31 35. The sin of the people<\/p>\n
31<\/strong>. from Michmash to Aijalon<\/em> ] See note on 1Sa 14:23<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n Aijalon. – <\/B>The modern Yalo. It lies upon the side of a hill to the south of a fine valley which opens from between the two Bethhorons right down to the western plain of the Philistines, exactly on the route which the Philistines, when expelled from the high country about Michmash and Bethel, would take to regain their own country. Aijalon would be 15 or 20 miles from Michmash.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 31<\/span>. They smote the Philistines – from Mishmash to Aijalon<\/B><\/I>] The distance Calmet states to be three or four leagues.<\/P> <\/p>\n Aijalon; <\/B>either that in Dan, Jos 19:42<\/span>; or rather, that in Judah, 2Ch 11:10<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 31-34. the people were very faint.And the people flew upon the spoil<\/B>at evening, when the timefixed by Saul had expired. Faint and famishing, the pursuers fellvoraciously upon the cattle they had taken, and threw them on theground to cut off their flesh and eat them raw, so that the army, bySaul’s rashness, were defiled by eating blood, or living animals;probably, as the Abyssinians do, who cut a part of the animal’s rump,but close the hide upon it, and nothing mortal follows from thatwound. They were painfully conscientious in keeping the king’s orderfor fear of the curse, but had no scruple in transgressing God’scommand. To prevent this violation of the law, Saul ordered a largestone to be rolled, and those that slaughtered the oxen to cut theirthroats on that stone. By laying the animal’s head on the high stone,the blood oozed out on the ground, and sufficient evidence wasafforded that the ox or sheep was dead before it was attempted to eatit.<\/P><\/p>\n And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon<\/strong>,…. Michmash was the place where the camp of the Philistines was when Jonathan first attacked them, and from whence they fled, and they were pursued by the Israelites that day as far as Aijalon. There was a city of this name in the tribe of Dan, famous for the moon standing still in a valley adjoining to it, in the time of Joshua, Jos 10:12<\/span> and another in the tribe of Zebulun, Jud 12:12<\/span>, but they both seem to be at too great a distance to be the place here meant, which rather seems to be Aijalon in the tribe of Judah, 2Ch 11:10<\/span> according to Bunting z, it was twelve miles from Michmash:<\/p>\n and the people were very faint<\/strong>; as they might well be, with pursuing the enemy so many miles, and doing so much execution among them, without eating any food.<\/p>\n z Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 127.<\/p>\n Result of the battle, and consequences of Saul’s rashness<\/em>. – 1Sa 14:31<\/span>. “ On that day they smote the Philistines from Michmash to Ajalon<\/em>,” which has been preserved in the village of Ylo<\/em> (see at Jos 19:42<\/span>), and was about three geographical miles to the south-west of Michmash; “ and the people were very faint<\/em>,” because Saul had forbidden them to eat before the evening (1Sa 14:24<\/span>).<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:32<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> They therefore “ fell voraciously upon the booty<\/em> ” – (the Chethibh<\/em> is no doubt merely an error in writing for , imperf<\/em>. Kal<\/em> of with Dagesh forte implic<\/em>. instead of , as we may see from 1Sa 15:19<\/span>, since the meaning required by the context, viz., to fall upon a thing, cannot be established in the case of with . On the other hand, there does not appear to be any necessity to supply the article before , and this Keri<\/em> seems only to have been taken from the parallel passage in 1Sa 15:19<\/span>), – “ and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground<\/em> ( , lit<\/em>. to the earth, so that when they were slaughtered the animal fell upon the ground, and remained lying in its blood, and was cut in pieces), and ate upon the blood<\/em> ” ( , with which , “ lying to the blood<\/em>,” is interchanged in 1Sa 14:34<\/span>), i.e., the flesh along with the blood which adhered to it, by doing which they sinned against the law in Lev 19:26<\/span>. This sin had been occasioned by Saul himself through the prohibition which he issued.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:33-34<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/strong> When this was told to Saul, he said, “ Ye act faithlessly towards Jehovah<\/em> ” by transgressing the laws of the covenant; “ roll me now<\/em> (lit. this day) a large stone. Scatter yourselves among the people, and say to them, Let every one bring his ox and his sheep to me, and slay here<\/em> ” (upon the stone that has been rolled up), viz., so that the blood could run off properly upon the ground, and the flesh be separated from the blood. This the people also did.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:35<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> As a thanksgiving for this victory, Saul built an altar to the Lord. , “ he began to build it<\/em>,” i.e., he built this altar at the beginning, or as the first altar. This altar was probably not intended to serve as a place of sacrifice, but simply to be a memorial of the presence of God, or the revelation of God which Saul had received in the marvellous victory.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:36<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> After the people had strengthened themselves in the evening with food, Saul wanted to pursue the Philistines still farther during the night, and to plunder among them until the light (i.e., till break of day), and utterly destroy them. The people assented to this proposal, but the priest (Ahiah) wished first of all to obtain the decision of God upon the matter. “ We will draw near to God here<\/em> ” (before the altar which has just been built).