1 Samuel 14:28

14:24-35 Saul's severe order was very unwise; if it gained time, it lost strength for the pursuit. Such is the nature of our bodies, that daily work cannot be done without daily bread, which therefore our Father in heaven graciously gives. Saul was turning aside from God, and now he begins to build altars, being then most zealous, as many are, for the form of godliness when he was denying the power of it.

Then answered one of the people, and said,.... To Jonathan, who might direct and encourage the people to do as he had done, at least so he did by his example, if not by words; the latter is not improbable: and therefore one of the men that came along with Saul, and had now joined Jonathan, and who heard what Saul had said, replied: thy father straitly charged the people with an oath; gave them a strict charge, with an oath or imprecation annexed to it: saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food this day; that is, until the evening, as in 1 Samuel 14:24. and the people were faint; which is either the observation of the writer of the book; or it may be the words of the man, imputing the faintness of the people to this adjuration of Saul restraining them from food; or as taking notice how strictly the people observed it, though they were hungry, faint, and weary.

Verse 28. - And the people were faint. There is great diversity of opinion whether this be part or not of the speech of the man who informed Jonathan of the oath forced on the people by Saul. It makes, perhaps, the better sense if regarded as the continuation of the history, and inserted to justify Jonathan's disapproval of his father's hasty command. The fight rendering is were weary , as in the margin and Judges 4:21 . 1 Samuel 14:28

(28) Then answered one of the people. —Most probably, in reply to Jonathan’s pointing out the plentiful supply of honey, and inviting the soldiers near him to refresh themselves with it. The words “and the people were faint,” at the close of the verse, should be rendered, and the people are faint; they were part of the speech of the soldier who was telling Jonathan of his father’s rash oath.

25. all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey—The honey is described as "upon the ground," "dropping" from the trees, and in honeycombs—indicating it to be bees' honey. "Bees in the East are not, as in England, kept in hives; they are all in a wild state. The forests literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen hanging on the trees as you pass along, full of honey" [Roberts].

When one of the people told him thereupon of his father's oath, in consequence of which the people were exhausted (העם ויּעף belongs to the man's words; and ויּעף is the same as in Judges 4:21 ), Jonathan condemned the prohibition. "My father has brought the land (i.e., the people of the land, as in 1 Samuel 14:25 ) into trouble (עכר, see at Genesis 34:30 ): see how bright mine eyes have become because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more if the people had eaten to-day of the booty of its enemies, would not the overthrow among the Philistines truly have then become great?" כּי אף, lit. to this (there comes) also that equals not to mention how much more; and עתּה כּי is an emphatic introduction of the apodosis, as in Genesis 31:42 ; Genesis 43:10 , and other passages, and the apodosis itself is to be taken as a question.

Compare Exodus 39:4 . The ephod consisted of two principal pieces of cloth, one for the back and the other for the front, joined together by shoulder straps (see Exodus 28:27 note). Below the arms, probably just above the hips, the two pieces were kept in place by a band attached to one of the pieces. On the respect in which the ephod of the High priest was held, see 1 Samuel 2:28 ; 1 Samuel 14:3 ; 1 Samuel 21:9 ; 1 Samuel 23:6-9 ; 1 Samuel 30:7 . But an ephod made of linen appears to have been a recognized garment not only for the common priests 1 Samuel 22:18 , but also for those who were even temporarily engaged in the service of the sanctuary 1 Samuel 2:18 ; 2 Samuel 6:14 ; 1 Chronicles 15:27 .