Within a half acre of land The garrison seems to have been divided into several bands, and posted upon several craggy eminences; for this first party that Jonathan attacked seems to have been quite separate from the rest. There was a trembling in the host That is, in the whole host which was in the field. The Philistines, hearing of this slaughter of the twenty men, undoubtedly concluded that they had been attacked by a considerable number of Israelites, which put them into a great consternation. Among all the people That is, among all the rest of their forces, as well as those in the garrison at Michmash, and the spoilers, mentioned 1 Samuel 13:17; the report of this prodigy, and with it the terror of God, speedily passing from one to another. The Hebrew is, a trembling of God, signifying not only a very great trembling, but such as was supernatural, and came immediately from the hand of God. He that made the heart knows how to make it tremble. To complete their confusion, even the earth quaked; it shook under them, and made them fear it was just going to swallow them up. Those who will not fear the eternal God, he can make afraid of a shadow.
Related Commentaries of 1 Samuel 14:14
1 Samuel 14:14-15
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearerd made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.
15 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.