Shmuel Alef 14:29

29 Then said Yonatan, Avi hath troubled HaAretz; see, now, how mine eyes hath brightened, because I tasted a little of this devash.

Shmuel Alef 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.

Shmuel Alef 14:29 In-Context

27 But Yonatan heard not when aviv bound HaAm with the oath; wherefore he put forth the end of the matteh (staff) that was in his yad, and dipped it in a honeycomb of the devash, and put his yad to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.
28 Then answered an ish from HaAm, and said, Avicha strictly bound HaAm with an oath, saying, Arur (cursed) be the ish that eateth lechem this day. And HaAm were faint with famished exhaustion.
29 Then said Yonatan, Avi hath troubled HaAretz; see, now, how mine eyes hath brightened, because I tasted a little of this devash.
30 How much more, if only HaAm had eaten freely today of the plunder of their enemies which they found? For would there not have been now a much greater makkah (slaughter) among the Pelishtim (Philistines)?
31 And they drove back the Pelishtim that day from Michmash to Ayalon; and HaAm were very faint.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.