Through My Bible Yr 01 – July 13
1 Samuel 20:1 – 21:9
1 Samuel 20
1Ā David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, āWhat have I done? Am I guilty of something? What is my sin against your father that makes him seek my life?ā
2Ā Jonathan said to him, āA curse on me if that happens. [1] You will not die. Look, my father does nothing whether important or unimportant without telling me about it. Why would my father hide this from me? It is not so.ā
3Ā But David took an oath and said, āYour father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, so he might say, āDo not let Jonathan know about this, or he will be very upset.ā But as surely as the Lord lives, and as surely as your soul lives, there is only a step between me and death.ā
4Ā Then Jonathan said to David, āAsk me for whatever you really want, and I will do it for you.ā
5Ā David said to Jonathan, āListen, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am expected to dine with the king, but let me go so that I can hide in the countryside until the evening of the third day. 6Ā If your father misses me at all, say, āDavid urged me to excuse him so that he could run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because it is the annual sacrifice there for his entire family.ā 7Ā If he says, āThat is fine,ā your servant will be at peace. But if it really displeases him, then you will know that he is planning evil. 8Ā You must show kindness to your servant, because you have made a covenant in the name of the Lord with me, your servant. But if I am guilty of anything, kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?ā
9Ā Jonathan said, āA curse on me if that occurs, because if I knew that my father was planning to harm you, wouldnāt I tell you?ā
10Ā Then David said to Jonathan, āWho will tell me if your father gives you a harsh response?ā
11Ā Jonathan said to David, āCome, letās go out into the field.ā So the two of them went out into the field. 12Ā Jonathan said to David, āI swear by the Lord, the God of Israel! About this time tomorrow or the day after, when I have tested my father to see if he is favorably inclined toward David, I will send word to you so that you hear about it. 13Ā May the Lord punish Jonathan severely and double it, [2] if my father is planning to harm you and I do not disclose it to you and send you on your way, so that you may go in peace. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14Ā You must show the mercy of the Lord to me, not only while I am still alive, so that I do not die, 15Ā but you also must not cut off your mercy from my house foreverāno, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.ā 16Ā So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, āMay the Lord demand an accounting from Davidās enemies.ā 17Ā Then Jonathan had David repeat the oath, because of the love that he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18Ā Jonathan said to him, āTomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19Ā On the third day, [3] go down quickly to the place where you hid on the previous occasion and stay by the stone named Ezel. 20Ā I will shoot three arrows off to the side of it, as if I were shooting at a target. 21Ā I will send the boy out and say, āGo and find the arrows!ā If I yell to the boy, āHey! The arrows are closer this way. Come and pick them up,ā then you can come to me, because you are safe and, as the Lord lives, there is no danger. 22Ā But if I yell to the boy, āHey! The arrows are farther out,ā then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23Ā Concerning this matter that you and I have spoken about, the Lord stands as a witness between you and me [4] forever.ā
24Ā So David hid in the countryside. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 25Ā The king sat at his usual seat next to the wall. Jonathan was across from him, [5] and Abner sat next to Saul, but Davidās place was empty. 26Ā Nevertheless, Saul did not say anything that day, since he thought, āSomething has happened to him to make him ceremonially unclean. Thatās what it isāhe must be unclean.ā
27Ā On the day after the new moon, the second day of the month, Davidās place was still empty. So Saul asked his son Jonathan, āWhy didnāt the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?ā
28Ā Jonathan answered Saul, āDavid begged me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29Ā He said, āPlease let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city. My brother has ordered me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please excuse me so I can go and see my brothers.ā That is why he has not come to the kingās table.ā
30Ā Then Saulās anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, āYou son of a perverted, unfaithful woman! Donāt I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your motherās nakedness? [6] 31Ā For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, you will not be established, nor will your kingship. So send for him and bring him to me, because he must surely die!ā
32Ā Jonathan answered his father Saul, āWhy should he be put to death? What has he done?ā
33Ā Saul threw his spear at him to hit him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34Ā Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger, and he ate no food on the second day of the month, for he grieved for David, because his father had treated David so shamefully.
