1 Samuel 14:34

34 And Saul said, Go ye forth abroad into the common people, and say ye to them, that each man (should) bring to me his ox and his wether, (or his ram); and slay ye those upon this stone, and (then) eat ye them, and (so) ye shall not do sin to the Lord, (by) eating them with (the) blood. And so all the people brought each man an ox in his hand unto the night, and they killed them there (And so into the night each man brought forth an ox, and they killed them there).

1 Samuel 14:34 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:34

And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people
In the camp, some one way, and some another, and make proclamation throughout it; this he said to some of his officers, whom he sent out as heralds, to publish his will and pleasure:

and say unto them, bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his
sheep, and slay them here;
on the great stone he had ordered to roll to the place where he was:

and eat them;
in the same place, being rightly slain, and the blood let out; all this was to be done, the slaying of the beasts, and eating them, in the presence of Saul, and under his inspection, that every thing might be done decently, and in order, and according to the law of God:

and sin not against the Lord, in eating with the blood;
as some of them had done, ( 1 Samuel 14:32 ) and all the people brought every man his ox with him; and his sheep also, though not expressed, yet to be supplied from the preceding clause: and these every man brought "with him that night"; the Jewish Rabbins F3 are divided about these creatures slain, whether for sacrifices or common food; and those that think sacrifices are meant dispute whether it was lawful to slay them in the night, which some allow to be lawful, if on a small and private altar, but not upon a large and public one; but these were slain no doubt for common food, which all agree might be slain in the night:

and slew them there;
before Saul, and on the great stone rolled unto him.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 120. 1.

1 Samuel 14:34 In-Context

32 and (so) the people turned to [the] prey, and took sheep and oxen, and calves; and they killed these beasts upon the earth (and they killed these beasts on the ground); and (then) the people ate the flesh with (the) blood (still in it).
33 And they told to Saul, and said, that the people eating with blood had sinned to the Lord. And Saul said, Ye have trespassed; wallow ye anon to me a great stone. (And they told Saul, and said, The people have sinned against the Lord, eating the flesh with the blood! And Saul said, Ye have all trespassed; roll ye a great stone over to me at once.)
34 And Saul said, Go ye forth abroad into the common people, and say ye to them, that each man (should) bring to me his ox and his wether, (or his ram); and slay ye those upon this stone, and (then) eat ye them, and (so) ye shall not do sin to the Lord, (by) eating them with (the) blood. And so all the people brought each man an ox in his hand unto the night, and they killed them there (And so into the night each man brought forth an ox, and they killed them there).
35 And Saul builded there an altar to the Lord; and then first he began to build an altar to the Lord. (And Saul built an altar there to the Lord; and this was the first altar that he built to the Lord.)
36 And Saul said, Fall we upon the Philistines in the night, and waste we/destroy we them till the morrowtide shine; and leave we not of them a man (alive). And the people said, Do thou all thing that seemeth good to thee in thine eyes. And the priest said, Nigh we hither to God.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.