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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

1 Samuel 14:20

Saul gathered his army together and went to the battle. The Philistine soldiers were very confused. They were even fighting each other with their swords.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Panic;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Philistines, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Philistines;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Philistia, philistines;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - War, Holy War;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Philistines;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Michmash;   Philistines, the;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gibeah;   Israel;   Jonathan;   Michmash;   Philistines;   Samuel, Books of;   Saul;   Urim and Thummim;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jonathan ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jonathan;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Chariot;   Discomfit;   Samuel, Books of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Jonathan, Jehonathan;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there the Philistines were, fighting against each other in great confusion!
Hebrew Names Version
Sha'ul 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.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
Then Saul and all the troops who were with him were assembled on command and came up to the battle, and look! Each Philistine's sword was against his friend; and there was a very great confusion.
English Standard Version
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
New Century Version
Then Saul gathered his army and entered the battle. They found the Philistines confused, striking each other with their swords!
New English Translation
Saul and all the army that was with him assembled and marched into battle, where they found the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords.
Amplified Bible
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, every [Philistine] man's sword was against his companion, in wild confusion.
New American Standard Bible
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow Philistine, and there was very great confusion.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Saul was assembled with all the people that were with him, and they came to the battell: and behold, euery mans sworde was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
Contemporary English Version
Saul quickly called his army together, then led them to the Philistine camp. By this time the Philistines were so confused that they were killing each other.
Complete Jewish Bible
Sha'ul and the entire force with him assembled and went to battle, but they found the P'lishtim all fighting each other in utter confusion.
Darby Translation
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.
George Lamsa Translation
Then Saul and all the people who were with him shouted together, and they came to the battle; and, behold, every mans sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great confusion.
Good News Translation
Then he and his men marched into battle against the Philistines, who were fighting each other in complete confusion.
Literal Translation
And Saul and all the people with him gathered together and went to the battle. And, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, a very great panic!
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Saul cried, and all the people that was with him, and came to the battayll. And beholde, euery mans swerde was agaynst another, and there was a very greate rumoure.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
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.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Saul ioyned him selfe vnto al the people that were with him, & they came to the battell, and behold euery mans sword was against his felow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.
King James Version (1611)
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselues, and they came to the battel, and behold, euery mans sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Saul went up and all the people that were with him, and they come to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his neighbour, a very great confusion.
English Revised Version
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Saul criede, and al the puple that was with hym; and thei camen `til to the place of batel, and, lo! the swerd of ech man was turned to his neiybore, and a ful grete sleynge was.
Young's Literal Translation
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.
Update Bible Version
And Saul and all the people that were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and saw that every man's sword was against his fellow, [and there was] a very great panic.
Webster's Bible Translation
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.
World English Bible
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.
New King James Version
Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.
New Living Translation
Then Saul and all his men rushed out to the battle and found the Philistines killing each other. There was terrible confusion everywhere.
New Life Bible
Then Saul and all the people with him gathered together and went into the battle. Every man's sword was against the man next to him. It was as if no one knew what to do.
New Revised Standard
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and every sword was against the other, so that there was very great confusion.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Saul and all the people that were with him gathered themselves together, and came as far as the host, - and lo! the sword of every man was against his fellow, an exceeding great confusion.
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.
Revised Standard Version
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
THE MESSAGE
Saul immediately called his army together and they went straight to the battle. When they got there they found total confusion—Philistines swinging their swords wildly, killing each other. Hebrews who had earlier defected to the Philistine camp came back. They now wanted to be with Israel under Saul and Jonathan. Not only that, but when all the Israelites who had been hiding out in the backwoods of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were running for their lives, they came out and joined the chase. God saved Israel! What a day! The fighting moved on to Beth Aven. The whole army was behind Saul now—ten thousand strong!—with the fighting scattering into all the towns throughout the hills of Ephraim.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.

Contextual Overview

16 Saul's guards at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin saw the Philistine soldiers running away in different ways. 17 Saul said to the army with him, "Count the men. I want to know who left camp." They counted the men. Jonathan and his helper were gone. 18 Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring God's Holy Box!" (At that time God's Holy Box was there with the Israelites.) 19 Saul was talking to Ahijah the priest waiting for advice from God . But the noise and confusion in the Philistine camp was growing and growing. Saul was becoming impatient. Finally, he said to Ahijah the priest, "That's enough. Put your hand down and stop praying ." 20 Saul gathered his army together and went to the battle. The Philistine soldiers were very confused. They were even fighting each other with their swords. 21 There were Hebrews who served the Philistines in the past and who stayed in the Philistine camp. But now these Hebrews joined the Israelites with Saul and Jonathan. 22 All the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard the Philistine soldiers were running away. So these Israelites also joined in the battle and began chasing the Philistines. 23 So the Lord saved the Israelites that day. The battle moved on past Beth Aven. The whole army was with Saul—he now had about 10,000 men. The battle spread to every city in the hill country of Ephraim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

assembled themselves: Heb. were cried together

every man's: 1 Samuel 14:16, Judges 7:22, 2 Chronicles 20:23, Isaiah 9:19-21, Isaiah 19:2

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:20 - vexation 1 Samuel 7:13 - against 1 Samuel 30:10 - so faint 1 Kings 20:21 - went out 2 Chronicles 20:22 - to sing and to Isaiah 9:21 - Ephraim Ezekiel 38:21 - every

Cross-References

Genesis 9:26
Noah also said, "May the Lord , the God of Shem, be praised! May Canaan be Shem's slave.
Genesis 14:3
All these kings joined their armies in the Valley of Siddim. (The Valley of Siddim is now the Salt Sea.)
Genesis 14:4
These kings had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years. But in the 13th year, they all rebelled against him.
Genesis 14:5
So in the 14th year, King Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came to fight against them. Kedorlaomer and the kings with him defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also defeated the Zuzites in Ham. They defeated the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim.
Genesis 14:6
And they defeated the Horites who lived in the area from the hill country of Seir to El Paran. (El Paran is near the desert.)
Genesis 14:9
They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar. So there were four kings fighting against five.
Genesis 14:17
Then Abram went home after he defeated Kedorlaomer and the kings with him. On his way home, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. (This is now called King's Valley.)
Genesis 14:19
He blessed Abram and said, "Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High, the one who made heaven and earth.
Genesis 24:27
He said, "Praise be to the Lord , the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and loyal to him by leading me to his own people."
Genesis 28:22
I am setting this stone up as a memorial stone. It will show that this is a holy place for God, and I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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


 
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