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1 Samuel 14:17

in 1 Samuel 14

Saul 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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there.

KJV

Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 14

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Number now - Saul perceived that the Philistines were routed, but could not tell by what means; supposing that it must be by some of his own troops, he called a muster to see who and how many were absent.

This site's exposition

Call the roll and see who has left us

on 1 Samuel 14:17-19

Saul calls the roll, finds Jonathan and his armor-bearer missing, and calls for the ark so the priest can ask the LORD what to do. As the commotion grows, Saul cuts the process short and tells the priest to withdraw his hand. It is the first sign of a king who calls for inquiry and does not wait to finish it, and his inquiry at verse 37 gets no answer.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.

proposed

But because we said above that Saul signifies the chief priests, and Jonathan his son represents the subordinate persons of preachers, if we attend to what follows, we find in the chief pontiffs the apostolic solicitude which they maintain. About which blessed Paul indeed speaks, saying: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? Besides those things which are external, my daily urgency, the care of all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:29).

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Saul had once offended by offering sacrifice himself, ch. xiii. Now he resolves never to fall into that error again, and therefore sends for a priest, and hopes to compromise the matter with God Almighty by a particular reformation, as many do whose hearts are unhumbled and unchanged.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), which no doubt greatly animated them, and assured them that it could be no other than the Lord's doing, when there was no more of man's doing than what those two could do against a great host. Saul began to enquire of God, but soon desisted. His spirit had not come down so far as to allow him to consult Samuel, though, it is probable, he was near him; for we read ( ch. xiii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

Then said Saul unto the people that were with him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us--The idea occurred to him that it might be some daring adventurer belonging to his own little troop, and it would be easy to discover him.
1 more voice on this verse

Modern Voices1 voice

A commentator

GK Chesterton

Time's Abstract and Brief Chronicle (1904-1905) · Written before 1936.

proposed

The one perfectly divine thing, the one glimpse of God's paradise given on earth, is to fight a losing battle - and not lose it.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • שָׁא֗וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • לָעָם֙to the people

    laamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אִתּ֔וֹ[was] with him

    ʾitoH854 →929 times

  • פִּקְדוּ־muster

    pikdu-H6485 →303 times

  • נָ֣אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • וּרְא֔וּand see

    ureuH7200 →1300 times

  • מִ֖יwho?

    miH4310 →423 times

  • הָלַ֣ךְhas he gone

    halakhH1980 →1546 times

  • מֵעִמָּ֑נוּfrom with <the> us

    meimanuH5973 →1050 times

  • וַֽיִּפְקְד֔וּand they mustered

    vaiyifkeduH6485 →303 times

  • וְהִנֵּ֛הand there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • אֵ֥יןthere not

    ʾeinH369 →789 times

  • יוֹנָתָ֖ן[were] Jonathan

    yonatanH3129 →43 times

  • וְנֹשֵׂ֥אand [the] bearer of

    venose'H5375 →656 times

  • כֵלָֽיו׃armor<s> his

    khelavH3627 →325 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Samuel

Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 14 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; GK Chesterton, Time's Abstract and Brief Chronicle (1904-1905); Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 14 →