelessness. Or it could be a sign of fear (an unwillingness to leave the safety of their garrison). Either way, fear and panic became the final outcome, as seen below. |
| 1Sa 14:11 Both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
1Sa 14:12 The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel. |
This was not an instance of “putting God to the test,” for they were already trusting God based on what God had promised and done in the past. The only issue at hand was to find out what God was going to do and how he would do it.
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| 1Sa 14:13 Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.
1Sa 14:14 That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. |
This happened in an area that was about half an acre in size. |
| 1Sa 14:15 There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling. | God did what he promised – to fight for them – by providentially causing an earthquake. The results were panic, confusion and death among the Philistines. |
| 1Sa 14:16 The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went here and there.
1Sa 14:17 Then said Saul to the people who were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. When they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. |
Saul's lookouts could see what was happening. |
| 1Sa 14:18 Saul said to Ahijah, Bring here the ark of God. For the ark of God was there at that time with the children of Israel.
1Sa 14:19 It happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand. |
Saul begins to ask God for advice, then appears to stop. As far as he was concerned, the answer was obvious.
When he said, “Withdraw your hand,” was he was basically saying, 'No, we don't have time for this,” indicating that he would rely on his own judgment? The answer might not be obvious here, but later decisions demonstrate an increasing trust in himself and decreasing trust in God. (This would result in increasing failures, and eventual loss of the kingdom.) (Note: The Greek translation of this passage suggests that it was actually the ephod that used, rather than the ark. See verse 3. Even if the ark were present, the ephod would normally be what the priests used for decision-making.) |
| 1Sa 14:20 Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword [among the Philistines] was against his fellow, and there was a very great confusion. | The victory would not be to Saul's credit. By the time they arrived, the Philistine army was already on the verge of self-defeat (with God working in the background)! |
| 1Sa 14:21 Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines as before, and who went up with them into the camp, from the country all around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
1Sa 14:22 Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. |
Jews who had were in the Philistine army started fighting against the Philistines; Jews who were hiding in the nearby mountains also joined the battle. |
| 1Sa 14:23 So Yahweh saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth Aven. | It wasn't Saul's decisions that won the battle; but God's providential activity – a response to Jonathan's trust in God. |
Scripture Passages
(Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.)
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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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