1 Samuel 14

SECTION 2. The Rise and Fall of Saul. Saul Having Been Anointed As King, The Reasons For His Downfall Are Now Described, Along With His First Major Defeat Of The Philistines And His Defeat Of The Amalekites. This Is Accompanied By A Brief Reference To His Wider Successes (13:1-15:35).

This section opens and close with examples of how as Saul becomes established he becomes lax in respect of his obedience towards YHWH, resulting first in the loss of his dynasty (1 Samuel 13:1-18), and then in the loss of his kingship (1 Samuel 15:1-35). In between these two incidents are a record of his victories (1 Samuel 13:19 to 1 Samuel 14:23 a; 1 Samuel 14:47-52) and indications of Saul’s increasing spiritual failure. We can analyse this section as follows:

a Saul disobeys YHWH and does not wait for His advice through Samuel. His dynasty are rejected from the kingship (1 Samuel 13:1-18).

b Jonathan and YHWH deliver Israel (1 Samuel 13:19 to 1 Samuel 14:23 a).

c Saul makes a rash oath and Jonathan unknowingly breaks it and becomes liable to sentence (1 Samuel 14:23-31 a).

d As a result of Saul’s rash oath his men eat animals with their blood resulting in Saul building his ‘first altar’ (1 Samuel 14:31-35).

c Saul consult the oracle over his rash oath and Jonathan is sentenced to death, but the people will not allow it (1 Samuel 14:36-46).

b Saul and Abner deliver Israel (1 Samuel 14:47-52).

a Saul disobeys YHWH and preserves for himself and the people what is ‘devoted’ to YHWH. He is rejected from the kingship (1 Samuel 15:1-35).

YHWH Delivers Israel From The Philistines (1 Samuel 13:19 to 1 Samuel 14:23 a).

The passage that now follows commences with a description of the hopeless situation of Israel in the first part of Saul’s reign, and concludes with the declaration ‘so YHWH saved Israel that day’. All was thus seen as due to YHWH. The Philistines had rendered Israel as a whole powerless by preventing them from making weapons, and especially iron weapons, for the Philistines had a monopoly on the way to smelt iron. No doubt some of the tribes not affected by the Philistine occupation and control were able to make bronze weapons, but even these were seemingly not available to Saul’s own small army. Only Saul and Jonathan as the recognised leaders were properly armed.

But the whole point of the narrative is in fact to bring out that with YHWH as their Saviour they did not need proper weapons, because YHWH fought for them. It commenced by Him inspiring Jonathan and his associated armourbearer to slaughter a small Philistine garrison, and then by His using the news of that fact, possibly combined with an earthquake, to put the Philistines themselves in a quake so that they felt that they had no alternative but to flee back to their own country. Meanwhile Saul was playing around with his new found ‘toys’ and was left as a mere spectator until the final chase. Thus there is a great contrast between Jonathan the man of faith, and the favoured of YHWH, and Saul the malingerer, who was totally lacking in faith.

Analysis.

a Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears,” but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock, yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads (1 Samuel 13:19-21).

b So it came about in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found (1 Samuel 13:22).

c And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. And it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on that side over there.” But he did not tell his father. And 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, and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of YHWH in Shiloh, wearing an ephod (1 Samuel 13:23 to 1 Samuel 14:3 a).

d And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone. And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto 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. The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba (14:3b-5).

e And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that YHWH will work for us, for there is no restraint to YHWH to save by many or by few.” And his armourbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn yourself, see, I am with you according to your heart” (1 Samuel 14:6-7).

f Then Jonathan said, “Look, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, “Wait there until we come to you,” then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them” (1 Samuel 14:8-9).

g But if they say thus, “Come up to us,” then we will go up, for YHWH has delivered them into our hand. And this will be the sign to us” (1 Samuel 14:10).

h And both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hidden themselves (1 Samuel 14:11).

g And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armourbearer, “Come up after me, for YHWH has delivered them into the hand of Israel” (1 Samuel 14:12).

f And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armourbearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan, and his armourbearer slew them after him. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land (1 Samuel 14:13-14).

e And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked. So there was an very great trembling. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and, behold, the amassed men melted away, and they went hither and thither (1 Samuel 14:15-16).

d Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Number now, and see who has gone from us.” And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there (1 Samuel 14:17).

c And 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. And it came about that, while Saul talked to the priest, the tumult which was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased, and Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand” (1 Samuel 14:18-19).

b And Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle, and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture (1 Samuel 14:20).

a Now the Hebrews who were previously with the Philistines, and who went up with them into the camp from round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Similarly all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. So YHWH saved Israel that day (1 Samuel 14:21-23 a).

Note that in ‘a’ ‘the Hebrews’ were bereft of swords and spears by the Philistines, and thus rendered unable to save themselves, while in the parallel they were able to spoil the Philistines because YHWH saved them. In ‘b’ Israel had no swords and spears, and in the parallel YHWH made the Philistines destroy each other with their own swords. In ‘c’ Ahitub was with Saul and with all who were gathered with him, but they were doing nothing under the pomegranate tree, (while at the same time Jonathan went out to make a stir among the Philistines garrison), and in the parallel while Saul was talking to Ahitub he noted the increase of the tumult among the Philistines. In ‘d’ the people did not know that Jonathan had gone, and in the parallel they number the army in order to discover who has gone. In ‘e’ Jonathan asserts his faith that YHWH can work for them, working by many or by few, and in the parallel YHWH does work for them and the amassed army of the Philistines melted away. In ‘f’ Jonathan and his armourbearer prepare for the possibility of going up among the Philistine garrison, and in the parallel they go among the Philistine garrison and slaughter them. In ‘g’ the test of whether they should go up will be that they are invited up, and in the parallel they are invited up. Centrally in ‘h’ when they disclosed themselves to the Philistines, the foolish Philistines jeered at the two brave men as cowards, something that they were soon to regret.