Key Verse Spotlight
1 Samuel 14:47 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" 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. "
1 Samuel 14:47
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.
46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
47 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.
48 And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.
49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:
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Here is a general account of Saul’s court and camp.
1. His court and family included his sons and daughters (1 Samuel 14:49), and also his wife and his cousin, who served as the commander of his army (1 Samuel 14:50). Another wife of Saul, Rizpah, a secondary wife, is mentioned later (2 Samuel 21:8), along with the children he had by her.
2. His camp and military actions are also summed up here. He gathered his army by taking into his service any strong and brave man who seemed well suited for battle (1 Samuel 14:52). This is just what Samuel had warned would happen when the people asked for a king (1 Samuel 8:11). If Saul was going to keep a standing army, it was wise for him to fill it with the best men he could find.
He used that army to guard the land from attacks on every side and to stop enemy raids (1 Samuel 14:47, 1 Samuel 14:48). It is thought that he mainly fought on the defensive, against those who kept invading Israel’s borders. Wherever he turned, he troubled his enemies by blocking and frustrating their plans. But his hardest fights were with the Philistines, and he was at war with them all his life (1 Samuel 14:52).
Saul had little reason to be proud of his royal rank, and his neighbors had no reason to envy him. Once he became king, he had little peace or enjoyment. He could not trouble his enemies without also troubling himself. Crowns often have thorns sewn into them.
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From This Chapter
1 Samuel 14:1
"Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father."
1 Samuel 14:2
"And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;"
1 Samuel 14:3
"And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone."
1 Samuel 14:4
"And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh."
1 Samuel 14:5
"The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah."
1 Samuel 14:6
"And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few."
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