1 Samuel 14:20 Komentář

We left the host of Israel in a very ill posture, in the close of the foregoing chapter; we saw in them no wisdom, nor strength, nor goodness, to give us ground to expect any other than that they should all be cut off by the army of the Philistines; yet here we find that infinite power which works without means, and that infinite goodness which gives without merit, glorified in a happy turn to their affairs, that still Samuel's words may be made good: "The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake," (Sa1 12:22). In this chapter we have, I. The host of the Philistines trampled upon, and triumphed over, by the faith and courage of Jonathan, who unknown to his father (Sa1 14:1-3), with his armour-bearer only, made a brave attack upon them, encouraging himself in the Lord his God (Sa1 14:4-7). He challenged them (Sa1 14:8-12), and, upon their acceptance of the challenge, charged them with such fury, or rather such faith, that he put them to flight, and set them one against another (Sa1 14:13-15), which gave opportunity to Saul and his forces, with other Israelites, to follow the blow, and gain a victory (Sa1 14:16-23). II. The host of Israel troubled and perplexed by the rashness and folly of Saul, who adjured the people to eat no food till night, which 1. Brought Jonathan to a praemunire (Sa1 14:24-30). 2. Was a temptation to the people, when the time of their fast had expired, to eat with the blood, (Sa1 14:31-35). Jonathan's error, through ignorance, had like to have been his death, but the people rescued him (Sa1 14:36-46). III. In the close we have a general account of Saul's exploits (Sa1 14:47, Sa1 14:48) and of his family (Sa1 14:49-52).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 14 This chapter gives an account of an adventure of Jonathan and his armourbearer smiting a garrison of the Philistines, Sa1 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, Sa1 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, Sa1 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, Sa1 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, Sa1 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, Sa1 14:40 and the chapter is cited with an account of Saul's battles with the neighbouring nations in general, and of his family, Sa1 14:47.

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 Sa1 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.

For what else does it signify that Saul first sought to bring the ark near, then commanded the priest to withdraw his hand, except that we ought to arrange obscure matters by consulting, and fulfill with haste those things that become more clearly known? But for the preacher to hear the tumult gradually increasing is to recognize the devotion of converted sinners. It is said to increase gradually, because while the Spirit directs our mind toward good works, he gently leads it toward better things through daily progress. But what does it mean that Saul and all the people who are with him shout, except that they join themselves to the warriors? And they come even to the place of battle. The place of battle is the heart of the one hearing the word of God. It is called the place of battle because the word that is received wars against one's former way of life. For the heavenly things he hears now please him, but old habit rises up and suggests that he despise what he has heard. The fight becomes still fiercer, because what the preacher praises, the malignant spirits disparage by dissuading, and they raise themselves up as if in battle against the saints, while by warring they destroy what is proclaimed by the voice of the latter. What then is it to come to the place of battle, except to arrive through the approach of inquiry at the secrets of the hearer's heart, where one may swiftly find the enemies and powerfully strike them down? For those who do not know how to examine interior things cannot reach the place of battle. Or the place of battle is where the frequent fame of great religion exists. For when countless people hasten there—those who desire both to put off the old life and to put on the new—it is rightly called the place of battle, because daily the army of spiritual virtues fights there against the multitude of vices. There indeed, the greater the battles, the more glorious the victories. There, the more frequent the assaults of the enemies, the more praiseworthy the number of triumphs: where not only is the lofty virtue of the great exalted, but the common valor of all is displayed in a wondrous demonstration of fortitude.

