1 Samuel 20
20
David and Jonathan’s Covenant
1David fled from Naioth in Ramah and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my #20:1 Or iniquity.guilt? What is my sin before (against) your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing #20:2 Lit great or small.important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3But David vowed again, saying “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be worried.’ But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the entire family.’ 7If he says, ‘All right,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then be certain that he has decided on evil. 8Therefore show kindness to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity (guilt) in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [to be killed]?” 9Jonathan said, “Far be it from [happening to] you! In fact, if I indeed learn that my father has decided to harm you, would I not tell you about it?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field [to talk].” So they went out to the field.
12Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward #20:12 Lit David.you, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you? 13But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more if I do not let you know about it and send you away, so that you may go in #20:13 Lit shalom.safety. And #20:13 With this statement Jonathan acknowledges that David has been anointed king.may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, #20:14 To secure his throne a new king would usually kill anyone who was a potential rival for the throne. Jonathan is asking assurance that he will not be assassinated after David becomes king.so that I will not die? 15You shall never cut off your lovingkindness and faithfulness from my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16So Jonathan made a covenant with the #20:16 This covenant was binding not only on David and Jonathan, but also on their descendants.house of David. [#20:16 This may have been the additional vow mentioned in v 17.He added,] “May #20:16 Jonathan was aligning himself with David against all of David’s enemies, including Saul.the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. [that is, hold them accountable for any harm they inflict on David].” 17Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as himself.
18Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself #20:19 Lit on the day of the doing.on that eventful day [when my father tried to kill you], and shall stay by the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target. 21And I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come [back to my father’s table]; for it is #20:21 Lit shalom.safe for you and there is #20:21 Lit nothing.no danger, as the Lord lives. 22But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever [making sure that we each keep our word].”
24So David hid in the field; and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food. 25The king sat on his seat as on previous occasions, on his seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up, and Abner [his commander] sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “It is an incident [of some kind] and #20:26 Saul assumed that David had come into contact with a source of ritual pollution, such as a corpse, and was for that reason temporarily disqualified from participating in the New Moon Festival.he is not [ceremonially] clean—surely he is unclean.” 27But on the next day, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was empty [again]; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
Saul Is Angry with Jonathan
30Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a #20:30 The vulgar language of this Hebrew idiom demeaned Jonathan, not his mother, and Saul implied that she was ashamed of giving birth to him.wayward, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse [over me] to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you [as heir to the throne] nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send [someone] and bring him to me, for he #20:31 Lit is a son of death.must die.” 32Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down, so Jonathan knew [without any doubt] that his father had decided to put David to death. 34Then Jonathan stood up from the table in the heat of anger, and ate no food on that second day of the new moon (month), for he grieved and worried about David because his father had dishonored him.
35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young boy was with him. 36And he said to his boy, “Run, please find the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to him, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38And Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master. 39But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.” 41As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. 42Jonathan told David, “Go #20:42 Lit in shalom.in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’ ” #20:42 In Hebrew, this is v 1 of the next chapter making the versification different throughout ch 21.Then he stood and left, while Jonathan went into the city.
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1 Samuel 20: AMP
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1 Samuel 20
20
1 Then David fled from Naioth, which is in Ramah, and he went and said before Jonathan: "What have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin, against your father, so that he would seek my life?"
2 And he said to him: "May this not be! You shall not die. For my father will not do anything, great or small, without first revealing it to me. Therefore, has my father concealed this word solely from me? By no means shall this be!"
3 And he swore again to David. And David said: "Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and so he will say, 'Let Jonathan not know this, lest he be saddened.' So truly, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is only one step (if I may say it) separating me from death."
4 And Jonathan said to David, "Whatever your soul will tell me, I will do for you."
5 Then David said to Jonathan: "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am accustomed to sit in a seat beside the king to eat. Therefore, permit me that I may be hidden in the field, until the evening of the third day.
6 If your father, looking around, will seek me, you shall respond to him: 'David asked me if he may hurry to Bethlehem, his own city. For there are solemn sacrifices in that place for all of his tribe together.'
7 If he will say, 'It is well,' then your servant will have peace. But if he will be angry, know that his malice has reached its height.
8 Therefore, show mercy to your servant. For you have brought me, your servant, into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you may kill me, and you shall not lead me in to your father."
