The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Jonathan’s Victory over the Philistines
1 Samuel 14:1–23 — Jonathan’s Victory over the Philistines. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·hî hay·yō·wm yō·w·nā·ṯān ben- šā·’ūl way·yō·mer ’el- han·na·‘ar nō·śê ḵê·lāw lə·ḵāh wə·na‘·bə·rāh ’el- pə·liš·tîm ’ă·šer maṣ·ṣaḇ mê·‘ê·ḇer hal·lāz lō hig·gîḏ ū·lə·’ā·ḇîw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-came-to-pass the-day, and-Jonathan son-of-Saul said unto the-lad, bearer-of his-weapons: “Go! and-let-us-cross-over unto the-outpost-of Philistines that [is] on-the-other-side, yonder.” But-to-his-father he-told not.
Where the English smooths the original
Jonathan was the typical warrior of that wild and adventurous age—recklessly brave, chivalrous, and generous, possessing evidently vast strength and unusual skill in all warlike exercises.Ellicott's Victorian relish for the chivalric hero is worth naming; the text itself credits not temperament but the conviction of v. 6.
Not only because Saul would have forbidden so rash an enterprise, but because secrecy was essential to any chance of success: probably too the purpose came upon him as an inspiration from above.
The vivid detail marks the account of one familiar with the spot.
2Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·šā·’ūl yō·wō·šêḇ ta·ḥaṯ hā·rim·mō·wn ’ă·šer bə·miḡ·rō·wn biq·ṣêh hag·giḇ·‘āh wə·hā·‘ām ’ă·šer ‘im·mōw kə·šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ’îš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Saul [was] sitting in-the-uttermost-part-of the-Gibeah, under the-pomegranate which [is] in-Migron; and-the-people who [were] with-him [were] about-six hundred man.
Where the English smooths the original
Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah — In the outworks of the city, where he had intrenched himself to observe the motions of the Philistines.
Migron is a locality with which we are not acquainted, upon the north side of Gibeah, and a different place from the Migron which was on the north or north-west of MichmashK&D's geographical caution is the reason our Isaiah 10:28 thread below is flagged rather than confirmed.
3including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wa·’ă·ḥî·yāh nō·śê ’ê·p̄ō·wḏ ḇen- ’î·ḵā·ḇō·wḏ ’ă·ḥî ’ă·ḥi·ṭūḇ ben- pî·nə·ḥās ben- ‘ê·lî kō·hên Yah·weh bə·ši·lōw wə·hā·‘ām lō yā·ḏa‘ kî yō·w·nā·ṯān hā·laḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Ahijah, bearer-of an-ephod, son-of-Ahitub brother-of-Ichabod, son-of-Phinehas, son-of-Eli, priest of-YHWH in-Shiloh. And-the-people knew not that Jonathan had-gone.
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The ephod here alluded to is not the ordinary priestly vestment of white linen, but that official garment worn alone by the high priest, in which was the breast-plate of gems with the mysterious Urim and Thummim, by which inquiry used to be made of the Lord.
This fragment of a genealogy is a very valuable help to the chronology.
These words must be referred to Eli as the most famous priest during the period while the Tabernacle was at Shiloh, not to Ahijah.
4Now there were cliffs on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šên- has·se·la‘ mê·hā·‘ê·ḇer miz·zeh wə·šên- has·se·la‘ mê·hā·‘ê·ḇer miz·zeh ū·ḇên ham·ma‘·bə·rō·wṯ ’ă·šer yō·w·nā·ṯān biq·qêš la·‘ă·ḇōr ‘al- pə·liš·tîm maṣ·ṣaḇ hā·’e·ḥāḏ wə·šêm bō·w·ṣêṣ wə·šêm hā·’e·ḥāḏ sen·neh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-between the-crossings which Jonathan sought to-cross-over unto the-outpost-of Philistines: a-tooth-of the-crag on-the-one-side from-this, and-a-tooth-of the-crag on-the-other-side from-this; and-the-name-of the-one Bozez, and-the-name-of the-other Seneh.
Where the English smooths the original
The contrast is surprising and picturesque between the dark cool colour of the south side and the ruddy or tawny tints of the northern cliff crowned with the gleaming white of the upper chalky strata.Cambridge is quoting Conder's on-site survey (Tent Work II. 113); the vividness is a 19th-century traveller's, not the narrator's.
This enterprise is one of the most gallant that history or romance records.
But the meaning is, that the tooth (or prominency) of the one rock (as it is in the Hebrew) was on the one side, i.e. northward, looking towards Michmash, (the garrison of the Philistines,) and the tooth of the other rock was on the other side , i.e. southward, looking towards Gibeah , (where Saul’s camp lay,) as the next verse informs us
5One cliff stood to the north toward Michmash, and the other to the south toward Geba.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·’e·ḥāḏ haš·šên mā·ṣūq miṣ·ṣā·p̄ō·wn mūl miḵ·māś wə·hā·’e·ḥāḏ min·ne·ḡeḇ mūl gā·ḇa‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The-one tooth [was] a-pillar from-the-north over-against Michmash, and-the-other from-the-south over-against Geba.
Where the English smooths the original
The word thus translated is that rendered pillar in 1 Samuel 2:8 , and the verse should possibly be translated, "And the one tooth (or crag) was a rocky mass on the north over against Michmash, and the other was on the south over against Geba" (not Gibeah , as the A.V.; see 1 Samuel 13:16 ). But the word is omitted in the versions, and may be an interpolation.
One of these was called Bozez, the other Seneh; one (formed) a pillar (מצוּק), i.e., a steep height towards the north opposite to Michmash, the other towards the south opposite to Geba.
6Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yə·hō·w·nā·ṯān way·yō·mer ’el- han·na·‘ar nō·śê ḵê·lāw lə·ḵāh wə·na‘·bə·rāh ’el- maṣ·ṣaḇ hā·’êl·leh hā·‘ă·rê·lîm ’ū·lay Yah·weh ya·‘ă·śeh lā·nū kî ’ên ma‘·ṣō·wr Yah·weh lə·hō·wō·šî·a‘ bə·raḇ ’ōw ḇim·‘āṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Jonathan said unto the-lad, bearer-of his-weapons: “Go! and-let-us-cross-over unto the-outpost-of these uncircumcised; perhaps YHWH will-work for-us, for there-is-no hindrance to-YHWH to-save, by-many or by-few.”
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The question is not what Jonathan can do, but what God can do, whose power is not in the means, but in Himself.Ellicott is quoting Bishop Hall; the words are Hall's, preserved inside Ellicott's entry.
Jonathan's resolution arose from the strong conviction that Israel was the nation of God, and possessed in Jehovah an omnipotent God, who would not refuse His help to His people in their conflict with the foes of His kingdom, if they would only put their whole trust in Him.
he speaks doubtfully; for though he found and felt himself stirred up by God to this exploit, and was assured that God would deliver his people, yet he was not certain that he would do it at this time, and in this way.Poole and JFB flatly disagree on whether “perhaps” admits doubt; we have let both stand rather than harmonise them.
7His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
nō·śê ḵê·lāw way·yō·mer lōw ‘ă·śêh kāl- ’ă·šer bil·ḇā·ḇe·ḵā nə·ṭêh lāḵ hin·nî ‘im·mə·ḵā kil·ḇā·ḇe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-his-weapons-bearer said to-him: “Do all that [is] in-thy-heart; incline thee! behold-me with-thee, according-to-thy-heart.”
Where the English smooths the original
The reading of the Heb. text is doubtful, and that of the Sept. perhaps to be preferred. “Do all unto which thine heart inclineth: behold I am with thee: my heart is as thy heart.Cambridge prefers the Septuagint here; we have kept the Masoretic reading in the literal line and flagged the difficulty rather than choosing for the reader.
The Hebrew seems to have preserved the very words of the young man, and the difficulty in rendering this phrase arises from its being a colloquial expression. "Face about" would be our phrase; but the sense is, "On with you; I will follow.
8“Very well,” said Jonathan, “we will cross over toward these men and show ourselves to them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hin·nêh way·yō·mer yə·hō·w·nā·ṯān ’ă·naḥ·nū ‘ō·ḇə·rîm ’el- hā·’ă·nā·šîm wə·niḡ·lî·nū ’ă·lê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Jonathan said: “Behold, we [are] crossing-over unto the-men, and-we-will-uncover-ourselves unto-them.
Where the English smooths the original
The sign was well chosen. If the Philistines said, "Wait till we come," they would show some courage; but if they said, "Come up to us," it would be a sign that they were cowardly, and had not courage enough to leave their position and attack the Hebrews.
present themselves to them at daylight, and let them know plainly who they were, that they were Hebrews.
9If they say, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stay where we are and will not go up to them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’im- kōh yō·mə·rū ’ê·lê·nū dōm·mū ‘aḏ- hag·gî·‘ê·nū ’ă·lê·ḵem wə·‘ā·maḏ·nū ṯaḥ·tê·nū wə·lō na·‘ă·leh ’ă·lê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If thus they-say unto-us, ‘Be-still until our-reaching unto-you,’ then-we-will-stand in-our-place and-not go-up unto-them.
Where the English smooths the original
the word used by Joshua of the sun ( Joshua 10:12, 13 ); but not the word rendered stand still just below, where the Hebrew has, "We will stand under us," i.e. we will stop just where we were.
This he spoke by the spirit of prophecy, and by this God gave him assurance of victory.The Geneva gloss upgrades Jonathan's proposed sign into prophecy; K&D and Pulpit are more careful, defending the sign as reasonable rather than revelatory.
10But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we will go up, because this will be our sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’im- kōh yō·mə·rū ‘ă·lū ‘ā·lê·nū wə·‘ā·lî·nū kî- wə·zeh- lā·nū hā·’ō·wṯ Yah·weh nə·ṯā·nām bə·yā·ḏê·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
But-if thus they-say, ‘Come-up unto-us,’ then-we-will-go-up, for YHWH has-given-them into-our-hand; and-this [is] for-us the-sign.
Where the English smooths the original
God, we must observe, has the governing of the hearts and tongues of all men, even of those that know him not, and serves his own purposes by them, though they mean not so, neither do their hearts think so.
we may infer that the same spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its execution, and put into his heart what to ask of God.
Kim'hi has a long digression in his commentary on this place to show that there was nothing superstitous in their looking for a prognostic to encourage them in their hazardous undertaking. God, he says, bade Gideon go to the camp of the Midianites to obtain such a sign. as Jonathan looked for hereWorth naming that the anxiety is ancient: Jewish and Christian commentators alike felt the need to defend this sign against the charge of divination.
11So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·nê·hem way·yig·gā·lū ’el- maṣ·ṣaḇ pə·liš·tîm p̄ə·liš·tîm way·yō·mə·rū hin·nêh ‘iḇ·rîm yō·ṣə·’îm min- ha·ḥō·rîm ’ă·šer hiṯ·ḥab·bə·’ū- šām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-the-two-of-them uncovered-themselves unto the-outpost-of Philistines; and-the-Philistines said: “Behold, Hebrews coming-out from the-holes where they-hid-themselves there!”
Where the English smooths the original
Easily might the sentinels of the outpost have rolled stones down the steep cliff, and hurled back the daring assailants; but they treated them with utter contempt, probably thinking to take them alive if ever they succeeded in scaling the slippery cliff.
