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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Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 20
20
1And Dawiḏ fled from Nawith in Ramah, and went and said to Yehonathan, “What have I done? What is my crookedness, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
2And Yehonathan said to him, “Far be it! You are not going to die! See, my father does no big matter nor small matter without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this matter from me? It is not so!”
3But Dawiḏ swore again, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favour in your eyes, and he says, ‘Do not let Yehonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as יהוה lives and as your being lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
4And Yehonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Whatever your desire is, I do it for you.”
5And Dawiḏ said to Yehonathan, “See, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit with the sovereign to eat. But let me go, and I shall hide in the field until the third day at evening.
6“If your father misses me at all, then you shall say, ‘Dawiḏ earnestly asked my permission to run over to Bĕyth Leḥem, his city, for a yearly slaughtering is made there for all the clan.’
7“If he says thus, ‘It is well,’ your servant is safe. But if he is very displeased, then know that he has resolved to do evil.
8“And you shall show loving-commitment to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of יהוה with you. And if there is crookedness in me, put me to death yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
9And Yehonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew with certainty that my father has resolved that evil is to come upon you, then would I not make it known to you?”
10And Dawiḏ said to Yehonathan, “Who would make it known to me, or what if your father answers you sharply?”
11And Yehonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And they both went out into the field.
12And Yehonathan said to Dawiḏ, “יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl be witness! When I search out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and see if there is good toward Dawiḏ, and I do not send to you or disclose it to you,
13so let יהוה do so and much more to Yehonathan. And if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I shall disclose it to you and send you away, and you shall go in peace. And יהוה be with you as He has been with my father.
14“But show me the loving-commitment of יהוה, not only while I still live, so that I do not die,
15and do not cut off your loving-commitment from my house forever, no, not when יהוה has cut off every one of the enemies of Dawiḏ from the face of the earth.”
16And Yehonathan made a covenant with the house of Dawiḏ, saying, “יהוה shall require it at the hand of the enemies of Dawiḏ.”
17And Yehonathan again made Dawiḏ swear, because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own being.
18So Yehonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you shall be missed, because your seat shall be empty.
19“And on the third day, go down quickly and you shall come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and shall remain by the stone Ětsel.
20“And let me shoot three arrows to the side of it as though shooting at a target,
21and see, I shall send the youth, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them and come,’ then, as יהוה lives, there is safety for you and no concern.
22“But if I say thus to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ go your way, for יהוה has sent you away.
23“And as for the word which you and I have spoken of, see, יהוה is between you and me forever.”
24And Dawiḏ hid in the field. And when the new moon came, the sovereign sat down by the food to eat.
25And the sovereign sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall, with Yehonathan standing, and Aḇnĕr sitting by Sha’ul’s side, but the place of Dawiḏ was empty.
26But Sha’ul spoke not a word that day, for he thought, “It is an accident; he is not clean, for he has not been cleansed.”
27And it came to be the next day, the second day of the new moon, that Dawiḏ’s place was empty. And Sha’ul said to Yehonathan his son, “Why has the son of Yishai not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
28And Yehonathan answered Sha’ul, “Dawiḏ earnestly asked my permission to go to Bĕyth Leḥem.
29“And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our clan has a slaughtering in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favour in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the sovereign’s table.”
30Then the displeasure of Sha’ul burned against Yehonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Yishai to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?
31“For as long as the son of Yishai lives on the earth, you shall not be established, you and your reign. And now, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death.”
32And Yehonathan answered Sha’ul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
33At that, Sha’ul hurled a spear at him to smite him. Then Yehonathan knew that his father had resolved to put Dawiḏ to death.
34And Yehonathan rose up from the table in the heat of displeasure, and ate no food the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for Dawiḏ, because his father put him to shame.
35And it came to be, in the morning, that Yehonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with Dawiḏ, and a small youth was with him.
36And he said to the youth, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the youth ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37And when the youth came to the place where the arrow was which Yehonathan had shot, Yehonathan called out after the youth and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?”
38And Yehonathan shouted after the youth, “Make haste, hurry, do not stand still!” And Yehonathan’s youth picked up the arrows and came to his master.
39But the youth knew not a speck. Only Yehonathan and Dawiḏ knew of the matter.
40Then Yehonathan gave his weapons to the youth and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.”
41And as soon as the youth had gone, Dawiḏ rose up from the south side, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another. And they wept together, but Dawiḏ more so.
42And Yehonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the Name of יהוה, saying, ‘יהוה is between you and me, and between your seed and my seed, forever.’ ” Then he arose and left, and Yehonathan went into the city.
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