14:2 Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men. 14:3 Now Ahijah was carrying 2 an ephod. He was the son of Ahitub, who was the brother of Ichabod and a son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh. The army was unaware that Jonathan had left.
14:4 Now there was a steep cliff on each side of the pass through which Jonathan intended to go to reach the Philistine garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, the other Seneh. 14:5 The cliff to the north was closer to Micmash, the one to the south closer to Geba.
14:6 Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will intervene 3 for us. Nothing can prevent the Lord from delivering, whether by many or by a few.” 14:7 His armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is on your mind. 4 Do as you’re inclined. I’m with you all the way!” 5
14:8 Jonathan replied, “All right! 6 We’ll go over to these men and fight them. 14:9 If they say to us, ‘Stay put until we approach you,’ we will stay 7 right there and not go up to them. 14:10 But if they say, ‘Come up against us,’ we will go up. For in that case the Lord has given them into our hand – it will be a sign to us.”
14:11 When they 8 made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves.” 14:12 Then the men of the garrison said to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come on up to us so we can teach you a thing or two!” 9 Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up behind me, for the Lord has given 10 them into the hand of Israel!”
14:13 Jonathan crawled up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer following behind him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines, 11 while his armor bearer came along behind him and killed them. 12 14:14 In this initial skirmish Jonathan and his armor bearer struck down about twenty men in an area that measured half an acre.
14:15 Then fear overwhelmed 13 those who were in the camp, those who were in the field, all the army in the garrison, and the raiding bands. They trembled and the ground shook. This fear was caused by God. 14
14:16 Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin 15 looked on 16 as the crowd of soldiers seemed to melt away first in one direction and then in another. 17 14:17 So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops, 18 Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. 14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” 19 for he was at that time wearing the ephod. 20 14:19 While 21 Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines’ camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”
14:20 Saul and all the army that was with him assembled and marched into battle, where they found 22 the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords. 23 14:21 The Hebrews who had earlier gone over to the Philistine side 24 joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 14:22 When all the Israelites who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them in battle. 14:23 So the Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle shifted over to Beth Aven. 25
14:24 Now the men of Israel were hard pressed that day, for Saul had made the army agree to this oath: “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening! I will get my vengeance on my enemies!” So no one in the army ate anything.
14:25 Now the whole army 26 entered the forest and there was honey on the ground. 27 14:26 When the army entered the forest, they saw 28 the honey flowing, but no one ate any of it, 29 for the army was afraid of the oath. 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard about the oath his father had made the army take. He extended the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he ate it, 30 his eyes gleamed. 31 14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath 32 saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.” 14:29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has caused trouble for the land. See how my eyes gleamed 33 when I tasted just a little of this honey. 14:30 Certainly if the army had eaten some of the enemies’ provisions that they came across today, would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”
14:31 On that day the army struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, and they became very tired. 14:32 So the army rushed greedily on 34 the 35 plunder, confiscating sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them right on the ground, and the army ate them blood and all.
1 tn Or “the servant who was carrying his military equipment” (likewise in vv. 6, 7, 12, 13, 14).
2 tn Heb “bearing.” Many English versions understand this verb to mean “wearing” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).
3 tn Heb “act.”
4 tn Heb “in your heart.”
5 tn Heb “Look, I am with you, according to your heart.” See the note at 13:14.
6 tn Heb “Look!”
7 tn Heb “stand.”
8 tn Heb “the two of them.”
9 tn Heb “a thing.”
10 tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically here to express Jonathan’s certitude. As far as he is concerned, the victory is as good as won and can be described as such.
11 tn Heb “and they fell before Jonathan.”
12 tn Heb “and the one carrying his equipment was killing after him.”
13 tn Heb “fell upon.”
14 tn Heb “and it was by the fear of God.” The translation understands this to mean that God was the source or cause of the fear experienced by the Philistines. This seems to be the most straightforward reading of the sentence. It is possible, however, that the word “God” functions here simply to intensify the accompanying word “fear,” in which one might translate “a very great fear” (cf. NAB, NRSV). It is clear that on some occasions that the divine name carries such a superlative nuance. For examples see Joüon 2:525 §141.n.
15 tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “saw, and look!”
17 tn Heb “the crowd melted and went, even here.”
18 tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”
19 tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin
20 tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.
21 tn Or perhaps “until.”
22 tn Heb “and look, there was”
23 tn Heb “the sword of a man against his companion, a very great panic.”
24 tn Heb “and the Hebrews were to the Philistines formerly, who went up with them in the camp all around.”
25 tc The LXX includes the following words: “And all the people were with Saul, about ten thousand men. And the battle extended to the entire city on mount Ephraim.”
26 tn Heb “all the land.”
27 tn Heb “the surface of the field.”
28 tn Heb “and the army entered the forest, and look!”
29 tn Heb “and there was no one putting his hand to his mouth.”
30 tn Heb “and he returned his hand to his mouth.”
31 tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew
32 tn Heb “your father surely put the army under an oath.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize the solemn nature of the oath.
33 tc The LXX reads “saw.” See v. 27.
34 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
35 tc The translation reads with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew