1Samuel 20:1 ¶ And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 2 And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. 3 And David sware 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: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. 5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 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 shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
Here is evidence of David’s close relationship with Jonathan, the
son of David’s mortal enemy. Saul is a moody and double-minded individual and
Jonathan will gauge his current mood toward David. David wants to know if Saul
will express a concern that he misses David. Saul is clearly a nutcase, someone
you do not want in charge of a kingdom but David only wants to be in Saul’s
good graces. Jonathan is a true friend and brother born for times such as this.
Proverbs 17:17 ¶ A friend
loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
1Samuel 20:9 ¶ 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, O LORD
God of Israel, when I have sounded 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 shew it thee; 13
The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to
do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou
mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
14 And thou shalt not only while yet I
live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15 But also thou shalt not cut off thy
kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies
of David every one from the face of the earth. 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the
house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand
of David’s enemies. 17 And Jonathan
caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved
his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to
David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy
seat will be empty. 19 And when
thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come
to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand,
and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. 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; as the LORD
liveth. 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 the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be
between thee and me for ever.
The empty seat of verse 18 has been the subject of many sorrowful
sermons talking about a loved one who has passed on. Here Jonathan hatches a
plan to warn David if things will not go well with his father, King Saul.
These two warrior friends make a covenant and Jonathan has made
this covenant with David’s house, his dynasty, in that this friendship should
go on for generations. That was its intent. David and Jonathan’s souls are knit
together in a way that typically only men who have faced mortal peril together
in combat would understand. There is a bond often spoken of in stories like the
book and TV series Band of Brothers that, for many, lasts a lifetime.
1Samuel 20:24 ¶ So David
hid 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 at 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. 26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that
day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean;
surely he is not clean. 27 And it
came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the
month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son,
Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David
earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: 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, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman,
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? 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. 32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and
said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? 33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him:
whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
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, because his father had done him shame.
David’s absence makes Saul suspicious, of course. After Jonathan
lies for David in a very feeble and unconvincing manner Saul turns his anger on
his son. He accuses him of destroying his own dynastic inheritance by
supporting David. Saul even threw a javelin at his son, showing how out of
control he was. Jonathan leaves in a rage over the situation.
It was a terrible thing to be on the bad side of a king who could
demand your appearance at court even though you knew his intention was to kill
you. If you avoided the king’s court it only made you look more suspicious.
1Samuel 20:35 ¶ And it came to pass in the morning, that
Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little
lad with him. 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. 37 And when
the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan
cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed,
haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his
master. 39 But the lad knew not any
thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad,
and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. 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: and they kissed one another, and wept
one with another, until David exceeded. 42
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both
of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and
between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan
went into the city.
See how in verses 37 and 38 Jonathan shouts for David’s benefit
while making his helper think he was getting instructions.
Here are a couple of things to be said about this passage. Jonathan
and David have sworn a bond between them that is meant to last generations. We
shall see how David handles this covenant after Jonathan’s death in combat.
Artillery in verse 40 is not used in the way we
understand it. At the time of this translation artillery meant not only bullets
or cannon but any weapon of war, according to the 1593 Dictionary of French and
English by Claude Hollyband as cited by the University of Toronto’s Lexicons of
Early Modern English database.[1]
[1] Ian Lancashire, editor, “Lexicons
of Early Modern English,” (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada), https://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/quick
(accessed 11.8.2023).
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