The Story of Jonathan

1 Samuel 14:1–23 WEB

¹Now it happened on a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he didn’t tell his father. ²Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron; and the people who were with him were about six hundred men, ³including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone. ⁴Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. ⁶Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for there is no restraint on the LORD to save by many or by few.” ⁷His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go, and behold, I am with you according to your heart.” ⁸Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. ⁹If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place and will not go up to them. ¹⁰But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up, for the LORD has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.” ¹¹Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” ¹²The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³Jonathan 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. ¹⁴That 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. ¹⁵There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling. ¹⁶The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away and scattered. ¹⁷Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count now, and see who is missing from us.” When they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. ¹⁸Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring God’s ark here.” For God’s ark was with the children of Israel at that time. ¹⁹While Saul talked to the priest, the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased; and Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!” ²⁰Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle; and behold, they were all striking each other with their swords in very great confusion. ²¹Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before and who went up with them into the camp from all around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²²Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. ²³So the LORD saved Israel that day; and the battle passed over by Beth Aven.