1 Samuel 14:32
in 1 Samuel 14So they rushed greedily to the plunder, taking sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them on the ground and ate meat with the blood still in it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in 1 Samuel 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd the people flew upon the spoil,.... Like a swift and ravenous bird, as the eagle, and which seems to have its name in Greek from this word, see Isa 46:
This site's exposition
the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon
on 1 Samuel 14:31-32
The pursuit runs from Michmash to Aijalon, and the starved army rushes on the plunder and eats "meat with the blood still in it" where it falls. The oath meant to secure a complete victory produces a different sin against the law. Barnes reads the rash vow and the eating with blood as one chain, a king’s private zeal creating a public transgression he then has to police.
This site's exposition
rushed greedily to the plunder
John Gill notes that the Hebrew verb for the troops' rush pictures a bird of prey swooping on the plunder. Matthew Henry notes that the hungry troops slaughtered the animals on the ground, leaving the blood in the meat. The faint troops ate at once.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
He carries off the sheep who recalls the manifold causes of his innocence for the purpose of pride. He carries off the oxen as plunder when he thinks about the labors of his preaching and, by remembering, heaps together whatever he has accomplished by speaking to others, as if by cultivating the earth. He carries off the calves when he is puffed up over the fact that suppressed impulses of lust are brought back to mind.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Slew - At evening, when the time prefixed by Saul was expired. With blood - Not having patience to tarry 'till the blood was perfectly gone out of them, as they should have done.
Two hungry meals, we say, make the third a glutton; it was so here. They would not stay to have their meat either duly killed (for they slew the cattle upon the ground, and did not hang them up, as they used to do, that the blood might all run out of them) or duly dressed, but fell greedily upon it before it was half boiled or half roasted,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The people did eat them with the blood - They were faint through hunger, and did not take time to bleed the cattle on which they fed. This was another bad effect of Saul’s rash adjuration.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֤עַט | vaiyaas | and it rushed | H5860 → | 3 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַשָּׁלָ֔ל | hashalal | the plunder | H7998 → | 73 times |
| וַיִּקְח֨וּ | vaiyikchu | and they took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| צֹ֧אן | tzon | sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבָקָ֛ר | uvakar | and cattle | H1241 → | 183 times |
| וּבְנֵ֥י | uvenei | and [the] young of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בָקָ֖ר | vakar | cattle | H1241 → | 183 times |
| וַיִּשְׁחֲטוּ־ | vaiyishchatu- | and they slaughtered [them] | H7819 → | 81 times |
| אָ֑רְצָה | ʾaretzah | [the] ground towards | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אכַל | vaiyokhal | and it ate [them] | H398 → | 810 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַדָּֽם׃ | hadam | the blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
וַיַּ֤עַטand it rushed
vaiyaasH5860 →3 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַשָּׁלָ֔לthe plunder
hashalalH7998 →73 times
וַיִּקְח֨וּand they took
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
צֹ֧אןsheep
tzonH6629 →274 times
וּבָקָ֛רand cattle
uvakarH1241 →183 times
וּבְנֵ֥יand [the] young of
uveneiH1121 →4930 times
בָקָ֖רcattle
vakarH1241 →183 times
וַיִּשְׁחֲטוּ־and they slaughtered [them]
vaiyishchatu-H7819 →81 times
אָ֑רְצָה[the] ground towards
ʾaretzahH776 →2504 times
וַיֹּ֥אכַלand it ate [them]
vaiyokhalH398 →810 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
עַל־with
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַדָּֽם׃the blood
hadamH1818 →360 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
Genesis 9:4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:23
Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 15:23
But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 12:16
but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Acts 15:20
Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
- Leviticus 7:26
You must not eat the blood of any bird or animal in any of your dwellings.
- Deuteronomy 12:23
Through
Leviticus 3:17This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”
it leads to
- Genesis 9:4
But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 9:4
Through
Leviticus 19:26You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 18:10–14
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Deuteronomy 18:10–14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.