1 Samuel 20: Jonathan warns David with arrows, and the two friends part

In plain English: David ran away (this Bible: fled) from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my wrong (this Bible: iniquity)? What is my sin before your father, that he is trying to kill me (literally: he seeks my life)?"

In plain English: Jonathan said to him, "Far from it! You will not die. Look, my father does nothing, big or small, without telling me (literally: uncovering my ear). Why would my father hide this from me? It is not so."

In plain English: But David swore again and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes. So he says, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.' But truly, as Yahweh lives and as you live (literally: as your soul lives), there is only a step between me and death."

In plain English: Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want (literally: whatever your soul says), I will do it for you."

In plain English: David said to Jonathan, "Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am expected to sit and eat with the king (this Bible: I should not fail to dine with the king). But let me go, so that I can hide in the field until the evening of the third day.

Good to know: "New moon" is chodesh, which the dictionary gives as "the new moon; by implication, a month". The law speaks of trumpets and offerings "in the beginnings of your months" (Numbers 10:10, 28:11). The text does not say more about Saul's meal, only that the king sat down to eat (verse 24).

In plain English: If your father misses me at all, say, 'David begged me to let him go (this Bible: earnestly asked leave of me), so that he could hurry to Bethlehem, his town, because the yearly sacrifice (literally: the sacrifice of the days) is there for the whole family (or: clan).'

In plain English: If he says, 'Good,' then your servant is safe (this Bible: shall have peace). But if he becomes angry (literally: if it burns in him), then know that he has decided to do harm (this Bible: evil is determined by him).

In plain English: So show kindness (this Bible: deal kindly) to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But if I have done wrong (this Bible: if there is iniquity in me), kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?"

The Hebrew words: "Deal kindly" is from chesed, which the dictionary gives as "kindness; by implication (towards God) piety". It is the same word as "loving kindness" in verse 14 and "kindness" in verse 15. "A covenant" is berit, "a compact". Jonathan and David made a covenant in 18:3.

What changes: "A covenant of Yahweh" can be read as a covenant made before Yahweh, with Yahweh as witness (as Jonathan says in verses 23 and 42, "Yahweh is between me and you"), or as a covenant sworn in Yahweh's name (verse 42). The text says only "a covenant of Yahweh".

In plain English: Jonathan said, "Far be it from you! If I ever knew that my father had decided to bring harm on you, would I not tell you?"

In plain English: Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly (this Bible: roughly)?" (The Hebrew can also be read: "Who will tell me? Or what if your father answers you harshly?")

In plain English: Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out into the field." So the two of them went out into the field.

In plain English: Jonathan said to David, "By Yahweh, the God of Israel: when I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the day after (this Bible: the third day), and if he is well disposed toward David (literally: if there is good toward David), will I not then send word to you and tell you (literally: uncover your ear)?

In plain English: May Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more too, if my father wants to do you harm and I do not tell you and send you away, so that you can go in peace. May Yahweh be with you as he has been with my father.

Good to know: "May Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more too" is a way of swearing an oath: the speaker calls on Yahweh to act against him if he does not keep his word. Ruth swears the same way in Ruth 1:17, and Eli puts Samuel under the same kind of oath in 3:17.

In plain English: While I am still alive, you will show me the kindness (this Bible: loving kindness) of Yahweh, so that I do not die.

The Hebrew words: The Hebrew of this verse is hard to follow. Word for word it reads "and not if I am still alive, and not you will do with me the kindness of Yahweh, and not I will die". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "And if indeed I continue to live, then shalt thou deal mercifully with me; and if I indeed die,".

What changes: Read the way this Bible has it, Jonathan asks for kindness while he lives, so that he does not die. Read the way the Greek has it, he asks for kindness if he lives, and goes on in verse 15 to ask for it for his family if he dies. Either way, verse 15 asks David never to cut off his kindness from Jonathan's house.

In plain English: But you will also never cut off your kindness from my house (or: family), not even when Yahweh has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth."

In plain English: So Jonathan made a covenant (literally: cut) with the house of David, saying, "Yahweh will call David's enemies to account (this Bible: will require it at the hand of David's enemies)."

