1 Samuel 14:38

38 And Saul saith, `Draw ye nigh hither all, the chiefs of the people, and know and see in what this sin hath been to-day;

1 Samuel 14:38 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 14:38

And Saul said, draw ye near hither all the chief of the
people
Or, the corners of the peoples ^F7; the princes, as Jarchi interprets it: and so the Targum, the heads of the people, in allusion to the cornerstones in buildings, which are the ornament, strength, and cement of them, see ( Zechariah 10:4 ) , though Abarbinel thinks the tribes themselves are meant, which lay encamped everyone in a corner by themselves, separated from one another; and these he would have brought together; not the heads only, but everyone, small and great, that it might be seen and known where the sin lay; but he should have observed, that the tribes of Israel were not now present with Saul, but a small number of them:

and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day;
he concluded, from having no answer from the Lord, that sin had been committed, which was the cause of it; but never thought of his own rash oath, which was the cause of the people's sinning, and had brought his son into danger; nor the sin of the people in eating the flesh with the blood; nothing ran in his mind but the breach of the oath with which he had adjured the people, and this he was determined to find out, if possible.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (Meh twnp) "anguli populi", Pagninus, Montanus

1 Samuel 14:38 In-Context

36 And Saul saith, `Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and we prey upon them till the light of the morning, and leave not a man of them.' And they say, `All that is good in thine eyes do.' And the priest saith, `Let us draw near hither unto God.'

37 And Saul asketh of God, `Do I go down after the Philistines? dost Thou give them into the hand of Israel?' and He hath not answered him on that day.

38 And Saul saith, `Draw ye nigh hither all, the chiefs of the people, and know and see in what this sin hath been to-day;

39 for, Jehovah liveth, who is saving Israel: surely if it be in Jonathan my son, surely he doth certainly die;' and none is answering him out of all the people.

40 And he saith unto all Israel, `Ye -- ye are on one side, and I and Jonathan my son are on another side;' and the people say unto Saul, `That which is good in thine eyes do.'