1 Samuel 20: 1 – 42
Can’t hit the broadside of a barn
20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3 Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.” 5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David: “The LORD God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, 13 may the LORD do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the LORD be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the LORD require it at the hand of David’s enemies.” 17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the LORD lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the LORD be between you and me forever.” 24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And [e]Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?” 28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a 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? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he [f]shall surely die.” 32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. 34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully. 35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.” 41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’ ” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
In going over today’s chapter I thought of an old cliché: ‘he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn’. Meaning: ‘lousy aim.’
This idiom got fame in the early 20th century in all over the US. It refers to baseball pitchers who couldn’t throw a ball into the strike region. Certainly, the side of a barn is a wide area, and if we cannot hit something as big as barn, our pitching arm must be poor.
I came across some variations of this statement;
He couldn’t hit the wide side of a broad barn.
He couldn’t find the Great Wall of China if he was standing right next to it.
He couldn’t hit a bull’s eye a mile across.
He couldn’t hit a turkey the size of Texas
He couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat
You’d have to have bad aim if you couldn’t hit any of these. What else would make a target to miss?
I want to propose a novel suggestion to this question. Maybe God helped or deterred the flight of the object. Now you might be saying, ‘Oh come on now Tom, you are really stretching on this one.’ My response is ‘Oh really?’
We have just studied how as a boy David took on Goliath. We read in chapter 17 a description of Goliath’s armor. “4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.”
David picked up 5 stones in the creek. Some teachers highlight that Goliath had 4 brothers, so he had the other 4 stones waiting to deal with them. However, I cannot find in chapter 17 that Goliath’s brothers were with him during this battle. So, I go with the idea that David had 5 stones to use on Goliath.
With Adoni Yahweh on his side I know that David’s faith as he so boldly proclaimed to the Israelites and to Goliath that God was on his side and that he only needed one stone.
I know that David was a good shot but to hit the direct spot in between all the metal covering in Goliath’s helmet took on the assistance of our Holy God. I strongly believe that if David slung the stone in the wrong direction it would have curved right back and hit Goliath in the right spot anyway.
We have just read how David was sitting practically right in front of Saul and as a demonic reaction came on Saul [a tested warrior] missed. Today we are going to see Saul’s son who is a friend of David experience the same rage from his dad and have a spear chucked at him. Guess what the outcome was on this occasion? Yep, he missed again. Boy, it seems that he cannot hit the broad side of a large tent.
It appears from the narrative that although he had now made two major attempts to arrest David, presumably for treason, Saul had gone to some pains to conceal his actions from Jonathan. He knew of his son’s deep friendship with David, and clearly felt that it was better for him not to know anything of what he was doing. Jonathan, who was an open and honest person, was thus in complete ignorance of Saul’s attempts to arrest David and was satisfied that the agreement that he had made with his father about David’s safety (19.6) still stood.
Meanwhile David was bewildered as to why Saul was treating him like an enemy. While he would not know the detailed workings of Saul’s mind he was certainly now aware that Saul was seeking to arrest him and that his life was in danger. And he was also equally confident that he had done nothing to deserve it. David had at this time no designs on the throne, he was completely baffled by Saul’s behavior. But he was also astute enough to recognize that the problem appeared to be permanent, something Jonathan could not be convinced of, until in the end he had no option but to be so.
Another problem that David faced was that the new moon was approaching, and at this particular new moon all Saul’s courtiers and commanders were required to attend at the palace for the new moon celebrations. This put him in a quandary, for he knew that Saul had the intention of arresting him, which meant that he dared not attend, while on the other hand he knew that not to be present would be tantamount to rebellion and would give good cause for arresting him. It would be looked on as a deliberate insult to the king. So being a man who dealt wisely he sought out Jonathan to obtain a legitimate excuse from him for not attending the festival, an excuse which was valid because it was sealed by royal authority, the authority of Jonathan the crown prince. This would mean that he could then avoid attending without insulting the king, as he would basically have had royal permission for his absence.
