Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
The verse closes the conflict and the pursuit, with Saul going up from following the Philistines and returning home while the Philistines went to their own place and territory. It belongs to the account of Jonathan's remarkable victory over the Philistines. It belongs to the beginning of Saul's reign after his choosing as king.
Its immediate setting is after Jonathan was spared, when Saul's rash decree had nearly led him to put Jonathan to death for unknowingly eating honey. The episode shows Saul's foolish and growing rashness and weakness, including his growing self-sufficiency and tyrannical use of royal power. Saul's withdrawal from the war followed public reproof of his rashness and the people's preference for Jonathan, and he returned home moody and dissatisfied.
The verse stands among the events leading to the Lord's rejection of Saul and his family and to the anointing of David.
The verse closes the conflict and the pursuit, with Saul going up from following the Philistines and returning home while the Philistines went to their own place and territory. It belongs to the account of Jonathan's remarkable victory over the Philistines. It belongs to the beginning of Saul's reign after his choosing as king.
Its immediate setting is after Jonathan was spared, when Saul's rash decree had nearly led him to put Jonathan to death for unknowingly eating honey. The episode shows Saul's foolish and growing rashness and weakness, including his growing self-sufficiency and tyrannical use of royal power. Saul's withdrawal from the war followed public reproof of his rashness and the people's preference for Jonathan, and he returned home moody and dissatisfied.
The verse stands among the events leading to the Lord's rejection of Saul and his family and to the anointing of David.