<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:37<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> But when Saul inquired of God (through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest), “ Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into the hand of Israel?<\/em> ” God did not answer him. Saul was to perceive from this, that the guilt of some sin was resting upon the people, on account of which the Lord had turned away His countenance, and was withdrawing His help.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:38-39<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/strong> When Saul perceived, this, he directed all the heads of the people ( pinnoth <\/em>, as in Jdg 20:2<\/span>) to draw near to learn whereby (wherein) the sin had occurred that day, and declared, “ As truly as Jehovah liveth, who has brought salvation to Israel, even if it were upon Jonathan my son, he shall die<\/em>.” The first in 1Sa 14:39<\/span> is explanatory; the second and third serve to introduce the words, like , quod <\/em>; and the repetition serves to give emphasis, lit., “ that even if it were upon my son, that he shall die<\/em>.” “ And of all the people no one answered him<\/em>,” from terror at the king’s word.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:40-41<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/strong> In order to find out the guilt, or rather the culprit, Saul proceeded to the lot; and for this purpose he made all the people stand on one side, whilst he and his son Jonathan went to the other, and then solemnly addressed Jehovah thus: “ God of Israel, give innocence<\/em> (of mind, i.e., truth). And the lot fell upon Saul and Jonathan<\/em> ( , as in 1Sa 10:20-21<\/span>); and the people went out<\/em>,” sc., without the lot falling upon them, i.e., they went out free.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:42<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> When they proceeded still further to cast lots between Saul and his son ( , sc., ; cf. 1Ch 26:14<\/span>; Neh 11:11<\/span>, etc.), Jonathan was taken<\/em>.<\/p>\n (Note: In the Alex. version, vv. 41 and 42 are lengthened out with long paraphrases upon the course pursued in casting the lots: , , , . V. 42: , . , . , , . One portion of these additions is also found in the text of our present Vulgate, and reads as follows: Et dixit Saul ad Dominum Deum Israel: Domine Deus Israel, da indicium! quid est quod non responderis servo tuo hodie? Si in me aut in Jonathan filio meo est iniquitas, da ostensionem; aut si haec iniquitas est in populo tuo, da sanctitatem. Et deprehensus est Jonathas et Saul, populus autem exivit. <\/em> The beginning and end of this verse, as well as v. 42, agree here most accurately with the Hebrew text. But the words from quid est quod <\/em> to da sanctitatem <\/em> are interpolated, so that are translated twice; first in the words da indicium <\/em>, and then in the interpolation da ostensionem <\/em>. This repetition of the same words, and that in different renderings, when taken in connection with the agreement of the Vulgate with the Hebrew text at the beginning and end of the verse, shows clearly enough, that the interpolated clauses did not originate with Jerome<\/em>, but are simply inserted in his translation from the Itala. The additions of the lxx, in which is evidently only a distortion of , are regarded by Ewald<\/em> ( Gesch. <\/em> iii. p. 48) and Thenius as an original portion of the text which has dropped out from the Masoretic text. They therefore infer, that instead of we ought to read ( Thummim<\/em>), and that we have here the full formula used in connection with the use of the Urim and Thummim, from which it may be seen, that this mode of divine revelation consisted simply in a sacred lot, or in the use of two dice, the one of which was fixed upon at the outset as meaning no<\/em>, and the other as meaning yes<\/em>. So much at any rate is indisputable, that the Septuagint translator took in the sense of thummim<\/em>, and so assumed that Saul had the guilty person discovered by resorting to the Urim and Thummim. But this assumption is also decidedly erroneous, together with all the inferences based upon it. For, in the first place, the verbs and can be proved to be never used throughout the whole of the Old Testament to signify the use of the Urim and Thummim, and to be nothing more than technical expressions used to denote the casting of a simple lot (see the passages cited above in the text). Moreover, such passages as 1Sa 10:22<\/span>, and 1Sa 2:5<\/span>, 1Sa 2:23<\/span>, show most unmistakeably that the divine oracle of the Urim and Thummim did not consist merely in a sacred lot with yes and no, but that God gave such answers through it as could never have been given through the lots. The Septuagint expansions of the text are nothing more, therefore, than a subjective and really erroneous interpretation on the part of the translators, which arose simply from the mistaken idea that was thummim<\/em>, and which is therefore utterly worthless.) <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:43-44<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/strong> When Saul asked him what he had done, Jonathan confessed that he had tasted a little honey (see 1Sa 14:27<\/span>), and resigned himself to the punishment suspended over him, saying, “ Behold, I shall die<\/em>;” and Saul pronounced sentence of death upon him, accompanying it with an oath (“ God do so<\/em>,” etc.: vid., Rth 1:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:45<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> But the people interposed, “ Shall Jonathan die, who has achieved this great salvation<\/em> (victory) in Israel? God forbid! As truly as Jehovah liveth, not a hair shall fall from his head upon the ground; for he hath wrought<\/em> (the victory) with God to-day<\/em>.” Thus the people delivered Jonathan from death. The objection raised by the people was so conclusive, that Saul was obliged to yield.