1 Samuel 14:3

14:1-15 Saul seems to have been quite at a loss, and unable to help himself. Those can never think themselves safe who see themselves out of God's protection. Now he sent for a priest and the ark. He hopes to make up matters with the Almighty by a partial reformation, as many do whose hearts are unhumbled and unchanged. Many love to have ministers who prophesy smooth things to them. Jonathan felt a Divine impulse and impression, putting him upon this bold adventure. God will direct the steps of those that acknowledge him in all their ways, and seek to him for direction, with full purpose of heart to follow his guidance. Sometimes we find most comfort in that which is least our own doing, and into which we have been led by the unexpected but well-observed turns of Divine providence. There was trembling in the host. 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.

1 Samuel 14:3 . And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub — The high-priest, who was here to attend upon the ark, which had been brought hither, 1 Samuel 14:18 . The son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh — These last words manifestly belong not to Ahiah, but to Eli, who was high-priest while the tabernacle was at Shiloh. Wearing an ephod — Or rather, the ephod; that is, the high-priest’s ephod, comprehending the breast-plate with the Urim and Thummim, which were inseparable from it. These Ahiah, being high-priest, now wore. Saul, being now in great distress, probably had sent for Ahiah, that he might consult God for him, as there should be occasion.

Verse 3. - Ahiah, the son of Ahitub. (See on 1 Samuel 13:9.) It is interesting to find the house of Eli recovering at last from its disaster, and one of its members duly ministering in his office before the king. It has been debated whether he was the same person as Ahimelech, mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:1 , etc., the supposition being grounded on the fact that Ahiah is never spoken of again. But he may have died; and with regard to the argument drawn from the similarity of the names, we must notice that names compounded with Ah (or Ach), brother, were common in Eli's family, while compounds with Ab , father, were most in use among Saul's relatives. Ahiah or Ahijah means Jah is brother ; his father is Ahitub, the brother is good ; why should he not call another son Ahimelech, the brother is king? Jehovah's priest in Shiloh. This refers to Eli, the regular rule in Hebrew being that all such statements belong, not to the son, but to the father. Wearing an ephod. Literally, ephod bearing. The ephod, as we have seen on 1 Samuel 2:18, was the usual ministerial garment; but what is meant here is not an ordinary ephod of linen, but that described in Leviticus 8:7, 8 , wherein was the breastplate, by which Jehovah's will was made known to his people, until prophecy took its place.

All this, the former part of the verse, must be regarded as a parenthesis. 1 Samuel 14:3Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old TestamentAlong with Saul and his six hundred men, there was also Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, the (elder) brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest at Shiloh, and therefore a great-grandson of Eli, wearing the ephod, i.e., in the high priest's robes. Ahiah is generally supposed to be the same person as Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub (1 Samuel 22:9.), in which case Ahiah (אחיּה, brother, i.e., friend of Jehovah) would be only another form of the name Ahimelech (i.e., brother or friend of the King, viz., Jehovah). This is very probable, although Ahimelech might have been Ahaiah's brother, who succeeded him in the office of high priest on account of his having died without sons, since there is an interval of at least ten years between the events related in this chapter and those referred to in 1 Samuel 22. Ahimelech was afterwards slain by Saul along with the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 22:9.); the only one who escaped being his son Abiathar, who fled to David and, according to 1 Samuel 30:7, was invested with the ephod.

3 . And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub ] And [there was with him] Ahiah , or Ahijah , as the name is usually transliterated. Ahijah is perhaps the same as Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, the priest at Nob, who was the victim of Saul’s sacrilegious vengeance ( 1 Samuel 22:9 ). The name Ahijah = “brother of Jah” and Ahimelech = “brother of the king” may have been applied to the same person, Melech king being substituted for the divine name Jah in ordinary intercourse. But it is also possible that Ahimelech was the brother of Ahijah and his successor in the high priesthood. I-chabod’s brother ] See 1 Samuel 4:21 . I-chabod’s elder brother Ahitub was probably about the same age as Samuel, and his son may have been high-priest already for some time. Fifty years or more must have elapsed since the death of Eli. See Introduction, Ch. III. the Lord’s priest in Shiloh ] These words must be referred to Eli as the most famous priest during the period while the Tabernacle was at Shiloh, not to Ahijah. It is all but certain that Shiloh ceased to be the religious centre of the nation after the capture of the Ark. wearing an ephod ] i.e. officiating as high-priest. See note on 1 Samuel 2:18 . His presence with the army is noticed to prepare the way for the fact mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:18 .

Whether "Ahiah" or "Ahijah" is the same person as "Ahimelech the son of Ahitub" (see the marginal reference), or whether Ahimelech was the brother or son of Ahijah, and his successor in the priesthood, it is impossible to say certainly. Most probably "Ahijah" and "Ahimilech" are variations of the same name; the latter element in each alone being different, מלך melek (king) being substituted for the divine name יה yâhh. Compare "Eliakim" and "Jehoiakim" 2 Kings 23:34 , "Eliab" and "Eliel" 1 Chronicles 6:27 , 1 Chronicles 6:34 . This fragment of a genealogy is a very valuable help to the chronology. The grandson of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was now High Priest; and Samuel, who was probably a few years older than Ahitub the son of Phinehas, was now an old man. All this indicates a period of about 50 years or upward from the taking of the ark by the Philistines. The Lord's priest in Shiloh - But as Eli was so emphatically known and described in 1 Samuel 1-4, as God's Priest at Shiloh, and as there is every reason to believe that Shiloh was no longer the seat of the ark in Saul's time (see 1 Samuel 22; 1 Chronicles 13:3-5), it is better to refer these words to Eli, and not to Ahijah, to whom the next words, "wearing an ephod," apply. (See 1 Samuel 2:28; Judges 1:1 note.)

(3) Ahiah, the son of Ahitub. —The Chronicles, rehearsing these facts, show us what a terrible impression the last events in Eli’s reign as high priest had made in Israel. The destruction of Shiloh, the death of the high priest, the fall of Phinehas and his brother in battle, the melancholy circumstances of the birth of I-chabod, were still fresh in the memory of the people. Well might Jonathan be ready to sacrifice himself if he could deal an effectual blow upon these hereditary enemies of his country. Of this high priest Ahiah we never hear again in these Books of Samuel. He is generally supposed to be the same as the high priest Ahimelech, who was subsequently murdered by Doeg, by the direction of Saul, with the priests at Nob ( 1Samuel 22:9 , &c.). The name Ahiah signifies “brother,” or “friend of the Eternal”; Ahimelech, “brother of the king,” may be another form of the same name. Wearing an ephod.—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.