Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 14:14

"And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armorbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow`s length in an acre of land." — 1 Samuel 14:14 (ASV)

And that first slaughter ... —Considerable doubt exists as to the exact meaning of this verse.

The Septuagint either had a different text before them here or, as has been suggested, translated “conjecturally, what they did not understand.” Their rendering is “about twenty men, with darts and slings and stones of the field.”

Ewald explains the Hebrew words as follows: “At the very beginning he strikes down about twenty men at once, as if a yoke of land were in the process of being plowed, which must beware of offering opposition to the sharp plowshare in the middle of its work.”

The simplest interpretation seems to be that twenty men were struck down, one after the other, within the distance of half a rood of land.

Bunsen considers this verse an extract from a poet.