that Saul used against the Ammonites; they divided their army into three. Their mission was to destroy the settlements in the east, north, and west. A similar view is found in Josephus’s account of the event, where he describes the Philistines as dividing their army into three companies.4 The Philistines divided their forces into three in order to accelerate the downfall of Saul. That left their main camp without ample defenses, which helped Saul defeat the Philistines. Kallai speculated that the Philistines were sending raiding parties in order to obtain supplies for their army. He maintained that the Philistine plan was not to confront the Israelites, but rather to rob and to intimidate the Israelites.5
Michmas
Chapter 14 continues to describe the battle between Saul and the Philistines. The main Philistine forces went to Michmas. They remained there, while, at the same time Saul was at the outskirts of Geba with six hundred troops. Geba is situated only a mile or two from Michmas. A deep ravine that turns into a wadi, called es.-S.uwēnīt., separates the two camps. The Philistine army camped north of the ravine while the Israelites encamped to the south. This wadi was an important pass from the Jordan Valley into the Ephraimite hills. Jonathan and his weapon bearer launched an attack on the Philistine post. This post was strategically accessed via a pass through the Wadi, naturally defended by rocks or a ford on both sides. On his side, these rocks were called Seneh and the other side was called Bozez. This attack was made without Saul’s knowledge or his troops. Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison only after receiving a sign from God. This is similar to Gideon’s attack of the Midianite camp after receiving only a sign. In the raid, Jonathan and his armsbearer killed twenty people, which indicates that this post was small. Jonathan led the attack, and his weapon bearer would finish off those who had fallen behind. This unexpected attack caused turmoil and terror in the Philistine camp that was felt in the field and the raiding parties. According to Josephus, the raid took place while the Philistines were sleeping:
So they fell upon them as they were asleep, and slew about twenty of them, and thereby filled them with disorder and surprise, insomuch that some of them threw away their entire armor and fled; but the greatest part, not knowing one another, because they were of different nations, suspected one another to be enemies, (for they did not imagine there were only two of the Hebrews that came up,) and so they fought one against another; and some of them died in the battle, and some, as they were fleeing away, were thrown down from the rock headlong.6
This episode is similar to chapter 13. Both chapters 13 and 14 describe surprise attacks by Jonathan. In chapter 13, Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison at Geba and in chapter 14 he attacked the Philistine garrison at Michmas. In both, Jonathan fights his father’s battles, replacing his father as a leader. Jonathan uses guerrilla tactics with small forces, surprising the enemy from different locations. Edelman reads 13:3 differently. According to her, it is a “literary fiction” since Jonathan was too young to take part in the war with the Philistines. Na’aman believes that chapters 13 and 14 have one purpose, which is the denigration of Saul.7 He points to the fact that Saul was rejected by Yahweh. He is at Gibeah without taking any initiative while his son Jonathan attacks the Philistines at Michmas. Even though at the end, Saul leads his men to a victory, all the glory goes to Jonathan. Na’aman explains this negative portrayal of Saul claiming that it was the Deuteronomistic editor who portrayed Saul as a man who deserted his God and did not wait to receive divine help to join Jonathan in chasing the Philistines.8 In addition, he made the army take an oath to fast, and thus he failed to see the negative effect of this on the army. Brooks adds to Na’aman’s hypothesis, asserting that the same author or editor also inserted the story of the conflict between Samuel and Saul. The aim was to downplay Saul’s success. According to her, if we remove the incident of this conflict and the references that attribute the victory to God, we might receive a better historical portrayal of the events.9
Jonathan’s attacks against the Philistine camps in Geba and Michmas were part of the rebellion against the Philistines. The first attack signaled the beginning of the bitter war against the Philistines that lasted all of Saul’s life. This attack was committed with Saul’s knowledge and approval. Since his election, the people of Israel were waiting to attack the Philistines, and one of the reasons Saul was elected was to confront the Philistine threat. Indeed, already in v. 2, before the attack, we learn that Saul built a force of 3,000 men from Israel and the remainder of the troops was sent home. Why did Saul dispatch the rest? We are not told, but Saul probably wanted to conceal his real intentions and to surprise the Philistines when he sent the troops home. Jonathan’s attacks against the Philistines came to challenge their rule. The attacks on Geba and Michmas had one purpose: to remove them from the territory of Benjamin. Saul was aware of his military weakness, so he employed guerrilla tactics and small forces. Following Jonathan’s attack at Geba, Saul retreated to Gilgal where he expected to receive support from the Giladites whom he saved before. Realizing afterwards that the Philistines could attack him there and given that the landscape topography favored them; he retreated back to Geba, which Jonathan controlled. Saul acted quickly because the Philistine forces were divided at that time into three columns. He wanted to attack the small force that was left in Michmas. Evidently, the Philistine commanders realized the situation: “Now the Philistine garrison had marched out to the pass of Michmas” (1 Sam 13:23). Saul lost the element of surprise, but this was reversed by Jonathan’s surprise attack.
