1 Samuel 14:23
in 1 Samuel 14So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Jehovah saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth-aven.
KJV
So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth–aven.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven--that is, "Beth-el." It passed over the forest, now destroyed, on the central ridge of Palestine, then over to the other side from the eastern pass of Michmash (1Sa 14:31), to the western pass of Aijalon, through which they escaped into their own plains.
This site's exposition
every man’s sword was against his fellow
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.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
The battle, however, reached as far as Bethaven. Bethaven is called the house of idols or the useless house. And thus the Church pursues heretics by arguing, until it convinces them that in many things they have blasphemed equal to the madness of pagans, and …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
Because likewise through love of that heavenly life the darkness of sins is abandoned, there follows: (Verse 23.) "And the Lord saved Israel on that day." The contemplation of the inner light is indeed a splendid and most brilliant day, on which the Lord saves Israel, because those whose hearts he irradiates with the light of inward splendor, he raises to the height of perpetual salvation. For the Lord is said to save on that day, because no one is kindled to the love of eternal life from whom the splendor of the inner light is hidden.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The battle - That is, the warriors who were engaged in the battle, and were pursuing the Philistines. Yet it is said, the Lord saved Israel that day: he did it by them: for without him they could do nothing. Salvation is of the Lord.
31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint. 32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the L ORD , in that they eat with the blood.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v31-33
So the Lord saved Israel that day, &c.
1 more voice on this verse
Modern Voices1 voice
A commentator
GK ChestertonTime'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
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיּ֧וֹשַׁע | vaiyoosha' | and he delivered | H3467 → | 206 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֖וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְהַ֨מִּלְחָמָ֔ה | vehamilchamah | and the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| עָבְרָ֖ה | ʾaverah | it passed beyond | H5674 → | 556 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | Beth | H1007 → | 14 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | Aven | H1007 → | 14 times |
וַיּ֧וֹשַׁעand he delivered
vaiyoosha'H3467 →206 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֖וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְהַ֨מִּלְחָמָ֔הand the battle
vehamilchamahH4421 →320 times
עָבְרָ֖הit passed beyond
ʾaverahH5674 →556 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּ֥יתBeth
beitH1007 →14 times
אָֽוֶן׃Aven
ʾavenH1007 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Hosea 1:7Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”
it leads to
- Zechariah 4:6
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Isaiah 12:2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
- Psalms 44:3–6
For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because…
- 2 Kings 19:35
And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the…
- Zechariah 4:6
Through
Exodus 14:30That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:8
Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.
- Psalms 106:10
He saved them from the hand that hated them; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
- Psalms 106:8
Through
2 Kings 14:27and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 13:23
But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been…
- 2 Kings 13:23
Through
1 Samuel 13:5Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of…
it leads to
- Joshua 11:4
So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
- Joshua 11:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.