Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 14:39

"For, as Jehovah liveth, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him." — 1 Samuel 14:39 (ASV)

Though it be in Jonathan my son. —“Were Jonathan himself the transgressor, he [Saul] would not spare his life; and so, feeling inwardly bound by his oath, presses for decision by means of the sacred lot, amid the ominous silence of the horror-stricken people.”— Ewald.