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|| Or, half a furrow of an acre of land.

10 But if they say thus, 'Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign

unto us.

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17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, about 1087. and see who is gone from us. when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.

18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.

11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out|| of the holes where they had hid themselves.

12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.

13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.

14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were || an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.

15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was † a very great trembling of trembling,

+ Heb. a

God.

16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

10.-this shall be a sign unto us.] This shall be a watchword to us, presaging our certain victory. Bp. Hall. Hence it appears, that the undertaking of Jonathan proceeded wholly from a Divine instinct, which had suggested to him what is contained in this and the foregoing verse, as a sign of what they were to do. Dr. Wells.

15.- and the earth quaked:] Some think there was a real earthquake, which increased their fear; but it may be no more than a metaphorical expression for the great tumult into which they were thrown. Bp. Patrick.

16.—the multitude melted away,] The multitude of the Philistines grew less and less, from the confusion into which they were thrown. Dr. Wells.

18. Bring hither the ark of God.] The ark mentioned here, as also at 2 Sam. xi. 11, is understood not

19¶ And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Or, tumult. Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.

cried

together.

20 And Saul and all the people that were with him + assembled them- + Heb. were selves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, 4 every man's sword was d Judg. 7. 22. against his fellow, and there was a 23. very great discomfiture.

d

21 Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

23 So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.

24 ¶ And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.

2 Chron. 20..

to mean the ark of the covenant which contained the tables of the Decalogue, but another ark or chest, which was made for the conveniency of carrying about the sacred ephod with the Urim and Thummim, that they might be able to consult God on any sudden emergency. Dr. Berriman.

23.the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.] These words seem to imply that the fight continued till they came to this place, which lay westward from Michmash, chap. xiii. 5; and there the Philistines threw down their arms, and fled as fast as they could to their own country. Bp. Patrick.

24.-for Saul had adjured] As Saul's intention in making this adjuration was good, namely, to execute vengeance on the enemies of God and his people; so the matter of the obligation was not in itself unlawful, if he had not been so rigorous in the exclusion of food,

hindereth the victory.

Before CHRIST

CHAP. XIV. The people restrained from eating blood.

25 And all they of the land came about 1087, to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.

26 And when the people were
come into
the wood, behold, the
honey dropped; but no man put his
hand to his mouth: for the people
feared the oath.

27 But Jonathan heard not when
his father charged the people with
the oath wherefore he put forth the
end of the rod that was in his hand,
and dipped it in an honeycomb, and
put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes
were enlightened.

28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the Or, weary. people were || faint.

e Lev. 7. 26. Deut. 12. 16.

& 19. 26.

29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?

31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.

32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.

without any exception for cases of necessity, and in obliging the people to it under pain of an accursed death, which was a punishment far exceeding the fault. Poole.

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34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that Heb. in his night, and slew them there.

hand.

35 And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first Heb. that altar that he built unto the LORD.

36And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.

altar he began to build unto the LORD.

38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, 'all the + chief of the people: f Judg. 20. 2. and know and see wherein this sin toe. hath been this day.

39 For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him.

corners.

began eating the animals while there was some natural warmth in them, and the possibility of life remaining. Dr. J. Clarke.

33.

- roll a great stone unto me this day.] He desires 25. there was honey upon the ground.] Which them to roll a great stone unto him, for the purpose of dropped from the hollow trees or the clefts of rocks, building an altar, as is related at ver. 35, in order that where bees make their combs in that country, as they they might slaughter their animals on it before God, do sometimes on the ground. Wild honey was so and under his own view; or else that the blood of the copious there, and flowed so plentifully, that it gave animal slaughtered might sooner run off, by its head occasion to the hyperbolical expression in the book of hanging from the stone; for, before, they had been Job, chap. xx. 17, of brooks or torrents of honey and slaughtering their animals on the level ground, by butter. Bp. Patrick. which means the blood was so long in running off, that, in the impatience of their hunger, they could not wait for it.-"This day," means now, "at this time." Poole's Syn. Critic.

27.- and his eyes were enlightened.] He received new strength, by which all his senses were cheered and revived. Bp. Hall.

32. did eat them with the blood.] For want of patience to dress their provisions in due form, they ate their flesh, half boiled and half roasted, with the blood not duly drained from it, contrary to the express injunction of their law, Lev. vii. 26; xix. 26; Deut. xv. 23; xii. 16. Pyle. It seems probable, that on this occasion the people, in their haste to satisfy their hunger,

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built an altar unto the Lord:] To offer sacrifices of peace offerings, and to give thanks to God for this great victory; though others think it was a monument in the form of an altar, in remembrance of the Divine mercy in the late deliverance. Bp. Patrick.

38.—wherein this sin hath been] From God's not regarding his supplication, he concluded that some

Jonathan taken by lot.

Before CHRIST

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40 Then said he unto all Israel, | Israel out of the hands of them that
spoiled them.

about 1087. Be ye on one side, and I and Jona-
than my son will be on the other side.
And the people said unto Saul, Do
what seemeth good unto thee.

