1 Samuel 14:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 14:1
Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jonathan
יוֹנָתָ֤ןyo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Saul
שָׁאוּל֙sha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man
הַנַּ֙עַר֙ha.Na.'ar
H5288
(concretely) a boy (as active) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
bare
נֹשֵׂ֣אno.Se'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
armour
כֵלָ֔יוkhe.Lav
H3627
something prepared · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Come
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
over
וְנַעְבְּרָה֙ve.na'.be.Rah
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
Philistines’
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
garrison
מַצַּ֣בma.Tzav
H4673
a fixed spot · noun, common masculine singular construct
side
מֵעֵ֣בֶרme.'E.ver
H5676
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
told
הִגִּֽידhi.Gid
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
father
וּלְאָבִ֖יוu.le.'a.Viv
H1
father · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Judges 6:27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, an…
Judges 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told…
1 Samuel 13:2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with…
1 Samuel 13:22 So it came to pass 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 a…
1 Samuel 14:39-45 For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the pe…
1 Samuel 18:1-4 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan…
1 Samuel 25:19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
2 Samuel 1:4-5 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of t…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 14:1-15
We must here take notice,
I. Of the goodness of God in restraining the Philistines, who had a vast army of valiant men in the field, from falling upon that little handful of timorous trembling people that Saul had with him, whom they would easily have swallowed up at once. It is an invisible power that sets bounds to the malice of the church's enemies, and suffers them not to do that which we should think there is nothing to hinder them from.
II. Of the weakness of Saul, who seems here to have been quite at a loss, and unable to help himself. 1. He pitched his tent under a tree, and had but 600 men with him, Sa1 14:2. Where were now the 3000 men he had chosen, and put such a confidence in? S…
Come, and let us go over - This action of Jonathan was totally contrary to the laws of war; no military operation should be undertaken without the knowledge and command of the general. But it is likely that he was led to this by a Divine influence.
The armor-bearer is the origin of what we call esquire, from escu, old French, a shield; armiger is the Latin, from arma, weapons, and gero, I bear. In the times of chivalry, the armiger, or esquire, was the servant of the knight who went after him, and carried his lance, shield, etc. It is now (strange to tell!) a title of honor.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 14:1
Now it came to pass upon a day,.... At a certain time, a little after the garrison of the Philistines had made the movement, 1 Samuel 13:23 and it is not to be taken strictly for the day time; for it is probable it was in the night that the following proposal was made, and began to be carried into execution; for Josephus (k) says it was day light when Jonathan and his armourbearer came to the camp of the Philistines; he had formed his scheme perhaps the night before, and he and his man set out in the night time, and by break of day came up to the garrison, as after related:
that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour; as was usual in those times for generals o…
And it happened one day, that Jonathan said, etc. For Jonathan, who is interpreted as the gift of the dove, foresaw the grace of the Spirit teachers; his young armor-bearer, the disciples obediently bearing arms not of the flesh, but powerful in God; whose youth is renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103); a certain day begins the conflict, their sudden inspiration against the temptations of the enemy designates the inspiration of heavenly light. Jonathan encourages his armor-bearer on a certain day to go to the station of the Philistines, just as each perfect master, suddenly graced from heaven, stirs the hearts of pious helpers to overcome the assaults of vices.
The station of the Philistines goes forth when the throng of evil spirits is revealed to the minds of the elect through harmful suggestions. It is indeed called a station for this reason: because the wars of the elect are being described. For to stand, for malignant spirits, is to exert great forces in the battle of the elect. For anyone can strive to accomplish something more powerfully by standing than by sitting. Therefore the station of the Philistines is said to have gone forth, so that the effort of the demons in our war may be openly understood. And because they think of crushing the faithful as though they were inferior and lesser than themselves, going forth they prepare to ascend to Machmas. Or they eagerly desire to ascend to Machmas when they strive by tempting to deceive the hearts of the little ones. But the elect preachers, when they perceive the tempted hearts of their subjects, do not delay in bringing aid. They place some as it were in safety, and lead others with them to endure the dangers of wars. What does it mean that the armor-bearer is led to battle, except that subjects instructed through knowledge are to be advanced to victory in interior conflicts? For some know the art of medicine who lack the experience of healing: so indeed in the holy Church there are some who have learned the art of interior combat, but have not yet been brought to the pressing necessities of actual conflicts. They hear of great men fighting, but the battles which the great endure magnificently they know by hearing, not by proven strength. Such indeed are those who are invited to imitate the footsteps of the Redeemer. "Whoever wishes," he says, "to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). Now the arms of Jonathan are the exhortations of the teacher. The armor-bearer carries arms with which not he himself but another fights. So indeed are those who are newly instructed in the holy Church. For while they hear from the teachers about the virtues with which the teachers themselves fight against the cunning of evil spirits, they indeed have on their lips what they do not yet have in the practice of virtue. Therefore Jonathan said to his armor-bearer: "Come, let us cross over to the station of the Philistines," because the elect teachers teach their subjects not only the art by which they may fight, but also draw…
Dictionary and topics
Garrison — (1.) Heb. matstsab, a station; a place where one stands (1 Sam. 14:12); a military or fortified post (1 Sam. 13:23; 14:1, 4, 6, etc.). (2.) Heb. netsib, a prefect, superintendent; hence a military…
Michmas Or Michmash — (hidden), a town which is known to us almost solely by its connection with the Philistine war of Saul and Jonathan. (1 Samuel 13:1; 1 Samuel 14:1) ... It has been identified with great probability in…
Moabite — The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on…
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
Phurah — (bough), Gideon’s servant, probably his armor-bearer, comp. (1 Samuel 14:1) who accompanied him in his midnight visit to the camp of the Midianites. (Judges 7:10,11)
Arms, Military · Part of, borne by armour-bearers — Part of, borne by armour-bearers
Garrison · A military — A military
Jonathan · .Victory of, over the Philistines at Michmash — .Victory of, over the Philistines at Michmash
Philistines · Jonathan and his armour-bearer smote a garrison of, at the passages — Jonathan and his armour-bearer smote a garrison of, at the passages
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 14:1-15
Jonathan's heroic act. - With strong faith and confidence in the might of the Lord, that He could give the victory even through the hands of very few, Jonathan resolved to attack the outpost of the Philistines at the pass of Mukhmas, accompanied by his armour-bearer alone, and the Lord crowned his enterprise with a marvellous victory.
Sa1 14:1-2
Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, "We will go over to the post of the Philistines, that is over there." To these words, which introduce the occurrences that followed, there are attached from וּלאביו to Sa1 14:5 a series of sentences introduced to explain the situation, and the thread of the narrative is resumed in Sa1 14:6 by a repetition of Jonath…
Saul’s behavior in this chapter further justifies his dismissal as king (13:8-14; see also ch 15). Saul was alienated from both Samuel and his heroic son Jonathan. Chapter 14 anticipates the significant role that Jonathan played in the transition from Saul’s kingship to David’s.
14:1-15 Jonathan again fought in his father’s battles (see also 13:2-4; ch 31).
14:1 armor bearer: See study note on 16:21. • Jonathan did not tell his father because he knew that Saul would not grant permission for the dangerous plan. But he also knew that Saul wanted no one—not even his own son—to upstage him.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 14:1
On the other side. Every הַלָּז and לָזֶה in Scripture, is not an expression of הַזֶּה [this], but it is an expression of opposite [the speaker], and he is pointing it out with his finger. It is not an expression of 'cest' in O.F., but of 'cel' in O.F.
On the other side. Of the valley [between] the two mountains.
