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1 Samuel 14:47

in 1 Samuel 14

After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he put them to the worse.

KJV

So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.

This verse in 1 Samuel 14

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Compare 2Sa 8:15. The preceding narrative shows that before this time Saul had been king in name only, since his country was occupied by the Philistines, and he could only muster 600 men, and those but half armed and pent up in a narrow stronghold.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Against Moab and the sons of Ammon, and Edom, etc. Moab and Ammon, who were conceived by incest at night through the help of drunkenness, in which there is lust (Eph. V), signify heretics, degenerate by the disorderly reception of the seed of paternal faith. …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

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

proposed

The kingdom is indeed weakened when pastors fall into certain faults. But the weakened kingdom is strengthened when through the satisfaction of penance they are raised up to the work of great virtue. And it is said to be strengthened over Israel, because as one advances to the height of life, he surpasses by his conduct those whom he exceeds in rank. He is set over those who see God, but he is raised above those who see God when he is taken up beyond all others in divine contemplation.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Took the kingdom - That is, resumed the administration of it, after he had in a manner lost it by the Philistines, who had almost turned him out of it.
So Saul took the kingdom over Israel,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is supposed that he acted only defensively against those that used to invade the borders of Israel; and whithersoever he turned himself, as there was occasion, he vexed them, by checking and disappointing them.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

So Saul took the kingdom - The Targum appears to give the meaning of this expression: “Saul prospered in his government over Israel.” And the proofs of his prosperity are immediately subjoined. Fought against all his enemies - Of the wars which are mentioned here we have no particulars; they must have endured a long time, and have been, at least in general, successful.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וְשָׁא֛וּלand Saul

    veshaulH7586 →402 times

  • לָכַ֥דhe had taken

    lakhadH3920 →121 times

  • הַמְּלוּכָ֖הthe kingship

    hamelukhahH4410 →24 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיִּלָּ֣חֶםand he waged war

    vaiyilachemH3898 →177 times

  • סָבִ֣יב׀all around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • בְּֽכָל־against all

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֹיְבָ֡יוenemies his

    ʾoyevavH341 →282 times

  • בְּמוֹאָ֣ב׀against Moab

    bemoavH4124 →181 times

  • וּבִבְנֵי־and against [the] people of

    uvivnei-H1121 →4930 times

  • עַמּ֨וֹןAmmon

    amonH5983 →106 times

  • וּבֶאֱד֜וֹםand against Edom

    uveedomH123 →

  • וּבְמַלְכֵ֤יand against [the] kings of

    uvemalkheiH4428 →2525 times

  • צוֹבָה֙Zobah

    tzovahH6678 →

  • וּבַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםand against the Philistines

    uvapelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • וּבְכֹ֥לand in every

    uvekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־where

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יִפְנֶ֖הhe turned

    yifnehH6437 →135 times

  • יַרְשִֽׁיעַ׃he acted wickedly

    yarshia'H7561 →

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

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

    2 Samuel 10:6

    When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah…

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 8:3

      David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Samuel 8:5

      When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men.

    • Genesis 34:30

      Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…

  • Through

    1 Samuel 12:2

    Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 8:1

      When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 8:5

      “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”

    • 1 Samuel 8:20

      Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”

  • Through

    1 Samuel 14:52

    And the war with the Philistines was fierce for all the days of Saul. So whenever he noticed any strong or brave man, Saul would enlist him.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 8:11

      He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to his own chariots and horses, to run in front of…

  • Through

    1 Kings 11:23

    And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 11:14

      Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4; 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.