1 Samuel 14:1-30

One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron; and with him were about six hundred men, and Ahijah the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’S priest at Shiloh, was wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to get to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; one [crag] was named Bozez, and the other, Seneh. The one crag was on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For there is nothing to prevent the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” And his armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is in your heart (mind); here I am with you in whatever you think [best].” Jonathan said, “See now, we are going to cross over to the [Philistine] men and reveal ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will go up, for the LORD has handed them over to us; and this shall be the sign to us.” When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come up to us and we will tell you something.” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Climb up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel.” Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, his armor bearer following after him. The enemy fell before Jonathan [in combat], and his armor bearer killed some of them after him. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a [plow] furrow in a plot of land [the area of which a yoke of oxen could plow in a day]. And there was trembling in the [Philistine] camp, in the field, and among all the people; even the garrison and the raiding party trembled [in fear], and the earth quaked and it became a trembling and terror from God. Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away and they went here and there. Then Saul said to the people with him, “Take a count and see who has left us.” When they had taken a count, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were missing. Saul said to Ahijah [the priest], “Bring the ark of God here.” For at that time the ark of God was with the sons of Israel. While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued and increased, so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, every [Philistine] man’s sword was against his companion, in wild confusion. Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them closely in the battle. So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven. But the men of Israel were hard-pressed that day, because Saul had put the people under a curse, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people ate any food. All the people of the land came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground. When the people entered the forest, the honey was dripping, but no man put his hand to his mouth [to taste it], because the people feared the oath [of Saul]. But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under the oath. So he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into a honeycomb, and then he put his hand to his mouth, and his energy was restored. But one of the people told him, “Your father strictly put the people under an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’ ” And the people were exhausted [and hungry]. Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land [with his foolish curse]. See how my energy is restored because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better [it would have been] if only the people had eaten freely today from the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”