LET ME NOTE THAT, DUE TO THE LENGTH OF THIS CHAPTER, I WILL TAKE TWO WEEKS TO DISCUSS IT ALL.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

As the chapter begins, our heroes are camping opposite the Plishtim, with Shaul’s army having dwindled to only 600 soldiers. Yonatan decides to try to push the issue forward, and suggests to his nosei kelim, his shieldbearer, that they move towards the Plishti positions, because perhaps Hashem will help them, for Hashem is not bound by strength of numbers.

The boy answers that he will join Yonatan in whatever he wishes to do, so Yonatan offers the following plan: They would show themselves to the Plishtim, and base their next action on the Plishti response. If the heathens said, "Wait there til we get to you," they would know that God would not miraculously help them that day. If, on the other hand, the Plishtim said, "come to us so we can kill you," they could know that God was helping them directly and take the battle to the Plishtim.

When they receive the right response, they attack, with Yonatan knocking them down (stunned, presumably) and the nose kelav killing them, twenty in the first half-furrow. This action of Yonatan’s causes a ruckus of fear in the Plishti camp, enough of a ruckus that Shaul’s scouts can see from their positions that the Plishtim are being progressively routed. After some hesitation (which we will discuss below) Shaul and the Jews attack the Plishtim, creating such confusion that the Plishtim were killing each other.

As the Jews press the attack, the navi mentions that Shaul had made an oath binding on the people that they not eat that entire day. Yonatan, who had not heard the oath, took a bit of honey as he passed by it in the forest. When onlookers mentioned Shaul’s oath, Yonatan expressed his disapproval, noting that the Jews could have defeated the Plishtim even more had they only been able to eat.

That point becomes even more relevant when the people finally pause to eat, as they, perhaps because of hunger, fail to remove the blood properly before eating the meat that they slaughtered. Shaul stops them, and then builds an altar, his first.

Shaul then suggests chasing Plishtim further, and the people agree, but the kohen reminds him to ask God first; when they do, they get no answer, an indication of divine displeasure. To understand the source of the problem, Shaul announces that whoever did it will be killed, even if it is Yonatan; no one answers. He then has a lottery, in which he and Yonatan are on one side and the rest of the people on the other.

When the lots fall on Yonatan, and Shaul hears what he did, Shaul is ready to kill him, but the people refuse, noting that Yonatan, the source of their salvation that day, could not be killed. They instead find some way (a discussion among the commentators) to avoid having to kill him. The navi then mentions that Shaul also fought the Amalekis, saving the Jews from those who would bother them, mentions his children, wife, officers, and continuing battles with Plishtim, as well as his practice of recruiting every able fighter to his army.

YONATAN AND HIS SERVANT

Beginning at the beginning, the first aspect of the chapter I find worth noting is the relationship between Yonatan and his servant. Yonatan suggests that they go reveal themselves to the Plishtim (the two of them, when there are thousands of Plishtim), and the servant says, do whatever you want. Although I do not have direct evidence of the obligations of servanthood (or service) in those days, this still stands out as extraordinary devotion to a master; Yonatan is proposing that they consider attacking an army of thousands (inherently a dangerous activity) and the servant is fine with it.

Along with other reasons, the navi’s mentioning the servant’s response indicates that he could legitimately have refused to go. That he goes (and joins in the attack when Yonatan gets the sign he wants) means both that he shares Yonatan’s belief in the power of God to give them victory despite the odds as well as showing a remarkable bond between them. That bond reminds me of the bond we mentioned in an earlier chapter, when Shaul was looking for the donkeys with his servant, and the servant offered the idea of going to Shmuel to ask about them, even giving his own money for a present for Shmuel. One of the strengths of members of this family would seem to be their ability to relate to those of a lower social status than themselves. That strength, absolutely essential for royalty, helps them in both the scenes where we have seen it. It brought about Shaul’s encounter with Shmuel, and it provided Yonatan a partner for his daring attack on Plishtim.

