1 Samuel 19:1--22:23
Konteks19:1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. 1 19:2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying 2 to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find 3 a hiding place and stay in seclusion. 4 19:3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is, 5 I will let you know.”
19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf 6 to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial 7 for you. 19:5 He risked his life 8 when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”
19:6 Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice 9 and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.” 19:7 Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly. 10
19:8 Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly 11 and they ran away from him. 19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon 12 Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. 13 19:10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall. 14 David escaped quickly 15 that night.
19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save yourself 16 tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 19:12 So Michal lowered David through the window, and he ran away and escaped.
19:13 Then Michal took a household idol 17 and put it on the bed. She put a quilt 18 made of goat’s hair over its head 19 and then covered the idol with a garment. 19:14 When Saul sent messengers to arrest David, she said, “He’s sick.”
19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.” 19:16 When the messengers came, they found only the idol on the bed and the quilt made of goat’s hair at its head.
19:17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!” Michal replied to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away or else I will kill you!’” 20
19:18 Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 19:19 It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 19:20 So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 19:21 When it was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they prophesied too. So Saul sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied. 19:22 Finally Saul 21 himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the large cistern that is in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” They said, “At Naioth in Ramah.”
19:23 So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 19:24 He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there 22 naked all that day and night. (For that reason it is asked, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”)
20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, 23 “What have I done? What is my offense? 24 How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!”
20:2 Jonathan 25 said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing 26 large or small without making me aware of it. 27 Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”
20:3 Taking an oath, David again 28 said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact 29 that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, 30 ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!” 20:4 Jonathan replied to David, “Tell me what I can do for you.” 31
20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. 32 You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. 20:6 If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go 33 to his city Bethlehem, 34 for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’ 20:7 If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ 35 then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. 36 20:8 You must be loyal 37 to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the Lord’s name. 38 If I am guilty, 39 you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?”
20:9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?” 20:10 David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 20:11 Jonathan said to David, “Come on. Let’s go out to the field.”
When the two of them had gone out into the field, 20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. 40 I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? 41 20:13 But if my father intends to do you harm, may the Lord do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don’t let you know 42 and send word to you so you can go safely on your way. 43 May the Lord be with you, as he was with my father. 20:14 While I am still alive, extend to me the loyalty of the Lord, or else I will die! 20:15 Don’t ever cut off your loyalty to my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth 20:16 and called David’s enemies to account.” So Jonathan made a covenant 44 with the house of David. 45 20:17 Jonathan once again took an oath with David, because he loved him. In fact Jonathan loved him as much as he did his own life. 46 20:18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. 20:19 On the third day 47 you should go down quickly 48 and come to the place where you hid yourself the day this all started. 49 Stay near the stone Ezel. 20:20 I will shoot three arrows near it, as though I were shooting at a target. 20:21 When I send a boy after them, I will say, “Go and find the arrows.” If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; 50 get them,’ then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will no problem. 20:22 But if I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,’ 51 get away. For in that case the Lord has sent you away. 20:23 With regard to the matter that you and I discussed, the Lord is the witness between us forever!” 52
20:24 So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 20:25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him 53 and Abner at his side. 54 But David’s place was vacant. 20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it 55 that day, for he thought, 56 “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.” 20:27 But the next morning, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?”
20:28 Jonathan replied to Saul, “David urgently requested that he be allowed to go to Bethlehem. 20:29 He said, ‘Permit me to go, 57 for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged 58 me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go 59 to see my brothers.’ For that reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
20:30 Saul became angry with Jonathan 60 and said to him, “You stupid traitor! 61 Don’t I realize that to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother’s nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse? 20:31 For as long as 62 this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send some men 63 and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!” 64
20:32 Jonathan responded to his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 20:33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan 65 in order to strike him down. So Jonathan was convinced 66 that his father had decided to kill David. 20:34 Jonathan got up from the table enraged. He did not eat any food on that second day of the new moon, for he was upset that his father had humiliated David. 67
20:35 The next morning Jonathan, along with a young servant, went out to the field to meet David. 20:36 He said to his servant, “Run, find the arrows that I am about to shoot.” As the servant ran, Jonathan 68 shot the arrow beyond him. 20:37 When the servant came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called out to 69 the servant, “Isn’t the arrow further beyond you?” 20:38 Jonathan called out to the servant, “Hurry! Go faster! Don’t delay!” Jonathan’s servant retrieved the arrow and came back to his master. 20:39 (Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.) 70 20:40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, “Go, take these things back to the city.”
20:41 When the servant had left, David got up from beside the mound, 71 knelt 72 with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then they kissed each other and they both wept, especially David. 20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”
73 Then David 74 got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city. 21:1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met 75 David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?” 21:2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’ 76 I have told my soldiers 77 to wait at a certain place. 78 21:3 Now what do you have at your disposal? 79 Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
21:4 The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers 80 have abstained from sexual relations with women.” 81 21:5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’ 82 equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”
21:6 So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away. 21:7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.) 21:8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”
21:9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that, there’s nothing here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it! Give it to me!” 21:10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. 21:11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,
‘Saul struck down his thousands,
But David his tens of thousands’?”
