1 Samuel 14:20

20 Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there, the Philistines were fighting against each other in great confusion!^[a]

1 Samuel 14:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:20

And Saul, and all the people that were with him, assembled
themselves
The six hundred men that were with him, unless we can suppose the 1000 that had been with Jonathan in Gibeah were here still, see ( 1 Samuel 13:2 )

and they came to the battle;
to the field of battle, the place where the army of the Philistines had lain encamped:

and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow;
taking one another for Hebrews, or treacherous and disaffected persons; so that, though the Israelites had neither swords nor spears, they needed none, for the Philistines destroyed one another with their own swords; and there was a

very great discomfiture;
noise, tumult, confusion, slaughter, and destruction.

1 Samuel 14:20 In-Context

18 Saul told Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God," for it was with the Israelites at that time.

19 While Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistine camp increased in intensity. So Saul said to the priest, "Stop what you're doing."

20 Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there, the Philistines were fighting against each other in great confusion!

21 There were Hebrews from the area who had gone earlier into the camp to join the Philistines, but even they joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

22 When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jdg 7:22