Or, Shew the innocent.

+ Heb. went forth.

I Or,

wrought mightily.

41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, || Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken but the people † escaped.

42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

43 Then 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 that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.

44 And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.

45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid 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 rescued Jonathan, that he died not.

49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:

50 And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

51 And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.

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Before CHRIST about 1087.

46 Then Saul went up from fol-SAMUEL also said unto Saul, about 0796 lowing the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.

47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.

48 And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered

sin had been committed, which had provoked his displeasure. Bp. Patrick.

41. Give a perfect lot.] The word "lot" is not in the original: but the Hebrew words signify give perfect, that is, declare who is innocent. Bp. Patrick.

45. So the people rescued Jonathan,] By their petition to Saul, and also by earnest prayers to God, who perhaps signified to the high priest that He approved the people's desire, and annulled Saul's oath as rash and inconsiderate. Dr. Wells.

Saul's conduct on this memorable day was rash and impolitick in the extreme. Instead of trusting in the Lord to avenge him of his enemies, like his pious son Jonathan, he cursed any of the people who would eat food until the evening, that nothing might interrupt the slaughter: but he "troubled the land" thereby, for the people, growing faint with hunger, were forced to transgress; and Jonathan would have suffered death

The LORD sent me to anoint a Chap. 9. 16. thee to be king over his people, over Israel now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him b Exod. 17. in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,

8. Numb. 24. 20.

for inadvertently incurring the curse, had not the people interfered in his favour. Dr. Hales.

52. he took him unto him.] That is, he chose the best men for strength and courage to be his guards, and to be preferred in the army. Pyle.

Chap. XV. ver. 3. — go and smite Amalek, &c.] This heavy sentence was pronounced against the Amalekites long ago, Exod. xvii. 14; and renewed at the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, with a charge not to forget it, Deut. xxv. 19: the order is now given to put it in execution. Bp. Patrick. It may justly be esteemed a question of some difficulty, whence it might come to pass that God should give so very severe a command. There certainly cannot happen any case, wherein it would be justifiable for any mortal power, upon his own authority, to take upon to deal in such a manner with any enemy whatever. But God, who is the supreme

He destroyeth the Amalekites.

Before CHRIST

spare

CHAP. XV.

Agag is spared.

Before CHRIST

and them not; but slay both | the Amalekites alive, and utterly deabout 1079. man and woman, infant and suckling, stroyed all the people with the edge about 1079. ox and sheep, camel and ass. of the sword.

4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

5 And Saul came to a city of Or, fought. Amalek, and || laid wait in the valley.

second sort.

9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and || of the fatlings, and Or, of the the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

6 ¶ And Saul said unto the Ken-
ites, Go, depart, get you down from 11 It repenteth me that I have
among the Amalekites, lest I destroy set up Saul to be king: for he is
you with them for ye shewed kind-turned back from following me, and
ness to all the children of Israel, hath not performed my command-
when they came up out of Egypt. ments. And it grieved Samuel;
So the Kenites departed from among and he cried unto the LORD all
the Amalekites.
night.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

8 And he took Agag the king of

12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up

7.- from Havilah &c.] That is, the whole extent of the country of Arabia, of which Havilah was the boundary on the north-east, and Shur on the south-west. Bp. Patrick.

9. spared Agag, &c.] In this Saul disobeyed the commandment of God, and followed his own fancy and affection, being either struck with admiration of the personal appearance of Agag, or else intending to lead him in triumph. Bp. Patrick. Here Saul was guilty of two very great faults: 1st, of covetousness, in preserving for himself the best of all those spoils which God had expressly commanded to be utterly destroyed; 2ndly, of vanity and ostentation, in taking Agag the king of Amalek alive, and bringing him with him in triumph, when God had peremptorily commanded him to destroy them all. Dr. S. Clarke.

Author and Lord of all, and who has an unquestioned right to take away that life which He Himself at first freely gave, and who alone can without errour judge when a nation has filled up the measure of their iniquity, and who in the life to come can without respect of persons distinguish equitably the case of every individual person, which in the exemplary severity of a national judgment was not proper to be distinguished here; He may, very consistently with justice and equity, command such universal judgments to be inflicted, when and where He thinks fit: there being in reality no difference whether He commands a whole nation, without distinction of persons to be destroyed in war, as in the present case of Amalek and that of the nations of Canaan; or whether He consumes them by a flood, as at the universal deluge; or by fire from heaven, as in the case of Sodom ; or by a sudden earthquake, or by pestilential 11. It repenteth me that I have set up &c.] Meaning, diseases, or by a natural death. All these things in the that He had resolved to cast him down from the throne. hand of God, who ruleth over all, and who hath an un- Repentance in God implies only a change in his dispendoubted power and right over that life which He Him-sation towards his creatures: it is ascribed to God when self gave, and who in the world to come can make that exact distinction of persons, which there is no necessity should be made here; in his hand, I say, all these things are equally proper instruments of justice; and without all question He may destroy a wicked nation by what means He Himself thinks fit. Dr. S. Clarke. The severity of this sentence has given offence to infidels and false philanthropists; but without any just ground. The Amalekites had all along shewn the most determined and inveterate hostility towards the Israelites, by waylaying them, and prematurely attacking them, and joining their enemies, Deut. xxv. 18; Numb. xiv. 43; Judg. iii. 13, &c.: and, besides, were great sinners themselves, 1 Sam. xv. 18; but they were not cut off till their iniquity had come to the full, as was the case of the devoted nations in general, Gen. xv. 16; and after a respite of more than 400 years from the time when their sentence was first pronounced, Exod. xvii. 8; of which they could not be ignorant, but which they might have averted by repentance. They were therefore fit objects of the vengeance of the righteous Judge of all the earth, to be inflicted by the sword of the Israelites, the executioners of his decrees. Dr. Hales.

