1 Samuel 14:1-23

Jonathan's Surprise Attack on the Philistines. 1 Samuel 14:1-23

Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines-' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.

2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;

3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.

4 And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines-' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

5 The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.

6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to have by many or by few.

7 And his armor-bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.

8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.

9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; they we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.

11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armor-bearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor-bearer slew after him.
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were a half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.

15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.
16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.

18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.
19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.

20 And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

21 Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

23 So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.

1.

Why did Jonathan fail to tell Saul of his plan? 1 Samuel 14:1

Saul would probably have opposed such a daring enterprise. In the first place, he would be reluctant to see his son risk his life in such an expedition. In the second place, he had lost a great deal of his courage because of the stunning announcement of judgment which Samuel had made to him. The same fear and trembling which had come upon the people had affected their leader.

2.

Where is Migron? 1 Samuel 14:2

Migron is a locality which has been lost to modern geographers. Indications in the narrative would point to a place on the north side of Gilbeah and a different place from the Migron on the northwest of Michmash (Isaiah 10:28). Saul felt this was a good place to wait and observe the activities of the Philistines. Since it is called the uttermost part of Gibeah, it is taken to be in the vicinity. Saul still had only 600 men with him.

3.

Why was Ahijah not at Shiloh? 1 Samuel 14:3

When the Ark was taken from Shiloh, the place was no longer regarded as the center of worship. Later David fled from the presence of Saul, and the Tabernacle itself was at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1). The Ark was still in the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-jearim on the west side of the border of Judah near Philistia. A priest would hardly be safe at that point, and his services were needed by Saul.

4.

What was the advantage of the two campsites? 1 Samuel 14:4

Israel was on one crag, and the Philistines were on the other. The site of this valley is almost impenetrable. One can hardly go down into the valley on horseback. About a mile eastward of the line between these two promontories the valley is so narrow and so deep that the opposite heights are less than a mile apart. The two armies would keep each other under observation without fearing a frontal attack at this point.

5.

On what did Jonathan rely? 1 Samuel 14:6

Jonathan was convinced that Israel was the nation of God's own choosing and that God would preserve them in every situation. He did not know for sure that God would give them success in the particular venture that they had in mind, but he hoped that He would. He knew that it did not make any difference whether there were a few men or many in an army. As he said: For there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few (1 Samuel 14:6 b).

6.

What was so frightening about Jonathan's attach.? 1 Samuel 14:7-15

Things in Israel were rapidly coming to a sorry state. Samuel had returned to Gibeah because Shiloh had been forsaken. Saul came with just a few men because all the people were of a mind to desert and many had done so already. There were no smiths for making of weapons since they required iron work. The two enemy armies were at the time separated by a mile-long valley between two high crags, one some 50 feet of sheer rock, the other about 100 feet of sheer rock. Jonathan relied entirely upon the guiding hand of Jehovah, not even mentioning the expedition to his father. More than likely his father would never have permitted him to go. Hence when he suddenly appeared in the camp of the Philistines it was terribly unexpected and actually frightened them beyond measure. If the Philistine soldiers were really valiant, they would come down after Jonathan and his armor-bearer; if they said, Come up, they were lazy, cowardly, and careless. This would indicate to Jonathan the advisability of continuing his attack.

7.

Why is mention made of what oxen might plow? 1 Samuel 14:14

Rural people would measure things by standards to which they were accustomed. A furrow of land was what could be plowed with a yoke of oxen in one day. It is like the Roman jugum, or jugerum, containing some 28,000 square feet. The area where the battle was fought is described as the furrow of an acre of land, because the length only of an half-acre was to be given and not the square footage,

8.

Why did the Philistines tremble? 1 Samuel 14:15

The situation was reversed. The Israelites had trembled when they saw the mammoth Philistine host coming out against them. After Jonathan and his armor-bearer surprised the Philistines, the Philistines were afraid, The very fact that they did not expect two men to climb the cliff alone led them to relax their vigil. Two men coming upon them in an unexpected way confused them and frightened them.

9.

Why did Saul call for the Ark? 1 Samuel 14:18

The Ark had led the Israelites into battle on a number of occasions. Priests carried the Ark into the Jordan River when Israel crossed over into Palestine (Joshua 3:6). Moses refused to send the Ark into the ill-fated battle against the Canaanites (Numbers 14:44). When Israel was walking in God's paths, the Ark was a symbol of His presence. When they were rebelling against God, the fact that the Ark was with them did not guarantee a victory for them. This truth was demonstrated in the days of Eli's sons as the Ark was captured by the Philistines. Saul could hardly have forgotten this lesson, and he surely would not have risked losing it again. His decision to call for the Ark must have been prompted by his desire to find out the Lord's will with regard to the battle. He must have thought his having the Ark with him would have helped him to learn this will.

10.

Was the ark again brought into the camp? 1 Samuel 14:19

Saul commanded Ahijah the priest to fetch the Ark; but while he was conversing with the priest, the noise and confusion in the Philistine camp was brought to his attention. The way was then clear. It was up to the Israelites to pursue the enemy and there was no need to command, Withdraw thy hand. There would be no need for the priest to give any further order or to make any further move towards fetching the Ark. Even though there is mention of some Israelites who had not joined with the men of Saul but rather had joined with the Philistines, the Israelites won a victory and pursued the Philistines first to the north and then to the west.

11.

Who were the Hebrews with the Philistines? 1 Samuel 14:21

These men were defectors and captives. Notice that they are called Hebrews, while the people of Saul were called Israelites. Living had become so difficult in Israel that these people had sought asylum with the enemy even at the risk of calling down the wrath of their own people upon them. David fled to Achish, king of Gath, in order to escape the murderous intentions of Saul (1 Samuel 21:10).

12.

Where was Beth-aven? 1 Samuel 14:23

Beth-aven was near Ai. Ai lay near Beth-el on the road which ran from Jerusalem to Shechem. It was east of Michmash. The Philistines fled westwards from Michmash to Aijalon (1 Samuel 14:31). If we bear in mind the fact that the camp of the Philistines was on the east side of Michmash before Beth-aven (1 Samuel 13:5), the fact that the Israelites attacked it from the south explains the extent of the battle. As the main body of the Philistines fled as far as Ajalon, they were pursued to that place by some of the Israelites.