1 Samuel 13:23-14

Expanded Bible

Israel Defeats the Philistines

²³ A ·group from [unit/detachment of] the Philistine army had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

14 One day Jonathan, Saul’s son, said to ·the officer who carried his armor [his armor bearer], “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine ·camp [outpost] on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father.

² Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree at ·the threshing floor [or Migron] near Gibeah. He had about six hundred men with him. ³ One man was Ahijah who was wearing the ·holy vest [ephod; Ex. 28:6–14]. (Ahijah was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub. Ichabod was the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh.) No one knew Jonathan had left.

⁴ There was a ·steep slope [rocky crag/cliff] on each side of the pass that Jonathan planned to go through to reach the Philistine ·camp [outpost]. The cliff on one side was named Bozez, and the cliff on the other side was named Seneh. ⁵ One ·cliff [crag] faced north toward Micmash. The other faced south toward Geba.

⁶ Jonathan said to his ·officer who carried his armor [armor bearer], “Come. Let’s go to the ·camp [outpost] of those men who are not circumcised [^CPhilistines were among the few Near Eastern people of the day who did not practice circumcision; it had special significance in Israel; Gen. 17:9–14]. Maybe the Lord will ·help [act/work something for] us. The Lord ·can give us victory if [is able to save/rescue whether] we have many people, or just a few.”

⁷ ·The officer who carried Jonathan’s armor [His armor bearer] said to him, “Do whatever you think is best. Go ahead. ·I’m with you [Our hearts/minds are one].”

⁸ Jonathan said, “Then come. We will cross over to the Philistines and let them see us. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Stay there until we come to you [^Cin order to kill them],’ we will stay where we are. We won’t go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come up to us [^Cin order to fight],’ we will climb up, and the Lord will ·let us defeat them [^Lgive them into our hands]. This will be the sign for us.”

¹¹ When they both let the Philistines see them, the Philistines said, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in!” ¹² The Philistines in the ·camp [outpost] shouted to Jonathan and his officer, “Come up to us. ·We’ll teach you a lesson [or We have something to tell/show you]!”

Jonathan said to his ·officer [armor bearer], “Climb up behind me, because the Lord has given the Philistines ·to [^Linto the hands of] Israel!” ¹³ So Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, and his ·officer [armor bearer] climbed just behind him. ·Jonathan struck down the Philistines [^LAnd they fell before Jonathan] as he went, and his ·officer [armor bearer] killed ·them as he followed [those who came from] behind him. ¹⁴ In that first ·fight [attack; slaughter] Jonathan and his officer killed about twenty Philistines over a ·half acre [^Lyoke] of ground.

¹⁵ All the Philistine soldiers panicked—those in the ·camp [outpost] and those in the raiding party. ·The ground itself shook [An earthquake struck]! God had caused the panic.

¹⁶ Saul’s ·guards [watchmen] were at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin when they saw the ·Philistine soldiers [^Lvast army; multitude] ·running in every direction [^Lmelting away, here and there]. ¹⁷ Saul said to his army, “·Check to see who has left our camp [Call the roll and see who has left us].” When they ·checked [called the roll], they learned that Jonathan and his ·officer [armor bearer] were gone.

¹⁸ So Saul said to Ahijah the priest, “Bring the ·Ark of God^[a] [or ephod; ^Csee text note; both are means of discerning God’s will].” (At that time ·it was with [or he was wearing it in front of] the Israelites.) ¹⁹ While Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp was growing. Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Put your hand down! [^Cto stop the inquiry of God]”

²⁰ Then Saul ·gathered his army [assembled; gathered] and entered the battle. They found the Philistines [^Ltotally; greatly] confused, striking each other with their swords! ²¹ Earlier, there were Hebrews who had ·served [defected/gone over to] the Philistines and had stayed in their camp, but now they ·joined [went over to] the Israelites with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the Israelites hidden in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim heard that the Philistine soldiers were running away, they also joined the battle ·and chased the Philistines [in hot pursuit]. ²³ So the Lord ·saved [rescued; delivered] the Israelites that day, and the battle ·moved on past [spread beyond] Beth Aven.