How does Jonathan’s attack lead to victory, and why does Saul later seek his death?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Jonathan and his armourbearer attack after the Philistines give the sign Jonathan has named, and the enemy falls into confusion as Israel joins the fight. Later the lot selects Jonathan, who had unknowingly broken Saul’s food oath by tasting honey; Saul demands his death, but the people deliver him because he wrought Israel’s salvation with God that day.

Chapter breakdown

Jonathan, Saul’s son, tells the young man carrying his armour to cross to the Philistine garrison on the other side, without telling his father. Saul is in the outermost part of Gabaa under the pomegranate tree in Magron, with about six hundred men. Achias wears the ephod. He is the son of Achitob; Achitob is the brother of Ichabod, who is the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the Lord’s priest in Silo. The people do not know Jonathan has gone. The passage toward the garrison has rocks rising like teeth on each side, called Boses and Sene. One rock faces north opposite Machmas, the other south opposite Gabaa.

Jonathan proposes going to the garrison of those he calls uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will act for them, since it is easy for him to save by many or by few. His armourbearer tells him to do all that pleases his mind, go wherever he wants, and that he will be with him wherever he has a mind. Jonathan says they will cross and show themselves. If the Philistines tell them to stay until they come down, they will remain and not go up. If they say to come up, they will go up, since the Lord has delivered them into their hands; that will be their sign. Challoner separately says it is likely Jonathan was inspired by God to choose this sign; otherwise, he says, observing omens would have been superstitious and sinful. The note’s likely remains a qualification.

They both show themselves to the garrison. The Philistines say the Hebrews have come out of the holes where they were hidden and call them up to show them a thing. Jonathan tells his armourbearer to follow because the Lord has delivered the enemy into Israel’s hands. Jonathan creeps upward on his hands and feet with the armourbearer after him. Some enemies fall before Jonathan; others the bearer slays while following him. Their first slaughter is about twenty men within half an acre of land that a yoke of oxen ploughs in a day. A miracle takes place in the camp and fields, and all the garrison that had gone to plunder is amazed. The earth trembles, and the account calls it a miracle from God.

Saul’s watchmen in Gabaa of Benjamin see the multitude overthrown and fleeing this way and that. Saul orders a search for who is missing; Jonathan and his armourbearer are absent. Saul tells Achias to bring the ark of God, which is there with Israel that day. While he speaks to the priest, the uproar in the Philistine camp grows louder little by little. Saul tells the priest to draw in his hand. Saul and all his people shout together and advance to battle, finding each man’s sword turned against his neighbour amid a great slaughter. Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before and gone with them into the camp return to join Israel with Saul and Jonathan. Israelites hiding in Mount Ephraim hear the enemy is fleeing and join their countrymen in battle. About ten thousand men are with Saul. The Lord saves Israel that day, and the fight goes as far as Bethaven.

The Israelites are joined together that day. Saul puts the people under an oath, cursing anyone who eats food until evening, until he is revenged on his enemies; none tastes food. The common people enter a forest with honey on the ground. They see the honey dropping but no one raises his hand to his mouth, because they fear the oath. Jonathan has not heard his father bind the people by it. He dips the tip of his rod into the honeycomb, brings his hand to his mouth and his eyes are enlightened. A man tells him that his father bound the people by a strict oath cursing anyone who eats any food that day; the people are faint. Jonathan says his father has troubled the land and points to his eyes being enlightened by the little honey. He asks how much more it would have been had the people eaten the enemy’s spoils and whether there would have been greater slaughter of the Philistines. That proposed outcome is Jonathan’s own question.

That day Israel strikes the Philistines from Machmas to Aialon and becomes very weary. The people take spoils of sheep, oxen and calves, kill them on the ground and eat with the blood. Saul is told they sin against the Lord by eating with blood. He says they have transgressed and orders a great stone rolled to him. He tells people to disperse among the crowd and tell each man to bring his ox and ram, kill them upon that stone and eat without sinning against the Lord by eating with blood. All the people bring their oxen till night and kill them there. Saul builds an altar to the Lord, the first altar he has built to him.

Saul proposes falling on the Philistines by night, destroying them till morning and leaving no man alive. The people agree to what seems good to him, but the priest calls for drawing near to God. Saul asks whether he should pursue and whether the Lord will deliver them into Israel’s hands; the Lord does not answer that day. Saul calls all the corners of the people to learn whose sin caused this that day. He swears by the Lord who saves Israel that even if Jonathan is responsible, he will die; none of the people answers against him. Saul tells all Israel to stand on one side while he and Jonathan stand on the other, and the people agree. He asks the Lord God of Israel for a sign to understand why he did not answer his servant that day: if the iniquity is in Saul or Jonathan, he asks for proof; if in the people, he asks for holiness. Saul and Jonathan are taken and the people escape. Saul tells them to cast lots between him and his son, and Jonathan is taken. Challoner separately says Jonathan was excused from sin because of ignorance, but God was pleased that the lot fall on him to show everyone the great obligation of obedience to princes and parents. That explanation belongs to the note.

Saul asks Jonathan what he has done. Jonathan says he tasted a little honey with the tip of his rod and behold, he must die. Saul calls for God to do this and add more to him if Jonathan does not surely die. The people ask whether Jonathan, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel, shall die. They say that cannot be, swear by the living Lord that not one hair of his head will fall to the ground, and give their reason: he has wrought with God that day. They deliver Jonathan so he does not die. Saul goes back and does not pursue the Philistines, who return to their own places.

