Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 14:13
And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew after him.
13. Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet ] “Immediately to the east of the village of Michmash exists a natural fortress, still called ‘the fort’ by the peasantry. It is a ridge rising in three rounded knolls above a perpendicular crag, ending in a narrow tongue to the east with cliffs below.” Conder’s Tent Work, II. 112. This may have been the post occupied by the advanced guard of the Philistines.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1Sa 14:13
And they fell before Jonathan, and his armour bearer slew after him.
The qualities that win
Sir Charles Napier, when in India, encountered an army of thirty-five thousand Belloches with two thousand men, of whom only four hundred were Europeans. He charged them in the centre up a high bank, and for three hours the battle was undecided. At last they turned and fled. It is this sort of pluck, tenacity and determined perseverance which wins soldiers battles, and, indeed, every battle. It is the one neck nearer that wins the race and shows the blood; the one pull more of the oar that proves the beefiness of the fellow, as Oxford men say; it is the one march more that wins the campaign, the five minutes more persistent courage that wins the fight. Though your force be less than anothers, you equal and outmaster your opponent if you continue it longer and concentrate it more. (S. Smiles)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. Jonathan climbed up] It seems he had a part of the rock still to get over. When he got over he began to slay the guards, which were about twenty in number, these were of a sort of outpost or advanced guard to the garrison.
Slew after him] Jonathan knocked them down, and the armour-bearer despatched them. This seems to be the meaning.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Philistines could easily have hindered their ascent, but thought scorn to do it, not questioning but they could cut them off in a moment when they were come up to them according to their invitation.
Jonathan and his armourbearer being endowed with extraordinary strength and courage, and having with incredible boldness killed the first they met with, and so proceeding with success, it is not strange if the Philistines were both astonished and intimidated; God also struck them with a panic terror; and withal, infatuated their minds, and possibly put an evil spirit among them, which in this universal confusion made them conceive that there was treachery amongst themselves, and therefore caused them to sheath their swords in one anothers bowels, as appears from 1Sa 14:16,20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet,…. He did not attempt to go up the way or pass the Philistines kept, but turned aside and climbed up a precipice thought inaccessible, and came upon them unseen, and at unawares; for had he attempted to come up in any part where he was seen, they could easily have beat him down, and prevented his ascent; but though the place he climbed was so very steep and cragged, yet going on all four, as we say, he surmounted the difficulty; for he took this method of going on his hands and feet, not so much that he might not be seen; but because otherwise he could not have got up, not being able to stand on his feet; some think it was the precipice called Bozez he climbed, which, according to the Targum, had its name from its being lubricous and slippery:
and his armourbearer after him; who clambered up in the same manner, in imitation of his master, and as taught and directed by him:
and they fell before Jonathan, and his armourbearer slew after him; Jonathan, coming upon them at an unawares, knocked them down; or falling upon them, and laying about him with great dispatch, wounded them, and laid them prostrate to the ground; and his armourbearer following them, put them to death, dispatched them at once; and so between them both made quick riddance of them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) And they fell before Jonathan . . .The sign he prayed for was given him. There were probably but few sentinels at their posts; the inaccessibility of the craggy fortress had lulled the garrison into security. The few watching him at first mocked, and then, as Jonathan advanced with strange rapidity, they seem to have been, as it were, paralysedthe feat was hardly humanas the man, all armed, sprang over the rocky parapet. His chief weapon was his bow, writes Dean Stanley; his whole tribe was a tribe of archers, and he was the chief archer of them all. Arrived at the summit, in rapid succession he shot his deadly bolts, his gallant armour-bearer following his chiefs example. and twenty men, so says the record, fell before they had recovered their surprise. In a moment a panic seized the garrison, and a hurried flight ensued, for they felt they had to deal with no mortal strength.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 14:13 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.
Ver. 13. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet. ] See 1Sa 14:4 . Faith in God’s power and promises will eat its way over all Alps of opposition. Magna facinora, magnis periculis emuntur, saith the historian. a Great acts are bought with great hazards.
And they fell before Jonathan.
And his armour bearer slew after him.
a Dionys. Halicar.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
climbed up: Psa 18:29, Heb 11:34
fell: Lev 26:7, Lev 26:8, Deu 28:7, Deu 32:30, Jos 23:10, Rom 8:31
Reciprocal: 2Sa 1:25 – How 1Ki 20:11 – Let not him 1Ki 20:20 – the Syrians
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 14:13. They fell before Jonathan It is probable that the garrison, after they had spoken to Jonathan and his armour-bearer, concerned themselves no further about them, so that they climbed up unperceived, and fell upon the Philistines unawares, and perhaps when they were unarmed. And being endowed with extraordinary strength and courage, and having, with incredible boldness, killed the first they met with, it is not strange if the Philistines were both astonished and intimidated; God also struck them with a panic; and withal, infatuated their minds, and possibly put an evil spirit among them, which in this universal confusion made them conceive that there was treachery among themselves, and therefore caused them to sheath their swords in one anothers bowels.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
14:13 And Jonathan climbed up upon {f} his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.
(f) That is, he crept up, or went up with all haste.