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Defeat of the Philistines. Successful wars for the Jews with the Moabites, Ammonites, Amalekites, etc. 1 Samuel 14:13. And Jonathan began to rise up, clinging with his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and the armor-bearer finished them off after him. 1 Samuel 14:14. And from this first defeat, inflicted by Jonathan and his armor-bearer, about twenty people fell, in half a field cultivated by a pair of oxen a day. 1 Samuel 14:15. And there was terror in the camp in the field and among all the people; the vanguard and those who devastated the land were in awe [and did not want to fight]; the whole earth trembled, and there was great terror from the Lord. 1 Samuel 14:16. And Saul's guards at Gibeah Benjamin saw that the crowd was scattered and running to and fro. 1 Samuel 14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him; review and find out which of ours came out. And they looked again, and behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. 1 Samuel 14:18. And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring [the ark] 1 of God,” for the ark of God was with the children of Israel at that time. 1 Samuel 14:19. Saul was still speaking to the priest, when the confusion in the Philistine camp increased more and more. Then Saul said to the priest, Lay down your hands. 1 Samuel 14:20. And Saul and all the people that were with him cried out, and they came to the place of battle, and behold, there was every man's sword turned against his neighbor; the confusion was very great. 1 Samuel 14:21. Then the Jews, who were with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and who went everywhere with them in the camp, came to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan; 1 Samuel 14:22. and all the Israelites who were hiding in Mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had fled, also joined their own in battle. 1 Samuel 14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day; the battle extended even to Beth-aven. [All the people with Saul were up to ten thousand, and the battle took place throughout the city on Mount Ephraim.] Having been subjected to a quick and clever attack, the Philistines were horrified and, imagining that they had carelessly allowed a whole detachment of the enemy to approach them, hidden by the gorge of the mountains: (1 Samuel 14:4-6), they fled wildly, caused a terrible commotion in the camp at Michmash and confused the other Philistine detachments. The confusion of the Philistines was also facilitated by the fact that there were many Jews in their army. Encouraged by the favorable turn of affairs, they drew their swords against their oppressors. They were also joined by those of the Israelites who, at the beginning of the Philistine invasion, hid in fear in ravines and pits (see note to 1 Samuel 13:6-7). “Then Saul said to the priest” (Ahiah): “Put together” (in prayer) “your hands” (v. 19), so that through the mediation of the holy thing (v. 18) we may understand the will of God. “Then Saul and all the people who were with him cried out” (v. 20): The Lord made it clear to the Jews that the Philistines had been delivered into their hands. It goes without saying that, having ascertained the confusion of the Philistines, Saul rushed with his army to complete the defeat of the enemies and pursued them from Michmash to Beth-Aben (Aialon). 1 Samuel 14:24. The people of Israel were weary that day; and Saul [very foolishly] cursed the people, saying, Cursed is he that eateth bread until the evening, until I take vengeance on my enemies. And none of the people tasted the food. 1 Samuel 14:25. And all the people went into the forest, and there was honey there in the clearing. 1 Samuel 14:26. And the people entered the forest, saying, “Behold, honey flows.” But no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people were afraid of the curse. 1 Samuel 14:27. Jonathan did not hear when his father conjured the people, and, stretching out the end of the stick that was in his hand, he dipped it in honeycomb and turned his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. 1 Samuel 14:28. And one of the people spoke to him, saying: Your father cursed the people, saying: “Cursed is he who eats food today”; the people are tired of this. 1 Samuel 14:29. And Jonathan said: My father has troubled the land; look, my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey; 1 Samuel 14:30. If the people had eaten today from the spoils that they found from their enemies, would not the Philistines have suffered a greater defeat? 1 Samuel 14:31. And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash unto Aijalon, and the people were very weary. 1 Samuel 14:32. And the people rushed to the prey, and they took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground, and the people ate the blood. 1 Samuel 14:33. And they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, and eat with blood. And Saul said, Ye have sinned; roll a big stone towards me now. 1 Samuel 14:34. Then Saul said, Go through the midst of the people and say to them, “Let every man bring to me his ox and every man his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by not eating with the blood.” And all of the people brought, each with his own hand, his ox [and his sheep] by night, and killed it there. “Saul very foolishly cursed all the people.” The consequences of Saul's thoughtless exorcism of his soldiers were felt very quickly. “The first result of it was that the oath was broken, and it was precisely the one who most thought about pursuing the enemies who most contributed to their defeat - the hero of the day, Prince Jonathan, who did not know about the spell. When evening came, the hungry people frantically rushed at the Philistine prey - small and large livestock - and indulged in a bloody meal of almost raw, smoking meat, contrary to the direct decree of the law (Deut. 12:16,23). So, to stop the disorder, Saul was forced to personally oversee the proper preparation of each animal for food” (Ya. Bogorodsky, “Jewish Kings,” pp. 51–52). “And his eyes were brightened” (v. 27), having darkened with weariness and hunger. “My father troubled the land” (v. 29) by making a careless oath. “Roll me now a large stone” (v. 33) and then “let each one bring to me his ox and each his sheep, and slaughter it here” (on the stone) “and eat, and do not sin before the Lord; do not eat with blood” (v. 34). 1 Samuel 14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: it was the first altar that he pitched to the Lord. A remark very characteristic of Saul’s personality: only now, having triumphed over his enemies, Saul felt the need to make an independent sacrifice to the Lord God, without prompting to do so from the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 10:8,13:8). 1 Samuel 14:36. And Saul said, Let us go after the Philistines by night, and let us rob them before daybreak, and let us not leave one man from them. And they said, Do whatever is good in your own eyes. The priest said: let us approach God here. “Let us come here to God” in order to know His will. 1 Samuel 14:37. And Saul asked God: Shall I go after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hands of Israel? But He did not answer him that day. “And Saul inquired of God,” through the Holy Place of the Lord (see 1 Samuel 14:18–19). 1 Samuel 14:38. Then Saul said, “Let all the rulers of the people come here and spy out and find out whose sin is now?” “Whose sin is now” that prevents us from knowing the will of the Lord? 1 Samuel 14:39. for, as the Lord lives, who saved Israel, if it comes upon Jonathan my son, he too will certainly die. But none of all the people answered him. “But no one answered him out of all the people.” The people undoubtedly knew about Jonathan’s violation of Saul’s spell (1 Samuel 14:27–30), but, realizing the folly of this spell (1 Samuel 14:24) and having a completely legitimate feeling of love and gratitude for the hero of the day Jonathan, whom, apparently, God himself helped in defeating his enemies (1 Samuel 14:42,45), decided not to allow Saul to committing another, even worse, recklessness. “And he freed Jonathan’s people, and he did not die” (1 Samuel 14:45). 1 Samuel 14:47. And Saul established his reign over Israel, and fought with all his surrounding enemies, with Moab and with the Ammonites, and with Edom [and with Bethor], and with the kings of Sob and with the Philistines, and wherever he turned against he was successful. Moab - on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; Ammon - in the southern reaches of eastern Transjordan; Vefor is one of the currently unknown tribes; Sova (or Suva, Tsoba) is a state in Syria; The Philistines occupied the southwestern corner of Canaan. 1 Samuel 14:52. And there was a stubborn war against the Philistines all the time of Saulov. And when Saul saw any strong and warlike man, he took him to him. “I took him to myself,” into the militia. In Greek translation: [ephod] You might be interested in: