1 Samuel 14:9

9 Suppose they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you.' Then we'll stay where we are. We won't go up to them.

1 Samuel 14:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:9

If they say thus unto us
By this and what follows he gives his man a sign by which both might know how they should conduct themselves in this expedition, and what would be the issue, whether they should succeed or not: should they say,

tarry until we come to you;
this, as it would express boldness in the men of the garrison, and show that they were ready to come out and fight, would portend evil, and then what they had to do was to be upon the defensive:

then we will stand still in our place;
wait till they came to them, and make the best defence of themselves as they could, showing as little fear as possible, and not attempting to retreat and flee:

and will not go up unto them;
neither go backwards nor forwards; not backward, which would show fear; nor forward, to expose themselves to too much danger from the garrison, they appearing to be bold and intrepid.

1 Samuel 14:9 In-Context

7 "Go ahead," the young man said. "Do everything you have in mind. I'm with you all the way."

8 Jonathan said, "Come on, then. We'll go across the pass toward the Philistines and let them see us.

9 Suppose they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you.' Then we'll stay where we are. We won't go up to them.

10 But suppose they say, 'Come up to us.' Then we'll climb up. That will show us that the LORD has handed them over to us."

11 So Jonathan and the young man let the soldiers in the Philistine camp see them. "Look!" said the Philistines. "Some of the Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in."