David flees from Samuel's compound at Naioth and confronts Jonathan with a desperate question: why is your father trying to kill me? Jonathan cannot believe it. The two men devise a test — David will be absent from the New Moon feast, and Jonathan will gauge Saul's reaction. They renew their covenant, binding not only themselves but their descendants. At the feast, Saul's rage explodes against Jonathan for protecting David. Jonathan goes to the field, shoots the arrow signal, and the two friends embrace in grief before parting. David goes into permanent exile; Jonathan returns to the city.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
This chapter is the emotional center of the David-Jonathan narrative, and it is structured around three covenants that escalate in scope. In verse 8, Jonathan invokes the existing covenant (berit) between them. In verse 16, Jonathan cuts a new covenant with the house of David — extending the bond beyond two individuals to two dynasties. In verse 42, both men swear by the LORD that the covenant holds 'between my descendants and your descendants forever.' The chapter transforms personal friendship into a political-theological commitment that will outlast both men. The arrow signal (verses 20-22, 35-40) is an elaborate espionage device, but its narrative function is to create a moment where the two friends must communicate without words — the opposite of the direct, intimate speech that fills the rest of the chapter. The New Moon feast provides the setting, and Saul's escalating fury across three days reveals how deeply David's absence threatens the king's sense of control. Jonathan's loyalty is tested from both sides: his father demands filial obedience, his covenant partner demands faithfulness. He chooses covenant over bloodline.
Translation Friction
Verse 30 contains one of the most offensive insults in the Hebrew Bible: Saul calls Jonathan ben-na'avat ha-mardut, which KJV renders 'thou son of the perverse rebellious woman.' The phrase is difficult because na'avat is a rare form — possibly from 'avah ('to twist, pervert') with a feminine ending, meaning something like 'son of a twisted rebellious woman.' It attacks Jonathan's mother to shame Jonathan, a tactic with deep cultural force in the ancient Near East. We render it to preserve the maternal insult and the shame-rage dynamic without sanitizing or amplifying. In verse 3, David swears ki-khe-fesa' beyni uveyn ha-mavet ('there is barely a step between me and death') — the word pesa' ('step') is concrete and physical, measuring the gap between life and death as a single stride. In verse 30, Saul also accuses Jonathan of choosing David le-boshtekha u-le-boshet ervat immekha ('to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness'). The word ervah ('nakedness, exposure') suggests sexual dishonor; Saul is accusing Jonathan of a loyalty so perverse it shames his own mother's body. We translate with maximum clarity about what Saul is actually saying.
Connections
The Jonathan-David covenant echoes the covenant-cutting pattern established in Genesis 15 (God's covenant with Abraham) and Genesis 31:44-54 (Jacob and Laban). The phrase 'the LORD be between me and you' (verse 42) mirrors Genesis 31:49, the Mizpah benediction. Jonathan's request that David show chesed ('faithful love') to his house (verses 14-15) will be fulfilled in 2 Samuel 9, when David seeks out Jonathan's son Mephibosheth and restores his grandfather's land. The New Moon feast (chodesh) connects to Numbers 28:11-15, where the first day of each month required special sacrifices — Saul's feast is a royal observance of this calendar marker. David's hiding at the stone Ezel (verse 19) will be echoed by his later fugitive movements in the Judean wilderness. Jonathan's arrow signal anticipates the coded communications that will characterize David's years on the run.
David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan. He said, "What have I done? What is my guilt? What is my offense against your father, that he is hunting my life?"
KJV 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?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
David's three questions — meh asiti, meh avoni, u-meh chattati — escalate from general action ('what have I done?') to moral failing ('what is my guilt?') to covenant violation ('what is my offense?'). The word avon denotes guilt or iniquity in its moral weight, while chattat specifically means 'sin' in the sense of missing a mark or violating a standard. David is not merely asking what happened; he is insisting that he has violated no law, no moral code, and no covenant obligation.