Jonathan, hearing those of the garrison make use of the very words which he had fixed on as a sign of victory, immediately concluded that God had influenced their minds and tongues, and thereby caused them to use the words, and would certainly render his designed attempt successful. And he piously and modestly ascribes the success, which he now foresees, to God only. And he does not say, into our hand, but into the hand of Israel; for he sought not his own glory, but the public good.Benson's entry here covers vv. 11-12; the observation about “the hand of Israel” belongs to v. 12's speech.
Therefore Jonathan chose that rocky and unusual way, that the Philistines might suppose they did not come from Saul’s camp to fight with them, but rather out of the caves and holes of the rocks, from which their necessity had now driven them.
12So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’an·šê ham·maṣ·ṣā·ḇāh ’eṯ- way·ya·‘ă·nū yō·w·nā·ṯān wə·’eṯ- nō·śê ḵê·lāw way·yō·mə·rū ‘ă·lū ’ê·lê·nū wə·nō·w·ḏî·‘āh ’eṯ·ḵem då̄·ḇå̄r p̄ ‘ă·lêh ’a·ḥă·ray yō·w·nā·ṯān ’el- way·yō·mer nō·śê ḵê·lāw kî- Yah·weh nə·ṯā·nām bə·yaḏ yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-the-men-of the-garrison answered Jonathan and his-weapons-bearer and-said: “Come-up unto-us and-we-will-make-you-know a-word!” And-Jonathan said unto his-weapons-bearer: “Come-up after-me, for YHWH has-given-them into-the-hand-of Israel.”
Where the English smooths the original
This was ridicule at the daring of the two men, whilst for all that they had not courage enough to meet them bravely and drive them back.
The Philistines thus give Jonathan the very omen he had desired. The last clause is a popular phrase, and expresses a sort of amused contempt for the two adventurers.
13So Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yō·w·nā·ṯān ‘al- way·ya·‘al yā·ḏāw wə·‘al- raḡ·lāw wə·nō·śê ḵê·lāw ’a·ḥă·rāw way·yip·pə·lū lip̄·nê yō·w·nā·ṯān wə·nō·śê ḵê·lāw ’a·ḥă·rāw mə·mō·w·ṯêṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Jonathan went-up on his-hands and-on his-feet, and-his-weapons-bearer after-him; and-they-fell before Jonathan, and-his-weapons-bearer [was] putting-to-death after-him.
Where the English smooths the original
The few watching him at first mocked, and then, as Jonathan advanced with strange rapidity, they seem to have been, as it were, paralysed—the feat was hardly human—as the man, all armed, sprang over the rocky parapet.Ellicott's detail that Jonathan's “chief weapon was his bow” is Dean Stanley's inference, not the text's; the chapter never names a weapon.
The brevity of the Hebrew very well expresses the rapidity of Jonathan's action.
That is, he crept up, or went up with all haste.
14In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in about half an acre of land.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wat·tə·hî hā·ri·šō·nāh ’ă·šer ham·mak·kāh yō·w·nā·ṯān wə·nō·śê ḵê·lāw hik·kāh kə·‘eś·rîm ’îš kə·ḇa·ḥă·ṣî ma·‘ă·nāh ṣe·meḏ śā·ḏeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-was, the-first blow which Jonathan and-his-weapons-bearer struck: about twenty man, as-in-half a-furrow of-a-yoke of-field.
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The Hebrew text is extremely obscure. Hence, there is some probability that the true reading is preserved by the Septuagint
The point appears to be that the garrison was cut to pieces in a comparatively short distance.
The Philistines, that is to say, took to flight in alarm as soon as the brave heroes really ascended, so that the twenty men were smitten one after another in the distance of half a rood of land.
15Then panic struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked, and panic spread from God.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḥă·rā·ḏāh wat·tə·hî ḇam·ma·ḥă·neh ḇaś·śā·ḏeh ū·ḇə·ḵāl hā·‘ām ham·maṣ·ṣāḇ wə·ham·maš·ḥîṯ ḥā·rə·ḏū gam- hêm·māh hā·’ā·reṣ wat·tir·gaz lə·ḥer·daṯ wat·tə·hî ’ĕ·lō·hîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-there-was a-trembling in-the-camp, in-the-field and-among-all the-people; the-garrison and-the-destroyer, they-also trembled; and-the-earth quaked; and-it-became a-trembling-of God.
Where the English smooths the original
It is called a trembling of God, signifying, not only a great trembling they could not resist, nor reason themselves out of, but that it came at once from the hand of God. He that made the heart, knows how to make it tremble.
The Eternal fought for Jonathan and Israel that day, and the powers of nature were summoned to the young hero’s aid, as they had been before, when Pharaoh pursued the people at the Red Sea ( Exodus 14:26-27 ), as when Joshua fought the Canaanites at Beth-horon ( Joshua 10:11 ), and as when Barak smote Sisera at KishonEllicott assumes the earthquake is literal; Pulpit reads it as a figure. Both readings are represented in the divergences.
In that the insensible creatures tremble for fear of God's judgment, it declares how terrible his vengeance will be against his enemies.
16Now when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin looked and saw the troops melting away and scattering in every direction,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lə·šā·’ūl haṣ·ṣō·p̄îm bə·ḡiḇ·‘aṯ bin·yā·min way·yir·’ū wə·hin·nêh he·hā·mō·wn nā·mō·wḡ way·yê·leḵ wa·hă·lōm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-the-watchmen of-Saul in-Gibeah-of-Benjamin looked, and-behold: the-tumult melted-away, and-it-went, and-hither.
Where the English smooths the original
The Philistines were not dispersing, but were reeling , moving to and fro purposeless, and in confusion.
It is doubtful if this or any other meaning can be extracted from the present Heb. text The Sept. gives a good sense: “And behold, the camp was in confusion on every sideCambridge prefers the Septuagint reading here; we have kept the Masoretic text and marked the difficulty.
