1 Samuel 14:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 14:21
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.
an Eberite (i.e. Hebrew) or descendant of Eber · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
Philistines
לַפְּלִשְׁתִּים֙la.pe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
before
כְּאֶתְמ֣וֹלke.'et.Mol
H865
heretofore · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
time
שִׁלְשׁ֔וֹםshil.Shom
H8032
trebly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
עָל֥וּ'a.Lu
H5927
to ascend · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
camp
בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הba.ma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
about
סָבִ֑יבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Israelites
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Saul
שָׁא֖וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
Jonathan
וְיוֹנָתָֽןve.yo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
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
1 Samuel 29:4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he m…
Judges 7:23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midiani…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 14:16-23
We have here the prosecution and improvement of the wonderful advantages which Jonathan and his armour-bearer gained against the Philistines.
I. The Philistines were, by the power of God, set against one another. They melted away like snow before the sun, and went on beating down one another (Sa1 14:16), for (Sa1 14:20) every man's sword was against his fellow. When they fled for fear, instead of turning back upon those that chased them, they reckoned those only their enemies that stood in their way, and treated them accordingly. The Philistines were very secure, because all the swords and spears were in their hands. Israel had none except what Saul and Jonathan had. But now God showed them…
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.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 14:21
The Hebrews that were with the Philistines - We may understand such as they held in bondage, or who were their servants. Instead of Hebrews the Septuagint read, οἱ δουλοι, the slaves; from which it is evident that, instead of עברים Ibrim, Hebrews, they found in their text עבדים abadim, servants. But this reading is not countenanced by any other version, nor by any MS. yet discovered.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 14:21
Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time,.... Who either were their servants and bondsmen they brought along with them, or such in whose cities they dwelt, or had taken as they came along, and forced into their army; or it may be some of them were renegades from the Israelites, deserters, who for safety and subsistence betook themselves to them as the stronger party. The Greek version reads,"the servants that were with the Philistines:"
which went up with them into the camp from the country round about; either willingly or by force; the words, "from the country", are not in the text, wherefore some observe, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, that this respects their being…
The Church Fathers
And the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, etc. Many, having been seduced by heretics and fighting against the Church with them, when they perceived the dissonance of their doctrine, and saw their dialectical subtleties surpassed by the simplicity of the Catholic faith, as if by the act of Jonathan, returned to be reconciled to the Catholic Church by the imposition of the priestly hand.
Who are the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines, if not sinners who have fallen from a religious way of life? Of whom it was said not far above: "The Hebrews crossed the Jordan." They are Hebrews indeed by the order of religion, but they are with the Philistines, and they go up with them, as long as they are deceived by harmful suggestions and advance in wicked conduct. They are with the evil spirits by the intention and will of sin, but they go up with them, because, driven by those spirits, they raise themselves to the boldness of iniquitous action. Or they are with them when they carry out their sins to completion by their deeds; but they go up with them when they do not fear to set forth the examples of their wickedness for others to imitate. What does it mean, then, that they are said to return and be with Israel, except that such people also very often come to their senses? For to return is to take up again the love of the religious life. And to be with Israel is to persist within the holy Church in the unity of charity. One must return to this end: that being with Israel may be proposed as the goal, because there is no conversion of a sinner if, once converted, he lacks perseverance in good works and unity of charity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
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…
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).
Flight and defeat of the Philistines. - Sa1 14:16. The spies of Saul at Gibeah saw how the multitude (in the camp of the Philistines) melted away and was beaten more and more. The words והלם ויּלך are obscure. The Rabbins are unanimous in adopting the explanation magis magisque frangebatur, and have therefore probably taken הלם as an inf. absol. הלום, and interpreted הלם according to Jdg 5:26. This was also the case with the Chaldee; and Gesenius (Thes. p. 383) has adopted the same rendering, except that he has taken הלם in the sense of dissolutus, dissipatus est. Others take הלום as adverbial ("and thither"), and supply the correlate הלם (hither), so as to bring out the meaning "hither and…
Previously, a large group of Israelites had gone into hiding out of fear (13:6-7). Others might have joined the Philistine army. However, the statement that they revolted when the opportunity arose suggests they might have been taken as prisoners of war and forced into the Philistines’ service.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 14:21
And the Hebrews who were with the Philistines. To help them, out of fear, in earlier times;9 The Bnei Yisroel who had been living in Philistine territory had been forcibly drafted into the Philistine army to fight against their brethren. but today they too turned [against the Philistines and joined] their fellows to be at their brethren's assistance.