1Then David fled the city of NaiOth and he went to see JoNathan. And he asked, ‘What have I done? What’s my offence? How have I sinned against your father so that he’s searching for my life so vigorously?’ 2And JoNathan replied, ‘That isn’t what’s happening; he isn’t going to kill you. Look, there’s no way that my father would do anything, whether it’s great or small, without telling me. And why would my father hide such a thing from me? It just isn’t so. 3But David told JoNathan, ‘Your father knows that I’ve found favor in your eyes, so he told the others, Don’t tell JoNathan, because he cares for him. But as Jehovah lives and as you live, I tell you that the only thing certain between your father and me is death.’ 4Then JoNathan said to David, ‘So, what do you want… what can I do for you?’ 5And David told him, ‘Look, tomorrow is the New Moon [Festival] and I’m supposed to come here to eat with the king. But I want you to send me away. I’ll go out into the fields and hide there sometime after noon. 6And when your father notices that I’m missing, I want you to say to him, David asked me to excuse him, because he had to return to his city of BethLehem to offer a sacrifice for the Festival on behalf of his whole tribe. 7And if he says, Fine, then your servant is at peace with him. But if he gives you a harsh reply, that will indicate he has evil plans for me. 8‘Now, you’ve shown great mercy to your servant, for you’ve made an agreement between you and me before Jehovah. And if you think your servant has done anything wrong, then condemn me to death and take me to your father.’ 9But JoNathan replied, ‘That won’t happen. Do you think that if I find that my father has evil plans for you, I won’t tell you? 10And David said to JoNathan, ‘Then who will you send to tell me if your father answers harshly?’ 11And JoNathan replied, ‘Come, let’s walk out into the fields.’ And they both walked outside [the city]. 12Then JoNathan said to David, ‘Jehovah the God of Israel knows that I’ll question my father at least two or three times. And if things look good for you, I’m not going to send you to [live in] the fields. 13For, may God [curse] me and add to it if I’ll allow anything bad to happen to you. [However, if the message is bad], I’ll tell you and send you away in peace. Then Jehovah will have to watch over you as He once did my father. 14‘Now, you’ve met with me while I’m alive, and after I die (by the mercy of Jehovah), 15[please] be merciful to my house through the age. And when Jehovah destroys the enemies of David from the face of the earth, 16may the name of JoNathan always remain in the house of David, even if Jehovah should allow me to die at the hands of your enemies.’ 17Then JoNathan swore an oath to David because of his love for him… for he loved him as much as his own life. 18He said, ‘Tomorrow is the New Moon, and everyone will look for you [to come and sit] in your chair, [but you must go and hide in the fields]. 19Then after three days, look around, then come to this place and sit behind that boulder. 20And then I’ll come here and shoot three arrows at a target. 21And when I send my servant to look for them, if I say to him, Here they are in front of you, come pick them up,’ you may come back, because everything is peaceful. As Jehovah lives, let’s do it this way, so there’s no miscommunication. 22But if I tell the young man, The arrows are way beyond you, I’ll be sending you away to Jehovah! 23‘Now concerning these things that you and I have agreed to; may Jehovah serve as the witness between you and me through the age.’ 24Then David went and hid in the fields. And when the New Moon [Festival] started, the king arrived to eat at his table. And as always, he sat in his chair by the wall. 25Now, JoNathan and AbNer were already seated there next to Saul, and everyone looked over to where David usually sat. 26However, Saul didn’t say anything that day, for he thought is was just a coincidence. He thought that David had likely become unclean and he had gone to cleanse himself that day. 27But on the next day (the second day of the month), Saul looked at the place where David sat, and he asked his son JoNathan, ‘Why isn’t the son of Jesse here? This is the second day that he hasn’t been at the table!’ 28And JoNathan replied, ‘He asked to be excused so he could go to his city of BethLehem. 29He asked me to send him there so he could offer a sacrifice for his whole tribe. Now, since you’ve put me in charge of my brothers, and if it pleases you, let me go to check on my brother and find out why he hasn’t come to the table of the king.’ 30Well, Saul was furious with JoNathan and said to him, ‘You son of a divorced woman; don’t you know that when you call the son of Jesse [your brother] it shames you, and it shames the nakedness of your mother? 31For, as long as the son of Jesse is alive on this earth, my kingdom will never be yours. Now, go and catch that young man, for he’s the son of death!’ 32But JoNathan asked his father Saul, ‘Why must he die? What did he do?’ 33Then Saul grabbed his spear and shoved it toward JoNathan in an attempt to kill him, so JoNathan knew that his father planned to put David to death. 34As the result, he jumped up from the table in a rage, and he wouldn’t eat anything for the rest of that day, for he was devastated by the fact that his father wanted to finish off David. 35Well, the next morning, JoNathan went out into the field with his servant to meet with David as he said he would, 36and he told his servant to run and search for the arrows after he shot them. 37Well, he shot way over [the target], and when his servant got to the place where he shot them, JoNathan yelled, ‘They’re way out beyond that.’ 38And he added, ‘Hurry, don’t just stand there!’ Well, JoNathan’s servant finally retrieved all the arrows that his master had shot, 39and he wasn’t aware of what was actually happening. But JoNathan and David both understood the meaning of this. 40Then JoNathan handed his weapons to his servant and told him to take them back to the city. 41And as he was leaving, David stood up from [inside] a box and fell with his face to the ground, bowing before him three times. Then he kissed his friend and they both cried over this end to David’s greatness. 42Then JoNathan said to David, ‘Go in peace! And as we both swore an oath in the Name of the Lord; Jehovah is the witness between you and me, and between my seed and your seed through the ages.’ Then David got up and left, and JoNathan returned to the city.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 DAVID CONSULTS WITH JONATHAN FOR HIS SAFETY. (
1Sam 20:1-10)
David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan--He could not remain in Naioth, for he had strong reason to fear that when the religious fit, if we may so call it, was over, Saul would relapse into his usual fell and sanguinary temper. It may be thought that David acted imprudently in directing his flight to Gibeah. But he was evidently prompted to go thither by the most generous feelings--to inform his friend of what had recently occurred, and to obtain that friend's sanction to the course he was compelled to adopt. Jonathan could not be persuaded there was any real danger after the oath his father had taken; at all events, he felt assured his father would do nothing without telling him. Filial attachment naturally blinded the prince to defects in the parental character and made him reluctant to believe his father capable of such atrocity. David repeated his unshaken convictions of Saul's murderous purpose, but in terms delicately chosen (
1Sam 20:3), not to wound the filial feelings of his friend; while Jonathan, clinging, it would seem, to a hope that the extraordinary scene enacted at Naioth might have wrought a sanctified improvement on Saul's temper and feelings, undertook to inform David of the result of his observations at home.
