Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 14:41

Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect [lot]. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.

41. Give a perfect lot ] This and not the marginal rendering “Shew the innocent” is the best explanation of an obscure phrase which occurs nowhere else.

The Sept. however has a very different reading, which with some emendation may be rendered, “And Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why hast thou not answered thy servant to day? If the iniquity be in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim: and if it be in thy people Israel, give Thummim.” If this reading is correct, it points to the conclusion that the “judgment of Urim and Thummim” was obtained by a special method of casting lots, which was employed on the present occasion. See further on 1Sa 28:6. The Heb. text implies that the ordinary lot only was used.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Give a perfect lot – The phrase is obscure, but the meaning is probably as in the margin.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 41. Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot.] Both the Vulgate and Septuagint add much to this verse: And Saul said to the Lord God of Israel, Lord God of Israel, give judgment. Why is it that thou hast not answered thy servant to-day? If the iniquity be in me, or Jonathan my son, make it manifest. Or if this iniquity be in thy people, give sanctification.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Give a perfect lot, or declare (for giving is oft put for declaring or pronouncing, as Deu 11:29; 13:1,2; Pr 9:9) the perfect or guiltless person; i.e. O Lord, so guide the lot, that it may discover who is guilty in this matter, and that it may clear the innocent.

The people escaped, to wit, the danger; they were pronounced guiltless.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel,…. After the division was made between him and his son on one side, and the people of Israel on the other, and everything was ready for the drawing of the lot; Saul put up to God the following petition, as knowing that though the lot is cast into the lap, the disposing of it is of the Lord:

give a perfect lot; or man, let it fall upon the guilty person, and let the innocent go free; the Targum is,

“cause it to come in truth;”

let truth and righteousness take place; let the right man be found out, and taken; the petition seems to be too arrogant and presumptuous, and insinuates as if the Lord did not always dispose the lot aright:

and Saul and Jonathan were taken; the lot being cast, it fell upon them:

but the people escaped; from the lot, and appeared to be innocent, clear of any blame; so that it was not the sin they had been guilty of, in eating flesh with the blood, which was the cause that no answer was returned.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(41) Give a perfect lot.The rendering in the margin, show the innocent, is a better and more accurate rendering of the Hebrew. Give a perfect lot is the translation given by Rabbi D. Kimchi. Dean Payne Smith observes that there are few mistakes of the English Version which have not some good authority for them, as King James translators were singularly well versed in Jewish literature, while they seem strangely to have neglected the still higher authority of the ancient versions.

In the forty-first and in the following verse the LXX. version is lengthened out with a long paraphrase, which, however, contains no fact of additional interest.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

1Sa 14:41. Give a perfect lot There is nothing for lot in the original, and our Marginal shew the innocent, is rather an explanation than a version. The following is Houbigant’s version: And Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, [shew unto us why thou hast not answered thy servant Saul this day. If this iniquity is in me, or in Jonathan my son, discover it by Urim, or if this iniquity is in the people,] discover it by Thummim.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Sa 14:41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect [lot]. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.

Ver. 41. Give a perfect lot. ] Or, Show the innocent, as Tremelius rendereth it. Saul was so scrupulous, that he would not so much as name a guilty man, or sinner, but in casting of lots, instead of saying, Show the innocent or guilty, he said, Show the upright or innocent person. Wherein, saith Piscator, God overruled his tongue, Et ita per sortem Ionathan innocens declaratas est a Deo.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)