1 Samuel · chapter 14 of 31
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1 Samuel 14 tells how Jonathan and his armor-bearer secretly climb to the Philistine outpost at Michmash, trusting that nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Their attack throws the Philistines into panic, and Saul and the people pursue them. Saul's rash oath not to eat until evening nearly leads to Jonathan's death, but the people rescue him.
Chapter 13 ended with Israel disarmed and cornered, and with Saul under the shadow of Samuel's announcement. Chapter 14 contrasts two kinds of leadership: Jonathan's bold faith and Saul's rash decisions. It is a chapter in which the Lord gives victory through a single young man who trusts him.
One day Jonathan tells his armor-bearer to cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side of the pass, without telling his father. Saul is under a pomegranate tree at the edge of Gibeah with about six hundred men and the priest Ahijah. Jonathan says perhaps the Lord will work for them, for nothing hinders him from saving by many or by few. They agree that if the Philistines say come up, it will be a sign that the Lord has given them into their hand. The Philistines say come up, and between them Jonathan and his armor-bearer kill about twenty men. Panic spreads in the camp, the earth trembles and it is a terror from God.
Saul's watchmen see the Philistine multitude melting away. Saul takes a count and Jonathan and his armor-bearer are missing. Saul and the people go to the battle and find the Philistines fighting one another. The Hebrews who had been with them turn to Israel, and those hiding in the hills of Ephraim join the pursuit. So the Lord saves Israel that day.
Saul makes a rash oath: cursed be anyone who eats before evening. The people are exhausted. Jonathan, who did not hear it, tastes honey from a honeycomb in the forest and his eyes brighten. As evening falls, the hungry people slaughter animals and eat the meat with the blood, and Saul builds an altar.
Saul wants to pursue the Philistines by night, but God does not answer. It is determined that someone has sinned, and by lot Jonathan is singled out, who explains that he tasted the honey. Saul says he must die, but the people defend Jonathan, who has worked this great salvation, and ransom him. The chapter ends with a summary of Saul's wars and family.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jonathan says perhaps the Lord will work for them, for nothing hinders the Lord from saving by many or by few. It is a simple, brave confession of faith, without presuming to know what God will do.
The text sums up that on that day the Lord saved Israel. Although Jonathan acted in faith, the victory is credited to God, and the battle spreads beyond Beth-aven.
Saul binds the people with an oath not to eat until evening, until he is avenged on his enemies. It is a harsh order, imposed with zeal but without wisdom, that weakens his own soldiers.
The people say that Jonathan must not die, for he has worked this great salvation in Israel, and swear that not a hair of his head will fall. The people protect the man of faith from a king's rigidity.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Only with his armor-bearer, without telling his father. — 1 Samuel 14:1-3
Answer: That nothing hinders the Lord from saving by many or by few. — 1 Samuel 14:6
Answer: That they would tell them to come up, a sign that the Lord had given them into their hand. — 1 Samuel 14:9-10
Answer: There was panic, the earth trembled and the Philistines began fighting one another. — 1 Samuel 14:15-20
Answer: Cursed be anyone who ate before evening, until he was avenged on his enemies. — 1 Samuel 14:24
Answer: Because the people said he had worked a great salvation in Israel and ransomed him. — 1 Samuel 14:45
Jonathan teaches us to take steps of faith without guarantees, with a humble expectation: perhaps the Lord will act. We often wait to have every condition in place before serving; the passage invites us to trust that God can use a few if they are faithful. A group can ask what step of faith we are putting off.
Saul's oath is a warning against religious decisions made with zeal but without wisdom, which hurt others. A Christian leader needs to listen, weigh the consequences of his commands and admit when he has erred, instead of defending his order at any cost.
1 Samuel 14 ends with Israel victorious over the Philistines and Saul a strong king already worn down by his mistakes. In chapter 15 the Lord will send Saul on a new mission against Amalek, and his disobedience will bring his final rejection as king.
No, Jonathan had not heard his father's oath, and the text shows the honey as a refreshment for his strength. The problem was not his action but Saul's rash oath, which the people, and Jonathan himself, regarded as a mistake.
After the forced fast, the people were so hungry that they slaughtered animals and ate without draining the blood, which the law forbade. Saul corrects it by having the animals brought to a stone to be slaughtered, and he builds an altar to the Lord.