1 Samuel 14:35
in 1 Samuel 14Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had built an altar to the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Saul built an altar unto Jehovah: the same was the first altar that he built unto Jehovah.
KJV
And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And Saul built ... - i. e., of the great stone which they had rolled to kill the oxen and sheep upon, he began to build an altar to Yahweh (see the margin); but he did not finish it (compare 1Ch 27:24), in his haste to pursue the Philistines that night.
This site's exposition
the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it
on 1 Samuel 14:33-35
Saul acts at once, rolling a large stone as a place of slaughter so the animals can be killed and drained properly. The chapter adds that this was "the first time he had built an altar to the LORD," in the chapter of his rash oath and his cut-short inquiry. Zeal for the letter of the law and carelessness with the LORD’s word stand side by side in one king.
This site's exposition
Saul built an altar to the LORD
Albert Barnes reads the Hebrew as Saul beginning an altar, built from the great stone of verse 33. He compares 1 Chronicles 27:24, where a census is begun and left unfinished. Saul's haste to pursue cut the work short.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Saul built an altar to the Lord. He built an altar to offer a holocaust upon it and to intervene for the sin of the people, which they had rashly committed. Every perfect teacher builds in the hearts of the hearers the faith in the …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
For when sinners are converted, a heavenly edifice is, as it were, constructed from stones. And since many manuscripts have: "And then Saul first began to build," the name of altar can be understood as compunction of heart. For when compunction of heart is raised up through the word of a teacher, an altar is surely built to the Lord. And it is said to have been built first, because there is a compunction of love.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), that he might offer sacrifice, either by way of acknowledgment of the victory they had obtained or by the way of atonement for the sin they had been guilty of. The same was the first altar that he built, and perhaps the rolling of the great stone to kill the beasts on reminded him of converting it into an altar, else he would not have thought of it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Saul built an altar unto the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Saul built an altar - And this we are informed was the first he had built; Samuel, as prophet had hitherto erected the altars, and Saul thought he had sufficient authority to erect one himself without the prophet, as he once offered sacrifice without him.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֧בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| שָׁא֛וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֖חַ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹת֣וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הֵחֵ֔ל | hechel | he began | H2490 → | 143 times |
| לִבְנ֥וֹת | livnot | to build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֖חַ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַֽיהוָֽה׃ פ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיִּ֧בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
שָׁא֛וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
מִזְבֵּ֖חַan altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
לַֽיהוָ֑הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹת֣וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
הֵחֵ֔לhe began
hechelH2490 →143 times
לִבְנ֥וֹתto build
livnotH1129 →376 times
מִזְבֵּ֖חַan altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
לַֽיהוָֽה׃ פto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 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
2 Timothy 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Matthew 23:27–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- 1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
- Romans 2:20–24
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
- Isaiah 29:13
Through
1 Samuel 7:12Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
- Joshua 4:9
Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
- Acts 26:22
But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.