Saul’s kingdom over Israel is established, and he fights enemies around him: Moab, Ammon’s children, Edom, the kings of Soba and the Philistines. Wherever he turns he overcomes. He gathers an army, defeats Amalec and delivers Israel from those who plunder them. His sons are Jonathan, Jessui and Melchisua. His two daughters are firstborn Merob and younger Michol. His wife is Achinoam, daughter of Achimaas. His army captain is Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s cousin german. Cis is Saul’s father, and Ner, Abner’s father, is the son of Abiel. There is great war against the Philistines all Saul’s days, and whenever he sees a valiant man fit for war, he takes him to himself.

The story inside

Jonathan leaves without telling Saul and proposes a two-branch sign to his armourbearer. The enemy’s invitation leads them to climb and strike; the account reports confusion, trembling and a miracle from God. Watchmen’s news leads Saul to search for the missing men and call for the ark, then join battle as the uproar grows. Former companions of the Philistines and hidden Israelites join, with about ten thousand now with Saul. Saul’s food oath keeps the people from honey, but Jonathan tastes it without having heard the oath. After weary men eat spoils with blood, Saul gives the stone instruction and builds his first altar. His proposed night pursuit is checked by inquiry; no answer leads to division, prayer and lots selecting Jonathan. Saul’s death demand meets the people’s oath and their appeal to Jonathan’s work with God that day, so he lives and pursuit stops. The chapter closes with Saul’s wars, named household and recruitment.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Jonathan states both uncertainty and a sign. He says the Lord may act and can save by few or many, then names what they will do under each possible reply. Challoner’s suggestion of inspiration is explicitly likely, not certain.
2
The food oath has more than one recorded consequence. People avoid honey from fear; Jonathan unknowingly eats, and his eyes are enlightened. The weary people later eat spoils with blood, which Saul calls sin and addresses with an instruction. Jonathan’s claim about greater slaughter stays his own question.
3
The death dispute preserves each speaker’s reason. Saul swears that even Jonathan will die, the lot selects him and he confesses the honey. The people appeal to his great salvation and work with God that day and deliver him. Challoner separately excuses his ignorance and explains the lot through obedience to princes and parents.

Test your recall

What two replies form Jonathan’s sign, how does the attack draw others into battle, and how do the unknown food oath, unanswered inquiry and lots lead to the people’s deliverance of Jonathan?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 29460–29485
1 Kings Chapter 14 Jonathan attacketh the Philistines. A miraculous victory. Saul’s unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is put in danger of his life, but is delivered by the people. 14:1. Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father. 14:2. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa, under the pomegranate tree, which was in Magron: and the people with him were about six hundred men. 14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of Ichabod the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither Jonathan was gone. 14:4. Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was Boses, and the name of the other was Sene: 14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against Machmas, and the other to the south, over against Gabaa.
Lines 29487–29507
14:6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us: because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few. 14:7. And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a mind. 14:8. And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And when we shall be seen by them, 14:9. If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to you: let us stand still in our place, and not go up to them. 14:10. But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up, because the Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us. This shall be a sign.... It is likely Jonathan was instructed by divine inspiration to make a choice of this sign: otherwise the observation of omens is superstitious and sinful.
Lines 29509–29528
14:11. So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said: Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein they were hid. 14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armourbearer: Let us go up, follow me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel. 14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his armourbearer after him. And some fell before Jonathan, others his armourbearer slew as he followed him. 14:14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day. 14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields: and all the people of their garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and it happened as a miracle from God.
Lines 29530–29559
14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that. 14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look, and see who is gone from us. And when they had sought, it was found that Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there. 14:18. And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord. (For the ark of God was there that day with the children of Israel.) 14:19. And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar in the camp of the Philistines: and it increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Draw in thy hand. 14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight: and behold every man’s sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter. 14:21. Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and went up with them into the camp, returned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan. 14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their countrymen in the fight. And there were with Saul about ten thousand men. 14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the fight went on as far as Bethaven.
Lines 29561–29588
14:24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day: and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat food till evening, till I be revenged of my enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. 14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground. 14:26. And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath. 14:27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people: and he put forth the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb: and he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened. 14:28. And one of the people answering, said: Thy father hath bound the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were faint.) 14:29. And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land: you have seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey: 14:30. How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their enemies, which they found? had there not been made a greater slaughter among the Philistines?
Lines 29590–29608
14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas to Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly. 14:32. And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people ate them with the blood. 14:33. And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You have transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone. 14:34. And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord, in eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox with him till the night: and slew them there. 14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then first began to build an altar to the Lord.
Lines 29610–29642
14:36. And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God. 14:37. And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? And he answered him not that day. 14:38. And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day. 14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if it was done by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. In this none of the people gainsayed him. 14:40. And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side and I, with Jonathan, my son, will be on the other side. And the people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes. 14:41. And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant to day: If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped. 14:42. And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken. Jonathan was taken.... Though Jonathan was excused from sin, through ignorance of the prohibition, yet God was pleased on this occasion to let the lot fall upon him, to shew unto all the great obligation of obedience to princes and parents.
Lines 29644–29658
14:43. And Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said: I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod, which was in my hand, and behold I must die. 14:44. And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan. 14:45. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? this must not be: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he should not die. 14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own places.
Lines 29660–29683
14:47. And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Soba, and the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he overcame. 14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them. 14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of the firstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger Michol. 14:50. And the name of Saul’s wife was Achinoam, the daughter of Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin german of Saul. 14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was son of Abiel. 14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and fit for war, he took him to himself.