THE KING’S BUSINESS
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this verse and the following that it was a region full of crags and precipices (cf. ch. 13: 23 R. V.), That the account was written by a contemporary, or one nearly a contemporary, is evident from his minute knowledge of the neighborhood and by his detailed statement of the names of the crags. This vivid definiteness of detail is a characteristic of a large share of Bible history. The name “Bozez” means “shin ing” or “glittering” and is doubtless *de scriptive of the appearance of the rock. “Serieh” meahs a “thorn bush” or “bram ble” and probably indicates that the rock was a thorn-like rock, sharp and piercing. The exact location of each rock is given (v. 5). v. 6. “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come and let us go over unto the garrison of these un- circumcized.” It is evident that Jonathan was led not by any commandment from a superior earthly officer but by an impulse from his real Commander—God. It is plain that he counted on the fact that he had the sign of the covenant in his flesh and that his enemies had not the sign of the covenant as a sufficient reason for counting upon God for victory. He realized that he was under the protection of God’s covenant and that his enemies were not. "It may be that the LORD zvill work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few." Jonathan’s deep est confidence was in Jehovah Himself. He belonged to Jehovah, had the sign of the covenant in his flesh, and to him it was a real thing and not a mere outward sign; and, therefore, he could confidently count on Jehovah to work for him. If Jehovah did work, there was no doubt of victory. When we can count upon Jehovah’s working for us, we can always count upon victory (Rom. 8:31; 2 Sam. 16:12; 2 Kings 19:4). When we have the promise of His protection and support, the weakest of us may as confi dently expect victory as the strongest of us and we may expect that victory, no matter how numerous our foes may be, “For there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many
and this Saul had grievously disobeyed God and God had set him aside and chosen an other in his place (ch. 13:13, 14). He had incurred God’s disfavor and his army had dwindled from the 3000 regulars (ch. 13:2) who took the place of the 330,000 volun teers (ch. 11:8) to the paltry 600 men tioned here (cf. ch. 13:15). v. 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.” Saul seems to have been in hiding. The Hebrew word translated “pomegranate tree” is rimmon and so there is reason for supposing that it is the proper name “Rim mon,” referring to the rock (or town on the rock) mentioned in Judges 20:43-47. This rock was several miles from Gibeah but very near Migron. Migron itself means precipice. If Saul himself was not hiding in the rock or cave, his people certainly were hiding (vs. 11, 12, cf. ch. 13:63), De serted by the Lord and Samuel, the Lord’s prophet, Saul seeks to make up for their loss by sending for the official priest Ahiah (v. 3) and for the ark (v. 18). Men who lose the substance of faith by disobeying God are often fond of emphasizing the out ward forms of faith and of patronizing the official clergy. Ahiah was officially the priest but it is to be noticed that he is spoken of as a descendant of Eli who is called “the priest of the LORD in Shiloh” (R. V.), so Ahiah seems to have been an official priest rather than a real priest of Jehovah. It was God’s goodness that re strained the Philistines from falling upon Saul and the Israelites in this time of their dire extremity. v. 4. "And between the passages (rather, passes) by which Jonathan sought \to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there 7ms a sharp rock (or, rocky crag) tin the one side, and a sharp rock (or rocky crag) on the other side: and the name of the one 7ms Boxes, and the name of the other Seneth." To understand this incident, we must bear in mind the character of the lo cality in which it took place. We see from
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