1 Shmuel 14: Judges Yet Again

This very long chapter details the attack against the Philistines Once again the text references the book of judges. Here, the three references are to Yiftach, Shimshon, and Gideon. In Judges, Shimson travels to Philistine to meet the parents of his new bride. Along the way he encounters and kills a lion. When he returns, the lion has a full beehive growing inside. Hungry from his trip, Shimshon grabs some honey and eats it. He then uses the honey in the lion to create a parable to try to trick the Philistines. In the end, they coerce his bride to reveal the answer to the riddle. In revenge, Shimshon lets loose 250 foxes with fire on their tails. The second story is Yiftach’s pronouncement that if he is victorious in battle, he will sacrifice the first thing that walks through his door. When he returns form battle, his daughter is the first thing to walk to greet him. The text is ambiguous, but there is a possibility that he sacrifices his daughter. In chapter 14, Yonatan, Shaul’s son sets out on a black ops mission to the Philistine camp with his arms bearer. They startle the Philistine camp and kill a group of soldiers. The attack leads to confusion in the Philistine camp. Like in the story of Gideon, the Philistines attack each other in the confusion. Shaul rallies the Israelite army and sets a vow that no one eat any food until the battle is over. This nonsensical message mirror’s Yiftach’s unnecessary vow. Meanwhile, Yonatan does not know about the vow, and on the way back to the camp, he eats some honey- like Shimshon. The vow broken, Shaul seeks guidance from lots as to who broke the vow. He doubles down on the threat by declaring that even his son would not be immune. When the lots fall on Yonatan, Shaul pledges to follow through with the threat. The people rally to save Yonatan who was responsible for their great victory. The ending is a little bit sweeter than the Yiftach and Shimshon stories, for now. But why does the Navi again look to the book of Judges for symbolic messages? Yiftach was a great warrior and leader of the people until he ended his reign as a judge making a tragic error in judgment. Shaul follows the same path. He began his career as the reluctant leader who scored great victories against the Israelite foes. His reign ends tragically, though, with one unnecessary decision after another. Yonatan, on the other hand, is compared to two other leaders, but for different reasons. Yonatan’s references will foreshadow his tragic end. Like Gideon, Yonatan, was a great warrior, who very likely would have been a great king. But Yonatan turns down that opportunity in favor of David, just like Gideon turns down the kingship. Like Shimshon, Yonatan will have a tragic ending to his story. Falling on his own sword in battle with the enemy.