54 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel,.... And had saved them that day with a great salvation and had wrought a great deliverance for them in freeing them from the Philistines, who had threatened the ruin of the whole nation. This is the form of an oath: though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die; that is, though the sin should be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said he unto all Israel,.... As many of them as were present; not the principal men only, but the common people; not the officers only, but the common soldiers in the army: be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side: so they divided to the right and left, one went one way, and the other the other; there were two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel,.... After the division was made between him and his son on one side, and the people of Israel on the other, and everything was ready for the drawing of the lot; Saul put up to God the following petition, as knowing that though the lot is cast into the lap, the disposing of it is of the Lord: give a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul said, cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son,..... Which showed his regard strict justice, and that he had no consciousness of guilt in himself, and should not spare his own son if found guilty: and Jonathan was taken: the lot fell upon him, which was so directed, that his ignorance of his father's charge and oath might appear; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what thou hast done,.... What sin he had committed, the lot having fallen on him, and found him out: and Jonathan told him; the whole of the matter, all the truth, without any reserve: and said, I did but take a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand; he speaks of the fact as a trivial thing,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul answered, God do so and more also,.... A form of an oath imprecating evils upon him more and greater than he chose to mention, see the like form in Ruth 1:17, though Abarbinel thinks this is not the form of an oath, but an asseveration of a curse that would befall him; as that God would not answer him when he inquired of him, and that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the people said unto Saul,.... Hearing such words, and filled with grief, pity, and sympathy for Jonathan, as Josephus (k) observes: shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? no, he shall not; what, such a man as he die, who, under God, has been the instrument of so great deliverance, who first began it himself with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Saul went up from following the Philistines,.... Returned home to his own city, finding that he could get no answer from the Lord, whether he should pursue further or not, and losing the time and opportunity of doing it, by examining into the affair of his son, and casting lots to find it out: and the Philistines went to their own place;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Saul took the kingdom over Israel,.... Which seemed to be almost taken from him when he was shut up in Gibeah, and the Philistines ravaged his country at pleasure; but now, having obtained a victory over them, he recovered his kingdom, and reassumed his power and authority; or he was now strengthened in it, as Kimchi interprets it; the people...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he gathered an host,.... A large army; for after the battle with the Ammonites he disbanded his army, and sent them home, retaining only 3000 men, and these deserted him to six hundred, which were all the men he had with him, when he fought last with the Philistines; but now, finding he had enemies on every side of him, he gathered a numerous...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the sons of Saul were Jonathan,.... Who seems to be his firstborn, of whom, his valour and success, we read in this and the preceding chapter: and Ishui; the same with Abinadab, 1 Chronicles 8:33 for he had two names: and Melchishua; and besides these three there was another, whose name was Ishbosheth, sometimes called Eshbaal, 2 Samuel 2:8...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz,.... Who very probably was the mother of all the above children, and therefore taken notice of; and Abarbinel conjectures that Ishbosheth was not a son of her's, but the son of Saul by another wife, and which he takes to be another reason why he is not mentioned here; but though Saul...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Kish was the father of Saul,.... See 1 Samuel 9:1 and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel; this Abiel was the father both of Kish and Ner, and the grandfather of Saul, see 1 Samuel 9:1.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul,.... For notwithstanding the late victory over them, and slaughter made among them, they recovered themselves, and came out again to battle, and gave Saul a great deal of trouble, and he at last died in battle with them: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he...