What is this sword, if not the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God? For those who in innumerable places have been converted to the service of almighty God, because they cling inseparably to the word of God, each one holds a sword, as it were, close at hand. Therefore the sword of each one is turned against his neighbor, when those who have been converted in monasteries pierce one another in turn with the word of God and utterly slay the carnality within themselves. For they are killed, as it were, by mutual wounds, when one strikes another with the word of God and extinguishes whatever lives carnally within him. Because they had recently been converted and had fallen away from secular life, they were signified by the type of the Philistines. Or the sword of one is turned against his neighbor when, through the exhortation of the converted, sinners not yet converted are turned to the Lord; when not only those who are in authority profit others by the word of preaching, but the multitude of subjects strive to instruct as many as they can by words and examples, and endeavor to draw them away from the desires of the present life as though slain, and to present them alive to eternal life. Indeed, we see these gains from the slain now spread throughout the whole Church across the entire world, because whoever now lives to God through divine grace appears dead to this world by the blade of mutual charity. For the sword of each one is turned against his neighbor, because all the elect strengthen one another in turn within the holy Church and inflame one another toward the heavenly homeland by the zeal of mutual preaching. And because an innumerable people is daily won for God, it is rightly added there: 'And the slaughter was exceedingly great.' What is exceedingly great is that which can somehow be recognized in its magnitude, but whose excellence cannot be comprehended. He had raised his eyes to this exceedingly great slaughter who said: 'But to me your friends are exceedingly honored, O God; their rule is exceedingly strengthened; I shall count them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand' (Ps. 138:17). The exceedingly great slaughter can also be understood to mean not only that many were slain, but that they were slain well. This is indeed seen to happen in the conversion of sinners, when they so abandon their past that they never come back to life for those same pleasures. For sinners to be slain is merely to be separated from a shameful life for a time. To be slain vehemently, therefore, or exceedingly, is to abandon perfectly the enticements of temporal life and to long eagerly for the joys of the future life.

Saul and all the people cried out, etc. Jews, Gentiles, and heretics, although they are all enemies of the Church, wound each other with the sword of the word. The Jews themselves fight among themselves through the Pharisees and Sadducees: likewise heretics and pagans, with so much dissonance of various doctrines and sacred matters, bring no less wars among themselves than with the Church. But there is one, he says, my dove, my perfect one (Canticles VI): she is the only one of her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her, from whom Jonathan, that most valiant leader, received the name of virtue, that he might be called the gift of the dove; whose perpetual peace even the discord of the wicked serves. Hence it follows:

Jonathan and his armor-bearer purpose to attack a garrison of the Philistines, Sa1 14:1. Saul and his army, with Ahiah the priest, tarry in Gibeah, Sa1 14:2, Sa1 14:3. Jonathan plans his attack of the Philistine garrison, Sa1 14:4-10. He and his armor-bearer climb over a rock: attack and rout the garrison, Sa1 14:11-15. Saul and has company, seeing confusion on the Philistine host, come out against them; as did the men who had hidden themselves; and the Philistines are defeated, Sa1 14:16-23. Saul lays every man under a curse who shall eat food until the evening; in consequence of which the people are sorely distressed, Sa1 14:24-26. Jonathan, not hearing the adjuration, eats a little honey, which he found on the ground, Sa1 14:27-30. The Philistines being defeated, the people seize on the spoil, and begin to eat flesh without previously bleeding the animals, which Saul endeavors to prevent, Sa1 14:31-34. He builds an altar there, Sa1 14:35. Inquires of the Lord if he may pursue the Philistines by night, but receives no answer, Sa1 14:36, Sa1 14:37. Attributes this to some sin committed by some unknown person: makes inquiry by lot; and finds that Jonathan had tasted the honey, on which he purposes to put him to death, Sa1 14:38-44. The people interpose, and rescue Jonathan, Sa1 14:45. Saul fights against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, Sa1 14:46-48. An account of the family of Saul, Sa1 14:49-52.

JONATHAN MIRACULOUSLY SMITES THE PHILISTINES' GARRISON. (Sa1 14:1-14) the Philistines' garrison--"the standing camp" (Sa1 13:23, Margin) "in the passage of Michmash" (Sa1 13:16), now Wady Es-Suweinit. "It begins in the neighborhood of Betin (Beth-el) and El-Bireh (Beetroth), and as it breaks through the ridge below these places, its sides form precipitous walls. On the right, about a quarter of an acre below, it again breaks off, and passes between high perpendicular precipices" [ROBINSON].

Saul and all the people--All the warriors in the garrison at Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.