He alters his course and method of dealing, and treats a person as if He indeed repented of the kindness He had shewed him. Bp. Patrick. God speaks as a man, to make Himself understood of men. Wogan. See notes at Gen. vi. 6.

and hath not performed my commandments.] This very king Saul, but a little time before would have put his brave son Jonathan to death only for taking a little honey, contrary to his command. Behold here the pride and impiety of man's heart, full of resentment, if his own unreasonable will be not in all things complied with, and quite negligent and forgetful of the holy will of God! Whereby he plainly honours himself far above his Maker, expecting the greatest deference to his own word, while at the same time he pays little or no reverence to that of the Most High. Reading.

12. -came to Carmel,] Not the famous mountain so called, but a city in the south part of the tribe of Judah, mentioned Josh. xv. 55, which seems to have given name to the territory round it. Eusebius and St. Jerome mention, that there was in their time a town called Carmelia, ten miles from Hebron to the east, in which the Romans kept a garrison, which might very

God's rejection of Saul

Before

CHRIST

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a place, and is gone about, and pass- | destroy the sinners the Amalekites, about 1079. ed on, and gone down to Gilgal. and fight against them until they be about 1079. consumed.

13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly

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I have performed &c.] It might seem from this confident address to the Prophet, that Saul expected praise and not reproof for what he had done; but, as appears from the Prophet's answer, while the sinner neither saw nor heard his sins, they cried aloud in the ears of God. We cannot but notice here the strange blindness of a carnal and worldly heart; we are all too apt, like Saul, to mistake a part for the whole of our duty, and even to pride ourselves in such a partial obedience, as if it was uniform and complete. Wogan.

15. the people spared] This was a mean excuse, to throw all the blame upon the people, when he himself was principally in fault, and when he had it in his power to govern the people better. Bp. Patrick. As one sin naturally draws on another, Saul having first transgressed in the principal action, falls into other continual provocations. On Samuel's coming to meet him, ver. 13, he first presumptuously declares that he had obeyed the commandment of the Lord. When the falsity of this declaration was immediately laid open, by the spoils which he had taken being present before him, he endeavours to transfer the fault from himself to others, ver. 15, as if what the people did was not done by his direction and authority. This being too apparent to be denied, he next adds an excuse drawn from a pretence of religion; which was as much as to say, we have disobeyed the commandment of God in order to serve Him. Dr. S. Clarke.

22. - Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, &c.]

+ Heb. they

them.

19 Wherefore then didst thou not consume obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1.

Eccles. 5. Hos. 6 6.

Matt. 9. 13. & 12. 7.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as + Heb. iniquity and idolatry. Because thou divination.

The meaning is, that a virtuous and good life is better, not only than Jewish rites and ceremonies, but better even than the best of any other worship that is paid to God, either on earth or in heaven. Nevertheless, as the one ought above all things to be done, so the other ought not by any means to be left undone; nay, the worshipping Him is part of that very obedience, and a means to enable men to perform more acceptably the other parts of their obedience to Him. Dr. S. Clarke. In the case of sacrifice, and all other ritual observances, it was the inward principle of humble and dutiful obedience which made them acceptable: the outward observance, when separate from that, is vain and insignificant. Dr. Berriman. There can be no excuse for swerving from the precise rule which God hath prescribed to us; nor must we propound a religion out of the good purposes and intentions of piety and devotion, for our convenience, while for the present we decline a fundamental point of our religion, obedience to what He has commanded. We are not judges what is to be preserved, or which is the way of preserving. It may be God thinks it fit that our estates, liberties, and lives, should be sacrificed to his truth, and for the defence of it; and then, the redeeming either by artifices or compliances is no less than sacrilege. What He hath determined shall be destroyed or utterly lost to us, must not be kept for sacrifices; and what He hath appointed for sacrifice to Him, must not be preserved to ourselves. Lord Clarendon.

23.-rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, &c.] The word we here render “witchcraft,” signifies the following of divinations and enchantments, which were superstitions forbidden with the severest penalties under the law, and were justly looked upon as a renouncing of God, in having recourse to other real or imaginary powers in opposition to Him. When therefore a crime is said to be "as the sin of witchcraft," the meaning is, that it is a fault of so deep a die, of so heinous and pro

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