And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.
Saul's oath in the verse is a death sentence upon Jonathan for tasting honey in breach of his father's vow of abstinence from food during the battle. Jonathan had taken the honey without knowledge of that vow, and his eating was not deliberate sin. The sentence was rash, an act of blind zeal and unjust judgment.
God had wrought through Jonathan to bring deliverance to Israel, and by that victory had set His honor upon him. Saul nevertheless pressed for the sentence to be carried out, because to spare his son would have required him to confess that his own vow had been at fault. He also pressed it to sustain his royal authority and to make a show of zeal for his oath, even though the price was Jonathan's life. The people met the sentence with united protest and rescued Jonathan, and by that intervention the life of the deliverer of Israel was preserved.
Saul's oath in the verse is a death sentence upon Jonathan for tasting honey in breach of his father's vow of abstinence from food during the battle. Jonathan had taken the honey without knowledge of that vow, and his eating was not deliberate sin. The sentence was rash, an act of blind zeal and unjust judgment.
God had wrought through Jonathan to bring deliverance to Israel, and by that victory had set His honor upon him. Saul nevertheless pressed for the sentence to be carried out, because to spare his son would have required him to confess that his own vow had been at fault. He also pressed it to sustain his royal authority and to make a show of zeal for his oath, even though the price was Jonathan's life. The people met the sentence with united protest and rescued Jonathan, and by that intervention the life of the deliverer of Israel was preserved.