In this chapter we have described for us Jonathan’s slow recognition that David’s position at court was hopeless, followed by his communication of the fact to David, and then their parting as he bids David goodbye.
Central to the whole passage is the relationship between Jonathan and David. It is a moving account of the brotherly love between two men. But even more importantly, it provides us with the final evidence of David’s integrity, otherwise Jonathan, who was fully up with all political affairs (apart from those to do with David’s proposed demise) would not have stood by him like he did and would not have made a firm covenant with him. Furthermore there is also here an indication that Jonathan himself recognizes that in the end it is David who is bound for the throne, and is quite content that it should be so.
While Saul was rendered incapable of doing anything by the working of God’s Spirit on him, David was able to flee from Naioth, and his first action was to take advantage of the fact that Saul was busy elsewhere to seek out Jonathan, presumably in Gibeah. He was genuinely puzzled as to why Saul was behaving in the way that he was because he did not know what he had done wrong. And if anyone would know, surely it would be Jonathan.
20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
Having ‘fled’ he arrived at Jonathan’s house, and gaining admittance he asked Jonathan man to man what the problem was. He was genuinely concerned. He wanted to know what he had done that made Saul want to have him executed. Note the earnestness expressed by the three-fold question, ‘What have I done?’, What is my iniquity?’ ‘What is my sin before your father?’ He was baffled.
2 So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”
Jonathan, who was seemingly unaware of the attempts made to arrest David, was astounded, and thought that David must have got it wrong. He could not believe that his father could do such a thing without consulting him. Why, did not his father discuss everything with him? Why then should he hide this? Thus, his conclusion was that David must be mistaken.
3 Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
David then asserted strongly to Jonathan (‘David swore’) that the reason why he did not know was because his father knew of the great bond that there was between them and was thus trying to avoid grieving him. Saul no doubt felt that once David was safely dead he could then explain to Jonathan why it had been necessary. Men in Saul’s state of mind always think that they can justify what they do. David then further pressed Jonathan with the utmost force (‘as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives’) to recognize that there could really be no doubt about it, and that in fact his life hung by a thread. He was but one step from death.
4 So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”
Jonathan then assured David that he would do anything that he asked of him. He had only to make his request and it would be granted. This not only revealed his love and respect for David, but also that there was not a shadow of doubt in Jonathan’s heart, that David was innocent.
5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him.
David then explained to him his dilemma. On the morrow it was the new moon festival. The new moon festival was a time for offering burnt offerings and sacrifices. It was a time of celebration of Yahweh’s goodness, and was a special Sabbath (Psalm 81.3). It was also seemingly a time for the most important men in the kingdom to express their loyalty to the king by their presence and not to do so without reasonable excuse would therefore be seen an insult to the king. What David certainly did not want to do at this stage was cause an irrevocable break if it was not necessary. He was no doubt still hoping that what Saul was doing was simply a phase of his illness and would pass.
In the affairs of kingdoms such situations often arise when men with whom the king is displeased find themselves in a position where tradition demands that they present themselves before him on some important occasion. Sometimes they simply solve the problem by means of the power of the forces that accompany them. At others they must find reasonable grounds for exempting themselves.
David chose the latter course. What he required from Jonathan, therefore, was his royal authority to absent himself from the meal in order that he might attend at his family’s yearly sacrifice. Then if Saul asked why he was not there, Jonathan could explain, and there would be no insult because it would be an important family occasion, and he would have received royal permission to be absent, and what was more he would be attending a like festival in praise of Yahweh. Thus, he would not be failing in his religious duty.