17Saul said to the troops who were with him, “Call the roll and see who has left us.” And when they had called the roll, they saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl way·yō·mer lā·‘ām ’ă·šer ’it·tōw piq·ḏū- nā ū·rə·’ū mî hā·laḵ mê·‘im·mā·nū way·yip̄·qə·ḏū wə·hin·nêh yō·w·nā·ṯān wə·nō·śê ḵê·lāw ’ên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Saul said to-the-people who [were] with-him: “Muster, pray, and-see who has-gone from-us.” And-they-mustered, and-behold: Jonathan and-his-weapons-bearer [were] not-there.
Where the English smooths the original
When this panic which was taking place in the Philistine army was reported to King Saul, he naturally inquired as to what had caused it, knowing that he, as general-in-chief, had given no directions to any of his men to attack the enemy. In the little Israelitish force, when the roll was called, it was soon discovered who was missing.
The word denotes a muster or parade of the troop for inspection.
Saul conjectured at once that the excitement in the camp of the Philistines was occasioned by an attack made by Israelitish warriors
18Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.)
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl way·yō·mer la·’ă·ḥî·yāh hag·gî·šāh ’ă·rō·wn hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm kî- ha·hū bay·yō·wm ’ă·rō·wn hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm hā·yāh ū·ḇə·nê yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Saul said to-Ahijah: “Bring-near the-ark of-the-God” — for the-ark-of-the-God was in-that day, and-the-sons-of Israel.
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No question or oracle could be asked of the Ark or by the Ark. The Urim and Thummim, whatever these mysterious objects were alone were used to give answers to questions solemnly asked by king and people, and this Urim and Thummim were connected, not with the Ark, but with the high-priestly ephod.
There is no evidence that the ark had been brought from Kirjath-jearim. The Septuagint version is preferable; which, by a slight variation of the text, reads, "the ephod"; that is, the priestly cape, which the high priest put on when consulting the oracle.
though the ark had been with Saul, and the people, some time, and also the high priest, yet we do not find that Saul in all his straits and difficulties consulted the Lord before; but perceiving something extraordinary was doing, and might turn to his advantage, he begins to inquire.Gill reads the Masoretic text as it stands, against the Septuagint preference of Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Cambridge and K&D; his moral observation about Saul's first enquiry stands either way.
19While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·hî ‘aḏ šā·’ūl dib·ber ’el- hak·kō·hên wə·he·hā·mō·wn ’ă·šer p̄ə·liš·tîm bə·ma·ḥă·nêh way·yê·leḵ hā·lō·wḵ wå̄·rå̄ḇ p̄ šā·’ūl way·yō·mer ’el- hak·kō·hên ’ĕ·sōp̄ yā·ḏe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-was, while Saul spoke unto the-priest, that-the-tumult which [was] in-the-camp-of Philistines went, going and-increasing; and-Saul said unto the-priest: “Gather-in thy-hand.”
Where the English smooths the original
he was in such haste to fight a fallen enemy, that he would not stay to end his devotions, nor hear what answer God would give him.
There are some who with Saul will call for the Ark, and will presently cry ‘Away with it !’ that is, will begin their prayers, and break them off in the midst on every occasion.The words inside Ellicott's entry are Bishop Andrewes', quoted by Wordsworth; Ellicott preserves them.
Herein therefore he shows his impatience in waiting upon God; his hypocrisy, in pretending to religion; and yet his profaneness, in neglecting and despising it.
20Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl wə·ḵāl hā·‘ām ’ă·šer ’it·tōw way·yiz·zā·‘êq way·yā·ḇō·’ū ‘aḏ- ham·mil·ḥā·māh wə·hin·nêh mə·’ōḏ gə·ḏō·w·lāh mə·hū·māh ’îš hā·yə·ṯāh ḥe·reḇ bə·rê·‘ê·hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Saul was-cried-together, and-all the-people who [were] with-him, and-they-came unto the-battle; and-behold: the-sword of-a-man [was] against his-fellow, a-very great confusion.
Where the English smooths the original
Profiting by the wild confusion which reigned now throughout the Philistine host, a portion of their own auxiliaries—unwilling allies, doubtless—turned their arms against their employers or masters. From this moment no one in the panic-stricken army could rightly distinguish friend from foe.
so that, though the Israelites had neither swords nor spears, they needed none, for the Philistines destroyed one another with their own swordsGill is reading back to 1 Samuel 13:19-22; the disarmament of Israel is what makes the detail pointed.
21And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps to join the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·yū wə·hā·‘iḇ·rîm ’ă·šer kə·’eṯ·mō·wl šil·šō·wm ‘ā·lū ‘im·mām bam·ma·ḥă·neh lap·pə·liš·tîm wə·ḡam- hêm·māh sā·ḇîḇ lih·yō·wṯ ‘im- yiś·rā·’êl ’ă·šer ‘im- šā·’ūl wə·yō·w·nā·ṯān
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-the-Hebrews who-were to-the-Philistines as-yesterday [and] the-day-before, who had-gone-up with-them into-the-camp, round-about — they-also [turned] to-be with Israel who [were] with Saul and-Jonathan.
Where the English smooths the original
Either renegade Israelites who had taken service in the Philistine army, or forced levies from the districts occupied by the Philistines. The name “Hebrews” by which they were known to the Philistines is used to distinguish them from the “Israelites” who had not submitted to their oppressors.
Those Israelites whom the Philistines had incorporated into their army are called Hebrews, according to the name which was current among foreigners, whilst those who were with Saul are called Israel, according to the sacred name of the nation.
22When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined the battle in close pursuit.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵōl yiś·rā·’êl ’îš ham·miṯ·ḥab·bə·’îm bə·har- ’ep̄·ra·yim šā·mə·‘ū kî- pə·liš·tîm nā·sū hêm·māh ḡam- bam·mil·ḥā·māh way·yaḏ·bə·qū ’a·ḥă·rê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-all the-men-of Israel, the-ones-hiding-themselves in-the-hill-country-of Ephraim, heard that the-Philistines had-fled; and-they-also clave after-them in-the-battle.
