David fleeing from Naioth came to Jonathan, and acquainted him with his circumstances, and entreated his favour, 1 Sam. 20:1–8; which Jonathan promised, and renewed the covenant with him, 1 Sam.

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah While Saul was prophesying, or lay in a trance there: and came; to Gibeah, where Saul dwelt, and had his palace, and kept his court: and said before Jonathan; whom he found there, and for whose sake he thither fled to have his advice, and to use his interest with…

And he said unto him, God forbid, thou shalt not die He could not believe his father had any such intention; and that if he discovered anything of that kind, it was only when he was in a frenzy, and a melancholy disorder had seized him; and that David had nothing to fear on that head, and that he…

And David sware moreover, and said To assure Jonathan of the truth of it, that he did most certainly seek after his life, of which, as he had no doubt himself, by an oath he endeavoured to remove any that might be in Jonathan, who was not willing to believe his father could be guilty of so foul a…

Then said Jonathan unto David Now giving credit to what he had said, and in order to comfort and support him under the apprehensions he had of danger: whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee; for the preservation of his life, by speaking to his father on his behalf, endeavouring to…

And David said unto Jonathan Moved that the following method might be taken as a trial of the disposition of Saul’s mind towards David: behold, tomorrow is the new moon; the first day of the month, which was kept solemnly with burnt offerings and peace offerings, see .

If thy father at all miss me Or diligently inquires after me: then say, David earnestly asked leave of me, that he might run to Bethlehem his city: the place of his birth, called the city of David, where he was born and had lived, , which was not far from Gibeah, and whither he could soon run; and…

If he say thus, it is well It is very well, it is very good and right in him to do so: thy servant shall have peace; it will be a token that the wrath of the king was removed, and that his mind was well disposed towards David, and things had taken an happy turn, and would issue in his peace and…

Therefore thou shall deal kindly with thy servant By informing him how his father’s mind stood affected to him, that he might conduct himself accordingly, either by appearing at court, or by providing for his safety by flight: for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee;…

And Jonathan said, far be it from thee To entertain such a thought of me, or to have the least suspicion of me, that I should conceal my father’s ill intentions against thee, if known to me; for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would I not tell it…

Then said David to Jonathan, who shall tell me? &c.] The disposition of Saul’s mind towards him, whether he gave a kind answer to the report of Jonathan concerning him: or what if thy father answer thee roughly? or hard words, as the Targum, whether he answers in a kind, loving, and smooth manner,…

And Jonathan said unto David, come, and let us go out into the field That they might more fully, and freely, and familiarly talk of this affair between them, without any danger of being overheard by the servants of Saul, as they were in his palace, where they now were: and they went out both of…

And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel Or by the Lord God of Israel, I swear unto thee; for this is the form of the oath, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe: when I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day; searched, inquired, and found out how his disposition is: and,…

The Lord do so and much more to Jonathan Recompense evil more than can be thought of and expressed, should he neglect to inform David of the good disposition of Saul unto him: but if it please my father to do thee evil; if he seems determined upon it to take away thy life: then I will show it thee;…

And thou shalt not only, while yet I live, show me the kindness of the Lord Such kindness as is well pleasing in the sight of God, and imitate what he shows to men, and which was covenanted, promised, and agreed to in the presence of the Lord, when David and Jonathan entered into covenant with each…

But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever His family should partake of it as well as himself: no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, everyone from the face of the earth; Saul and his sons, and everyone that should oppose his settlement in the kingdom:…

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David Not with David himself only, which was now renewed, but with his family also: saying, let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies; take vengeance on Jonathan, or on any of his posterity, should they break this covenant, by showing…

And Jonathan caused David to swear again Or Jonathan added to make David swears [[19]]; having sworn himself to make a covenant of friendship with David and his family, he moved and insisted on it, that David should swear to keep covenant with him, and his family: because he loved him; it was not…

Then Jonathan said to David, tomorrow is the new moon The first day of the month, as David had before observed, ; and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty; or be inquired after, because not in his usual place at mealtime.

And when thou hast stayed three days From court, either at Bethlehem, which seems most probable, or in some other place incognito; however, not in the field he proposed to hide himself in, where he could not continue so long for want of food: then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place…

And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof On the side of the stone Ezel; three are pitched upon, according to the number of the days David was missing: as though I shot at a mark; as if he made the stone the mark he shot at; so that his shooting would not be taken notice of.