21:12 David thought about what they said 83 and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. 21:13 He altered his behavior in their presence. 84 Since he was in their power, 85 he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.
21:14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? 21:15 Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?”
22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family 86 learned about it, they went down there to him. 22:2 All those who were in trouble or owed someone money or were discontented 87 gathered around 88 him, and he became their leader. He had about four hundred men with him.
22:3 Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay 89 with you until I know what God is going to do for me.” 22:4 So he had them stay with the king of Moab; they stayed with him the whole time 90 that David was in the stronghold. 22:5 Then Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
22:6 But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. 91 Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at an elevated location with his spear in hand and all his servants stationed around him. 22:7 Saul said to his servants who were stationed around him, “Listen up, you Benjaminites! Is Jesse’s son giving fields and vineyards to all of you? Or is he making all of you 92 commanders and officers? 93 22:8 For all of you have conspired against me! No one informs me 94 when my own son makes an agreement with this son of Jesse! Not one of you feels sorry for me or informs me that my own son has commissioned my own servant to hide in ambush against me, as is the case today!”
22:9 But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with the servants of Saul, replied, “I saw this son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 22:10 He inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
22:11 Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king. 22:12 Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am, my lord.” 22:13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave 95 him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes 96 me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!”
22:14 Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house! 22:15 Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse 97 his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” 98
22:16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house! 22:17 Then the king said to the messengers 99 who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided 100 with David! They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm 101 the priests of the Lord.
22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five 102 men who wore the linen ephod. 22:19 As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep – all with the sword.
22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped and fled to David. His name was Abiathar. 22:21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty 103 of all the deaths in your father’s house! 22:23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever 104 seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”
[19:1] 1 tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.”
[19:2] 4 tn Heb “and hide yourself.”
[19:4] 6 tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.”
[19:5] 8 tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.”
[19:6] 9 tn Heb “and Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan.”
[19:7] 10 tn Heb “and he was before him as before.”
[19:8] 11 tn Heb “and he struck them down with a great blow.”
[19:9] 13 tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”
[19:10] 14 tn Heb “and he drove the spear into the wall.”
[19:10] 15 tn Heb “fled and escaped.”
[19:11] 16 tn Heb “your life.”
[19:13] 17 tn Heb “teraphim” (also a second time in this verse and once in v. 16). These were statues that represented various deities. According to 2 Kgs 23:24 they were prohibited during the time of Josiah’s reform movement in the seventh century. The idol Michal placed under the covers was of sufficient size to give the mistaken impression that David lay in the bed, thus facilitating his escape.
[19:13] 18 tn The exact meaning of the Hebrew word כָּבִיר (kavir) is uncertain; it is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in v. 16. It probably refers to a quilt made of goat’s hair, perhaps used as a fly net while one slept. See HALOT 458 s.v. *כָּבִיר. Cf. KJV, TEV “pillow”; NLT “cushion”; NAB, NRSV “net.”
[19:13] 19 tn Heb “at the place of its head.”
[19:17] 20 tn Heb “Send me away! Why should I kill you?” The question has the force of a threat in this context. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 325, 26.
[19:22] 21 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 23). the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:24] 22 tn Heb “and he fell down.”
[20:1] 23 tn Heb “and he came and said before Jonathan.”
[20:1] 24 tn Heb “What is my guilt?”
[20:2] 25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:2] 26 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
[20:2] 27 tn Heb “without uncovering my ear.”
[20:3] 28 tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”
[20:3] 29 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
[20:3] 30 tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.
[20:4] 31 tn Heb “whatever your soul says, I will do for you.”
[20:5] 32 tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
[20:6] 34 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[20:7] 36 tn Heb “know that the evil is completed from with him.”
[20:8] 37 tn Heb “and you must do loyalty.”
[20:8] 38 tn Heb “for into a covenant of the
[20:8] 39 tn Heb “and if there is in me guilt.”
[20:12] 40 tc The Hebrew text has simply “the
[20:12] 41 tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”
[20:13] 42 tn Heb “uncover your ear.”
[20:16] 44 tn Heb “cut.” The object of the verb (“covenant”) must be supplied.
[20:16] 45 tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text, which reads “and Jonathan cut with the house of David, and the
[20:17] 46 tn Heb “for [with] the love of his [own] life he loved him.”
[20:19] 47 tc Heb “you will do [something] a third time.” The translation assumes an emendation of the verb from שִׁלַּשְׁתָּ (shillashta, “to do a third time”) to שִׁלִּישִׁית (shillishit, “[on the] third [day]”).
[20:19] 48 tn Heb “you must go down greatly.” See Judg 19:11 for the same idiom.