The verb mevaqesh ('he is seeking') paired with nafshi ('my life/soul') is a fixed Hebrew expression for intent to kill — Saul is not searching for David's presence but for his death. David has just fled from the prophetic protection at Naioth (19:18-24), where even Saul fell into prophetic ecstasy. That supernatural intervention has not changed Saul's underlying intent.
Jonathan said to him, "Never! You will not die. My father does nothing — whether large or small — without uncovering it to my ear. Why would my father hide this from me? It is not true."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan's opening word chalilah is an oath-like expression of strong denial — literally 'far be it' or 'profane the thought.' It carries the force of 'God forbid' without explicitly invoking the divine name. His certainty rests on his assumption that Saul shares everything with him: lo ya'aseh avi davar gadol o davar qatan ('my father does not do a thing great or small'). The idiom 'uncover the ear' (yigleh et ozni) means to reveal something privately — literally peeling back the covering over the ear to whisper a secret.
Jonathan's confidence is genuine but mistaken. Saul has already attempted to kill David multiple times (18:10-11, 19:1, 19:10) and explicitly ordered Jonathan himself to kill David (19:1). Jonathan successfully intervened once (19:4-6), but Saul's subsequent attempts show that the king's intent has not changed. Jonathan's denial reflects the impossible position of a son who loves both his father and his friend.
David swore again and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, so he has said to himself, 'Jonathan must not know about this, or he will be devastated.' But as the LORD lives, and as your own life endures — there is barely a step between me and death."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The double oath formula chai YHWH ve-chey nafshekha ('as the LORD lives and as your soul/life lives') is the strongest available assurance — David swears by God and by Jonathan himself. This formula appears repeatedly in the David narratives and always marks a moment of utmost seriousness.
The word pesa' ('step') appears only here and in a handful of other passages. Its concreteness is the point: David is not speaking metaphorically about danger. He is saying that death is literally one step away. The vivid physicality of the image — a single human stride — makes the abstract threat immediate and bodily.
Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want — I will do it for you."
KJV Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan's response is total commitment compressed into a single sentence. The phrase mah tomar nafshekha ('what does your soul say?') asks not merely for David's wish but for the deepest expression of his inner being — nafesh here means the whole person, not just desire. Jonathan's ve-e'eseh-llakh ('and I will do it for you') is an unconditional pledge with no qualifications. This is the turning point where Jonathan stops defending his father and begins acting as David's ally.
David said to Jonathan, "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am expected to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, and I will hide in the open country until the evening of the third day.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֹדֶשׁchodesh
"New Moon"—new moon, first day of the month, month, monthly renewal
The chodesh was both an astronomical event and a religious observance. The appearance of the new crescent moon marked the beginning of each month in the Israelite calendar. Numbers 28:11-15 prescribes burnt offerings, grain offerings, and a sin offering for this day. In the royal court, it became a formal feast with assigned seating — making it the ideal setting for David's test.
Translator Notes
The phrase hinneh chodesh machar ('tomorrow is the New Moon') establishes the calendar setting. The chodesh was the first day of the lunar month, marked by special sacrifices (Numbers 28:11-15) and communal feasting. The royal household observed it as a formal banquet where assigned seats mattered — absence would be noticed and interpreted.
David's plan involves three days of absence. The phrase ad ha-erev ha-shelishit ('until the evening of the third day') gives the test a defined timeframe. David will hide ba-sadeh ('in the field/open country') — the same word used for the place where Cain killed Abel (Genesis 4:8) and where Esau hunted (Genesis 25:27). The sadeh is the space outside the city, beyond the reach of walls and social order.
If your father misses me at all, say: 'David urgently asked my permission to run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because the whole clan has a yearly sacrifice there.'
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase paqod yifqedeni ('he will surely miss/notice me') uses the infinitive absolute of paqad — a verb meaning 'to attend to, visit, notice, muster.' Saul will not merely notice David's absence; he will actively register it as significant. David's cover story involves a zebach ha-yamim ('sacrifice of the days,' meaning annual sacrifice) for his entire mishpachah ('clan, extended family') at Bethlehem. This is plausible — clan sacrifices were real events — but it is a deliberate deception. The text does not moralize about the lie; it presents it as survival strategy.
The verb laruts ('to run') rather than lalekhet ('to walk/go') conveys urgency — David's story is that the summons from Bethlehem was pressing enough to override his royal obligation.
If he says, 'Good' — then your servant is safe. But if he flares with anger, know that he has fully decided on harm."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The test is binary. If Saul says tov ('good'), then shalom le-avdekha ('peace to your servant') — David is safe. But if charoh yechareh lo ('he burns with burning,' another infinitive absolute construction for emphasis), then kaletah ha-ra'ah me'immo ('the evil is completed/determined from him'). The verb kaletah comes from kalah, meaning 'to be complete, to be finished, to be determined' — the evil is not a passing mood but a settled resolution. David is asking Jonathan to read Saul's reaction as a diagnostic of fixed intent versus temporary suspicion.
Show faithful love to your servant, because you brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself — why would you hand me over to your father?"
KJV 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?
Chesed is the defining virtue of covenant relationships in the Hebrew Bible. It describes the committed, loyal action that a covenant partner takes on behalf of the other — especially when the other is vulnerable, powerless, or in need. It is not sentiment; it is obligation fulfilled with genuine care. David appeals to chesed here because he is the weaker party: a fugitive asking a prince to choose loyalty to a friend over obedience to a father.
The berit between Jonathan and David was first established in 18:3, where Jonathan 'cut a covenant' (yikhrot berit) with David. Here David calls it berit YHWH — a covenant of the LORD — indicating that God stands as witness and enforcer. This is the same language used for God's covenants with Abraham (Genesis 15:18) and Israel at Sinai (Exodus 24:8). By invoking it, David places their bond within the framework of divine law, not personal sentiment.
Translator Notes
The word chesed is the chapter's theological anchor. It denotes the faithful, loyal love that covenant partners owe each other — not as sentiment but as binding obligation. When David says 'show chesed,' he is calling in a covenantal debt, not asking for a favor. The prepositional phrase al avdekha ('upon your servant') positions David as the vulnerable party who is owed protection.
The phrase berit YHWH ('covenant of the LORD') elevates the Jonathan-David covenant above a personal agreement. God is the witness and guarantor. David's willingness to die at Jonathan's hand rather than Saul's is both a test of loyalty and a theological statement: covenant justice is preferable to royal caprice.
Jonathan said, "Never! If I learn for certain that my father has decided to bring harm against you, would I not tell you?"
KJV 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?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan's chalilah lakh ('far be it from you') mirrors his earlier chalilah in verse 2, but this time it carries a different force. In verse 2 he denied that Saul intended evil; here he promises that if evil is confirmed, he will not withhold the information. Jonathan is shifting from denial to readiness — he is beginning to accept the possibility that David may be right.
The rhetorical question ve-lo otah aggid lakh ('would I not tell it to you?') expects a strong affirmative. Jonathan is binding himself to transparency. The verb nagad ('to declare, tell, report') is the standard term for official communication in covenant contexts.
David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"
KJV Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
David's question is practical and urgent: mi yaggid li ('who will report to me?'). Even if Jonathan learns the truth, the intelligence must reach David in the field. The word qashah ('harshly, roughly') describes a severe or hard response — David anticipates that Saul's reaction might be violent enough that Jonathan himself could be in danger and unable to deliver the message. This prompts the arrow-signal plan in the verses that follow.
Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out to the open country." And the two of them went out to the open country.
KJV And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The move to the sadeh ('field, open country') takes the conversation out of earshot — away from the royal compound where walls have ears. The narrator's repetition of ha-sadeh twice in one verse emphasizes the shift of setting. The phrase shenehem ('the two of them') highlights their solidarity; they move as a pair into the exposed landscape where their private covenant talk can happen without surveillance.
