Chapter 14
It seems to me that this "crisis" sort of passes. The garrison of the Philistines go out to Michmash also, maybe joining those assembled there. The chapter opens with "One day Jonathan..." as if this is a completely different time. Hard to get a handle on how prolonged these events might have been. In 13:15 there were 600 men with Saul. Now, in 14, there are also 600. So we haven't moved too awfully far ahead in time.
2022 - I read this wrong...I think Saul is still moving around regularly to keep from getting taken. He has no army, and the Philistines are likely terrorizing the whole area. Saul is shown to be a weak, useless leader of men, and pretty much everyone, all but 600, have deserted him and gone home to hide themselves, their goods, and likely their wives and children from the Philistines, because it is obvious at this point that the King is not going to protect them. What a sorry situation.
In any case, Saul is at one place, apparently hiding in a cave, with only 600 men. It seems that everyone is thinking it was a supremely bad idea for Jonathan to attack that Philistine garrison. And how he defeated it with no weapons is an interesting speculation also. But when the Philistines show up with thousands of armed men ready for war, the Hebrews mostly just run and hide. Like you do, when you have nothing to defend yourselves. Except the God of the whole universe.
Presumably, the Philistines are still showing Israel who is boss. Jonathan decides to go over to the Philistine garrison and talk to them. No one knows he's gone there. Jonathan tells his armor bearer that God can do wonders. Jonathan says God will give them a sign as to whether he is with them or not. Turns out God is. Jonathan and his bearer kill 20 Philistines in the garrison, and that strikes fear into the whole Philistine army. There is also an earthquake, and the Philistines are in a panic.
2022 - The garrison is not named. Is does not appear to be the same one Jonathan had previously captured but it could be. It seems to be somewhere between Geba and Michmash, and the first garrison was at Geba...or maybe close by Geba, and this is the same garrison again.
This verse: 11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves." [1Sa 14:11 ESV].
This tells us that the Philistines are well aware that there is no Israeli army for them to fight. They know Israel has no weapons, and they know the men are hiding. So this makes it seem like the large Philistine army is just sitting around, stealing and rattling their sabers as a show that they are still very much in charge and that there is nothing Israel can do about it.
2022 - It is difficult for me to make out just what happened next. Jonathan and his armor bearer are invited to come over so the Philistines can "show them a thing". There seems to have been a difficult climb, perhaps the garrison was atop a steep hill, so Jonathan had to go up on hands and feet. Then this strange verse: 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. [1Sa 14:13 ESV]. As it reads, Jonathan knocked them down, and then his armor bearer, behind him, dispatched them. It appears that maybe because of the steepness of the hill, with no room to "assemble", that Jonathan was able to take them on one at a time. Rather than try to kill each one, perhaps he knocked them off their feet, and they rolled down the hill into the sword of the armor bearer. It says together they killed 20 men over a distance of "half a furrow in an acre". This surely seems to mean the Philistines were single file and could not gang up on Jonathan. Perhaps Jonathan saw this tactical advantage. To truly understand it, you'd have to see the place. But we don't even have the name of the garrison...
The news that one Isreali has killed 20 Philistines sets off a huge panic among the Philistines. This has to be God at work, because it seems very irrational in light of the forces each side had. 20 men was no great loss to the Philistine army. A footnote in TCR says the line "became a very great panic" could also be translated "became a panic from God".
Saul's watchmen note that the Philistine army is dispersing for some reason and Saul is informed of the panic and orders that the forces with him be counted, so they can see who's left them and possibly caused this. The assumption is that something has happened, and Saul knows he had nothing to do with it. They learn that Jonathan and his armor bearer are gone. Apparently the rest of the 600 are still there. Saul has the Ark of the Covenant brought up. I thought it was still in Kiriath-jearim at this time? But here's the verse:
18 So Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. [1Sa 14:18 ESV]
So maybe the Ark resides in Kiriath-jearim, but travels with the king?
