1 Samuel
14:1-23 –
Jonathan goes down to the Philistine garrison without telling his father. Back in the camp Saul has about 600 soldiers
along with Ahijah, Eli's great-grandson.
Jonathan
has, in many ways, the same virtues as we will later find in the young
David. He thinks even though the odds
are against him, “it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can
hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few” (14:6).
No
one in the camp knows he has gone off on his own. Jonathan makes up this sign
in his mind. If they show themselves and
the Philistines hail them to them, then it will mean God is going to turn them
over to them. They do hail them, and Jonathan and his armor bearer go—they kill
about 20 men, causing a panic in the garrison (14:15). When the men in Saul’s camp see the uproar,
Saul calls for the ark to be brought forth.
The Jerusalem Bible note
says that the word “ephod” here was changed to “ark” by a scribe who may have
thought the ephod to be an idolatrous article.
As the priest is about to draw lots from the ephod, Saul stops him and
goes out to battle without consulting the oracle.
The
text says at this point some of the Israelites who had previously gone over to
the Philistines return and join with Saul (14:21). They all go out and do
battle. The men in hiding come out and
fight, so the Lord gives Israel a great victory.
Proverbs 12 – Again,
a few:
“To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate
correction” (12:1).
“Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep
roots” (12:3).
“Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are
well rooted and bear their own fruit” (12:12).
“Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to
others” (12:15).
“There are some whose thoughtless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Jerusalem
Bible 12:18).
“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who
tell the truth” (12:22).
“The idle man has no game to roast; diligence is a man’s
most precious possession” (Jerusalem
Bible 12:27).
Proverbs 13 – More
wise words:
“He keeps his life who guards his mouth, he who talks too
much is lost” (Jerusalem Bible 13:3).
“A sudden fortune will dwindle away, he grows rich who
accumulates little by little” (Jerusalem
Bible 13:11).
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, desire fulfilled is a
tree of life” (Jerusalem Bible 13:12).
“Make wise your companions and you grow wise yourself; make
fools your friends and suffer for it” (13:20).
And this famous one: “Those
who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their
children care enough to discipline them (13:24).
Augustine (354-439)
Confessions
20 - But what was the cause of my dislike of Greek
literature, which I studied from my boyhood, I cannot even now understand.
For the Latin I loved exceedingly—not
what our first masters, but what the grammarians teach; for those primary
lessons of reading, writing, and ciphering, I considered no less of a burden
and a punishment than Greek. Yet whence was this unless from the sin and
vanity of this life? For I was "but flesh, a wind that passes away and
comes not again." For those primary lessons were better, assuredly,
because more certain; seeing that by their agency I acquired, and still retain,
the power of reading what I find written, and writing myself what I will; while
in the others I was compelled to learn about the wanderings of a certain Æneas,
oblivious of my own, and to weep for Biab dead, because she slew herself for love [Dido’s sister Anna dies for love - not sure who Biab is] ; while at the same time I brooked with dry
eyes my wretched self dying far from you, in the midst of those things, O God,
my life.
He had not yet learned to SEE in the characters and people
he studied examples of his own life.
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