1 Samuel 14:10

But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we will go up, because this will be our sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jonathan speaks to his armor-bearer while positioned between the passes of Michmash and Ahijah. He establishes a conditional test to determine whether God will grant them victory over the Philistine outpost.

The words — The verb עֲל֤וּ ('a.Lu) translates literally as "come up," and the phrase נְתָנָ֥/ם (ne.ta.Na/m) means "he has given them." Jonathan treats the enemy's invitation to ascend as the concrete marker that God will deliver the garrison.

The thread — This structural pattern appears in Genesis 24:14, Judges 7:11, and 1 Samuel 10:7. Each passage ties a specific, observable event to God's active direction or presence in a historical moment.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to treat stated conditions as the primary means of discerning divine movement. A reader must align present actions with explicit textual markers rather than subjective impressions.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if כֹּ֨הkohthus יֹאמְר֜וּyo.me.Ruthey will say עֲל֤וּ'a.Lucome up עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙'a.Lei./nuto/ us וְעָלִ֔ינוּve./'a.Li.nuand/ we will go up כִּֽי־ki-for נְתָנָ֥םne.ta.Na/mhe has given/ them יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh בְּיָדֵ֑נוּbe./ya.De./nuin/ hand/ our וְזֶה־ve./zeh-and/ thisלָּ֖נוּLa./nufor <the>/ usהָאֽוֹת׃ha./'ot[will be] the/ sign

King James Version

But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.

Cross-references

Genesis 24:14 Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Judges 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
1 Samuel 10:7 When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.
Judges 6:36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
Isaiah 7:11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”