Saul and his men (600 men?) go into battle against them. The Philistines fight among themselves, killing each other. Also, the Hebrews in the Philistine camp - likely cowards who had "joined" the Philistines to save their own lives or captives from the raids on surrounding cities, now turn against the Philistines and they fight too. The Philistines flee, and those hiding in caves and holes and such come out of hiding, and they chase them also. Presumably, none have weapons as yet, except maybe what they find laying around. The Philistines are defeated.
Saul has ordered that no one eat until sundown. So as they chase the Philistines and get really tired, they stop chasing. They are hungry. But Jonathan has not heard the order and he eats. Some see this, and tell Jonathan that he has broken his father's orders. Jonathan points out how invigorated he is by eating this honey - apparently dropped by the Philistines as they flee - and says it would have been better if everyone had eaten, because with everyone worn out, famished, and unable to replenish their energy, their victory is less than it might have been.
2021 - This verse:
29 Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. [1Sa 14:29 ESV] Any way you read this, Jonathan is being critical of Saul's order. Things get still worse in vs 32, where the people are so famished that they start to butcher the livestock they have taken as spoil, but they eat it with the blood. They are too hungry to wait until the blood is drained apparently, and eating blood violates the Mosaic Law. So because of Saul's foolish order - prideful order - his men are too weak to properly pursue and dispatch the Philistines, and now they are violating the law in their ravenous hunger. The physical is here contrasted with the spiritual. The physical can overwhelm spiritual commitment, as it does here. To be sure, their hunger was extreme and possibly their spiritual commitment was not that strong in the first place. So they break the law. It starts with a foolish, self-important command from the leader, and this results in a poorly finished victory, and sin all around.
It goes on. Saul sends out a sort of countermanding order telling everyone to come and properly butcher their food on the altar he's built, and stop eating the food with the blood. They do so. Now, in yet another stroke of foolishness, Saul proposes to raid the Philistine camp in the dark and loot and pillage till the sun comes up. Tired, needlessly starving men are now to go and fight all night. A priest says no, don't do that. Saul finally prays and asks God if his idea is a good one. God does not answer. In this case that means don't go. Saul perceives that God is saying no because someone has messed up, and Saul wants to punish someone else for the consequences of his foolish order, believing that if no one had disobeyed him, they'd have routed the Philistines. So Saul's order not to eat weakened the entire army. Despite this, the Philistines are defeated, and the troops are "released" to go ahead and eat. They are so hungry that they violate the Law in doing so. Saul says whoops, that was a pretty lousy order too, so have them all come eat here. They come. Third order is to go fight all night now, after sinning in their eating. At least a priest steps in to halt that. Now, after three stupid orders, Saul wants to blame someone else for the failure. It turns out Jonathan his son is to blame. But even here, after swearing in vs 44 to implement his fourth stupid order of the day, Saul lets the people talk him out of it. Truly a selfish, fickle, foolish excuse for a leader.
God won't let Israel continue the rout of the Philistines. Saul prays about it and says that no matter who's sin it is that has caused this, that person will die. So they use Urim and Thummin, and then cast lots, and it turns out Jonathan, because of the honey he ate, is the problem. So Saul says Jonathan, his own son, must die. What a stupid king. The people won't let him do it though since it was Jonathan that started the battle in the first place.
Saul, as king, continues to fight against Israel's enemies on every side. He is successful where ever he turns. There is war for the entire time Saul is king, and Saul always recruits the strong or valiant.
2024 - This verse:
47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. [1Sa 14:47 ESV]. As I read it, this verse talks of all the things Saul did AFTER the defeat of the Philistines at Michmash. AFTER he was told the kingdom would pass to another and not to his sons. Despite his dismal future prospects, Saul fights on behalf of Israel. He must have resented the work, the danger, the risks that he was taking, all the while knowing God would give all that he accomplished into the hands of another. So we have a man of weak character and arrogance who KNOWS he will not be honored but who continues to fight anyway for his country.
I can't help but think of Trump in this light. For all his faults, I believe he loves America, and will shoulder no end of hardship in order to keep fighting for her. I just hope we have a David to take his place, because like Saul, I see no good end for him.