to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Cast
הַפִּ֕ילוּha.Pi.lu
H5307
to fall · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
Jonathan
יוֹנָתָ֣ןyo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · proper noun, a man's name
son
בְּנִ֑יbe.Ni
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Jonathan
יוֹנָתָֽןyo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · proper noun, a man's name
taken
וַיִּלָּכֵ֖דvai.yi.la.Khed
H3920
to catch (in a net · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 14:36-46
Here is, I. Saul's boasting against the Philistines. He proposed, as soon as his soldiers had got their suppers, to pursue them all night, and not leave a man of them, Sa1 14:36. Here he showed much zeal, but little discretion; for his army, thus fatigued, could as ill spare a night's sleep as a meal's meat. But it is common for rash and foolish men to consider nobody but themselves, and, so that they might but have their humour, not to care what hardships they put upon those that are under them. However, the people were so obsequious to their king that they would by no means oppose the motion, but resolved to make the best of it, and, if he will go on, they will follow him: Do whatsoever se…
the people were very faint. And the people flew upon the spoil--at evening, when the time fixed by Saul had expired. Faint and famishing, the pursuers fell voraciously upon the cattle they had taken, and threw them on the ground to cut off their flesh and eat them raw, so that the army, by Saul's rashness, were defiled by eating blood, or living animals; probably, as the Abyssinians do, who cut a part of the animal's rump, but close the hide upon it, and nothing mortal follows from that wound. They were painfully conscientious in keeping the king's order for fear of the curse, but had no scruple in transgressing God's command. To prevent this violation of the law, Saul ordered a large stone…
And Jonathan was taken - The object of the inquiry most evidently was, "Who has gone contrary to the king's adjuration today?" The answer to that must be Jonathan. But was this a proof of the Divine displeasure against the man? By no means: the holy oracle told the truth, but neither that oracle nor the God who gave it fixed any blame upon Jonathan, and his own conscience acquits him. He seeks not pardon from God, because he is conscious he had not transgressed. But why did not God answer the priest that day? Because he did not think it proper to send the people by night in pursuit of the vanquished Philistines. Saul's motive was perfectly vindictive: Let us go down after the Philistines by…
The Church Fathers
Those who cast lots often discover hidden things through conjectures drawn from visible things. Thus indeed Jonah is identified while fleeing (Jon. 1); thus Matthias the Apostle is found worthy of apostolic eminence (Acts 1). We therefore cast spiritual lots when, through the outward signs of works, we arrive at knowledge of hidden things. For the lot of each person is his own manner of life. Hence in Wisdom the wicked say: "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither; let no meadow be left untouched by our luxury; let us leave signs of our merriment everywhere, for this is our portion and this is our lot" (Wis. 2:8). But on the contrary, the Psalmist prays, saying: "Let my portion, O Lord, be in the land of the living" (Ps. 141:6). Paul also declares the same, saying: "Our manner of life is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). The teacher therefore holds, as it were, the lots of each individual when he observes the manner of life of each one. And when the fault is known but the person of the guilty one is not known, he casts lots, as it were, when he compares the nature of the crime to the person of the negligent one. And perhaps he discovers the fault when, by a certain sign of conjecture, he arrives at the evident truth of the crime. He who does not know both the strength and the weakness of the faithful committed to him presides negligently indeed. For he ought to know the strong among his subjects — for which virtues they are suited, and by which vices the weak are prone through the negligence of their neighbor. He ought to know what devotion to virtues stirs these, and what character of vices disturbs the negligence of those. He therefore holds, as it were, the lots of each in outward things, when he foresees by which vices the latter can be overwhelmed and by which virtues the former can be exalted. Therefore, once the cause is known, he imprints marks upon the lots, as it were, when we ascribe the stain of an evident fault to the manner of life of the one who, through negligence, previously appeared inclined and close to perpetrating that very crime. But let this conjecture be held for the purpose of investigating the truth, not for the certainty of an established case.
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
Jonathan — Whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1.) A Levite descended from Gershom (Judg. 18:30). His history is recorded in 17:7-13…
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…
Saul — Asked for. (1.) A king of Edom (Gen. 36:37, 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48. (2.) The son of Kish (probably his only son, and a child of prayer, “asked for”), of the tribe of Benjamin, the first…
Armies Of Israel, The · Strict discipline observed in — Strict discipline observed in
Lot, The · Jonathan’s — Jonathan’s
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).
And Saul said, cast lots between me and Jonathan my son,..... Which showed his regard strict justice, and that he had no consciousness of guilt in himself, and should not spare his own son if found guilty:
and Jonathan was taken: the lot fell upon him, which was so directed, that his ignorance of his father's charge and oath might appear; and that the affection of the people might be discovered; and that a regard is to be had to the orders and commands of princes, and obedience to be yielded to them in all in which conscience is not concerned, though they may be grievous; and to bring Saul to a sense of rashness in making such an oath, which brought his own son into so much danger.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 14:31-46
Result of the battle, and consequences of Saul's rashness. - Sa1 14:31. "On that day they smote the Philistines from Michmash to Ajalon," which has been preserved in the village of Ylo (see at Jos 19:42), and was about three geographical miles to the south-west of Michmash; "and the people were very faint," because Saul had forbidden them to eat before the evening (Sa1 14:24).
Sa1 14:32
They therefore "fell voraciously upon the booty" - (the Chethibh ויּעשׂ is no doubt merely an error in writing for ויּעט, imperf. Kal of עיט with Dagesh forte implic. instead of ויּעט, as we may see from Sa1 15:19, since the meaning required by the context, viz., to fall upon a thing, cannot be established in…
Casting sacred lots involved the Urim and Thummim (Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8), which David also used when soliciting God’s guidance (1 Sam 23:2; 30:8; 2 Sam 2:1). The Urim and Thummim were two small objects (perhaps flat stones, sticks, or arrows) that may have been cast like dice. They would provide a positive answer, a neutral response, or a negative answer.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 14:41
Make it truthful. Give a true lot.
And the people were excluded. Innocent, from the lot.