Jonathan said to David, "By the LORD, the God of Israel — when I have sounded out my father by this time tomorrow or the day after, if things look favorable for David and I do not send word to you and uncover it to your ear —
KJV 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;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan begins a formal oath invoking YHWH Elohei Yisra'el ('the LORD, the God of Israel') — the full covenantal title. The verb echqor ('I will sound out, investigate') comes from chaqar, meaning to search deeply, to probe, to investigate thoroughly. Jonathan is promising a genuine intelligence operation, not a casual observation. The phrase galiti et oznekha ('I will uncover your ear') repeats the idiom from verse 2 — the same intimacy Jonathan assumed his father showed him, he now promises to show David.
— then may the LORD do thus to Jonathan and even more! But if my father intends harm against you, I will uncover it to your ear and send you away so you can go in safety. May the LORD be with you as he was with my father."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The self-curse formula is deliberately vague — koh ('thus') gestures toward an unspecified punishment too terrible to name. The phrase ve-koh yosif ('and may he add more') intensifies the curse beyond the unnamed first portion. This is the most solemn form of oath available.
Jonathan's blessing — 'may the LORD be with you as he was with my father' — is the chapter's most politically loaded sentence. It implicitly acknowledges that God's presence has departed from Saul and now rests on David. Jonathan the crown prince is pronouncing a transfer of divine legitimacy to the man who will replace his father on the throne. The word ka'asher ('as, in the same way') draws a direct equivalence between Saul's early anointing and David's current calling.
"And if I am still alive — will you not show me the faithful love of the LORD, so that I do not die?
KJV And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֶסֶד יְהוָהchesed YHWH
"the faithful love of the LORD"—divine loyal love, God's covenant faithfulness, covenant mercy as God practices it
Jonathan does not ask merely for chesed but for chesed YHWH — faithful love of the kind that the LORD himself shows. This elevates the request from a personal favor to a theological standard. Jonathan is asking David to treat him the way God treats covenant partners: with protection that does not fail even when political reality would counsel elimination.
Translator Notes
The syntax of this verse is difficult in Hebrew, with the negative particles creating a tangled conditional. Jonathan is asking David to extend chesed YHWH ('the faithful love of the LORD') to him — not ordinary kindness but the kind of loyal protection that God himself shows to covenant partners. The phrase ve-lo amut ('so that I do not die') reveals Jonathan's awareness that when David becomes king, Jonathan's life will be in danger. Ancient Near Eastern succession typically involved killing all potential rival claimants. Jonathan is asking David to break that pattern.
And do not ever cut off your faithful love from my household — not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The scope of Jonathan's request is remarkable. He is not asking for a temporary favor but for a permanent policy: ad olam ('forever, to perpetuity'). The mention of 'cutting off enemies from the face of the earth' uses the language of total military victory — the same vocabulary applied to God's destruction of the wicked (Genesis 6-7). Jonathan foresees a world in which David has won completely and every rival is gone. In that world, only David's chesed will stand between Jonathan's family and annihilation.
This verse will be directly fulfilled in 2 Samuel 9, when David actively seeks out Jonathan's surviving son Mephibosheth and restores the house of Saul's land to him, declaring 'I will surely show you chesed for Jonathan your father's sake.'
So Jonathan cut a covenant with the house of David: "May the LORD call it to account from the hand of David's enemies."
KJV So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase 'cut a covenant with the house of David' is extraordinary because at this point David has no house — he is a fugitive. Jonathan is covenanting with a dynasty that exists only in prophetic anticipation. The language mirrors the Davidic covenant that God will establish in 2 Samuel 7, where YHWH promises to build David a 'house' (dynasty). Jonathan's covenant thus runs parallel to God's own future commitment.
The verb biqqesh ('to seek, to require, to call to account') when applied to God means divine reckoning. God will demand an accounting from anyone who breaks this covenant — the enforcement mechanism is not human justice but divine judgment.
Jonathan again made David swear by his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.
