32 And the people fell on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate [them] with the blood.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 14:32

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.