“And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Samuel 14:15 Mean?
"And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling." Jonathan and his armor-bearer attack a Philistine garrison alone, and God amplifies their action with an earthquake. The trembling isn't just in the soldiers — it's in the ground itself. "A very great trembling" (literally "a trembling of God" — cherdath elohim) indicates supernatural origin. The earthquake sows such confusion that the Philistines begin attacking each other.
The phrase "trembling of God" attributes the terror directly to divine intervention. Jonathan provided the faith and the action; God provided the earthquake and the confusion. The victory is a partnership: human courage meets divine power, and the result is disproportionate to the input.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What cliff is God asking you to climb — where a small act of faith could trigger a disproportionate response?
- 2.How does Jonathan's theology ('no restraint to save by many or few') challenge your calculations about whether you have 'enough'?
- 3.Where have you seen God amplify a small step of faith into something far beyond what you expected?
- 4.What would you attempt if you truly believed God could work as powerfully through you alone as through an army?
Devotional
A trembling of God. That's the literal Hebrew. Not just any earthquake. A God-earthquake. The ground itself shakes because two men climbed a cliff with nothing but faith, and God decided to multiply their courage into a rout.
Jonathan and his armor-bearer — against an entire Philistine garrison — attack uphill, by hand, without swords (remember, no blacksmith in Israel). Their strategy is theologically simple: "It may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few" (v. 6). That's it. God can save with two people as easily as with two thousand. So why not try?
And God answers with an earthquake. Not a gentle tremor. A trembling so severe that the entire Philistine army panics. Soldiers start killing each other. The garrison collapses. The spoilers flee. All from two men on a cliff and a God who doesn't need an army to win a war.
The partnership model is important: Jonathan acted. God amplified. Without Jonathan's step of faith, there's no earthquake. Without God's earthquake, two men can't rout an army. Faith provides the action. God provides the disproportionate result. You bring the climb. He brings the quake.
If you're facing a situation where you're outnumbered, under-resourced, and weaponless — this passage says: there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. Your job is the cliff. His job is the earthquake.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And there was trembling in the host in the field,.... Belonging to Michmash, where the army lay encamped:
and among…
The earth quaked - This naturally increased the panic to the utmost. Compare 1Sa 7:10; Jos 10:11; Psa 114:4.
There was trembling in the host - They were terrified and panic-struck; the people in general round about, those in the…
We must here take notice,
I. Of the goodness of God in restraining the Philistines, who had a vast army of valiant men…
in the host, in the field In the camp in the field, the main army as distinguished from the outpost which Jonathan had…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture