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1 Samuel 14:21

in 1 Samuel 14

And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps of the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now the Hebrews that were with the Philistines as beforetime, and that went up with them into the camp, from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

KJV

Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 14

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time,.... Who either were their servants and bondsmen they brought along with them, or such in whose cities they dwelt, or had taken as they came along, and forced into their army; or it may be some of them were renegades from the Israelites, deserters, who for safety and subsistence betook themselves to them as the stronger party.

This site's exposition

with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor

on 1 Samuel 14:20-23

The rout turns the Philistine camp against itself before Saul's men strike a blow, and Hebrews who had gone over to the Philistine side and Israelites hiding in the hills both come out to join the winning side once the outcome is plain. The narrator names the true cause without qualifying it: so the LORD saved Israel that day. The battle rolls past Michmash to Beth-aven, a place name that will carry its own irony after Saul's next decision.

This site's exposition

the Hebrews who had previously gone up

John Gill reckoned these men as servants, conscripts or deserters who had joined the stronger side. Adam Clarke notes that the Septuagint reads slaves here, from a Hebrew word differing by one letter. These are the Hebrews of 13:7.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, etc. Many, having been seduced by heretics and fighting against the Church with them, when they perceived the dissonance of their doctrine, and saw their dialectical subtleties surpassed by the simplicity …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

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

proposed

Who are the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines, if not sinners who have fallen from a religious way of life? Of whom it was said not far above: "The Hebrews crossed the Jordan." They are Hebrews indeed by the order of religion, but they are with the Philistines, and they go up with them, as long as they are deceived by harmful suggestions and advance in wicked conduct.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The Hebrews that were with the Philistines - We may understand such as they held in bondage, or who were their servants. Instead of Hebrews the Septuagint read, οἱ δουλοι, the slaves; from which it is evident that, instead of עברים Ibrim, Hebrews, they found in their text עבדים abadim, servants. But this reading is not countenanced by any other version, nor by any MS. yet discovered.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Saul and all the people--All the warriors in the garrison at Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.

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

19 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.

  • וְהָעִבְרִ֗יםand the Hebrews

    vehaivrimH5680 →34 times

  • הָי֤וּthey [who] were [belonging]

    hayuH1961 →3559 times

  • לַפְּלִשְׁתִּים֙to the Philistines

    lapelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • כְּאֶתְמ֣וֹלas yesterday

    keetmolH865 →8 times

  • שִׁלְשׁ֔וֹםthree days ago

    shilshomH8032 →24 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָל֥וּthey had gone up

    ʾaluH5927 →890 times

  • עִמָּ֛םwith them

    ʾimamH5973 →1050 times

  • בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הin the camp

    bamachanehH4264 →215 times

  • סָבִ֑יבall around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • וְגַם־and also

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • הֵ֗מָּהthey

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • לִֽהְיוֹת֙to be

    lihyotH1961 →3559 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עִם־[was] with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • שָׁא֖וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וְיוֹנָתָֽן׃and Jonathan

    veyonatanH3129 →43 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Judges 7:23

    Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

    it leads to

    • Judges 6:35

      Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.

    • 1 Samuel 14:21–22

      And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps of the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 29:4

    But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 12:19

      Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will…

    • 1 Samuel 27:6

      That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.

    • Luke 16:8

      The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

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; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.

Read on in 1 Samuel 14 →