1 Samuel 14:13

13 Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.

1 Samuel 14:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:13

And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet
He did not attempt to go up the way or pass the Philistines kept, but turned aside and climbed up a precipice thought inaccessible, and came upon them unseen, and at unawares; for had he attempted to come up in any part where he was seen, they could easily have beat him down, and prevented his ascent; but though the place he climbed was so very steep and cragged, yet going on all four, as we say, he surmounted the difficulty; for he took this method of going on his hands and feet, not so much that he might not be seen; but because otherwise he could not have got up, not being able to stand on his feet; some think it was the precipice called Bozez he climbed, which, according to the Targum, had its name from its being lubricous and slippery:

and his armourbearer after him;
who clambered up in the same manner, in imitation of his master, and as taught and directed by him:

and they fell before Jonathan, and his armourbearer slew after him;
Jonathan, coming upon them at an unawares, knocked them down; or falling upon them, and laying about him with great dispatch, wounded them, and laid them prostrate to the ground; and his armourbearer following them, put them to death, dispatched them at once; and so between them both made quick riddance of them.

1 Samuel 14:13 In-Context

11 Both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.

12 The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.

13 Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.

14 That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

15 There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling.