1 Samuel 14:1

SUMMARY OF SAUL'S REIGN; HIS ADDITIONAL SINS

It will be remembered from our study of the Book of Numbers that the history of Israel's wilderness sojourn, covering a period of about forty years, was extremely abbreviated, with only a few events of that whole period being recorded. We have another example of this same Biblical phenomenon in this chapter, where all of Saul's wars during his forty-year reign are covered in a single short paragraph.

There is a reason for this in both cases. In that of Israel's wanderings, God had rejected that generation, forbidding their entry into Canaan; and for that reason, practically no importance whatever could be attached to whatever they did during the intervening time. For that reason, little was recorded. Even the things which were written about that period, "were written for our examples" (1 Corinthians 10:11 ASV), "as a warning ... for our instruction" (RSV), and "for our learning" (Romans 15:4).

Exactly the same thing is true here. The previous chapter revealed that God had rejected Saul's continuing dynasty; and whatever Saul did afterward was of little or no importance whatever, except that in a brief record of his mistakes, the instruction of future generations might be accomplished.

What a commentary lies in these facts for all mankind! Once the destiny of a life has been set by one's decisive behavior, and once the trajectory of his life has been determined, if his life moves firmly in a direction against the will of God, nothing whatever that he may do afterward is of any importance, except in the event of his ultimate repentance and the reversal of his conduct.

As noted above, Saul's wars were very slightly recorded, but there is an exception in the victory against the Philistines revealed in this chapter. Why? The answer lies in the shameful and sinful behavior of Saul which prevented the victory from being complete and which led to a perpetual war with the Philistines all of Saul's life, ending finally in his death on Mount Gilboa.

Philbeck enumerates Saul's sins as: "(1) Entering the battle of Michmash without awaiting divine counsel (1 Samuel 14:19); (2) invoking an egotistical and pagan curse which deprived his army of the necessary food to support their victorious pursuit of the Philistines; (3) causing his army, through fatigue and hunger, to eat meat improperly bled (a violation of God's law); and (4) condemning his son Jonathan to death."[1] The people had sense enough to overrule that last stupid and unjustifiable sin of their king.

It is the record of these sins in the extent that they might instruct all generations of men that justifies the extensive report of events in this chapter.

JONATHAN'S DECISION TO ATTACK

"One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side," But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is at Migron; the people who were with him were about six hundred men, and Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. In the pass by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other side; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other was Seneh. The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba."

"He did not tell his father" (1 Samuel 14:1). He probably knew that his father would never approve of such a fool-hardy attempt.

"Let us go over to the Philistine garrison" (1 Samuel 14:1). The author interrupted these words of Jonathan to describe the overall situation and scene of the event to be related. Jonathan's words are resumed in 1 Samuel 14:6.

"Under the pomegranate tree" (1 Samuel 14:2). "The Hebrew word for pomegranate is Rimmon; but there is no doubt that the tree is meant and not the rock Rimmon (Judges 20:45,47)."[2] This position of Saul and his men, just north of Gibeah, "Was about an hour's march from Geba, where Jonathan was."[3]

"Abijah ... Abimelech" (1 Samuel 14:3). "Both of these names apply to the same person, namely, the great-grandson of Eli";[4] and, as Barnes noted, "This fragment of a genealogy is a very valuable help in the chronology."[5] However, nothing very exciting is the result of it. Barnes made the deduction from it that, "about fifty years had elapsed"[6] since the capture of the ark of the covenant by the Philistines; and Willis from the same passage made the deduction that only "about thirty years"[7] had passed, and from this concluding that Saul's reign was "about twenty years." To this writer, it appears that the estimate of "fifty years" is more likely to be correct, because it fits the tradition of Saul's forty-year reign.

"A rocky crag ... a rocky crag ... Bozez ... Seneh" (1 Samuel 14:4). "The southern cliff was Seneh, which means acacia, so named from the trees in the vicinity; and the northern cliff was Bozez, meaning shining."[8]

The naming of such landmarks has continued throughout history. The two peaks on opposite sides of the Saginaw river are called Eternity and Trinity.