KJV And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verse is saturated with the language of love: be-ahavato oto ('by his love for him') and ki ahavat nafsho ahevo ('because the love of his own life/soul he loved him'). The word ahavah ('love') appears in both its noun and verb forms. The phrase ahavat nafsho ('the love of his soul/life') means Jonathan loved David with the same intensity that a person loves their own existence — this is total identification, not merely affection. The verb lehashbia ('to make swear') means Jonathan administered an oath to David, binding David to the same covenantal commitments. The love is the motive; the oath is the binding mechanism.
Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed because your seat will be empty.
KJV Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֹדֶשׁchodesh
"New Moon"—new moon, first day of the month, month, monthly renewal
Second occurrence in the chapter. The New Moon feast is the mechanism of the entire plot — it creates an obligatory gathering where David's absence becomes a testable variable.
Translator Notes
Jonathan confirms the plan's timing: machar chodesh ('tomorrow is the New Moon'). The verb nifqadta ('you will be missed/noticed') is the Niphal (passive) form of paqad — David will be attended to, his absence will be registered. The phrase ki yippaqed moshavekha ('because your seat will be noticed empty') makes clear that the royal New Moon feast had assigned seating. David's empty chair will be a visible, conspicuous absence that demands explanation.
On the third day go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the incident, and wait beside the stone Ezel.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase ve-shilashta tered me'od ('on the third day descend greatly/quickly') uses the verb shillesh ('to do on the third day') and me'od ('very, exceedingly') as an adverb of speed — Jonathan wants David to move fast. The reference to 'the day of the incident' (yom ha-ma'aseh) points to a previous meeting at this location, likely the events of chapter 19. The stone Ezel (ha-even ha-azel) may mean 'the stone of departure' or 'the stone that goes' — from the root azal ('to go away, to depart'). The name is fitting for a landmark that will mark David's permanent departure from Saul's court.
I will shoot three arrows to the side, as if aiming at a target.
KJV And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan introduces the arrow signal. The phrase sheloshet ha-chitsim ('three arrows') and the verb oreh ('I will shoot') set up the coded communication system. The word tsiddah ('to the side') indicates direction, and le-mattarah ('at a target') provides the cover story — Jonathan will appear to be practicing archery. The entire plan is an intelligence operation disguised as a routine training exercise.
Then I will send a boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say clearly to the boy, 'The arrows are on this side of you — pick them up,' then come out, because it is safe for you and there is nothing wrong, as the LORD lives.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The na'ar ('boy, attendant, servant') is an unwitting participant — he will not know he is carrying a coded message. The key signal for safety: ha-chitsim mimmekha va-hennah ('the arrows are on this side of you and toward here') — meaning the arrows fell short, close by. If the arrows are nearby, David can come out safely. Jonathan seals this with chai YHWH ('as the LORD lives'), the same oath formula David used in verse 3.
But if I say to the young man, 'The arrows are beyond you' — then go, because the LORD has sent you away.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The danger signal: ha-chitsim mimmekha va-hal'ah ('the arrows are beyond you and farther') — meaning the arrows overshot, far away. The command lekh ('go!') doubles as both instruction to the boy and a warning to David. Most strikingly, Jonathan frames David's flight as divine action: ki shillachakha YHWH ('because the LORD has sent you away'). David's departure is not merely an escape from Saul; it is a divine commission. The verb shillach with God as subject carries the weight of prophetic sending.
As for the matter we have spoken of, you and I — the LORD stands between me and you forever."
KJV And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between me and thee for ever.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan closes the oath with the definitive covenant formula: hinneh YHWH beyni u-veynekha ad olam ('the LORD is between me and you forever'). The preposition beyn ('between') positions God as the mediator, witness, and enforcer standing in the space between the two covenant partners. The phrase ad olam ('forever, to perpetuity') removes any time limit. This covenant does not expire when circumstances change, when one party gains power, or when the other dies. It is permanent because its guarantor is permanent.
David hid in the open country. When the New Moon came, the king sat down at the meal to eat.
KJV So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֹדֶשׁchodesh
"New Moon"—new moon, first day of the month, month, monthly renewal
Third occurrence. The New Moon feast begins, and the narrative tension shifts from planning to execution. The feast itself becomes the testing ground.