The Hebrew words: The Hebrew says only "Jonathan cut with the house of David". The word "covenant" is not written here, but "cut" is the word used for making a covenant, as in 18:3, where the Hebrew has "Jonathan and David cut a covenant". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has a different line: "should it happen that the name of Jonathan be discovered by the house of David, then let the Lord seek out the enemies of David".

In plain English: Jonathan made David swear again, because of (or: by) the love he had for him. He loved him as he loved himself (literally: his own soul).

In plain English: Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

In plain English: When you have waited three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day this started (literally: on the day of the deed), and stay by the stone Ezel.

The Hebrew word: "Ezel" is ezel, which the dictionary gives as "Ezel, a memorial stone in Palestine". The text does not explain the name. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "that ergab" instead of a name, and a word like it comes back in verse 41.

In plain English: I will shoot three arrows to one side of it, as if I were shooting at a target (this Bible: a mark).

In plain English: Then I will send the boy (or: young man), saying, 'Go, find the arrows!' If I say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you, pick them up,' then come, because you are safe (literally: there is peace for you) and there is no danger, as Yahweh lives.

In plain English: But if I say to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go on your way, because Yahweh has sent you away.

In plain English: As for what you and I have spoken about, look, Yahweh is between you and me forever."

In plain English: So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat the meal (this Bible: food).

In plain English: The king sat on his seat as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat at Saul's side, but David's place was empty.

In plain English: But Saul said nothing that day, because he thought (literally: he said), "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean."

Good to know: The law kept a person who was unclean from eating holy food: "the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people" (Leviticus 7:20). Saul thinks David may be unclean. These are Saul's thoughts, and the text does not say what kind of meal it was.

In plain English: On the next day, the second day of the month (literally: the day after the new moon, the second), David's place was empty. Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal (this Bible: to eat), either yesterday or today?"

In plain English: Jonathan answered Saul, "David begged me (this Bible: earnestly asked permission of me) to let him go to Bethlehem.

In plain English: He said, 'Please let me go, because our family (or: clan) has a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away to see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the king's table."

In plain English: Then Saul's anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a twisted (this Bible: perverse), 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?

The Hebrew words: "Perverse" is from avah, which the dictionary gives as "to crook, literally or figuratively", and "rebellious" is mardut, "rebelliousness". Word for word Saul says "son of a twisted woman of rebelliousness". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "Thou son of traitorous damsels!". Saul's words are aimed at Jonathan.

In plain English: For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send and bring him to me, because he must die (literally: he is a son of death)!"

In plain English: Jonathan answered Saul his father, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"

In plain English: Saul threw his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father had decided to kill David.

In plain English: Jonathan got up from the table in fierce (literally: hot) anger, and he ate no food on the second day of the month. He was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully ("him" can mean David or Jonathan).

In plain English: In the morning Jonathan went out into the field at the time he had set with David, and a little boy was with him.

In plain English: He said to his boy, "Run, please find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow past him.

In plain English: When the boy came to the place of the arrow Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy, "Is the arrow not beyond you?"

In plain English: Jonathan called after the boy, "Quick! Hurry! Do not stop (literally: do not stand still)!" Jonathan's boy picked up the arrows and came to his master.

In plain English: But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew what it meant (this Bible: knew the matter).

In plain English: Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, "Go, take them to the town (this Bible: the city)."

In plain English: As soon as the boy had gone, David got up from beside the south side (this Bible: out of the south), fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. They kissed each other and wept with each other, and David wept the most (literally: until David made it great).

The Hebrew words: "Out of the south" is negeb, which the dictionary gives as "the south" and also "the Negeb or southern district of Judah". Word for word the Hebrew says David got up "from beside the south". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "from the argab", close to its word in verse 19 for the place where David was to wait. "David wept the most" is word for word "until David made it great"; the Greek has "for a great while".

What changes: Read the way this Bible has it, David came out from the south side of the place. Read the way the Greek has it, he came out from beside the stone or mound where he was told to wait (verse 19). The end of the verse can be read as "David wept the most" or as "they wept with each other a long time", as the Greek has it.

In plain English: Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have both sworn in Yahweh's name, saying, 'Yahweh is between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'" Then David got up and left, and Jonathan went into the town (this Bible: the city).