[20:19] 49 tn Heb “on the day of the deed.” This probably refers to the incident recorded in 19:2.
[20:21] 50 tn Heb “from you and here.”
[20:22] 51 tn Heb “from you and onward.”
[20:23] 52 tc Heb “the
[20:25] 53 tc Heb “and Jonathan arose.” Instead of MT’s וַיָּקָם (vayyaqam, “and he arose”; from the hollow verbal root קוּם, qum), the translation assumes a reading וַיִּקַדֵּם (vayyiqaddem, “and he was in front of”; from the verbal root קדם, qdm). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.
[20:25] 54 tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”
[20:26] 55 tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.
[20:26] 56 tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.
[20:29] 58 tn Heb “commanded.”
[20:29] 59 tn Heb “be released [from duty].”
[20:30] 60 tc Many medieval Hebrew
[20:30] 61 tn Heb “son of a perverse woman of rebelliousness.” But such an overly literal and domesticated translation of the Hebrew expression fails to capture the force of Saul’s unrestrained reaction. Saul, now incensed and enraged over Jonathan’s liaison with David, is actually hurling very coarse and emotionally charged words at his son. The translation of this phrase suggested by Koehler and Baumgartner is “bastard of a wayward woman” (HALOT 796 s.v. עוה), but this is not an expression commonly used in English. A better English approximation of the sentiments expressed here by the Hebrew phrase would be “You stupid son of a bitch!” However, sensitivity to the various public formats in which the Bible is read aloud has led to a less startling English rendering which focuses on the semantic value of Saul’s utterance (i.e., the behavior of his own son Jonathan, which he viewed as both a personal and a political betrayal [= “traitor”]). But this concession should not obscure the fact that Saul is full of bitterness and frustration. That he would address his son Jonathan with such language, not to mention his apparent readiness even to kill his own son over this friendship with David (v. 33), indicates something of the extreme depth of Saul’s jealousy and hatred of David.
[20:31] 62 tn Heb “all the days that.”
[20:31] 63 tn The words “some men” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:31] 64 tn Heb “a son of death.”
[20:33] 65 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:34] 67 tn Heb “for he was upset concerning David for his father had humiliated him.” The referent of the pronoun “him” is not entirely clear, but the phrase “concerning David” suggests that it refers to David, rather than Jonathan.
[20:36] 68 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:37] 69 tn Heb “called after” (also in v. 38).
[20:39] 70 tn Heb “knew the matter.”
[20:41] 71 tc The translation follows the LXX in reading “the mound,” rather than the MT’s “the south.” It is hard to see what meaning the MT reading “from beside the south” would have as it stands, since such a location lacks specificity. The NIV treats it as an elliptical expression, rendering the phrase as “from the south side of the stone (rock NCV).” This is perhaps possible, but it seems better to follow the LXX rather than the MT here.
[20:42] 73 sn Beginning with 20:42b, the verse numbers through 21:15 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 20:42b ET = 21:1 HT, 21:1 ET = 21:2 HT, 21:2 ET = 21:3 HT, etc., through 21:15 ET = 21:16 HT. With 22:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[20:42] 74 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:1] 75 tn Heb “trembled to meet.”
[21:2] 76 tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”
[21:2] 78 tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.
[21:3] 79 tn Heb “under your hand.”
[21:4] 81 tn Heb “have kept themselves from women” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “haven’t had sexual relations recently”; NLT “have not slept with any women recently.”
[21:12] 83 tn Heb “placed these matters in his heart.”
[21:13] 84 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
[21:13] 85 tn Heb “in their hand.”
[22:2] 87 tn Heb “bitter of soul.”
[22:4] 90 tn Heb “all the days.”
[22:6] 91 tn Heb “and Saul heard that David and the men who were with him were known.”
[22:7] 92 tc The MT has “to all of you.” If this reading is correct, we have here an example of a prepositional phrase functioning as the equivalent of a dative of advantage, which is not impossible from a grammatical point of view. However, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have “and.” A conjunction rather than a preposition should probably be read on the front of this phrase.
[22:7] 93 tn Heb “officers of a thousand and officers of a hundred.”
[22:8] 94 tn Heb “uncovers my ear.”
[22:13] 95 tn Heb “by giving.”
[22:13] 96 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[22:15] 97 tn Heb “set a matter against.”
[22:15] 98 tn Heb “small or great.”
[22:17] 100 tn Heb “their hand is.”
[22:17] 101 tn Heb “to extend their hand to harm.”
[22:18] 102 tc The number is confused in the Greek
[22:22] 103 tc The translation follows the LXX, which reads “I am guilty,” rather than the MT, which has “I have turned.”
[22:23] 104 tn Or “the one who.” This may refer specifically to Saul, in which case David acknowledges that Abiathar’s life is endangered because of his allegiance to David. The translation assumes that the statement is more generalized, meaning that any enemy of Abiathar is an enemy of David. In other words, David promises that he will protect Abiathar with his very own life.