Furthermore, his thought was that Jonathan would then be able to discern from his father’s reaction what his intentions had been. If Saul was quite content with the idea of his absence and was calm about it, it would indicate that he had responded to what had happened to him at Naioth and was now reconciled in his heart towards David. On the other hand, if he was angry it would indicate that he still had designs on David’s life, for it would demonstrate that he had been planning to move against David at the feast. Meanwhile David would hide himself in the countryside for three days and await results. ‘Hide in the countryside’ may well have been intended to include attendance at Bethlehem for the family sacrifice, for Bethlehem was away from the centers of activity and could be said to be ‘in the countryside’. It did not mean that David’s excuse was a lie. Indeed, such a lie would have been foolish, for it would have been uncovered later.
8 Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
David then deliberately submitted himself to royal authority. He called on Jonathan, who has brought him into covenant with him, to act with covenant love towards him by being his judge in this case, By this he emphasized the distinction in their positions. He acknowledged that he was in service to the royal household, and especially to Jonathan because Jonathan had entered a solemn covenant of Yahweh with him. Thus, if he knew of any just cause against David let him act in accordance with their covenant and arrange for his execution. He was prepared to submit himself to Jonathan’s judgment, and die at Jonathan’s hands. If he really was guilty then it was unnecessary for Saul to be involved, for as the firstborn son of the royal household Jonathan had an equal right and responsibility to act as his judge. Let Jonathan then make his own decision about it.
9 But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”
Jonathan dismissed the idea that David could be guilty. He was quite aware that David was totally innocent. On the contrary, he made it clear that far from than wanting to pass judgment on David, if he had known of any evil determined against him by Saul he would have informed him of it.
In response to David’s request Jonathan now outlined his plan for keeping David informed of whatever decision Saul showed himself to have come to, and at the same time renewed and expanded his covenant with David. He was now aware in his heart that the throne was not for him, and that Yahweh eventually intended that David would sit on the throne of Israel.
10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”
David now raised the question as to how, if Saul’s verdict went against him, he was to obtain the information. Clearly, he could not approach Jonathan openly because too many people would know about it, and it would be dangerous. And in view of what Saul knew about their friendship it was always likely that Jonathan’s movements would be watched. Who then would come and give him the information?
11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So, both of them went out into the field.
Jonathan then suggested that they leave the town and go out into the countryside. He was concerned that nothing that they discussed might be overheard. And once there he would show David what he intended to do. So that is what they both did.
12 Then Jonathan said to David: “The LORD God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you,
Once they were in the countryside Jonathan called on Yahweh to witness the absolute certainty of what he was saying, and he confirmed that if Saul’s disposition turned out to be good he would immediately tell him of it.
13 may the LORD do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the LORD be with you as He has been with my father.
On the other hand, if he discerned that his father planned evil towards David, then he affirmed equally strongly that he would disclose it to David and send him away that he might go in peace. Then he added words which were very significant. It would seem clear from this that he recognized that David was destined for higher things, for he adds, ‘Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.’ There is the underlying thought here that David was following in Saul’s footsteps and would one day be king.
14 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
One thing only he asked, and that was that, once Yahweh had once for all removed all David’s enemies, David would himself show to him the lovingkindness of Yahweh and guarantee his life (it was quite normal for men who took over a kingship to kill off all the close relatives of the previous king, especially the heir apparent), and also that he would guarantee that mercy for all who were descended from, or close relations of, Jonathan.
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the LORD require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
In this way Jonathan made a covenant with ‘the house of David’, and backed it up with a curse, namely that if David proved unfaithful to it then Yahweh would require it of him by giving David’s enemies victory over him.
17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Thus, did the heir apparent to the throne of Israel willingly yield his throne to David by covenant, because of the great love that he had for him, requiring only that he in return have mercy on Jonathan’s descendants. It is apparent from this that Jonathan now recognized the seriousness of the situation and realized that they must soon part.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
Having confirmed the covenant between them Jonathan now went into the details of what was to happen in the next three days. Again, we have it confirmed that David would be expected to take his place at the coming new moon celebration. And he would be missed, because his seat would be empty. Precedents as to who sat where were clearly firmly set at such festivals, and David, as the king’s son-in-law, would have a place set near the king.
19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the LORD lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the LORD has sent you away.
