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1 SAMUEL 20

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. There are a large number of intensified forms in this chapter (INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a VERB of the same root).
   1. 1 Sam 20:3 ‒ "knows well," BDB 393, KB 390, Qal PERFECT
   2. 1 Sam. 20:5 ‒ "I ought to sit," BDB 442, KB 444, Qal IMPERFECT
   3. 1 Sam. 20:6 ‒ "misses me at all," BDB 823, KB 955, Qal IMPERFECT
   4. 1 Sam. 20:6 ‒ "earnestly asked leave of me," BDB 981, KB 1371, Niphal PERFECT
   5. 1 Sam. 20:7 ‒ "he is very angry," BDB 354, KB 351, Qal IMPERFECT
   6. 1 Sam. 20:9 ‒ "I should indeed learn," BDB 393, KB 390, Qal IMPERFECT
   7. 1 Sam. 20:21 ‒ "I specifically say," BDB 55, KB 65, Qal IMPERFECT
   8. 1 Sam. 20:28 ‒ "earnestly asked," BDB 981, KB 1371, Niphal PERFECT
   
   
2. Notice the multiple allusions to oath/vow/covenant between Jonathan and David.
   1. "David vowed," 1 Sam 20:3
   2. "truly as the Lord lives" (oath in God's name), 1 Sam 20:3
   3. "brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord," 1 Sam 20:8
   4. "the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!" 1 Sam 20:12
   5. "So Jonathan made covenant with the house of David," 1 Sam 20:16
   6. "Jonathan made David vow again," 1 Sam 20:17
   7. "As for the agreement," 1 Sam 20:23
   8. "inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord," 1 Sam 20:42

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:1-11
  ¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said to Jonathan, "What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?" ²He said to him, "Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!" ³Yet David vowed again, saying, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.' 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." ⁵So David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. ⁶If your father misses me at all, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.' ⁷If he says, 'It is good,' your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided on evil. ⁸Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?" ⁹Jonathan said, "Far be it from you! For if I should indeed learn that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then 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, and let us go out into the field." So both of them went out to the field.

20:1 "Naioth" See full note at 1 Sam. 19:18.

▣ "What have I done?" David wants to know why Saul is trying to kill him. Jonathan asks the same question in v. 32.

20:2 "my father does nothing. . ." The MT has the VERB (BDB 793 I, KB 889, Qal PERFECT), which means "do" or "make." The Masoretic scholars altered it to the IMPERFECT form to match the surrounding VERBS.

20:3 "as the Lord lives" This is a word play on the covenant name for Israel's God, YHWH, which is from the verb "to be."

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D

▣ "soul" This is the Hebrew word nephesh (BDB 659), which denotes the person. See full notes online at Gen. 35:18 and Lev. 17:11.

▣ "step" This NOUN (BDB 832) occurs only here. The root with different vowels appears in Isa. 27:4 (see NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 703-704).

20:5-6 Apparently this was an official dinner required of all of Saul's officers (cf. vv. 24-29).

20:6 "the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family" This is similar to the custom described in 1 Sam. 1:3,21; 2:19; 20:6,29; Job 1.

20:8 "covenant" See SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:12-17
  ¹²Then Jonathan said to David, "The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and make it known to you? ¹³If it please my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not make it known to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And 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 of the Lord, that I may not die? ¹⁵You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, 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 house of David, saying, "May the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies." ¹⁷Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.

20:12 "make it known to you" This is literally the Hebrew idiom, "uncover your ear."

20:13 "may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father" This is a strange statement, noting the mental conditions and irrational acts of Saul. It must be an idiom. It may refer to the initial period of Saul's reign where YHWH provided victory against the Amalekites and Philistines.

▣ "and more so" An idiom of severity (cf. Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 3:17; 14:44; 25:22; 2 Sam. 3:9,35; 19:13; 1 Kgs. 2:23; 19:2; 20:10; 2 Kgs. 6:31).

20:14-15 This refers to a period when David is king. David did later help Jonathan's descendant, Mephibosheth (cf. 2 Sam. 4:4; 9:1-13; also note 1 Sam. 20:42).

▣ "lovingkindness" This is a special covenant word for loyalty.

SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (hesed)

20:17 "he loved him as he loved his own life" See full note at 1 Sam. 18:1.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:18-23
  ¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon, 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 on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel. ²⁰I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. ²¹And behold, I will send the lad, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I specifically say to the lad, 'Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,' then come; for there is safety for you and no harm, as the Lord lives. ²²But if I say to the youth, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you,' 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."

20:18 "new moon" See NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 102 and SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL, II. D.

The MT is followed by the NASB. The UBS Text Project, p. 192, gives it a "C" rating (considerable doubt). In v. 41 the MT has David rising from behind "the south" (lit. Negev, BDB 616, Josephus, Antiq. 6.6.10; "desert"). How these relate is uncertain. Gesenius' Lexicon thinks "south" should be read "mound," following the LXX.

20:21 "as the Lord lives" See note at 1 Sam. 20:3.

20:23 "forever" See SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER ('olam).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:24-29
  ²⁴So David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. ²⁵The king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up and Abner sat down by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. ²⁶Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day, for he thought, "It is an accident, he is not clean, surely he is not clean." ²⁷It came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David's place was empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?" ²⁸Jonathan then answered Saul, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem, ²⁹for he said, 'Please let me go, since our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. And now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me get away that I may see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table."

20:25 "the seat by the wall" Leaders always sat in the most protected place (i.e., by the wall).

▣ "Abner" This was Saul's military commander (cf. 1 Sam. 14:50-51; 17:55).

20:26 "he is not clean" This refers to ceremonial cleanliness (i.e., Leviticus). Certain actions polluted people so that they could not attend public or cultic meetings (cf. Lev. 7:19-20; 2 Chr. 30:17-19; Ezra 6:20).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:30-34
  ³⁰Then Saul's anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse 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 nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now, send and bring him to me, for he must surely die." ³²But Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" ³³Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down; so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. ³⁴Then Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David because his father had dishonored him.

20:30 Saul's anger burned against Jonathan because of his support and friendship with David.

20:31 "he must surely die" This is literally the Hebrew idiom, "son of death" (cf. 1 Sam. 26:16; 2 Sam. 12:5).

The MT has the VERB (BDB 376, KB 373, Hiphil IMPERFECT with waw), which means "cast" or "hurl," but many follow the LXX which follows a slightly different Hebrew root.

1. cast, טול, BDB 376
2. lift, נטל (BDB 642)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:35-42
  ³⁵Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little lad was with him. ³⁶He said to his lad, "Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot." As the lad was running, he shot an arrow past him. ³⁷When the lad reached the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, "Is not the arrow beyond you?" ³⁸And Jonathan called after the lad, "Hurry, be quick, do not stay!" And Jonathan's lad picked up the arrow and came to his master. ³⁹But the lad was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. ⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and said to him, "Go, bring them to the city." ⁴¹When the lad was gone, David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the more. ⁴²Jonathan said to David, "Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'" Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city.

20:41 "David rose from the south side" This relates to v. 19. The UBS Text Project, p. 193, gives "from beside the mound" (RSV, NEB) a "D" rating (highly doubtful) but thinks it is the best option. The authors remark that they think the translators of the LXX had forgotten the meaning of the word.

▣ Notice David's acts of gratitude and friendship.

1. fell on his face
2. bowed three times
3. kissed each other
4. wept together (i.e., "but David more")

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