1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 20:5 The NEW MOON was the day of the first appearance of the crescent moon in the western sky at sunset, marking the beginning of the month in the lunar calendar. It was one of Israel’s main festivals (see Numbers 10:10; 1 Chronicles 23:31; Ezekiel 46:3). One could not alwa... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 20:15 MY HOUSE. That is, “my offspring”; see v. 1 Samuel 20:42. See also 2 Samuel 9:1, where David shows “kindness” to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 20:26 Because the feast involved sacrifices, one had to be CLEAN to participate (on the terms “clean” and “unclean,” see Introduction to Leviticus, Problems in Understanding Leviticus). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.lengt... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 20:29 MY BROTHER presumably refers to David’s eldest brother, Eliab (1 Samuel 17:28). It reflects a system of family leadership passing to the eldest son; his father Jesse had already retired (see 1 Samuel 17:12; compare Laban’s role in Genesis 24:50). ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 20:31 NEITHER YOU NOR YOUR KINGDOM SHALL BE ESTABLISHED. Jonathan had already accepted this to be God’s will (vv. 1 Samuel 20:14). Saul, on the other hand, assumed that kingship was hereditary, though there was no divine revelation to justify such an assumption. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var... [ Continue Reading ]