1 Samuel 14:24

SAUL'S PAGAN OATH AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

"And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul laid an oath on the people, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies." So none of the people tasted food. And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground. And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; so he put forth the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes became bright. Then one of the people said, "Your father charged the people with an oath, saying, `Cursed be the man who eats food this day.'" And the people were faint. Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land; see how my eyes have become bright because I tasted of a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found; for now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great."

"Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on mine enemies" (1 Samuel 14:24). The will of God and God's honor were of no concern of Saul in this pagan oath, Note the egotism: "and I am avenged on my enemies." In this abbreviated account, not all of the oath was repeated. One finds the rest of it in 1 Samuel 14:44, "God do so to me and more also, you shall surely die." One finds the exact words of this oath on the lips of the pagan Jezebel (1 Kings 19:2); and Jezebel herself couldn't have said it any better than Saul did.

In this connection, we cannot understand how any scholar could write that, "So far from Saul's oath being, rash, or arbitrary, it was the logical expression of his carefulness for divine things."[18]

"The honey was dropping" (1 Samuel 14:26). This does not mean that the honey was dropping out of the trees, but that it was being dropped by the Philistines in their headlong flight, as explained by the words, "the spoil of their enemies which they (the Israelites) found" (1 Samuel 14:30).

"And his eyes became bright" (1 Samuel 14:27). "This is a Hebrew idiom that simply means `he was refreshed.'"[19]

The direct results of Saul's stupid pagan oath was that his men became fatigued, and from hunger were unable to exploit the opportunity to destroy the Philistines. The great majority of them escaped (1 Samuel 14:30). Also, when the evening finally came, and the curse was lifted, the people were so hungry that they slaughtered animals for meat but did not take time to bleed it perfectly as God's law commanded, consequently bringing the whole army into sin against God. No greater disaster for Israel could be imagined. Then, in addition to all that, Saul found himself compelled to condemn Jonathan to death.