1 Samuel 14:45 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 14:45
And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Saul
שָׁא֗וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
Jonathan
הֲֽיוֹנָתָ֤ןhayo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · interrogative particle + proper noun, a man's name
die
יָמוּת֙ya.Mut
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wrought
עָ֠שָׂה'A.sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 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
2 Samuel 14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more…
Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Acts 27:34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
1 Kings 1:52 And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found i…
Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Isaiah 29:20-21 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
Acts 15:12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the G…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 14:36-46
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 rescued Jonathan, that he died not--When Saul became aware of Jonathan's transgression in regard to the honey, albeit it was done in ignorance and involved no guilt, he was, like Jephthah [Jdg 11:31, Jdg 11:35], about to put his son to death, in conformity with his vow [Sa1 14:44]. But the more enlightened conscience of the army prevented the tarnishing the glory of the day by the blood of the young hero, to whose faith and valor it was chiefly due.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 14:45
And the people said - "Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid! As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground." Here was a righteous and impartial jury, who brought in a verdict according to the evidence: No man should die but for a breach of the law of God; but Jonathan hath not broken any law of God; therefore Jonathan should not die. And because he should not, therefore he shall not.
He hath wrought with God this day - God has been commander-in-chief; Jonathan has acted under his directions.
So the people rescued Jonathan - And God testified no displeasure; and perhaps he permitted all this that he might correct Saul's…
What then is the meaning of what is said, "Shall Jonathan then die," unless that another would have died for the same fault? By these words of the people there is surely shown to us the power of great discernment, because in the judgment of the elect, not only must the causes of faults be weighed, but also the merits of persons. This is openly shown by these words, because Jonathan is declared not to die not because he was the son of the king, but because he had wrought great salvation in Israel. When therefore great men fall, they are not to be handed over to the common judgment, because their prior works deserve that the gravity of their later faults be lightened. But this lightening of fault itself is not to be determined by respect of persons, but by regard for their prior life, because for his absolution the gains of Holy Church must be weighed, not carnal affection admitted. But what wonder if one's own merits avail for the absolution of a sinner, when from the authority of sacred Scripture we learn that some have been delivered for the sake of others? Indeed, by the good work of some, others are helped, as is said by the Lord to the sinning King Solomon: "Because you have not kept my commandments, I will surely tear your kingdom apart and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, in your days I will not do it, for the sake of David your father; but from the hand of your son I will tear it away" (1 Kings 11:11). Hence it is that not only do the works of fathers benefit their children, but we have also recognized that citizens are to be delivered for the sake of fellow citizens. Indeed the Lord promised to spare Sodom, which was to be overthrown, if He found in it only ten righteous persons (Gen. 18). Jerusalem also is said to be looked upon mercifully, because some good works were found in it. Hence it is that Eli, righteous in his own life but negligent in pastoral authority, heard from the man of God: "A great part of your house shall die when they reach manhood; nevertheless I will not utterly take away from you a man from my altar" (1 Sam. 2:33), so that sacred Scripture might here openly show that he was both struck for his laxity and regarded for his past manner of life. But he could perhaps be struck in part, because he had some impurity of life. Of Jonathan therefore it is well said: "Shall Jonathan then die, who has wrought this great salvation…
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…
Government · .Possessed veto power over the king’s purposes — .Possessed veto power over the king’s purposes
Jonathan · .Rescued by the people — .Rescued by the people
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).
great
הַגְּדוֹלָ֣הha.ge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
hairiness · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
head
רֹאשׁוֹ֙ro.Sho
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fall
יִפֹּ֞לyi.Pol
H5307
to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
ground
אַ֔רְצָה'Ar.tzah
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional suffix
wrought
עָשָׂ֖ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
אֱלֹהִ֥ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
day
הַיּ֣וֹםhai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
people
הָעָ֛םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
rescued
וַיִּפְדּ֥וּvai.yif.Du
H6299
to sever · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Jonathan
יוֹנָתָ֖ןyo.na.Tan
H3129
Jonathan · proper noun, a man's name
died
מֵֽתMet
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
on 1 Samuel 14:45
And the people said unto Saul,.... Hearing such words, and filled with grief, pity, and sympathy for Jonathan, as Josephus (k) observes:
shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? no, he shall not; what, such a man as he die, who, under God, has been the instrument of so great deliverance, who first began it himself with one man only with him, and has proceeded in it to the finishing of it?
God forbid: this shall not be so; they speak of it with the utmost abhorrence and detestation, as a shocking piece of cruelty and ingratitude, unheard of, and not to be paralleled:
as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; as Saul swore he sh…
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…
