1 Samuel 14:28

28 Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father put the army under a strong oath. He said, 'None of you must eat any food today. If you do, may you be under a curse!' That's why the men are weak and ready to faint."

1 Samuel 14:28 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:28

Then answered one of the people, and said
To Jonathan, who might direct and encourage the people to do as he had done, at least so he did by his example, if not by words; the latter is not improbable: and therefore one of the men that came along with Saul, and had now joined Jonathan, and who heard what Saul had said, replied,

thy father straitly charged the people with an oath;
gave them a strict charge, with an oath or imprecation annexed to it:

saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food this day;
that is, until the evening, as in ( 1 Samuel 14:24 )

and the people were faint;
which is either the observation of the writer of the book; or it may be the words of the man, imputing the faintness of the people to this adjuration of Saul restraining them from food; or as taking notice how strictly the people observed it, though they were hungry, faint, and weary.

1 Samuel 14:28 In-Context

26 When they went into the woods, they saw the honey dripping out of a honeycomb. No one put any of the honey in his mouth. That's because they were afraid of the oath.

27 But Jonathan hadn't heard that his father had put the army under an oath. Jonathan had a long stick in his hand. He reached out and dipped the end of it into the honeycomb. He put some honey in his mouth. It gave him new life.

28 Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father put the army under a strong oath. He said, 'None of you must eat any food today. If you do, may you be under a curse!' That's why the men are weak and ready to faint."

29 Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how I gained new life after I tasted a little of this honey.

30 Our soldiers took food from their enemies today. Suppose they had eaten some of it. How much better off they would have been! Even more Philistines would have been killed."