1 Samuel 14:37

37 Sha'ul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Pelishtim? will you deliver them into the hand of Yisra'el? But he didn't answer him that day.

1 Samuel 14:37 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:37

And Saul asked counsel of God
He agreed to the motion of the high priest, and asked counsel by Urim and Thummim; the Targum is, as before,

``inquired by the Word of the Lord:''

shall I go down after the Philistines?
pursue after them in their flight to their own country, which, lying to the sea, was a descent:

wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel?
what remain of them, otherwise a victory over them was obtained:

but he answered him not that day;
no answer was returned by Urim and Thummim, so that he was left in suspense whether he should pursue or no; the Targum is,

``he received not his prayer that day;''

this was treating him in a righteous manner; since he would not stay for an answer from the Lord, ( 1 Samuel 14:19 ) , the Lord now will not give him any; though the principal view was, that he might take the step he did.

1 Samuel 14:37 In-Context

35 Sha'ul built an altar to the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

36 Sha'ul said, Let us go down after the Pelishtim by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the Kohen, Let us draw near here to God.

37 Sha'ul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Pelishtim? will you deliver them into the hand of Yisra'el? But he didn't answer him that day.

38 Sha'ul said, Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been this day.

39 For, as the LORD lives, who saves Yisra'el, though it be in Yonatan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.