Thematic Bible: Strict discipline observed in


Thematic Bible



So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot. And he brought forward the clans of Judah and selected the clan of the Zerahites by lot. Then he brought forward the clan of the Zerahites, one by one, and Zabdi was selected by lot. He brought forward his family, one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected by lot. read more.
And Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court. Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide [it] from me." And Achan answered Joshua and said, "It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did: I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold [that] weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They [are] hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver [is] under it."

Now the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day, because Saul had made the army take an oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who eats [any] food until evening, when I will have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the army tasted [any] food. (Now all [the people of] the land used to go into the forest, for there was honey on the surface of the ground.) When the army came to the forest, look! [There was] honey flowing, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the army was afraid of the solemn oath. read more.
However, Jonathan had not heard about the oath of his father with the army, so he extended the end of the staff which was in his hand, and he dipped it into the honeycomb. Then he put his hand to his mouth and his eyes gleamed. Then a man from the army informed [him] and said, "Your father made the army swear a solemn [oath], saying, 'Cursed be the man who eats food today,'" so the army [is] exhausted. Then Jonathan said, "My father has brought trouble on the land! See now that my eyes have brightened because I have tasted a little of this honey. {How much more could have been done} if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies that they had found! For now the loss among [the] Philistines [is] not great." They defeated [the] Philistines that day from Micmash to Aijalon, and the troops were very weary. Then the troops took the plunder: they took sheep and cattle and {calves} and slaughtered [them] on the ground and the troops ate [them all] with the blood. So they reported [it] to Saul, saying, "Look! The troops [are] sinning against Yahweh by eating [the animals] with the blood!" And he said, "You have dealt treacherously! Roll to me a large stone {today}!" Then Saul said, "Disperse [yourselves] among the troops and say to them, 'Bring to me each [one] his ox and each his sheep and slaughter them in this [place] and eat, but do not sin against Yahweh by eating [the animals] with the blood.'" So all the troops brought [them], each [leading] his ox in his hand that night, and slaughtered [it] there. Then Saul built an altar to Yahweh; {it was the first altar he built} to Yahweh. Saul said, "Let us go down after [the] Philistines [by] night, and let us plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave [alive] a man among them." So they said, "Do all that [is] good in your eyes." But the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here." So Saul inquired of God, "Should I go down after [the] Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?" But he did not answer him on that day. Then Saul said, "Come here, all [you] leaders of the people, {so that we find out} what the sin was this day. For as Yahweh lives, who delivers Israel, [I swear] that even if it [is] in Jonathan my son, {he will certainly die}!" But nobody from all the army answered him. Then he said to all Israel, "You will be {on one side}, and I and my son Jonathan will be {on the other}." And the army said to Saul, "Do [what is] good in your eyes." Then Saul said to Yahweh the God of Israel, "{Render a decision perfectly}." Jonathan and Saul were chosen [by lot] and the people went out. Then Saul said, "Let them cast [the lot] between me and my son Jonathan," and Jonathan was chosen. So Saul said, "Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him and said, "I {merely tasted} a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die." Then Saul said, "So may God do [to me] and {more}, you will certainly die today, Jonathan!"