Jonathan then explained what David was to do to receive his prearranged signal. He was to come to the place where he had hidden himself when ‘the business was in hand’ and take up his place by the stone Ezel ( ‘the stone of departure’). And then he, Jonathan, would come there with a lad to practice archery. This would allay any suspicion that Jonathan had come out on some secret assignment. On arrival there he would shoot three arrows at the side of the stone, as though shooting at a mark. Then he would send the lad to find the arrows, and if he called out ‘the arrows are on this side’ David could take that as a signal that all was well and that he was in no danger. But if he yelled, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’ then that would be a signal for David to flee for his life. It would indicate that there was danger and that Yahweh had thus sent him away.
23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the LORD be between you and me forever.”
Jonathan then completed his words with a further reminder of the covenant and bond between himself and David. They were each to remember that they were bound to each other by Yahweh.
24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast.
This does not necessarily mean that he did not attend at his family’s celebrations in Bethlehem. It may simply indicate that he kept out of the way of the large cities, and especially of Gibeah, thus remaining out of public view. He would know that he was safe while the feast at Gibeah was in progress. Or it may simply be indicating what he did after he had been to Bethlehem and the sacrifices were over.
25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.
When the day of the new moon came (commencing at twilight) the king sat down to eat. The seat by the wall would be the central seat reserved for the king, with his back to the wall and probably facing the entranceway The mention of the fact that David’s place was empty heightens the tension and prepares us for what is coming.
26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.”
But Saul’s reaction to the fact that David’s place was empty was at first simply that because (no doubt like some others) David was ritually ‘unclean’ he had been unable to attend. The ritual uncleanness would last until the evening. Such ritual uncleanness could arise through a variety of reasons and would be quite common. Being a soldier he dealt with death a lot which caused a man to be unclean.
27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
However, when David’s place was still empty on the second day Saul turned to Jonathan and asked him if he could explain David’s absence on both days. We have to take note Saul’s contempt for David, referring to him simply as ‘the son of Jesse’.
28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore, he has not come to the king’s table.”
Jonathan then gave the explanation that David and he had agreed on. He informed Saul that David had sought his royal permission to absent himself from the new moon celebration because he had been required by his elder brother to go to the family sacrifice in Bethlehem, and wanted to go and see his brothers, and Jonathan had agreed to it. That was why David was not at the king’s table.
New moon celebrations would, of course, have been going on all around the country. However, Saul would no doubt have considered that his own requirement for David’s presence, even if not openly expressed, should take precedence over any requirement coming from David’s elder brother. It is clear why he saw the excuse for what it was, an attempt to forestall him. With his suspicious mind he would not realis that it was not until the events at the actual meal that Jonathan had become suspicious of his intentions, and that that was why he had moved seats. He would think that Jonathan had known about his plans beforehand.
30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a 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? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”
Hearing Jonathan’s words Saul was so filled with rage and turned on his son. To insult a man’s mother in front of him was to have the intention of paying him the greatest insult possible, but the words were intended to describe Jonathan (as being what his mother was), not his mother. He was describing him as going against nature and as rebelling against him. In a sense, of course, both were true. He was supporting David against his father’s perverseness, and he was going against Saul’s will. But he was doing it because he wanted to do what was right. And taking up such a position often means being perverse and rebellious by a sinful world.
Furthermore, Saul emphasized that he was bringing shame on himself by favoring David, and shame on his mother’s sufferings when she bore him. And in Saul’s eyes the reason that he was doing this was because by his actions he was risking losing the kingship. For to Saul keeping hold of the kingship was everything. Thus, if losing the kingship would really have been a disgrace and a shame then Saul was right. But he only felt like that because he had become obsessed with his kingship. To him nothing else mattered. What he was determined to do was show Samuel that he was wrong, and that he could hold on to his kingship both for himself and his family. He was overlooking the fact that it was he who had caused Jonathan to lose the kingship by his own disobedience to Yahweh (13.13-14). To Jonathan, on the other hand, there was no shame in what he was doing, for he was doing it for the right reason, and that was because he considered that David would make the better king. Thus far from bringing shame on his mother he was ennobling her, because he was demonstrating that she had brought him up with the right values. Saul, however, in his obsession with kingship, could not see that.