9 And Jonathan said: "May this be far from you. For certainly, if I ever realized that any wickedness was determined by my father against you, I would not be able to do anything other than report it to you."
10 And David responded to Jonathan, "Who will repeat it to me, if your father may perhaps answer you harshly about me?"
11 And Jonathan said to David, "Come, and let us go out into the field." And when they both had gone out into the field,
12 Jonathan said before David: "O Lord, God of Israel, if I will discover a decision by my father, tomorrow, or the day after, and if there will be anything good concerning David, and yet I do not immediately send to you and make it known to you,
13 may the Lord do these things to Jonathan, and may he add these other things. But if my father will have persevered in malice against you, I will reveal it to your ear, and I will send you away, so that you may go in peace, and so that the Lord may be with you, just as he was with my father.
14 And if I live, you shall show the mercy of the Lord to me. Yet truly, if I die,
15 you shall not take away your mercy from my house, even forever, when the Lord will have rooted out the enemies of David, each and every one of them, from the earth. May he take Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it from the hands of the enemies of David."
16 Therefore, Jonathan formed a covenant with the house of David. And the Lord required it from the hands of the enemies of David.
17 And Jonathan continued to swear to David, because he loved him. For he loved him like his own soul.
18 And Jonathan said to him: "Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be sought.
19 For your seat will be empty until the day after tomorrow. Therefore, you shall descend quickly, and you shall go to the place where you are to be hidden, on a day when it is lawful to work, and you shall remain beside the stone that is called Ezel.
20 And I will shoot three arrows near it, and I will cast them as if I were practicing for myself toward a mark.
21 Also, I will send a boy, saying to him, 'Go and bring the arrows to me.'
22 If I will say to the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are before you, take them up,' you shall approach before me, because there is peace for you, and there is nothing evil, as the Lord lives. But if I will have spoken to the boy in this way, 'Behold, the arrows are away from you,' then you shall go away in peace, for the Lord has released you.
23 Now about the word that you and I have spoken, may the Lord be between you and me, even forever."
24 Therefore, David was hidden in the field. And the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
25 And when the king had sat down on his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat beside Saul, and David's place appeared empty.
26 And Saul did not say anything on that day. For he was thinking that perhaps something happened to him, so that he was not clean, or not purified.
27 And when the second day after the new moon had begun to dawn, David's place again appeared empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, "Why has the son of Jesse not arrived to eat, neither yesterday, nor today?"
28 And Jonathan responded to Saul, "He petitioned me earnestly that he might go to Bethlehem,
29 and he said: 'Permit me. For there is a solemn sacrifice in the city. One of my brothers has summoned me. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your eyes, I will go quickly, and I will see my brothers.' For this reason, he has not come to the table of the king."
30 Then Saul, becoming angry against Jonathan, said to him: "You son of a woman wantonly seizing a man! Could I be ignorant that you love the son of Jesse, to your own shame, and to the shame of your disgraceful mother?
31 For all the days that the son of Jesse moves upon earth, neither you, nor your kingdom, will be secure. And so, send and bring him to me, here and now. For he is a son of death."
32 Then Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said: "Why should he die? What has he done?"
33 And Saul picked up a lance, so that he might strike him. And Jonathan understood that it had been decided by his father that David be put to death.
34 Therefore, Jonathan rose up from the table in a rage of anger. And he did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was saddened over David, because his father had confounded him.
35 And when the morning had begun to dawn, Jonathan went into the field according to the agreement with David, and a young boy was with him.
36 And he said to his boy, "Go, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot." And when the boy had run, he shot another arrow away from the boy.
37 And so, the boy went to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan cried out, from behind the back of boy, and said: "Behold, the arrow is there, farther away from you."
38 And Jonathan cried out again, from behind the back of the boy, saying, "Go quickly! Do not stand still!" Then Jonathan's boy collected the arrows, and he brought them to his lord.
39 And he did not understand at all what was happening. For only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy, and he said to him, "Go, and carry them into the city."
41 And when the boy had gone away, David rose up from his place, which turned toward the south, and falling prone on the ground, he reverenced three times. And kissing one another, they wept together, but David more so.
42 Then Jonathan said to David: "Go in peace. And let us both keep all that we have ever sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, 'May the Lord be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, even forever.' "
43 And David rose up and went away. But Jonathan entered into the city.
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