5 David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat--The beginning of a new month or moon was always celebrated by special sacrifices, followed by feasting, at which the head of a family expected all its members to be present. David, both as the king's son-in-law and a distinguished courtier, dined on such occasions at the royal table, and from its being generally known that David had returned to Gibeah, his presence in the palace would be naturally expected. This occasion was chosen by the two friends for testing the king's state of feeling. As a suitable pretext for David's absence, it was arranged that he should visit his family at Beth-lehem, and thus create an opportunity of ascertaining how his non-appearance would be viewed. The time and place were fixed for Jonathan reporting to David; but as circumstances might render another interview unsafe, it was deemed expedient to communicate by a concerted signal.
11 THEIR COVENANT RENEWED BY OATH. (
1Sam 20:11-23)
Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go into the field--The private dialogue, which is here detailed at full length, presents a most beautiful exhibition of these two amiable and noble-minded friends. Jonathan was led, in the circumstances, to be the chief speaker. The strength of his attachment, his pure disinterestedness, his warm piety, his invocation to God (consisting of a prayer and a solemn oath combined), the calm and full expression he gave of his conviction that his own family were, by the divine will, to be disinherited, and David elevated to the possession of the throne, the covenant entered into with David on behalf of his descendants, and the imprecation (
1Sam 20:16) denounced on any of them who should violate his part of the conditions, the reiteration of this covenant on both sides (
1Sam 20:17) to make it indissoluble--all this indicates such a power of mutual affection, such magnetic attractiveness in the character of David, such susceptibility and elevation of feeling in the heart of Jonathan, that this interview for dramatic interest and moral beauty stands unrivalled in the records of human friendship.
19 when thou hast stayed three days--either with your family at Beth-lehem, or wherever you find it convenient.
come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand--Hebrew, "in the day," or "time of the business," when the same matter was under inquiry formerly (
1Sam 19:22).
remain by the stone Ezel--Hebrew, "the stone of the way"; a sort of milestone which directed travellers. He was to conceal himself in some cave or hiding-place near that spot.
23 as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of--The plan being concerted, the friends separated for a time, and the amiable character of Jonathan again peers out in his parting allusion to their covenant of friendship.
25 SAUL, MISSING DAVID, SEEKS TO KILL JONAHAN. (1Sa. 20:24-40)
the king sat upon his seat, as at other times . . . by the wall--The left-hand corner at the upper end of a room was and still is in the East, the most honorable place. The person seated there has his left arm confined by the wall, but his right hand is at full liberty. From Abner's position next the king, and David's seat being left empty, it would seem that a state etiquette was observed at the royal table, each of the courtiers and ministers having places assigned them according to their respective gradations of rank.
Jonathan arose--either as a mark of respect on the entrance of the king, or in conformity with the usual Oriental custom for a son to stand in presence of his father.
26 he is not clean--No notice was taken of David's absence, as he might be laboring under some ceremonial defilement.
27 on the morrow, which was the second day of the month--The time of the moon's appearance being uncertain--whether at midday, in the evening, or at midnight, the festival was extended over two days. Custom, not the law, had introduced this.
Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse--The question was asked, as it were, casually, and with as great an air of indifference as he could assume. And Jonathan having replied that David had asked and obtained his permission to attend a family anniversary at Beth-lehem [
Acts 20:28-
Acts 20:29], the pent-up passions of the king burst out in a most violent storm of rage and invective against his son.
30 Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman--This is a striking Oriental form of abuse. Saul was not angry with his wife; it was the son alone, upon whom he meant, by this style of address, to discharge his resentment. The principle on which it is founded seems to be, that to a genuine filial instinct it is a more inexpiable offense to hear the name or character of a parent traduced, than any personal reproach. This was, undoubtedly, one cause of "the fierce anger" in which the high-minded prince left the table without tasting a morsel.
33 Saul cast a javelin at him--This is a sad proof of the maniacal frenzy into which the unhappy monarch was transported.
35 Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed--or, "at the place appointed."
36 he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot--The direction given aloud to the attendant was the signal preconcerted with David. It implied danger.
40 Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad--that is, his missive weapons. The French word artillerie, signifies "archery." The term is still used in England, in the designation of the "artillery company of London," the association of archers, though they have long disused bows and arrows. Jonathan's boy being despatched out of the way, the friends enjoyed the satisfaction of a final meeting.
41 JONATHAN AND DAVID LOVINGLY PART. (
1Sam 20:41-42)
David . . . fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times--a token of homage to the prince's rank; but on a close approach, every other consideration was sunk in the full flow of the purest brotherly affection.
42 Jonathan said to David, Go in peace--The interview being a stolen one, and every moment precious, it was kindness in Jonathan to hasten his friend's departure.