Where the English smooths the original
now being delivered from their fears, and thinking themselves safe, ventured out of their lurking places
All the warriors in the garrison at Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.
23So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh way·yō·wō·ša‘ yiś·rā·’êl ha·hū ’eṯ- bay·yō·wm wə·ham·mil·ḥā·māh ‘ā·ḇə·rāh ’eṯ- bêṯ ’ā·wen
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-YHWH saved Israel in-that day; and-the-battle passed-over Beth-aven.
Where the English smooths the original
The identical words used at the Red Sea, after the deliverance of the people from Egypt.
this only could be of the Lord, to whom it is justly ascribed, and was the effect of his sovereign good will and pleasure, and of his unmerited goodness; a free favour bestowed on an undeserving prince, who had behaved ill to his prophet at Gilgal, and now to him and his high priest at Gibeah
Saul crossed the valley from Geba to Michmash, and drove the Philistines back in a north-westerly direction to Beth-aven, half way between Michmash and Bethel. Thence the pursuit was across the watershed, and headlong down the pass of Beth-horon to Aijalon, where the valley begins to open out towards the plain of Philistia:—that same pass where Joshua gained his great victory over the five Amorite kings
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens on a grammatical contrast that no English translation can keep. Jonathan's verb is וְנַעְבְּרָה (ʻâbar, H5674), a cohortative: let us cross over. Saul's verb in v. 2 is a participle, יוֹשֵׁב (yâshab, H3427): he is sitting, at the far edge of Gibeah, under a tree, with about six hundred men. Ellicott states the theological contrast directly: Jonathan's deed stands in strong contrast to Saul, who at Gilgal, in Ellicott's words, “openly made light of the supernatural assistance promised by Samuel.” Gill notices the arithmetic: the six hundred are named “to show that no addition was made to his little army.” Cambridge and K&D agree that vv. 1b-5 are a parenthesis, K&D describing “a series of sentences introduced to explain the situation,” with the narrative thread resumed in v. 6 by a repetition of Jonathan's words. Inside that parenthesis stands the priest Ahijah, and the narrator gives his pedigree back through Ichabod and Phinehas to Eli. Ellicott reads the genealogy as memory: “The destruction of Shiloh, the death of the high priest… were still fresh in the memory of the people.” Barnes reads it as chronology, “a very valuable help.” Both are right, and the verbal detail binds it tighter than either says: Ahijah is נֹשֵׂא an ephod exactly as the lad is נֹשֵׂא weapons (H5375, vv. 1 and 3). Two bearers, two masters, two outcomes.
Jonathan's speech is the theological centre of the unit, and its key noun is מַעְצוֹר (maʻtsôwr, H4622), “objectively, a hindrance.” K&D translates the clause as it stands: “there is no hindrance for Jehovah to work salvation by many or few,” and grounds the resolution in “the strong conviction that Israel was the nation of God.” Cambridge shows why “uncircumcised” is the chosen epithet, since “it indicates that Jonathan's hope of success was based on the reflection that the Philistines stood in no covenant-relation to Jehovah, as Israel did,” and Poole says the same, that he calls them so “to strengthen his faith.” On the “perhaps” of v. 6 the voices genuinely split: JFB rules that “This expression did not imply a doubt,” while Poole and Benson insist “he speaks doubtfully,” being uncertain not of God's power but of “this time, and in this way.” We have not harmonised them; the particle אוּלַי is real, and the confidence lies in the second clause. The armour-bearer's reply gives the unit its second heart-word: לְבָבֶךָ twice (H3824), “do all that is in thy heart… I am with thee according to thy heart” (Gill: “I am as thine own heart”). Then the sign. K&D defends it as calibrated rather than superstitious: if they say “wait,” “they would show some courage,” but if they say “come up,” it proves “they were cowardly.” JFB adds that “the same spirit which inspired this enterprise suggested the means of its execution,” and Pulpit records Kimchi's long digression written precisely to show “that there was nothing superstitous in their looking for a prognostic.” The infinitive Jonathan uses for what God may do is לְהוֹשִׁיעַ (yâshaʻ, H3467): the verb the narrator will spend on God Himself in v. 23.
The Philistines supply the sign in the act of mocking. Pulpit notes that “There is no article in the Hebrew”: what the sentries say is see, Hebrews come out of the holes, using the outsiders' name for Israel, עִבְרִים (H5680), built from the same root as Jonathan's own verb of crossing. Ellicott's military observation is sharp: “Easily might the sentinels of the outpost have rolled stones down the steep cliff,” and Poole explains the approach as chosen precisely so that “the Philistines might suppose they did not come from Saul's camp.” Their jeer, וְנוֹדִיעָה (Hiphil of yâdaʻ, H3045), promises to make known a word, which Cambridge glosses as either “give you some information” or “teach you a lesson.” Jonathan hears it as the answer. Benson catches the detail that carries the theology: “he does not say, into our hand, but into the hand of Israel; for he sought not his own glory, but the public good.” Then two clauses of pure action. Ellicott: “the few watching him at first mocked, and then… they seem to have been, as it were, paralysed.” Pulpit: “The brevity of the Hebrew very well expresses the rapidity of Jonathan's action.” The measure of v. 14 is disputed and should stay disputed: Barnes says flatly, “The Hebrew text is extremely obscure”; Cambridge reads “in about half a furrow of a yoke of land” and takes the point to be that the garrison was cut down “in a comparatively short distance”; the Septuagint tradition reports weapons rather than acreage. K&D's explanation of the rout is the soberest: the outpost, stationed on the ridge of a steep mountain wall, “would not see how many were following.”
