1 Samuel 14:9

9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them.

1 Samuel 14:9 in Other Translations

9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.

9 If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.

9 If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them.

9 If they say, 'Halt! Don't move until we check you out,' we'll stay put and not go up.

9 If they say, 'Wait until we reach you,' then we will stay where we are and not 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 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us.

9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them.

10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”

11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.”