35Ā In the morning Jonathan went out into the field at the time he had set with David. He took a young servant boy with him. 36Ā He said to his boy, āRun out and find the arrows that I shoot.ā As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37Ā When the boy reached the area where Jonathanās arrow had landed, Jonathan yelled to the boy, āIsnāt the arrow farther out from you?ā 38Ā Jonathan shouted to the boy, āGo faster! Hurry up! Donāt be slow!ā Jonathanās boy picked up the arrows and came back to his master. 39Ā The boy did not know anything about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40Ā Jonathan gave his equipment to his boy and told him, āGo on ahead. Carry these things into the city.ā
41Ā As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side of the mound. [7] He fell down with his face to the ground and bowed three times. They kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. 42Ā Jonathan said to David, āGo in peace, because we have both sworn in the Lordās name. May the Lord stand between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.ā David got up and left, and Jonathan went back into the city.
David and the Priests
1 Samuel 21
1Ā David came to Ahimelek the priest at Nob. When he came to meet David, Ahimelek was trembling with fear, and he said to David, āWhy are you alone? Why isnāt there anyone with you?ā [8]
2Ā David said to Ahimelek the priest, āThe king sent me on a mission and told me, āDonāt let anyone know anything about where I am sending you or about your orders.ā I have instructed the young men to wait for me at a certain place. 3Ā So what do you have on hand? Please give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is available.ā
4Ā The priest answered David, āI do not have any ordinary bread, but there is holy [9] breadāI can give it to you [10] only if your young men have kept themselves away from women.ā [11]
5Ā David answered the priest, āYes indeed, women have been kept away from us just as they have been on previous occasions. Whenever I go out on a mission, the bodies [12] of the young men are kept holy even if it is only an ordinary journey. How much more then shall their bodies be holy today?ā
6Ā So the priest gave him holy bread, because there was no bread there except for the Bread of the Presence which had been removed from the presence of the Lord and replaced with hot bread.
7Ā Now one of Saulās servants was present that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was in charge of Saulās shepherds.
8Ā David said to Ahimelek, āDonāt you have a spear or sword on hand here? I didnāt bring my sword or my gear with me, because the kingās mission was so urgent.ā
9Ā The priest said, āThe sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the place where the special vest is kept. If you would like to take that, take it, because there is nothing else here.ā
David said, āThere is no other like that one. Give it to me.ā
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 20:2 The Hebrew has the tone of a curse. The phrase could, however, be translated more mildly: There is no way that is going to happen. See another example in verse 9.
- 1 Samuel 20:13 Literally may the Lord do this to Jonathan and even more. This is an oath with the specific curse left unstated.
- 1 Samuel 20:19 On the third day often means on the day after tomorrow, but here it is three days.
- 1 Samuel 20:23 In Hebrew the order of persons is normally me and you, as it is here. In English the order you and me is considered more polite. The EHV usually follows the normal English order, unless it seems that there is some significance to the Hebrew order.
- 1 Samuel 20:25 The Hebrew reads Jonathan stood up. The Greek indicates that Jonathan was across from Saul.
- 1 Samuel 20:30 In a shocking outburst, Saul calls Jonathan, who was his legitimate son and heir, the illegitimate son of an immoral woman. Many translations soften the harsh language of Saulās outburst.
- 1 Samuel 20:41 The Hebrew says from the south side but gives no location. The Greek reads from the mound but supplies no direction.
- 1 Samuel 21:1 In the Hebrew text, chapter 21 starts at English 20:42. In chapter 21, the rest of the Hebrew verse numbers are one number higher than the English verse numbers.
- 1 Samuel 21:4 In this context holy means ceremonially pure or set aside for a sacred purpose.
- 1 Samuel 21:4 The words I can give it to you are added to make the sentence clear in English.
- 1 Samuel 21:4 Sexual relations made a man ceremonially unclean, as did touching a woman during her period.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Literally vessels. Some translations understand this as a reference to the menās weapons, but it is clear from the priestās question that he is concerned about the effect of sexual relations on the purity of their bodies.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage VersionĀ®, EHVĀ®, Ā© 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.