Verse 15 piles the root חרד three times: a ḥărāḏāh came, they ḥārəḏū, and it became ḥerdaṯ ʼĕlōhîm. Henry's line is the one the whole tradition repeats: “It is called a trembling of God… He that made the heart, knows how to make it tremble.” Cambridge renders it “a supernatural panic inspired by God”; Pulpit, more cautiously, notes that “the name of the deity (Elohim, not Jehovah) is constantly used in Hebrew to express vastness,” and on the earthquake he prefers “a poetical description,” where Ellicott, Barnes and Poole take it literally, Poole supposing it “probably overthrew their tents and chariots.” We record the disagreement rather than settling it. Against that divine trembling the narrative sets Saul's religion. He calls for the ark, and nearly every commentator here judges the text corrupt at that word: Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, Ellicott and K&D all prefer the Septuagint's ephod, K&D observing that the verb הַגִּישָׁה “is not really applicable to the ark” but “is the current expression used to signify the fetching of the ephod.” Then, mid-enquiry, אֱסֹף יָדֶךָ, “gather in thy hand.” Ellicott preserves Bishop Andrewes on it: “There are some who with Saul will call for the Ark, and will presently cry ‘Away with it!’ that is, will begin their prayers, and break them off in the midst on every occasion.” Henry: “he was in such haste to fight a fallen enemy, that he would not stay to end his devotions.” Barnes adds the consequence: “Had he now waited he would doubtless have avoided the error into which he fell,” meaning the oath of vv. 24ff. that nearly costs Jonathan his life. The victory then widens without Saul: the conscripted Hebrews change sides (Cambridge: “Either renegade Israelites who had taken service in the Philistine army, or forced levies”), and the men hiding in Ephraim come out, described with the same verb חבא (H2244) the Philistines had used to sneer at men in holes. The last word belongs to the narrator, not to any soldier: וַיּוֹשַׁע יְהוָה, “and YHWH saved Israel.” Ellicott notes these are “the identical words used at the Red Sea,” and Cambridge points to Exodus 14:30.
⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text. Read the unit by its verbs and it is built as an inclusio on two roots. Jonathan says נַעְבְּרָה, “let us cross over” (ʻâbar, H5674), in v. 1 and again in v. 6; the ground itself is named for crossing in v. 4; and in v. 23 it is the battle that crosses, עָבְרָה, past Beth-aven. Jonathan says God is able לְהוֹשִׁיעַ, “to save” (yâshaʻ, H3467), in v. 6; in v. 23 the narrator says וַיּוֹשַׁע יְהוָה, “and YHWH saved.” The man's premise becomes the narrator's verdict, word for word. Between those brackets the chapter arranges two kinds of religion without editorialising. Saul has the priest, the ephod, the ark-word, the only surviving line of Eli, and six hundred men, and he sits. Jonathan has one lad, no strategy, and a sentence of theology, and he climbs on his hands and his feet. Saul's single act of enquiry is broken off with אֱסֹף יָדֶךָ, “gather in thy hand,” at the exact moment the answer was about to come. The text does not say Saul was wrong, and the commentators have to say it for him: Henry, Poole, Barnes and Ellicott all do. What the text says is quieter and worse. It says the victory of v. 23 belongs to the LORD, and it never once says that Saul asked Him. Note also who ends up fighting: the deserters who had gone up with the Philistines, and the men who had hidden themselves in caves, described in v. 22 with the same Hitpael התחבא the Philistines had used as an insult in v. 11. God's salvation in this chapter runs through a prince his father did not know was gone, a servant with no name, turncoats, and men who had been hiding. That is the kind of army “many or few” was meant to describe. The interpretive line set beside this reading, “The king sat under the pomegranate while his son crossed the ravine, and the crown was already changing hands,” is ⚙ synthesis: it is not a verse of Scripture and carries no authority of its own.
The king sat under the pomegranate while his son crossed the ravine, and the crown was already changing hands.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The word BSB renders “outpost” is מַצָּב (matstsâb, H4673), and it dominates this unit (vv. 1, 4, 11, 15). It is a rare noun, occurring in only ten verses in the Hebrew Bible, and it means a fixed spot, something stationed. The Verifier finds the same lexeme at 1 Samuel 13:23, the immediately preceding sentence, which is where JFB begins his comment (“the standing camp… in the passage of Michmash”), and at 2 Samuel 23:14, where David is in the stronghold and “the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.” The pattern is the same twice over: an enemy post fixed in Israelite ground, and one man crossing to it against the odds. ⚙ We do not claim a quotation here, only a genuine shared word inside a repeated situation.
1 Samuel 13:23 · 2 Samuel 23:14
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H4673 matstsâb (in 10 vv) at 1 Samuel 13:23 (score 0.71) and 2 Samuel 23:14 (0.52), plus H6430 Pᵉlishtîy (244 vv). A real verbal link within a shared motif of an enemy post fixed in Israel's territory; no quotation is claimed and none exists.
Verse 12 uses the feminine form הַמַּצָּבָה (matstsâbâh, H4675), “the men of the garrison.” The Verifier reports that this exact lexeme occurs in only two verses in the whole Hebrew Bible, and the other is Zechariah 9:8: “And I will encamp about mine house as a garrison, because of him that passeth by.” ⚙ The reversal is complete and lexically exact: in 1 Samuel 14 the garrison is the foreign power squatting in the land, jeering at two men climbing a cliff; in Zechariah the garrison is God Himself, stationed as a guard over His own house so that no oppressor passes through again. The word that names the problem here names the remedy there. The link is lexical, not quotational: Zechariah is not citing Samuel.
Zechariah 9:8
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H4675 matstsâbâh (in 2 vv) — these two verses are its only occurrences, so the lexical link is as rare as a link can be. Tiered verbal on rarity alone; explicitly NOT a quotation, and the thematic reversal is ⚙ synthesis.
