1 Samuel 14:18-23

14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ¹  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ²  14:19 While ³  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 ⁴  the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords. ⁵  14:21 The Hebrews who had earlier gone over to the Philistine side ⁶  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. ⁷ 

[14:18]  ¹ 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 ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

[14:18]  ² 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.

[14:19]  ³ tn Or perhaps “until.”

[14:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and look, there was”

[14:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sword of a man against his companion, a very great panic.”

[14:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the Hebrews were to the Philistines formerly, who went up with them in the camp all around.”

[14:23]  ⁹ 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.”