Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Samuel 14:26 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 26. 26And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Shows the people refusing dripping honey because they fear the oath.
Saul adjures the army not to eat until he is avenged
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30
1 Samuel 14:24–14:30 supplies the necessary frame for verse 14:26. Here the narrator shows the people refusing dripping honey because they fear the oath, within this larger movement: Saul curses anyone eating before evening, troops fear accessible honey, uninformed Jonathan tastes it and revives, then calls his father's order trouble for the land.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Here the narrator shows the people refusing dripping honey because they fear the oath, moving 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30 through the sequence summarized this way: Saul curses anyone eating before evening, troops fear accessible honey, uninformed Jonathan tastes it and revives, then calls his father's order trouble for the land.
What Remains True
Shows the people refusing dripping honey because they fear the oath. Within 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30, this contribution supports the unit's enduring claim: Faithful reading of “Saul's oath weakens the army, and Jonathan tastes honey” keeps truth, power, and human cost together. The oath does not commend hunger as devotion, coercive vows, leaders endangering followers for personal vengeance, or blaming Jonathan for lacking hidden information.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30 — Saul's oath weakens the army, and Jonathan tastes honeySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 14:24–14:30, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 14:24–14:30; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 14:24–14:30
Open source ↗