1 Kings 14:36
And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God.
Open 1 Kings 14:36 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et dixit Saul : Irruamus super Philisthæos nocte, et vastemus eos usque dum illucescat mane, nec relinquamus ex eis virum. Dixitque populus : Omne quod bonum videtur in oculis tuis, fac. Et ait sacerdos : Accedamus huc ad Deum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Καὶ εἶπεν Σαούλ Καταβῶμεν ὀπίσω τῶν ἀλλοφύλων τὴν νύκτα, καὶ διαρπάσωμεν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἕως διαφαύσῃ ἡμέρα, καὶ μὴ ὑπολίπωμεν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄνδρα· καὶ εἶπαν Πᾶν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ποίει· καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἱερεύς Προσέλθωμεν ἐνταῦθα πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שָׁא֡וּל נֵרְדָ֣ה אַחֲרֵי֩ פְלִשְׁתִּ֨ים לַ֜יְלָה וְֽנָבֹ֥זָה בָהֶ֣ם עַד א֣וֹר הַבֹּ֗קֶר וְלֹֽא נַשְׁאֵ֤ר בָּהֶם֙ אִ֔ישׁ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כָּל הַטּ֥וֹב בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָ עֲשֵׂ֑ה וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן נִקְרְבָ֥ה הֲלֹ֖ם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִֽים
Haydock's commentary
God, to consult him, whether the enterprise met with his approbation. Saul is too eager to follow his own prudence. (Haydock)
He would not before wait for God's answer; (ver. 19) now he can get none. (Worthington)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch, Homily XIV
9. But let us see what follows; “And Saul said, Let us go down after the strangers, and spoil them. And the priest said, Let us draw near hither unto God.” For in old times God led forth the people to battle; and without His consent no one dared to engage in the fight, and war was with them a matter of religion. For not from weakness of body, but from their sins they were conquered, whenever they were conquered; and not by might and courage, but by favour from above they prevailed, whenever they did prevail. Victory and defeat were also to them a means of training, and a school of virtue. And not to them only, but to their adversaries; for this was made evident to them too, that the fate of battle with the Jews was decided not by the nature of their arms, but by the life and good works of the warriors. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch, Homily XIV
11. Perchance we may seem to have fallen aside from the subject; but to say thus much, is no departure from it. For we do not wish to read you histories merely for their own sake, but that you may correct each of the passions which trouble you: therefore also we make these frequent appeals, preparing our discourse for you in all varieties of style; since it is probable that in so large an assembly, there is a great variety of distempers; and our task is to cure not one only, but many different wounds; and therefore it is necessary that the medicine of instruction should be various. Let us however return thither from whence we made this digression: “And the Priest said, Let us draw near unto God. And Saul asked counsel of God. …
The Fathers are given as they wrote. Where a passage lays the Passion on the Jewish people, the Church teaches that it cannot be charged against all the Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today, and that all sinners were its authors (CCC 597, 598).