I Samuel 14:32
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So 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.
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 ↗14:32-34 The men were famished, so they ate meat without draining the blood. This act violated God’s law (see Lev 17:10-14) and thus constituted sinning against the Lord. To prevent more sin, Saul used a large rock as a field altar so that the animals’ blood could be properly drained. The incident would never have occurred had it not been for Saul’s foolish oath.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”
So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
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.
Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.