1-Samuel - 14:20



20 Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, (and there was) a very great confusion.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Samuel 14:20.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
And Saul and all the people that were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
Then Saul and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight: and behold every man's sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter.
And Saul and all the people that were with him were called together, and they came to the battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, a very great confusion.
And Saul is called, and all the people who are with him, and they come in unto the battle, and, lo, the sword of each hath been against his neighbour, a very great destruction.
And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man's sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise.
Then Saul, and all the people who were with him, cried out together, and they went to the place of the conflict. And behold, each one's sword had been turned against his neighbor, and there was a very great slaughter.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Assembled themselves - See marg. Many versions give the sense "shouted," which is far preferable, and only requires a different punctuation.

And Saul, and all the people that were with him, assembled themselves,.... The six hundred men that were with him, unless we can suppose the 1000 that had been with Jonathan in Gibeah were here still, see 1-Samuel 13:2.
and they came to the battle; to the field of battle, the place where the army of the Philistines had lain encamped:
and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow; taking one another for Hebrews, or treacherous and disaffected persons; so that, though the Israelites had neither swords nor spears, they needed none, for the Philistines destroyed one another with their own swords; and there was a
very great discomfiture; noise, tumult, confusion, slaughter, and destruction.

Saul and all the people--All the warriors in the garrison at Gibeah, the Israelite deserters in the camp of the Philistines, and the fugitives among the mountains of Ephraim, now all rushed to the pursuit, which was hot and sanguinary.

"And (i.e., in consequence of the increasing tumult in the enemy's camp) Saul had himself, and all the people with him, called," i.e., called together for battle; and when they came to the war, i.e., to the place of conflict, "behold, there was the sword of the one against the other, a very great confusion," in consequence partly of terror, and partly of the circumstance alluded to in 1-Samuel 14:21.

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