Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.
Parallel translations
- KJV Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
- BSB Then Saul gave up his pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own land.
- NKJV Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
- NASB Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
- NLT Then Saul called back the army from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines returned home.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Saul breaks off the pursuit, and the Philistines return home, ending the day's campaign incompletely.
Overview
The chase ends not in total victory but in a partial one, the fuller triumph hindered, as Jonathan foresaw, by Saul's oath and its consequences. The Philistines withdraw to regroup rather than being decisively crushed. The verse quietly underscores how Saul's flawed leadership limited the deliverance God had begun.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 14:46 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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