Translator Notes
The narrative shifts from dialogue to action: vayyissater David ba-sadeh ('and David hid himself in the field'). The verb nistar (Niphal of satar, 'to hide') conveys deliberate concealment. The scene then cuts to the royal feast: vayyeshev ha-melekh el ha-lechem le-ekhol ('and the king sat down at the bread/food to eat'). The word lechem means both 'bread' and 'food' more generally — this is the formal New Moon banquet, not a casual meal.
The king sat in his seat as usual — the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, and Abner sat at Saul's side. But David's place was empty.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The seating arrangement reveals court hierarchy: Saul takes the seat by the wall (moshav ha-qir) — the protected position with his back guarded. Abner, the army commander, sits at Saul's side (mi-tsad Sha'ul). The phrase vayyaqom Yehonatan ('and Jonathan arose/stood') is puzzling — some read it as Jonathan standing to yield the seat beside Saul to Abner, others as Jonathan taking a different position. The Greek (LXX) reads 'Jonathan sat opposite' rather than 'arose.' The critical detail is the final clause: vayyippaqed meqom David ('and David's place was noticed empty'). The verb paqad appears again — the empty seat registers as a presence through its very absence.
Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, "Something must have happened to him — he is not ritually pure. He must be unclean."
KJV Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Saul's internal reasoning (ki amar, 'because he said [to himself]') provides a plausible explanation for David's absence: miqreh hu ('it is an accident/occurrence') — something unexpected happened, and bilti tahor hu ki lo tahor ('he is not pure, for he is not clean'). The word tahor ('pure, clean') refers to ritual purity required for participation in sacred meals. Contact with a corpse, bodily discharge, or other sources of impurity (Leviticus 11-15) would disqualify someone from eating the sacrificial food. The repetition — bilti tahor... ki lo tahor — suggests Saul is convincing himself. On day one, he accepts the innocuous explanation.
On the second day after the New Moon, David's place was still empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?"
KJV 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?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The second day shatters Saul's ritual-purity theory — most impurities lasted only until evening (Leviticus 15:5-8), so a two-day absence demands a different explanation. Saul's question uses the patronymic ben Yishai ('son of Jesse') rather than David's name — a distancing gesture that reduces David to his family origin and strips him of the personal identity Saul once honored. The phrase gam temol gam ha-yom ('both yesterday and today') emphasizes the pattern: this is no accident.
Jonathan answered Saul, "David urgently asked my permission to go to Bethlehem.
KJV And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan deploys the cover story exactly as David scripted it in verse 6. The infinitive absolute nish'ol nish'al ('he urgently asked, he emphatically requested') mirrors David's original phrasing precisely. The phrase me'immadi ('from me, from my presence') positions Jonathan as the authority who granted the leave — a subtle assertion of his own standing in the court hierarchy.
He said, 'Let me go, please, because our clan has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me slip away and see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the king's table."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jonathan embellishes David's script slightly — adding the detail that David's brother (achi) commanded his presence, which strengthens the cover story by making it about family obligation, not personal choice. The verb immaltah ('let me slip away, let me escape') is telling — it comes from malat, which means 'to escape, to deliver oneself.' Even in the fabricated speech, the vocabulary of flight bleeds through. The phrase shulchan ha-melekh ('the king's table') names the specific obligation David has violated: the royal table carries political and social weight far beyond a meal.
Saul's anger blazed against Jonathan. He said to him, "You son of a twisted, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse — to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
KJV 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?
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The maternal insult is culturally devastating. In the honor-shame matrix of the ancient Near East, attacking a man's mother was the deepest form of personal assault. The phrase strikes at Jonathan's identity, legitimacy, and family loyalty simultaneously. Saul is not merely angry; he is attempting to shame Jonathan into breaking the covenant with David.
The word boshet ('shame') will later be used as a substitute for 'Baal' in Israelite names (Ish-bosheth for Ish-baal in 2 Samuel 2:8). Its appearance here in connection with ervah ('nakedness') creates a cluster of shame-vocabulary that reveals Saul's view of Jonathan's choice: it is not merely politically wrong but morally obscene.
For as long as the son of Jesse is alive on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, because he is a dead man."
KJV 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.
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Saul names the political reality that drives his rage: lo tikkon attah u-malkhutekha ('you will not be established — you or your kingship'). The verb tikkon (from kun, 'to be firm, established, secure') is the same word used in God's promise to establish David's throne forever (2 Samuel 7:16). Saul perceives that David's survival means the end of his dynasty. The phrase ben mavet hu ('he is a son of death') is an idiom meaning 'he deserves to die' or 'he is marked for death' — it is a death sentence pronounced by the king.
Saul again uses ben Yishai ('son of Jesse') rather than David's name, three times in this exchange (verses 27, 30, 31). The patronymic is deliberate: Saul reduces David to his father's son, stripping him of the name and identity that Israel has come to honor.
Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"
KJV And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
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Translator Notes
Jonathan's response echoes David's own words from verse 1 — meh asah ('what has he done?') mirrors David's meh asiti ('what have I done?'). The verb yumat ('he shall be put to death') is the Hophal (causative passive) of mut — it refers to judicial execution, not casual killing. Jonathan is demanding legal grounds for a death sentence. By asking lammah ('why?'), Jonathan challenges his father to provide evidence that would justify execution under Israelite law. It is a brave and dangerous question to ask a king in a rage.
Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down. Then Jonathan knew that his father was fully determined to kill David.
KJV And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
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Translator Notes
Saul answers Jonathan's legal question with a spear. The verb vayyatel ('he hurled') describes a violent throw — the same action Saul directed at David twice before (18:11, 19:10). Now he turns the weapon on his own son. The spear (chanit) is Saul's characteristic weapon throughout 1 Samuel, functioning almost as an extension of his disordered will. The clause vayyeda' Yehonatan ki khalah hi me'im aviv le-hamit et David ('and Jonathan knew that it was a completed thing from his father to kill David') uses the same word kaletah ('completed, determined') from verse 7 — the very word David predicted. Jonathan now has his answer: the test is over. The 'completed' evil David feared has been confirmed by the spear that nearly killed Jonathan himself.
Jonathan rose from the table burning with anger. He did not eat any food on that second day of the New Moon, because he was grieved for David and because his father had humiliated him.
KJV 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.
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Translator Notes
Jonathan's departure from the table ba-chori af ('in burning anger') mirrors Saul's anger in verse 30 — father and son now share the same emotional intensity but directed in opposite directions. Jonathan's refusal to eat (lo akhal lechem) echoes Hannah's grief in 1:7 — not eating is the body's expression of grief too deep for words. The narrator provides two reasons: ki ne'etsav el David ('because he was grieved for David') and ki hikhlimo aviv ('because his father had shamed him'). The verb ne'etsav (from atsav, 'to grieve, to be pained') is the same word David used in verse 3 when predicting Jonathan would be devastated. The verb hikhlimo ('he had shamed/humiliated him') comes from kalam, meaning to wound through public disgrace.
In the morning, Jonathan went out to the open country at the time appointed with David, and a small boy was with him.
KJV 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.
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The phrase le-mo'ed David ('at the appointed time of David') uses mo'ed — the same word used for the appointed festivals and the Tabernacle ('tent of meeting'). The scheduled rendezvous carries the weight of a sacred appointment. The na'ar qaton ('small boy') is deliberately chosen — young enough to be unaware of the signal's meaning. Jonathan has engineered the communication so that only he and David understand what is happening.
He said to his boy, "Run — find the arrows I am about to shoot." The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
KJV 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.
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Translator Notes
The boy runs first, then Jonathan shoots — the arrow flies over the running boy and lands beyond him. The verb le-ha'aviro ('to make it pass beyond him') uses the Hiphil (causative) of avar, meaning Jonathan deliberately overshot. The signal is being transmitted: the arrow beyond means danger. The word chets (singular 'arrow') appears here though three arrows were mentioned in verse 20 — the singular may indicate the signal arrow that carries the coded message.
