1 Samuel 14:29

29 Jonathan answered, "My father has brought trouble to the country. See how my eyes lit up when I tasted a little of this honey?

1 Samuel 14:29 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:29

Then said Jonathan, my father hath troubled the land
The people of the land, as the Targum, the soldiers in his army; afflicted and distressed them, and made them uneasy in their minds, like troubled waters; the Arabic version is,

``my father hath sinned against the people;''

hath done them injury by forbidding them to eat. This was not wisely said by Jonathan; how much soever his father was to be blamed, it did not become him as a son thus to reflect upon him, and it might have tended to mutiny and sedition:

see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted
a little of this honey;
the benefit he received by it was very visible; it might easily be discerned that he was greatly refreshed with it, and his spirits invigorated by it; it was to be seen in the cheerfulness of his countenance, and the briskness of his eyes: and he suggests it would have had the same effect upon the people, had they eaten of it, as he had done.

1 Samuel 14:29 In-Context

27 Jonathan hadn't heard that his father forced the troops to take an oath. So he stretched out the tip of the staff he had in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he put it to his mouth, his eyes lit up.
28 Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father forced the troops to take a solemn oath: 'Cursed is anyone who eats food today.'" Now, the army was exhausted.
29 Jonathan answered, "My father has brought trouble to the country. See how my eyes lit up when I tasted a little of this honey?
30 If only the troops had eaten some of the enemies' food, which they found today. We would have killed more Philistines."
31 That day they struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, but the troops were thoroughly exhausted.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.