24 Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: "A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I've wreacked vengeance on my enemies!" None of them ate a thing all day. 25 There were honeycombs here and there in the fields. 26 But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers to a man feared the curse. 27 But Jonathan hadn't heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Refreshed, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor. 28 A soldier spoke up, "Your father has put the army under solemn oath, saying, 'A curse on the man who eats anything before evening!' No wonder the soldiers are drooping!" 29 Jonathan said, "My father has imperiled the country. Just look how quickly my energy has returned since I ate a little of this honey! 30 It would have been a lot better, believe me, if the soldiers had eaten their fill of whatever they took from the enemy. Who knows how much worse we could have whipped them!" 31 They killed Philistines that day all the way from Micmash to Aijalon, but the soldiers ended up totally exhausted. 32 Then they started plundering. They grabbed anything in sight - sheep, cattle, calves - and butchered it where they found it. Then they glutted themselves - meat, blood, the works. 33 Saul was told, "Do something! The soldiers are sinning against God. They're eating meat with the blood still in it!" 34 He continued, "Disperse among the troops and tell them, 'Bring your oxen and sheep to me and butcher them properly here. Then you can feast to your heart's content. Please don't sin against God by eating meat with the blood still in it.'" And so they did. That night each soldier, one after another, led his animal there to be butchered. 35 That's the story behind Saul's building an altar to God. It's the first altar to God that he built.
36 Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight! We can spend the night looting and plundering. We won't leave a single live Philistine!" "Sounds good to us," said the troops. "Let's do it!" But the priest slowed them down: "Let's find out what God thinks about this." 37 So Saul prayed to God, "Shall I go after the Philistines? Will you put them in Israel's hand?" God didn't answer him on that occasion. 38 Saul then said, "All army officers, step forward. Some sin has been committed this day. We're going to find out what it is and who did it! 39 As God lives, Israel's Savior God, whoever sinned will die, even if it should turn out to be Jonathan, my son!" Nobody said a word. 40 Saul said to the Israelites, "You line up over on that side, and I and Jonathan my son will stand on this side." The army agreed, "Fine. Whatever you say." 41 Then Saul prayed to God, "O God of Israel, why haven't you answered me today? Show me the truth. If the sin is in me or Jonathan, then, O God, give the sign Urim. But if the sin is in the army of Israel, give the sign Thummim." The Urim sign turned up and pointed to Saul and Jonathan. That cleared the army. 42 Next Saul said, "Cast the lots between me and Jonathan - and death to the one God points to!" The soldiers protested, "No - this is not right. Stop this!" But Saul pushed on anyway. They cast the lots, Urim and Thummim, and the lot fell to Jonathan. 43 Saul confronted Jonathan. "What did you do? Tell me!" Jonathan said, "I licked a bit of honey off the tip of the staff I was carrying. That's it - and for that I'm to die?" 44 Saul said, "Yes. Jonathan most certainly will die. It's out of my hands - I can't go against God, can I?" 45 The soldiers rose up: "Jonathan - die? Never! He's just carried out this stunning salvation victory for Israel. As surely as God lives, not a hair on his head is going to be harmed. Why, he's been working hand-in-hand with God all day!" The soldiers rescued Jonathan and he didn't die.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 14:24-45
Commentary on 1 Samuel 14:24-35
(Read 1 Samuel 14:24-35)
Saul's severe order was very unwise; if it gained time, it lost strength for the pursuit. Such is the nature of our bodies, that daily work cannot be done without daily bread, which therefore our Father in heaven graciously gives. Saul was turning aside from God, and now he begins to build altars, being then most zealous, as many are, for the form of godliness when he was denying the power of it.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 14:36-46
(Read 1 Samuel 14:36-46)
If God turns away our prayer, we have reason to suspect it is for some sin harboured in our hearts, which we should find out, that we may put it away, and put it to death. We should always first suspect and examine ourselves; but an unhumbled heart suspects every other person, and looks every where but at home for the sinful cause of calamity. Jonathan was discovered to be the offender. Those most indulgent to their own sins are most severe upon others; those who most disregard God's authority, are most impatient when their own commands are slighted. Such as cast abroad curses, endanger themselves and their families. What do we observe in the whole of Saul's behaviour on this occasion, but an impetuous, proud, malignant, impious disposition? And do we not in every instance perceive that man, left to himself, betrays the depravity of his nature, and is enslaved to the basest tempers.