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1 Samuel 14:40

in 1 Samuel 14

Then Saul said to all Israel, “You stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other side.” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee.

KJV

Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 14

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

You stand on one side

on 1 Samuel 14:40-42

Saul narrows the field twice by lot, the people against himself and Jonathan, then himself against Jonathan. The lot is the formal priestly channel Saul trusts, set against Jonathan’s private test at the pass, one king waiting on a mechanism and one son moving on a hopeful perhaps. Jonathan is taken, and the reader already knows why the LORD did not answer at verse 37.

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

What does it mean that by the king's command the people are separated from the king and his son, except that when a hidden and suspected fault is sought, both the higher and lower persons must be examined? Indeed, often the people sin, and often their ruler sins; and sometimes the very fault of the subjects is ascribed to the prelate, by whose negligence it is said to be brought about.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But, when Jonathan is in danger, Saul's word is no longer a law to them, but with the utmost zeal they oppose the execution of his sentence: " Shall Jonathan die --that blessing, that darling, of his country? Shall that life be sacrificed to a punctilio of law and honour which was so bravely exposed for the public service, and to which we owe our lives and triumphs?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

Then said he unto all Israel,....

The words behind it

21 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

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אַתֶּם֙you

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • תִּֽהְיוּ֙you will be

    tihyuH1961 →3559 times

  • לְעֵ֣בֶרto a side

    leeverH5676 →90 times

  • אֶחָ֔דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • וַֽאֲנִי֙and I

    vaaniH589 →874 times

  • וְיוֹנָתָ֣ןand Jonathan

    veyonatanH3129 →43 times

  • בְּנִ֔יson my

    beniH1121 →4930 times

  • נִהְיֶ֖הwe will be

    nihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • לְעֵ֣בֶרto a side

    leeverH5676 →90 times

  • אֶחָ֑דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • וַיֹּאמְר֤וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שָׁא֔וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • הַטּ֥וֹבthe good

    hatovH2896 →538 times

  • בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָin view your

    beeineikhaH5869 →887 times

  • עֲשֵֽׂה׃ סdo

    ʾasehH6213 →2628 times

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

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

8 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

    1 Samuel 14:36

    And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. But the priest said,…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 73:28

      But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.

    • Isaiah 48:1–2

      “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke…

    • Numbers 27:21

      He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will…

    • Joshua 11:14

      The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 14:7

    His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 7:3

      And Nathan replied to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

  • Through

    2 Samuel 15:15

    The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

    it leads to

    • John 6:66–69

      From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

    • Luke 22:28–29

      You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials.

    • Proverbs 18:24

      A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

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 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 14 →