It was true, of course, that if David lived Jonathan would not be established in his kingship, but Jonathan recognized that that was because David was the chosen of Yahweh, not because of any lack in himself. And Jonathan had been big enough a man to recognized the fact and accept it. To Saul, however, with his obsession with the kingship, no disaster could have been greater. And so he demanded that Jonathan bring David to him that he might die.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?”
It was Jonathan who was keeping his cool, and he therefore replied by asking why a man who had done nothing wrong should be put to death. If his father wanted David to be executed, let him now justify it.
33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.
This reply by Johnathan, to which he had no genuine answer, took Saul’s fury beyond bounds, and raising the spear next to him, he hurled it at his son. As we have seen, Saul, as a result of his illness, which kept on interfering with his rational thinking, had got into the habit of expressing his fury precisely in this way when he was over-excited, and he had, in fact, no doubt done it to a number of people when they had annoyed him when he was in one of his bad periods. And as a result of Saul’s response, Jonathan, who normally had a close relationship with his father, knew, both from this act, and from Saul’s words, that it really did mean that Saul was determined to kill David. Now he could be in no doubt about it. It was clear that his father had gone beyond all reasoning.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.
The recognition of his father’s attitude filled him with anger, and as we have seen he was not a man to be easily angered. Rising from the table he refused any food, seeking to demonstrate by that fact that in his view there was at present nothing to be thankful about. He was expressing as openly as he dared his displeasure at what Saul was doing. For he was grieved for David, and for the shameful way in which Saul was behaving towards him.
35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him.
Recognizing that there was now no alternative open to them Jonathan made his way to his rendezvous with David at the time appointed, taking with him his bow and arrows, and a young lad as his servant, in order to give the impression that he was simply going out for some target practice. And there he bade farewell to David, with a reminder of the covenant that was between them. It was the last time they would meet face to face.
36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
Once he had reached the spot near the rock Ezel he called on the servant lad to collect the arrows once he had fired them. And as the servant lad ran into position he shot an arrow beyond him. This was to indicate to David that he should flee for his life.
37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master.
’ When the land reached the spot where the arrow had fallen Jonathan called out, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” He wanted to ensure that David had got the message. Then he called again to the lad, “Make speed, hurry, do not stop.” But really his words were for David. Meanwhile the unsuspecting lad gathered up the arrows, possibly feeling that his master was in a hurry this day.
39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”
Satisfied that he had not been followed Jonathan then decided that he would say a proper ‘goodbye’ to David and giving his bow and arrows to the servant he told him to take them into the city.
41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so.
Then as soon as the lad had gone, David came out from his hiding place and expressed his love and respect for Jonathan by falling on his face to the ground and bowing three times. Strictly speaking he would have knelt and bowed his head to the ground three times, a typical oriental greeting to a superior. It should be noted that David never took advantage of their friendship in such a way as to dishonor Jonathan. Then they kissed one another in a comradely way, and both wept. And David wept the most profusely. It was after all he who was leaving, never to return while Jonathan was alive.
42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’ ” So, he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
Then Jonathan said his farewell. ‘Go in peace’ was a typical Israelite farewell. But poignancy was added to it by reminding David that there was peace between them because of the covenant that they had with each other, a peace made sure because they had sworn to each other in the name of their Great God Yahweh. And he called to mind their compact of permanent friendship, not only between them, but between those who would follow them.
Their farewells tearfully ended David arose and departed, from that time on an outlaw through no fault of his own, and Jonathan returned to the city. They would meet once more after this occasion, when Jonathan sought David out to assure him of his continued support which we read about in chapter 23.15-18.