Jonathan’s second attack was not premeditated. Jonathan and his attendant were scouting and gathering information about the enemy. They realized that they had an opportunity to defeat the Philistines. It was Driver who suggested that, based on the corrupt Hebrew text and the LXX, Jonathan and his armsbearer used arrows and stones.10 They probably used the cover of the rocky crag, and attacked the Philistines from behind it with arrows and slings. The Benjaminites were known to use these types of weapons with accuracy. Following the initial attack, Jonathan and his arms-bearer entered the Philistine camp and killed those who were already injured. Josephus explains that the mayhem resulted from miscommunications between the soldiers who came from different nations. This explanation sounds logical. This mayhem in the Philistine camp was noticed by Saul’s scouts. After realizing that Jonathan and his armsbearer were missing, Saul connected it to the chaos in the Philistine camp and attacked. The victory was total; even the men of Israel who were hiding in the hill country of Ephraim pursued them in a battle. According to the LXX, the battle against the Philistines also took place in some cities of Ephraim. Saul not only defeated the Philistines in Michmas, but chased them to Aijalon, the modern Yalu, some twenty miles to the west of Michmas to the edge of the hill country. The battle of Michmas was decisive; it removed the Philistine presence from the territory of Benjamin. The hill country was now dominated by Israel. It was one in a long series of battles against the Philistines that came to end their oppression, and free the rest of the land of Israel. The military strategy, the site identifications, and the topographical descriptions all show that the story reflects historical events, even though in some cases due to the theological view, the story was exaggerated.11
From a literary standpoint this is similar to the story of Gideon’s war against the Midianites, which represents the period of the Judges.12 The language that describes the calling of people to war, the strength of the enemy, the fear that fell upon the people, and the description of them hiding in caves, dugouts, and pits—all these elements appear in both stories. In both, Gideon and Saul lead a small contingent to battle the enemy. Gideon led three hundred; Saul led six hundred. Both stories describe spying on the enemy camp. On the one hand, Gideon and his lad went at night to the Midianite’s camp; on the other hand, it was Jonathan and his weapons-bearer who went to the Philistine camp. In both stories, the enemy soldiers gave the sign for victory. In both, it was the few who caused chaos and confusion in the enemy camp that led the enemy soldiers to kill each other (Judg 7:22; 1 Sam 14:20). In both tales, the people of Ephraim joined the chase after the enemy. Both have the same message; God has the power to deliver the victory of the few over the many; everything is in God’s hands and comes from God. Jonathan’s portrayal is akin to Gideon. Like Gideon he asked God for a sign, and fought with few against the many. Saul, on the other hand, failed because he did not query God. He did not trust the small number of his soldiers, and when their numbers dwindled, he committed a sin.
The Battle at the Valley of Elah
For forty days, a representative from the Philistine camp named