GETTING A SIGN

In the course of viewing that relationship, we witness Yonatan attempting to get a sign of where the proper path of action lies. He says that they will show themselves, and, depending on Plishtim’s response, either attack or return to camp. In reading the response that would indicate that they should attack, Rashi suggests that the central words, alu alenu, come to us, reveal their fear of leaving their place. Metsudat David says that the word alenu, on us, forebodes the Jews’ ruling over them. In both suggestions, there is some element of their speech that offers a premonition of what will happen. In using that sign, then, Yonatan would not simply be relying on the sign, but on what the sign tells him about the Plishtim’s mental state.

That reading of the incident needs to be harmonized with a gemara in Hullin (95b) that refers to this, and the case of Eliezer at the well (look it up in Bereshit 24), as the prime forms of nihush, of attempting to divine the future. Rambam (Hilkhot Avodat Kokhavim 11;4) takes that to mean that these are generally prohibited, since nihush is not allowed for Jews (we are expected to trust God to handle the future well for us). Tosafot on the gemara seems to agree, as they comment that Yonatan only performed that nihush to calm down his shieldbearer.

Rabad disagrees, thinking that this is perfectly permissible. When the gemara refers to this as the only valid forms of nihush, Rabad thinks that means that unless one identifies a sign ahead of time in this way, it would be unreasonable to rely upon it. Rashi and Metsudat David’s interpretations would seem to agree with him, explaining why this was a reasonable sign to choose, and then be allowed to follow. In that view, though, there is no problem with Jews declaring signs and following them if they occur (although, at least according to Rashi and Metsudat David) those signs would have to bear some reasonable relationship to the suggested outcome).

THE POWER OF PSYCHOLOGY

Whichever way we go with that issue, Yonatan and the nosei kelim get the response they are looking for, and attack. By almost any standard their attack was not devastating in the context of the Plishti camp; they killed twenty people in an army of thousands. It was the impact of their attack rather than its actual effect that turned the tide; they created panic, panic that sank the Plishtim.

SHAUL'S TIMID APPROACH

When Shaul is told of the Plishti flight, his first instinct is to consult the Aron and the kohen, a reaction that has two contradictory qualities. On the one hand, it seems to laudably show Shaul relying on God for guidance, something he seemed not to do in the previous chapter (in not trusting Shmuel to arrive). Yet that does not feel right to me, for at least two reasons. First, when the hubbub in the Plishti camp grows, and it becomes obvious that the Jews have a fast-receding opportunity to attack, he foregoes God's advice. Second, other circumstances show Shaul as not scrupulous about such consultation. When Nahash had attacked Yavesh Gilead, he had not felt the need to consult; last chapter, he failed to wait for Shmuel; later in this chapter, when he proposes chasing the Plishtim further, a kohen must remind him to consult. While it is possible, therefore, that Shaul was simply acting religiously in seeking God's advice, I suspect that he was uncertain and looking to delay committing to this endeavor.

Shaul's admittedly speculative uncertainty, I would suggest, stems from his lack of absolute faith in God's miraculous salvation. Yonatan was willing to set a sign, rely on it (or not even need it, according to Tosafot), and act. One of Shaul's failures, I suspect, was his ability to take exactly such decisive action. His oath of the people might be read in the same way-- he was unable to feel confident of God's aid, so he attempted to shore it up with an extreme oath (oaths themselves, particularly of fasting on the day of a war, are not so outlandish-- Hannah's oath at the beginning of this book was a positive act, and Ta`anit Ester suggests that fasting on the day of war was a common Jewish custom), so extreme that his own son was able to recognize and deride it.

As we leave the rest of this chapter for next week, our first insight into the contrast between Yonatan and Shaul-- a contrast that here led to Yonatan's instigating the Jews' victory, as well as his recognition of the flaw in Shaul's oath-- focuses on their differing attitudes towards God. Shaul was not confident or comfortable in his role as God's anointed, making him unable to rely on God's salvation and leading him to caution when boldness was needed and to extreme oaths when other forms of religiosity might have served just as well. Shabbat Shalom.