1 Samuel 14:36

36 And Saul said, Fall we upon the Philistines in the night, and waste we/destroy we them till the morrowtide shine; and leave we not of them a man (alive). And the people said, Do thou all thing that seemeth good to thee in thine eyes. And the priest said, Nigh we hither to God.

1 Samuel 14:36 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:36

And Saul said
To his son Jonathan, or to some of the principal officers of his army:

let us go down after the Philistines by night;
or tonight, that same night; which is another hardship he laid his troops under; as he had restrained them from eating all that day until evening, now he proposed they shall take no sleep that night, but proceed on in their pursuit of the Philistines, having eaten, and drank, and refreshed themselves. The Arabic version is, "let us go down to the Philistines"; and so Noldius

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 chooses to render the words; which I pretty much wonder at, and especially at what he observes in favour of it, and against the common rendering; that at this time the Philistines had not turned their backs, so that the Israelites could not be said to go after them, but were in a camp opposite to them; but that they had fled, and were pursued, is most certain from ( 1 Samuel 14:22 1 Samuel 14:23 1 Samuel 14:31 ) ,

and spoil them until the morning light;
or kill of them, as the Targum, and so the Arabic version; for spoiling must be meant of killing; for as for the spoil of their provisions, riches that had already fallen into their hands, ( 1 Samuel 14:30 ) , and this is confirmed by what follows:

and let us not leave a man of them;
great numbers had been slain already, partly by their falling upon one another, and partly by the swords of Jonathan and his armourbearer at the first onset, and by Saul and his men in the pursuit of them; and so intent was Saul in the utter destruction of them, that he was for following and cutting them off, that none of their prodigious army might return home:

and they said, do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee;
they had religiously observed his oath, in refraining from food all the day, and now they were as willing to be obedient to his command in denying themselves refreshing rest in sleep:

then said the priest, let us draw near hither unto God;
Ahiah the priest, Josephus ^F6 calls him Ahitob, who was present with the ark, agreed to the proposal of Saul, only moved, that before they set forward they would seek the Lord; perhaps reflecting upon the abrupt manner in which Saul departed from Gibeah, just as he was consulting the Lord, and not staying for an answer from him; which the priest might fear would be resented by him, and therefore proposes first to draw nigh to God; not to the altar Saul had built, or had just begun to build, but to the ark, with which the high priest was, and was a symbol of the divine Presence: the Targum is,

``let us draw near hither, and inquire by the word of the Lord.''

F5 Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 15. No. 92.
F6 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4.

1 Samuel 14:36 In-Context

34 And Saul said, Go ye forth abroad into the common people, and say ye to them, that each man (should) bring to me his ox and his wether, (or his ram); and slay ye those upon this stone, and (then) eat ye them, and (so) ye shall not do sin to the Lord, (by) eating them with (the) blood. And so all the people brought each man an ox in his hand unto the night, and they killed them there (And so into the night each man brought forth an ox, and they killed them there).

35 And Saul builded there an altar to the Lord; and then first he began to build an altar to the Lord. (And Saul built an altar there to the Lord; and this was the first altar that he built to the Lord.)

36 And Saul said, Fall we upon the Philistines in the night, and waste we/destroy we them till the morrowtide shine; and leave we not of them a man (alive). And the people said, Do thou all thing that seemeth good to thee in thine eyes. And the priest said, Nigh we hither to God.

37 And Saul counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall pursue the Philistines? whether thou shalt betake them into the hands of Israel? And the Lord answered not to him in that day. (And Saul counselled with the Lord, and asked, Shall I pursue the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? But the Lord did not answer him that day.)

38 And Saul said, Bring ye hither all the corners, or the uttermost parties, of the people (Bring ye here all the chieftains, or the chief men, of the people), and know ye, and see ye, by whom this sin hath fallen today.