And, behold, I will send a lad That attended on him, and carried his bow and arrows, and fetched his arrows when he had shot them: saying, go, find out the arrows; where they are fallen, and return them: if I expressly say unto the lad, behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; on one…

But if I say thus unto the young man, behold, the arrows are beyond thee Being shot to a greater distance than where the young man was: go thy way, for the Lord hath sent thee away; then he was to depart directly, without staying to have any conversation with Jonathan, which would not be safe for…

And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of The covenant they had made between them and their families: behold, the Lord be between me and thee for ever: as a witness of the covenant, and a revenger of those that should break it; so the Targum, “behold, the Word of the Lord be…

So David hid himself in the field Not directly, but at the time appointed; for he went to Bethlehem, and returned from thence before that time: and when the new moon was come; the first clay of the month, which was a solemn festival: the king sat him down to eat meat; Saul sat down at his table to…

And the king sat upon his seat as at other times Upon the seat he usually sat on: even upon a seat by the wall; on a couch by the side of the wall; or, as Jarchi and R.

Nevertheless, Saul spake not anything that day About David’s absence, took no notice of it, said nothing about it: for he thought something had befallen him; some impurity, some nocturnal pollution, see ; he is not clean, surely he is not clean; which he repeated in his mind for the confirmation of…

And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month The Targum is, “and it was on the day after it, which was the intercalation of the second month;” when the beginning of the month was judged of by the appearance of the moon, and there was a difficulty about that, what day it…

And Jonathan answered Saul In reply to Saul’s question, and to excuse David, he said, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; his own city, his native place, where his family lived, whom he was desirous to see, and yet chose not to go without asking leave; and as Saul was not at home,…

And he said, let me go, I pray thee, for our family hath a sacrifice in the city In the city of Bethlehem where they lived, a peace offering on account of the new moon, and as an anniversary thanksgiving for the mercies of the year, ; and seeing, though he was not at the feast in one place, he…

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan For giving David leave to go, and for excusing him in this manner: and he said unto him, thou son of the perverse and rebellious woman; most of the Jewish commentators supply it as we do, but the supplement of woman may as well be left out, and be…

For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom He would not, though heir to the crown, be sure of it; it would be precarious to him, he would be in great danger of being deprived of it on the death of his father; and therefore it would be his…

And Jonathan answered Saul his, father, and said unto him, &c.] Making no answer to the charges of perverseness, rebellion, and folly brought against himself, which he bore with patience, but could not bear to hear his dear friend spoken against, and as worthy of death; and therefore in answer to…

And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him So provoked to wrath was he by what he said. It seems by this that Saul always had a javelin or spear in his hand, which is to be accounted for by the custom of those times; in other countries, as well as in this, the kings used to carry spears in their…

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger Resenting his father’s attempt to smite him, and his resolution to slay David: and did eat no meat the second day of the month; not then at that meal he was just sat down to, nor at another time that day, his stomach was so full through indignation…

And it came to pass in the morning: The next morning, the morning of the third day of the month: that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David; he went to the place in the field, or near it, where David hid himself, and at the time agreed between them; which, Abarbinel…

And he said unto his lad, run, find out now the arrows which I shoot He no doubt told him the mark which he should shoot at, the stone Ezel, and bid him look out about that for them: and as the lad ran; before he had got to the mark: he shot an arrow beyond him: or it; beyond the lad, or beyond the…

And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot To the mark which he told him he should shoot at, and whereabout he might expect to find the arrow: Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, is not the arrow beyond thee? he cried with a loud voice and said this, not so much…

And Jonathan cried after the lad, make speed, haste, stay not But bring the arrows to him directly, that he might dismiss him; for, observing that no man was passing by, he was desirous of embracing the opportunity for a few minutes to have an interview with David alone before he fled: and…

But the lad knew not anything What was meant by shooting the arrows, and by shooting them beyond where he was, and by bidding him make haste to bring them: only Jonathan and David knew the matter; what was signified by them, those being signs agreed upon between them.

And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad “His vessels” [[10]] or instruments; his arms, as the Targum, his quiver, bow, and arrows: and said unto him, go, carry them to the city; to Gibeah, to Jonathan’s house, or to his apartments at court there.

And as soon as the lad was gone Which David could observe from his lurking place: David arose out of a place toward the south; to the south of the field in which he was hid, or to the south of the stone Ezel, near which he was; and so the Targum, “and David arose from the side of the stone Atha,…

And Jonathan said to David, go in peace In peace of mind, committing himself, his family, and affairs, to the providence of God, who would take care of him, and keep him in safety from the evil designs of Saul; and particularly he would have him be easy with respect to what had passed between them…