The obscure measure of v. 14, מַעֲנָה (maʻănâh, H4618, “a furrow”), occurs in only two verses. K&D makes the cross-reference himself: “maʻănâh, a furrow, as in Psalm 129:3.” That psalm reads, “The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.” ⚙ The same rare noun measures the ground where twenty Philistines fell and the back of afflicted Israel under her oppressors. Psalm 129 then turns exactly as this chapter does: “The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.” The connection is a shared rare word plus a shared image of Israel's ground being worked; it is not a citation in either direction, and Cambridge and Barnes both warn that the Hebrew of v. 14 may be corrupt at this very point.
Psalm 129:3
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H4618 maʻănâh (in 2 vv) — its only two occurrences; K&D independently makes the same cross-reference at 1 Samuel 14:14. Verbal on rarity; no quotation claimed. Weakened by the textual uncertainty of 14:14 (Barnes, Cambridge, LXX).
Verse 5 calls the northern tooth of rock a מָצוּק (mâtsûwq, H4690). The Verifier finds its only other occurrence in Hannah's song at the head of this same book: “for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them” (1 Samuel 2:8). Pulpit makes the connection without being told: “The word thus translated is that rendered pillar in 1 Samuel 2:8.” ⚙ Hannah's song is the theological preface to the books of Samuel, and its thesis is this chapter's thesis: “they that stumbled are girded with strength… He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.” The same word names the pillar God owns and the pillar two men had to climb. Note honestly that Cambridge reports the Septuagint omits the word at 14:5 and Pulpit thinks it “may be an interpolation.”
1 Samuel 2:8
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H4690 mâtsûwq (in 2 vv) — its only two occurrences; Pulpit makes the same cross-reference independently. Verbal on rarity, not quotation. Caveat recorded: the word is absent from the LXX at 14:5.
Verse 3 identifies the priest by a name no one would use for honour: Ahijah son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod. The Verifier finds אִיכָבוֹד (H350) in only two verses, the other being 1 Samuel 4:21, where the dying wife of Phinehas “named the child I-chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken.” ⚙ The narrator plants that name three verses before Saul says “bring the ark of God,” and the commentators feel the weight without naming the mechanism: Ellicott writes that “the melancholy circumstances of the birth of I-chabod were still fresh in the memory of the people.” A house that lost the ark is standing beside a king who now sends for it and then cannot wait for the answer.
1 Samuel 4:21
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H350 ʼÎy-kâbôwd (in 2 vv, its only occurrences) at 1 Samuel 4:21 (score 0.53), with H5288 naʻar (221 vv). Rare enough to be a hard verbal tie, but since it is a personal name inside a genealogy rather than reused diction, we record it at the lower tier.
In v. 20 the rescuers arrive to find the work already done: חֶרֶב אִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ, “the sword of a man against his fellow,” with מְהוּמָה (mᵉhûwmâh, H4103, “confusion or uproar”) “very great.” Cambridge cross-references Judges 7:22 (Gideon's three hundred, where “the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow”) and 2 Chronicles 20:23 (Jehoshaphat, where Ammon and Moab destroy each other while Judah sings). Poole reaches for the same passages, and Ellicott explains the mechanism here from v. 21: the conscripted Hebrews “turned their arms against their employers,” after which “no one in the panic-stricken army could rightly distinguish friend from foe.” ⚙ The three episodes form one recognisable pattern in Israel's memory: a numerically absurd force, a God-sent panic, and an enemy that destroys itself.
Judges 7:22 · 2 Chronicles 20:23
basis: No Verifier-computed lexeme basis was supplied for these refs, so no verbal claim is made. The recorded basis is the named citation of both passages by Cambridge at 1 Samuel 14:20 and by Poole, plus the shared narrative pattern of a divinely sent panic and mutual slaughter.
The Verifier scores Isaiah 10:28 high against this unit on rare shared names: מִגְרוֹן (Migrôwn, H4051) occurs in only two verses, and מִכְמָשׂ (Mikmâç, H4363) in eleven. Isaiah's oracle marches the Assyrian along this exact road: “he is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages.” ⚙ Read as a thread, the same handful of villages in Benjamin is where Philistia camps in Saul's day and where Assyria will stage in Ahaz's, and in both the deliverance is God's and not the army's. But the provenance of the geographical identification is genuinely disputed, and we flag it rather than assert it: Barnes (“Migron, if the reading is correct, must be a different place”), Cambridge (“Migron cannot be the place mentioned in Isaiah 10:28”), K&D and Pulpit all deny that Saul's Migron is Isaiah's, Pulpit noting one lies north of Michmash and this one south.
Isaiah 10:28
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H4051 Migrôwn (in 2 vv) and H4363 Mikmâç (in 11 vv), score 0.62. The lexemes are real and rare, but four named commentators (Barnes, Cambridge, K&D, Pulpit) hold that the two Migrons are different places, so the geographical identity behind the thread is contested and must be verified before being relied on.
Cambridge, commenting on “there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few,” gathers 1 Samuel 17:46-47, Judges 7:4-7, 2 Chronicles 14:11 and the speech of Judas Maccabaeus, and then names the New Testament verse that collects them all: these were among the heroes who “through faith waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Hebrews 11:34). ⚙ Hebrews 11:32 names Samuel and the judges by name and then describes deeds without naming the doers, and v. 34 is a fair description of what happens in this chapter. This link cannot be verbal: Hebrews is Greek and 1 Samuel is Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and none is claimed. The basis is the shared pattern of faith-won victory against numbers, and the named citation by Cambridge.
