The People Sin By Eating The Blood Of Slain Beasts, And Saul Erects A Primitive Place For Slaughter (1 Samuel 14:31-35).
A further consequence of Saul's rash vow is now seen. Having been deprived of food Saul's men now sin against YHWH by eating animals with their blood. This was something strictly forbidden by the Law (Leviticus 17:10-11), and Saul therefore arranges for a primitive slaughter stone to be set up so that the animals may be slain properly, and the blood be allowed to pour out on the ground as an offering to YHWH (see Deuteronomy 12:15-16). If only he had been so keen on obeying YHWH's instructions previously, what a difference it would have made. The writer then, in our view sarcastically, declares that this was the first altar that Saul built to YHWH, for up to this point Samuel has always been responsible for such activity. We gain a distinct impression here that what Saul does is being presented by the writer in such a way that it depicts him as a parody of Samuel, so that Saul, who is in fact responsible for the fiasco in the first place, is being depicted as playing the great prophet in the place of Samuel. Note that it is sandwiched between two questions asking ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?' in 1 Samuel 10:12; 1 Samuel 19:24, the first of which was at a time of hope when he had just commenced his responsibilities, the other was when he had demonstrated just what he had become, a vindictive executioner. Here we get the answer. He might try to make it appear so, but really he is a ‘no, no'.
Analysis.
a And the people were very faint, and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate them with the blood (1 Samuel 14:31-32).
b Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people sin against YHWH, in that they eat with the blood” (1 Samuel 14:33 a).
c And he said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me this day” (1 Samuel 14:33 b).
b And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against YHWH in eating with the blood” (1 Samuel 14:34 a).
a And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. And Saul built an altar to YHWH, the same was the first altar that he built to YHWH (1 Samuel 14:34-35).
Note that in ‘a' the people slew the animals on the ground, and ate them with the blood, and in the parallel they slew the animals on the ‘altar' that Saul built (thus not eating them with the blood). In ‘b' Saul was told that the people were eating with the blood, and in the parallel he warns them not to eat with the blood and thus sin against YHWH. Centrally in ‘c' he rebukes the people for their misbehaviour (in what is almost like an echo of Samuel) and calls on them to roll a stone into place on which the animals can be slain.
1 Samuel 14:31-32 (31b-32)
‘And the people were very faint, and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate them with the blood.'
Such was the panic among the Philistines who were in headlong flight, that Saul's men, in spite of their weakened state, were still able to continue the chase and slaughter the stragglers all the way from Michmash to Aijalon, a distance of nearly twenty miles over rough ground. This is an indication of the quality of Saul's men (see 1 Samuel 14:52). They would by now have been able to arm themselves with proper weapons dropped by the enemy.
But they were naturally very weak after their exertions without food, and thus as soon as the day ended at sunset, (with the result that the curse ceased to be active), they were so hungry that they threw themselves eagerly on the spoils left behind by the Philistines, slew their sheep, oxen and calves, and ate them raw without being concerned about eating the blood. This was, of course, contrary to the strict regulations of the Law which forbade the eating of the blood (see Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10-14; Deuteronomy 12:16).
‘ Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people sin against YHWH, in that they eat with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me this day.” '
The news of their misdemeanour reached Saul's ears. ‘The people are sinning against YHWH by eating blood.' And his response was immediate. He declared that a primitive altar must be set up by rolling a large stone into place on which the animals could be properly slain and the blood allowed to pour out on the ground (see Deuteronomy 12:15-16). This was not for the offering of sacrifices, but in order that the beasts might be properly slain.
‘ And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against YHWH in eating with the blood.” And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.'
Then Saul commanded that instructions be given to all the people that they bring their animals to the stone and slay them there in the right manner so as to avoid directly eating the blood. The people immediately responded. Note the reference to ‘that night'. The day was now over. (The Israelite day ceased at sunset when a new ‘day' began).
‘ And Saul built an altar to YHWH, the same was the first altar that he built to YHWH.'
The writer then adds a note to the effect that this was the first ‘altar' that Saul had built to YHWH. The implication is that hitherto he had had Samuel to see to such things. Now he was on his own. It was not strictly an ‘altar' in the fullest sense of the word. The purpose was not in order to offer offerings and sacrifices, but so that the animals could be slaughtered in the right manner before eating. It followed the directions in Deuteronomy 12:15-16. But the writer sees it as very significant. It signified that Samuel was no longer with him.
However genuine Saul might have been the writer was probably being deliberately sarcastic. In his view it was not Saul's responsibility to build altars. His point is therefore so as to emphasise Samuel's absence. It is Saul's first altar because previously he had been able to leave such things to someone else. It is all of a piece with what has gone before. Saul had called for the Ark, and had made use of a religious oath. Now he has erected a kind of altar. This will be followed by a vain consultation of the oracle. They are all acts which mark him as a religious man. But it was a religion that was all on the outside. It was based solely on ritual. In the end there was nothing underneath, for what was lacking was the responsive obedience without which all the rest was useless.