1 Samuel 20:1-42
1 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?
2 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 shewa it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
3 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.
4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
5 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.
6 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 sacrificeb there for all the family.
7 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.
8 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?
9 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?
10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
12 And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have soundedc 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;
13 The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shewd 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.
14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
15 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.
16 So Jonathan madee a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.
17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.f
19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly,g and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21 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;h as the LORD liveth.
22 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.
23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.
24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
25 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.
26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
27 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?
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
29 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.
30 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?
31 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.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
34 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.
35 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.
36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyondi him.
37 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?
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his artilleryj unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
41 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.
42 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.
Now David fled from Naioth in Ramah, he came to Jonathan, he said, What have I done? what is my iniquity? what is my sin that your father is seeking my life? And Jonathan said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but he'll shew it to me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? is it not so (1 Samuel 20:1-2).
David said, "Your father's trying to kill me." Jonathan says, "Ah, he's not really trying to kill you, he wouldn't do anything unless he told me first, and he hasn't said anything about it."
And David sware moreover, and said, Your father certainly knows that you and I are good friends; and so he said, Don't let Jonathan know this, lest he is grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death (1 Samuel 20:3).
David just said, "Man, I'm living on the border of eternity. There's just a step between me and death. Your dad's after me and he's trying to kill me."
Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever you want, I'll do. And David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I'm supposed to be sitting there at your father's feast: and I'm not gonna show up. [I want you to pick up on your dad's attitude when I don't show up.] If he says, Where's David? Just tell him, Well his family is having an annual get together in Bethlehem. [And David pleaded with me that he might go and spend this annual family affair with his family. So he didn't come. Just notice what your dad's attitude is when I don't show up, because he's really planning to kill me when I come and sit there at the table. So Jonathan was a little skeptical, but he said, Okay, we'll let you know.] But he said, What we'll do is you wait out here behind this rock, and I'll come out with my servant when I really find out what my dad's feelings are. I'll come out with my servant, and I will shoot my arrows and send him out after them; and if I call to him, and I say, The arrows are this side of you, then they've fallen short, then you'll know that it's okay, my dad is in a good mood, and he doesn't really have any intentions of killing you. But if I say to the young fellow, The arrows have gone beyond you, then you'll know it's time to flee because my dad is angry and is thinking about killing you. So Saul, the new moon, [the feast of the king,] and Abner his captain was there, Jonathan's place was there, but David's place was empty. And Saul didn't say anything the first day: he thought, Well he probably isn't ceremonially clean, [maybe he's killed somebody, has blood on his hands, go through the cleansing rites before he comes, he'll be here tomorrow.] So the next day when David's chair was empty too: he said to Jonathan, Where's David? Jonathan said, Well his family's having an annual get together it's a family gathering, and David pleaded with me that he might go, and spend this celebration with the family in Bethlehem. And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Thou son of the perverse woman, don't I know that you've chosen the son of Jesse to your own confusion, and to the confusion of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse is living, you're not gonna become king after me, he's gonna have the kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die (1 Samuel 20:4-31).
So Saul of course gave forth now his true feelings. Jonathan saw what was in his dad's heart.
And Jonathan said, Why should he be slain? what evil has he done? And Saul cast his javelin at Jonathan: [You know the guy was just enraged, and so just because his son dared to ask a question, "Why should you kill him, what has he done wrong?" Saul let fly with the javelin towards his son Jonathan.] and so he knew that he had determined to kill David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, [He was really upset with his dad.] he did not eat meat on the second day of the month: and he was grieved for David, because his father had done him this shame. So it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out in the field at the time appointed with David, and a little fellow was with him. [The little boy that chases arrows.] And he said to the lad, Run, out to the field and find the arrows which I shoot. And so as the lad ran, he shot the arrows beyond him. 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 you? So Jonathan said, Hurry and gather together all of the arrows. And so the fellow gathered together all of the arrows, and he brought them back to Jonathan. So Jonathan gave him all of his artillery, and said, Take it back to town. And after the little boy left, then David came out from behind the rock where he was hiding, and he bowed himself: they kissed each other, they wept with one another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Jehovah, saying, The Jehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And they arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city (1 Samuel 20:33-42).
Now Jonathan and David had made a bond. Jonathan had realized that somehow God was gonna give the kingdom to David, and he said, "I just want you to treat my family well when you come into the kingdom, and all of my descendants. Let there be a bond between us." And David made an oath to Jonathan that he would treat the house of Saul with respect and kindness, and love. "