When the boy reached the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan called out after the boy, "Isn't the arrow beyond you — farther out?"
KJV 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?
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Translator Notes
Jonathan delivers the danger signal: halo ha-chetsi mimmekha va-hal'ah ('is not the arrow beyond you and farther?'). These are the exact words from the prearranged code in verse 22. The boy hears an instruction about archery; David, hiding nearby, hears a death sentence confirmed. The double meaning is the chapter's most dramatic moment of dramatic irony — the same words carry two completely different messages depending on who is listening.
Jonathan called after the boy, "Hurry! Be quick! Do not stop!" Jonathan's boy gathered the arrows and came back to his master.
KJV And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
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Translator Notes
Jonathan adds urgency beyond the prearranged signal: meherah chushah al ta'amod ('hurry, be quick, do not stand still'). Three rapid commands — each one escalating the pace. These words serve double duty: they move the boy along so he does not linger near David's hiding place, and they communicate to David that the danger is immediate and flight must be swift. The boy gathers the arrows (ha-chitsim, plural — returning to the three arrows of verse 20) and returns to Jonathan with no awareness of what he has just participated in.
The boy knew nothing at all. Only Jonathan and David knew what was happening.
KJV But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
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The narrator makes the dramatic irony explicit: ve-ha-na'ar lo yada' me'umah ('and the boy did not know anything'). The word me'umah ('anything, at all') is emphatic — the boy's ignorance is total. The contrast is sharp: akh Yehonatan ve-David yade'u et ha-davar ('only Jonathan and David knew the matter'). The verb yada' ('to know') connects to the chapter's opening, where Jonathan insisted he would know if Saul intended evil (verse 2). Now knowledge has been confirmed, transmitted, and received — and a boy who carried the message remains completely in the dark.
Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy who served him and said, "Go, take these back to the city."
KJV And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
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Translator Notes
Jonathan hands over his kelav ('his equipment, his weapons') — the bow and arrows that served as the signal apparatus. The verb lekh havi ha-'ir ('go, bring them to the city') dismisses the boy and creates the privacy needed for what comes next. By surrendering his weapons, Jonathan is also symbolically disarming himself — he enters the farewell unarmed, vulnerable, stripped of the tools of the signal plan that has now served its purpose.
As soon as the boy was gone, David rose from beside the south side and fell on his face to the ground. He bowed three times. Then they kissed each other and wept together, until David wept uncontrollably.
KJV 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.
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Translator Notes
The phrase ad David higdil is ambiguous — it could mean 'until David wept more' or 'until David could take no more.' Most interpreters read it as David's grief exceeding Jonathan's in intensity. The verb gadal ('to be great, to grow') in the Hiphil means 'to make great, to exceed.' David, the one being sent into exile, grieves more than Jonathan, the one returning to the palace. This asymmetry reflects their different futures: Jonathan goes back to a doomed dynasty; David goes forward into suffering that will eventually become kingship.
The combination of formal prostration followed by mutual kissing and weeping moves from protocol to raw emotion. The three bows acknowledge Jonathan's rank and sacrifice; the tears acknowledge the human cost of what is happening.
Jonathan said to David, "Go in safety. What the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD stands firm: 'The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'" Then David got up and left, and Jonathan went back into the city.
KJV 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.
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Translator Notes
The covenant formula in this verse is the chapter's theological climax. It mirrors Genesis 31:49 (the Mizpah benediction between Jacob and Laban: 'the LORD watch between me and you') but exceeds it by including descendants. This is a dynastic covenant — not merely a pact between two friends but a permanent treaty between two houses, guaranteed by the divine name.
The final narrative detail — 'David got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city' — is devastating in its simplicity. No further speech, no lingering. The two men go in opposite directions. David will spend the next decade as a fugitive; Jonathan will die with his father on Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:2). They will never see each other again. The covenant they sealed in this chapter will be fulfilled posthumously when David shows chesed to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9).