Then answered one of the people, and said, Your father directly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day. The people were faint.
An oath was an extremely serious matter in the ancient Near East (1 Samuel 14:26; cf. Judges 14:8-9). One did not violate a king’s oath without suffering severe consequences. Jonathan saw the folly of Saul’s oath clearly because he wanted God’s glory (1 Samuel 14:29-30). The Hebrew word translated "troubled" (1 Samuel 14:29, ’akar) is the same one from which "Achan" and "Achor" come (Joshua 7:25-26). Saul, not Jonathan, had troubled Israel, as Achan had, by his foolish command (1 Samuel 14:24).