I Samuel 14:11
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So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We left the host of Israel in a very ill posture, in the close of the foregoing chapter; we saw in them no wisdom, nor strength, nor goodness, to give us ground to expect any other than that they should all be cut off by the army of the Philistines; yet here we find that infinite power which works without means, and that infinite goodness which gives without merit, glorified in a happy turn to their affairs, that still Samuel's words may be made good: "The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake," (Sa1 12:22). In this chapter we have, I. The host of the Philistines trampled upon, and triumphed over, by the faith and courage of Jonathan, who unknown to his father (Sa1 14:1-3), with his armour-bearer only, made a brave attack upon them, encouraging himself in the Lord his God (Sa1 14:4-7). He challenged them (Sa1 14:8-12), and, upon their acceptance of the challenge, charged them with such fury, or rather such faith, that he put them to flight, and set them one against another (Sa1 14:13-15), which gave opportunity to Saul and his forces, with other Israelites, to follow the blow, and gain a victory (Sa1 14:16-23). II. The host of Israel troubled and perplexed by the rashness and folly of Saul, who adjured the people to eat no food till night, which 1. Brought Jonathan to a praemunire (Sa1 14:24-30). 2. Was a temptation to the people, when the time of their fast had expired, to eat with the blood, (Sa1 14:31-35). Jonathan's error, through ignorance, had like to have been his death, but the people rescued him (Sa1 14:36-46). III. In the close we have a general account of Saul's exploits (Sa1 14:47, Sa1 14:48) and of his family (Sa1 14:49-52).
Open source ↗14:11 Hebrews: See study note on 13:3. • crawling out of their holes: See 13:6.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.