The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called the First Book of the Kings
1 Samuel 20
Chapter XX · Vol. II, pp. 661–662
1 David consulteth with Jonathan for his safety. 11 Jonathan and David renew their covenant by oath. 18 Jonathan's token to David. 24 Saul, missing David, seeketh to kill Jonathan. 41 Jonathan lovingly taketh his leave of David.
1 And David afled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before bJonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
a ch. 19. 23; 23. 26. 2 Pe.2.9. Is. 30. 15. Mat. 10.23.
b ch.12. 3. Ju. 11. 12. Pr.28.1. ver.32.
2 And he said unto him, cGod forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing, either great or small, but that he will show it me;1 and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
3 And David dsware2 moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: ebut truly, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, theref is but a step between me and death.
d He. 6. 16. Je. 4. 2. De.6.13.
2 That is, solemnly appealed to the living God, as in the text. It was thus an act of worship in the prospect of death.—C.
e ch.xxv.xxvi.; 1.26; 2.15,21. 2 Ki.2.2.
f De.28.66. 1 Co. 15. 30. Ps.116.3,11. ch.27.1.
5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is hthe new-moon,4 and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that iI may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
h Nu. 10. 10; 28. 11. Ps.81.3. 2 Ki.4.23.
4 The feast of the new-moon was celebrated with trumpets, Nu. 10. 10; with sacrifices, Nu. 28. 11, 12; by rest, Am. 8. 5; by attendance on the ministration of the word, 2 Ki. 4.23; and, as appears from the text, with stated entertainments. C.——The months of the Hebrews were lunar months, and they reckoned from one new moon to another. At these new moons they offered sacrifices, and feasted together in families, for one or more days, ver. 27. On such occasions David was expected to be present, as the king's son-in-law. Compare ver.6,25.—I.
6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked5 leave of me that he might run to kBeth-lehem his city; for there is a yearly lsacrifice there for all the family.
5 From ver. 24 it appears that David did not go to Bethlehem, so that he instructs Jonathan to tell an untruth. This disingenuity is not to be defended, but condemned. But when infidels cavil against the word of God, because of the errors of his servants, let them recollect that here is an internal evidence of that word being from God, because, at any expense, it tells the truth.—C.
k ch.16.1. Jn.7.42.
l Or, feast, Ju.21.4.
7 If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.
8 Therefore thou mshalt deal kindly with thy servant; for nthou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, oif there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?
10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
12 And Jonathan said unto David, pO LORD God of Israel,6 when I have qsounded my father about to-morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee;7
A.M. 2945. B.C. 1059.
p Jos.22.22. Ru.1.17. ver.13.
6 That is, Hear, Lord God of Israel. In such abrupt apostrophes the evident feeling supplies the defect of language. Such forms of expression are common in all impassioned oratory; and never was the feeling of friendship more piously or more ardently uttered than by Jonathan.—C.
q Heb. searched, Pr.20.5; 25.2,3.
7 Heb. uncover thine ear.
13 The rLORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and the sLORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.8
14 And thou shalt not only, while yet I live, show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not;
15 But also tthou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David9 every one from the face of the earth.1
t 2 Sa. ix.; 21. 7. Ge. 21.23.
9 It is evident that Jonathan, as a sincere believer in the word of the Lord by Samuel, was fully aware that David was to be king after his father, and his piety and friendship leave no room for envy, rivalry, or ambition.—C.
1 Ver. 14, 15 may be translated and interpreted as follows:—'And wilt thou not, if I shall then be alive (i.e. when thou comest to the kingdom)—wilt thou not act in kindness with me, so that I may not die (i.e. that I may not be put to death under pretence of preventing any attempt on my part to seize the crown). And thou wilt not remove thy mercy from my house for ever—not even when the Lord shall have cut off all the enemies of David from the face of the earth.' Jonathan foresaw not only that David would ascend the throne, but that his reign would be prosperous, because the Lord was with him. —P.
16 So Jonathan umade a covenant with the house of David, saying, xLet the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.2
u Heb. cut, Ge. 15. 18. ch.18.3.
x ch.31.2; 25.22. Ge. 9.5,6. 2 Sa.4.7; 21.8. Ps. 10.14; 94. 1. De.32.35. ver.23.
2 Let David's enemies punish Jonathan, if he ever prove false to David as a friend, or disloyal to him as a subject, when he comes to the crown; and let them avenge the breach of covenant on David if he prove unkind or cruel to Jonathan or his descendants.—C.
17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for yhe loved him as he loved his own soul.
y ch. 18. 1, 3; 19. 2. 2 Sa. 1. 26. Pr. 17.17; 18. 24.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, zTo-morrow is the new-moon; and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.3
z ver.5.
3 Heb. missed.
19 And when thou hast stayed three 4days, then thou shalt go down quickly,5 and come to the place where thou didst ahide thyself when the business6 was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.7
4 Most probably—'when thou hast stayed three days at Bethlehem.'—C.
5 Or, diligently. Heb. greatly.
a ch.19.2.
6 Heb. in the day of the business.
7 Or, that showeth the way.
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt,8 as the LORD liveth.
8 Heb. not any thing.
22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.
23 And as touching bthe matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between9 thee and me for ever.
24 So David chid himself in the field: and when the new-moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
25 And the king sat upon his seat, as dat other times, even upon a seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.1
26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he eis not clean; surely he is not clean.2
e Le.17.24; 15.16,17, 19,21. Nu.19.16.
2 As by touching a dead body, or the like ceremonial defilement.—C.
27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month,3 that David's place was empty; and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, fWherefore cometh not the song of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday nor to-day?4
3 Not the second day after the new-moon, but the day after the second new-moon, i.e. the second day of the second month. See ver. 34, and compare Ex. 19. 1, 'the third new-moon,' i.e. the first day of the third month.—I.
f ch. 18. 11; 19. 9, 15, 20,23. Pr. 30.20.
g ch. 22. 7-9; 25. 10. Mat.13.55.
4 Most forms of uncleanness continued but till the evening, and therefore Saul expects David to be clean on the second day, Le. 11. 26-28.—C.
28 And Jonathan hanswered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem:
h ver. 6. Zec. 8. 16. Col.3.9. Ep.4.25.
29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren: therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.
30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, iThou son of the perverse rebellious5 woman,6 do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?7
i Heb. Son of perverse rebellion, Mat. 5.22. Ep.6.4.
5 Or, Thou perverse rebel.
6 As there is no word for woman in the Hebrew, some understand the phrase as in the margin. But the subsequent allusion to his mother shows that this does not exhaust the meaning. Among eastern nations it is the extremity of abuse to speak evil of any one's mother. Mungo Park relates the expression of an African, 'Strike me, but do not curse my mother.' Yet the intention is commonly not so much to stigmatize the mother as the son; for not only is she often unknown to the reviler, but a father will (like Saul) use such expressions to his own son, and one brother to another.—I.
7 An angry man always talks foolishly, and little regards the impropriety of his language. Saul, according to an eastern custom, upbraids the mother rather than the son, charging his kindness to David as a proof of illegitimacy.—C.
31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom: wherefore now send and fetch him unto me; for he shall surely die.8
8 Heb. is the son of death.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, kWherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
k ver.17. Pr.31.9; 24. 11,12. Jn.7.25,51.
33 And Saul lcast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
l ch.18.11; 19.10,11.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David,9 because his father had done him shame.
9 The words, 'and did eat no meat, for he was grieved for David,' are a parenthesis, and the anger is accounted for on the ground of the public insult to himself and his mother. —C.
35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field, mat the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
m ver.19.
36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And, as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.1
A.M. 2945. B.C. 1059.
1 Heb. to pass over him. By these tokens David was warned of his danger.
37 And when the lad was come to the 2place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
2 Michaelis and Dathe, by a slight change in the Hebrew, translate 'half-way to the place,' but that seems unnecessary.—I.
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not.3 And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
3 Though these words appear to be addressed to the lad, they were intended for David.—I.
39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his 4artillery5 unto his lad,6 and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
4 Heb. instruments.
5 His bow and quiver with the arrows.—C.
6 Heb. that was his.
41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times;7 andn they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David oexceeded.
Notes
[Ver. 16. It appears to me that the first clause of this verse is closely connected logically with the first clause of ver. 15, and that the two may be thus joined: 'And thou wilt not remove thy mercy from my house. . . . And Jonathan will (not) remove (his mercy) from the house of David.' The second clause appears to be a solemn invocation of Jonathan's that, in case David should deal thus generously, then the Lord would reward him by the overthrow of his enemies: 'And may the Lord require it from the hand (or, repay it upon) the enemies of David!" P.]
Reflections.—How great is the value and usefulness of a true friend, especially in a time of distress and danger! The greatest disinterestedness of affection is implied in cordial friendship—it extends to posterity, as well as to its immediate objects. When influenced by it, we cannot endure the shadow of what might produce a separation; and can more readily be abused ourselves, than have our friend ill-treated. Great patience, meekness, and prudence are necessary when we have to deal with foul-mouthed, malicious, and unreasonable men. And with what tender and solemn concern should friends part, in view of having their next meeting in eternity! But most necessary is a constant cleaving to Jesus Christ, and his everlasting promise? is all our salvation and all our desire.