<\/p>\n What Jonathan had done was not wrong in itself, but became so simply on account of the oath with which Saul had forbidden it. But Jonathan did not hear the oath, and therefore had not even consciously transgressed. Nevertheless a curse lay upon Israel, which was to be brought to light as a warning for the culprit. Therefore Jehovah had given no reply to Saul. But when the lot, which had the force of a divine verdict, fell upon Jonathan, sentence of death was not thereby pronounced upon him by God; but is was simply made manifest, that through his transgression of his father’s oath, with which he was not acquainted, guilt had been brought upon Israel. The breach of a command issued with a solemn oath, even when it took place unconsciously, excited the wrath of God, as being a profanation of the divine name. But such a sin could only rest as guilt upon the man who had committed, or the man who occasioned it. Now where the command in question was one of God himself, there could be no question, that even in the case of unconscious transgression the sin fell upon the transgressor, and it was necessary that it should either be expiated by him or forgiven him. But where the command of a man had been unconsciously transgressed, the guilt might also fall upon the man who issued the command, that is to say, if he did it without being authorized or empowered by God. In the present instance, Saul had issued the prohibition without divine authority, and had made it obligatory upon the people by a solemn oath. The people had conscientiously obeyed the command, but Jonathan had transgressed it without being aware of it. For this Saul was about to punish him with death, in order to keep his oath. But the people opposed it. They not only pronounced Jonathan innocent, because he had broken the king’s command unconsciously, but they also exclaimed that he had gained the victory for Israel “ with God<\/em>.” In this fact (Jonathan’s victory) there was a divine verdict. And Saul could not fail to recognise now, that it was not Jonathan, but he himself, who had sinned, and through his arbitrary and despotic command had brought guilt upon Israel, on account of which God had given him no reply.<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:46<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> With the feeling of this guilt, Saul gave up any further pursuit of the Philistines: he “ went up<\/em> ” (sc., to Gibeah) “ from behind the Philistines<\/em>,” i.e., desisting from any further pursuit. But the Philistines went to their place, i.e., back into their own land.<\/p>\n (31) From Michmash to Aijalon.<\/strong>The battle and pursuit had then extended some twenty miles of country. Again the extreme weariness of the Israelites is mentioned. Aijalon, the modern Ylo, is some eighteen or twenty miles from Michmash, where the main body of the Philistine army had been encamped.<\/p>\n 31<\/strong>. <\/strong> From Michmash to Aijalon <\/strong> A distance of fifteen miles or more. Aijalon, the modern Yalo, was situated on the south side of a beautiful valley, a little to the southwest of the two Beth-horons, and is famous for its association with Joshua’s great battle at Gibeon and Beth-horon. Jos 10:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n The People Sin By Eating The Blood Of Slain Beasts, And Saul Erects A Primitive Place For Slaughter ( 1Sa 14:31-35<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n A further consequence of Saul’s rash vow is now seen. Having been deprived of food Saul’s men now sin against YHWH by eating animals with their blood. This was something strictly forbidden by the Law (Lev 17:10-11<\/span>), and Saul therefore arranges for a primitive slaughter stone to be set up so that the animals may be slain properly, and the blood be allowed to pour out on the ground as an offering to YHWH (see Deu 12:15-16<\/span>). If only he had been so keen on obeying YHWH’s instructions previously, what a difference it would have made. The writer then, in our view sarcastically, declares that this was the first altar that Saul built to YHWH, for up to this point Samuel has always been responsible for such activity. We gain a distinct impression here that what Saul does is being presented by the writer in such a way that it depicts him as a parody of Samuel, so that Saul, who is in fact responsible for the fiasco in the first place, is being depicted as playing the great prophet in the place of Samuel. Note that it is sandwiched between two questions asking ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ in 1Sa 10:12<\/span>; 1Sa 19:24<\/span>, the first of which was at a time of hope when he had just commenced his responsibilities, the other was when he had demonstrated just what he had become, a vindictive executioner. Here we get the answer. He might try to make it appear so, but really he is a ‘no, no’. <\/p>\n Analysis. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And the people were very faint, and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate them with the blood (1Sa 14:31-32<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people sin against YHWH, in that they eat with the blood” (1Sa 14:33<\/span> a). <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And he said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me this day” (1Sa 14:33<\/span> b). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against YHWH in eating with the blood” (1Sa 14:34<\/span> a). <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. And Saul built an altar to YHWH, the same was the first altar that he built to YHWH (1Sa 14:34-35<\/span>). <\/p>\n Note that in ‘a’ the people slew the animals on the ground , and ate them with the blood, and in the parallel they slew the animals on the ‘altar’ that Saul built (thus not eating them with the blood). In ‘b’ Saul was told that the people were eating with the blood, and in the parallel he warns them not to eat with the blood and thus sin against YHWH. Centrally in ‘c’ he rebukes the people for their misbehaviour (in what is almost like an echo of Samuel) and calls on them to roll a stone into place on which the animals can be slain. <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:31-32<\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> (31b-32)<\/p>\n ‘And the people were very faint, and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate them with the blood.’ <\/p>\n Such was the panic among the Philistines who were in headlong flight, that Saul’s men, in spite of their weakened state, were still able to continue the chase and slaughter the stragglers all the way from Michmash to Aijalon, a distance of nearly twenty miles over rough ground. This is an indication of the quality of Saul’s men (see 1Sa 14:52<\/span>). They would by now have been able to arm themselves with proper weapons dropped by the enemy. <\/p>\n But they were naturally very weak after their exertions without food, and thus as soon as the day ended at sunset, (with the result that the curse ceased to be active), they were so hungry that they threw themselves eagerly on the spoils left behind by the Philistines, slew their sheep, oxen and calves, and ate them raw without being concerned about eating the blood. This was, of course, contrary to the strict regulations of the Law which forbade the eating of the blood (see Gen 9:4<\/span>; Lev 17:10-14<\/span>; Deu 12:16<\/span>). <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:33<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people sin against YHWH, in that they eat with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me this day.” ’ <\/p>\n The news of their misdemeanour reached Saul’s ears. ‘The people are sinning against YHWH by eating blood.’ And his response was immediate. He declared that a primitive altar must be set up by rolling a large stone into place on which the animals could be properly slain and the blood allowed to pour out on the ground (see Deu 12:15-16<\/span>). This was not for the offering of sacrifices, but in order that the beasts might be properly slain. <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:34<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against YHWH in eating with the blood.” And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.’ <\/p>\n Then Saul commanded that instructions be given to all the people that they bring their animals to the stone and slay them there in the right manner so as to avoid directly eating the blood. The people immediately responded. Note the reference to ‘that night’. The day was now over. (The Israelite day ceased at sunset when a new ‘day’ began). <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:35<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And Saul built an altar to YHWH, the same was the first altar that he built to YHWH.’ <\/p>\n The writer then adds a note to the effect that this was the first ‘altar’ that Saul had built to YHWH. The implication is that hitherto he had had Samuel to see to such things. Now he was on his own. It was not strictly an ‘altar’ in the fullest sense of the word. The purpose was not in order to offer offerings and sacrifices, but so that the animals could be slaughtered in the right manner before eating. It followed the directions in Deu 12:15-16<\/span>. But the writer sees it as very significant. It signified that Samuel was no longer with him. <\/p>\n However genuine Saul might have been the writer was probably being deliberately sarcastic. In his view it was not Saul’s responsibility to build altars. His point is therefore so as to emphasise Samuel’s absence. It is Saul’s first altar because previously he had been able to leave such things to someone else. It is all of a piece with what has gone before. Saul had called for the Ark, and had made use of a religious oath. Now he has erected a kind of altar. This will be followed by a vain consultation of the oracle. They are all acts which mark him as a religious man. But it was a religion that was all on the outside. It was based solely on ritual. In the end there was nothing underneath, for what was lacking was the responsive obedience without which all the rest was useless. <\/p>\n 1Sa 14:31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.<\/p>\n Ver. 31. From Michmash to Aijalon.<\/strong> ] A city in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:42 twelve miles distant from Michmash, say some.<\/p>\n from Michmash: The distance, Calmet states to be three or four leagues. <\/p>\n Aijalon: Jos 10:12, Jos 19:42 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 25:29 – and he Jdg 8:4 – faint 1Sa 13:2 – Michmash 1Sa 30:10 – so faint Isa 10:28 – Michmash<\/p>\n 1Sa 14:31-35. The pursuit continued as far as Aijalon. When it stopped, the exhausted people flew upon the cattle and sheep and ate them with the blood, a ritual sin (Gen 9:4*, Lev 17:10-12*), at which Saul was greatly distressed; he was evidently punctilious as to religious observances. He had a great stone set up as an altar, and had the animals for food slain in proper sacrificial fashion.<\/p>\n And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint. 31 35. The sin of the people 31. from Michmash to Aijalon ] See note on 1Sa 14:23. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Aijalon. – The modern Yalo. It lies upon the side of a … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 14:31”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"