Hebrews 11:34 · Judges 7:7
basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): shared Strong's numbers are impossible by definition, so no verbal tier is available. Recorded basis: Cambridge at 1 Samuel 14:6 explicitly cites Hebrews 11:34 together with Judges 7:4-7 and 1 Maccabees 3:16-21, plus the shared structural pattern of victory by the few.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Jonathan's confidence in v. 6 is expressed with לְהוֹשִׁיעַ, the Hiphil of yâshaʻ (H3467), whose root sense in the lexicon is “to be open, wide or free”: to bring a hemmed-in man into open ground. The narrator answers it in v. 23 with the same verb of God Himself, וַיּוֹשַׁע יְהוָה, “and the LORD saved Israel that day.” Ellicott notes that these are “the identical words used at the Red Sea,” and Cambridge cites Exodus 14:30. ⚙ That verb is the root of the name Matthew 1:21 explains: “thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” The identification of the name with this verb is the New Testament's own and is held by the whole tradition; what is ⚙ synthesis is the application here, that this chapter defines the saving in question as something God does through an unlikely few, against every hindrance, for a people who were hiding in caves.
Matthew 1:21 · Exodus 14:30 · 1 Samuel 14:23
In v. 12 Jonathan says to his armour-bearer עֲלֵה אַחֲרַי, “come up after me,” and then gives the reason: “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” Benson catches the pronoun: “he does not say, into our hand, but into the hand of Israel; for he sought not his own glory, but the public good.” The man who climbs is the king's son; he climbs on his hands and on his feet, exposed (gâlâh, H1540, v. 8), ahead of everyone, and a nation that took no part in the climb receives the victory. ⚙ We offer this as a figure of the one who was made captain of salvation and went up first, so that those who follow after receive what they did not win. This is our reading, not the commentators': Ellicott, K&D, Cambridge and Pulpit all read Jonathan as an example of faith, and none of them reads him as a type of Christ. We mark it novel and put it forward to be tested, noting the obvious limit: Jonathan kills, and the Philistines fall before him, which is not what is said of the cross.
Hebrews 2:10 · Hebrews 12:2 · 1 Samuel 14:12
Saul's one act of enquiry ends with אֱסֹף יָדֶךָ, “gather in thy hand” (ʼâsaph, H622). JFB explains the gesture: “The priest, invested with the ephod, prayed with raised and extended hands.” Ellicott preserves Bishop Andrewes on it, that some “will begin their prayers, and break them off in the midst on every occasion,” and Henry that Saul “would not stay to end his devotions.” ⚙ The chapter therefore holds up a king whose priest is silenced mid-prayer at the decisive hour, in a book that has already told us the glory departed from Eli's house. Against that, the epistle to the Hebrews sets a priest who “ever liveth to make intercession” and whose hands are never called back. The contrast is the tool's, drawn from the named observations of JFB, Ellicott and Henry; it is a reading offered for testing, not a claim that the text of 1 Samuel intends it.
Hebrews 7:25 · 1 Samuel 14:19
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. Text. Three places here are genuinely uncertain and we have not hidden the seams. (1) v. 7, נְטֵה לָךְ: Cambridge says “The reading of the Heb. text is doubtful, and that of the Sept. perhaps to be preferred,” and the suffix on lāḵ is parsed second person feminine against a masculine addressee; our literal line follows the Masoretic consonants. (2) v. 14, the measure of ground: Barnes calls the Hebrew “extremely obscure,” the Septuagint reads weapons (“darts and slings and stones of the field”) rather than acreage, Ewald and Bunsen are reported taking it quite differently, and Cambridge notes the LXX rendering may be “mere conjecture.” (3) v. 18, “the ark of God”: Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, Ellicott and K&D all prefer the Septuagint's ephod, chiefly because the verb הַגִּישָׁה is used for fetching the ephod (1 Samuel 23:9; 30:7) and never for the ark, and because the ark was at Kirjath-jearim; the Masoretic reading is nonetheless supported by the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic and Vulgate, and the final clause of the verse is ungrammatical as it stands (K&D judges that its closing words should be read liḇnê or lipnê, the conjunction as it stands giving no sense). Our literal line keeps “ark” and flags the problem rather than silently adopting the LXX. (4) v. 16, וַהֲלֹם: K&D calls the words “obscure,” Barnes “obscure and probably corrupt,” Cambridge doubts that any meaning can be extracted from the present text. Sources. The Hebrew text, interlinear glosses, parses and Strong's numbers are from the Berean data supplied in the brief; the BSB is CC0. All ✦ quotations are verbatim public-domain commentary, resolved from anchors by machine so that nothing was retyped: Ellicott (1878), Henry (1706), Barnes (1834), JFB (1871), Gill (1746-63), Geneva (1599), Cambridge (1880s), Pulpit (1880s), K&D (1860s), Benson (1810s), Poole (1685). Where a commentator quotes someone else inside his own entry (Ellicott quoting Bishop Hall at v. 6 and Bishop Andrewes at v. 19; Cambridge and Barnes quoting Conder's survey at v. 4; JFB and K&D quoting Robinson), the words are that third party's and we have said so in the editorial notes. Disputed readings we left open. Whether ʼûlay in v. 6 admits real doubt (Poole and Benson yes, JFB no); whether the earthquake of v. 15 is literal (Ellicott, Barnes, Poole) or a figure for panic (Pulpit, and Cambridge as a possibility); whether Ahijah is the Ahimelech of 1 Samuel 22 (Ellicott, Cambridge and K&D think probably, Barnes will not decide, Pulpit argues against); whether Migron here is Isaiah's Migron (four commentators say no, which is why that thread is flagged). Limits of the ⚙ layer. The cross-reference bases are the Verifier's computed shared lexemes, quoted with their frequencies; where no such basis exists, as with Judges 7:22 and Hebrews 11:34, we say so and rest the thread on a named commentator's citation and on pattern, never on an invented verbal link. Cross-Testament threads carry no verbal tier because shared Strong's numbers between Greek and Hebrew are impossible. Two of the three christological readings are marked novel because no commentator in this brief makes them; they are offered to be tested, not asserted.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)