1 Samuel 14:41

1Sa 14:41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect [lot]. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.

Ver. 41. Give a perfect lot.] Or, Show the innocent, as Tremelius rendereth it. Saul was so scrupulous, that he would not so much as name a guilty man, or sinner, but in casting of lots, instead of saying, Show the innocent or guilty, he said, Show the upright or innocent person. Wherein, saith Piscator, God overruled his tongue, Et ita per sortem Ionathan innocens declaratas est a Deo.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 14:41-42. Give a perfect lot — Or, Declare the perfect, or guiltless person. That is, O Lord, so guide the lot, that it may discover who is guilty in this matter, and who innocent. The people escaped — They were pronounced guiltless. Jonathan was taken — God so ordered the lot; not that he approved Saul’s execration, (1Sa 14:24,) or his oath that the transgressor should die, (1Sa 14:39,) nor that he would expose Jonathan to death; but that Saul’s folly might be chastised, when he saw what danger it had brought upon his eldest and most excellent son; and that Jonathan’s innocence might be cleared.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:41 Casting sacred lots involved the Urim and Thummim (Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8), which David also used when soliciting God’s guidance (1 Sam 23:2; 30:8; 2 Sam 2:1). The Urim and Thummim were two small objects (perhaps flat stones, sticks, or arrows) that may have been cast like dice. They would provide a positive answer, a neutral response, or a negative answer.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Cause the lot to fall on him that hath broken the oath: but he doth not consider his presumption in commanding the same oath.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 41. Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot.] Both the Vulgate and Septuagint add much to this verse: And Saul said to the Lord God of Israel, Lord God of Israel, give judgment. Why is it that thou hast not answered thy servant to-day? If the iniquity be in me, or Jonathan my son, make it manifest. Or if this iniquity be in thy people, give sanctification.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(41) Give a perfect lot.—The rendering in the margin, “show the innocent,” is a better and more accurate rendering of the Hebrew. “Give a perfect lot” is the translation given by Rabbi D. Kimchi. Dean Payne Smith observes that “there are few mistakes of the English Version which have not some good authority for them, as King James’ translators were singularly well versed in Jewish literature, while they seem strangely to have neglected the still higher authority of the ancient versions.”

In the forty-first and in the following verse the LXX. version is lengthened out with a long paraphrase, which, however, contains no fact of additional interest.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. Give a perfect lot] This and not the marginal rendering “Shew the innocent” is the best explanation of an obscure phrase which occurs nowhere else.

The Sept. however has a very different reading, which with some emendation may be rendered, “And Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why hast thou not answered thy servant to day? If the iniquity be in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim: and if it be in thy people Israel, give Thummim.” If this reading is correct, it points to the conclusion that the “judgment of Urim and Thummim” was obtained by a special method of casting lots, which was employed on the present occasion. See further on 1Sa_28:6. The Heb. text implies that the ordinary lot only was used.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel,.... After the division was made between him and his son on one side, and the people of Israel on the other, and everything was ready for the drawing of the lot; Saul put up to God the following petition, as knowing that though the lot is cast into the lap, the disposing of it is of the Lord:

give a perfect lot; or man, let it fall upon the guilty person, and let the innocent go free; the Targum is,"cause it to come in truth;''

let truth and righteousness take place; let the right man be found out, and taken; the petition seems to be too arrogant and presumptuous, and insinuates as if the Lord did not always dispose the lot aright:

and Saul and Jonathan were taken; the lot being cast, it fell upon them:

but the people escaped; from the lot, and appeared to be innocent, clear of any blame; so that it was not the sin they had been guilty of, in eating flesh with the blood, which was the cause that no answer was returned.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Give a perfect lot - The phrase is obscure, but the meaning is probably as in the margin.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A sign, (judicium;) "pass sentence;" declare why, &c. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "give purity." Shew who is innocent. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "give the proofs" by the Thummim, which they seem to have read. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Give a perfect lot, or declare (for giving is oft put for declaring or pronouncing, as Deu 11:29; 13:1,2; Pr 9:9) the perfect or guiltless person; i.e. O Lord, so guide the lot, that it may discover who is guilty in this matter, and that it may clear the innocent.

The people escaped, to wit, the danger; they were pronounced guiltless.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Perfect lot - Or, declare the perfect, or guiltless person. That is, O Lord, so guide the lot, that it may discover who is guilty in his matter, and who innocent. Escaped - They were pronounced guiltless.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Make it truthful. Give a true lot.

And the people were excluded. Innocent, from the lot.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.