1Sa 20 | TNotes

Summary for 1Sam 20:2-3: 20:2-3 ^a Jonathan was naive about his father’s intentions. David’s willingness to swear ... by the Lord showed how convinced he was about Saul’s intentions.
20:5 ^b new moon festival: The ancient Hebrews followed a lunar calendar, and the new moon marked the start of a new month. Every month was begun with a special sacrifice (Num 28:11-15 ^c), which became a monthly festival.
Summary for 1Sam 20:6-7: 20:6-7 ^d Israelite families might designate one of the new moon festivals as an opportunity for an annual family sacrifice (see, e.g., 1:3 ^e).
20:8 ^f Loyalty (Hebrew khesed) denotes faithfulness between covenant partners.

• a solemn pact: See 18:3 ^g; 20:16 ^h.
20:13 ⁱ may the Lord strike me: Jonathan invoked a curse upon himself to reassure David that he would keep his promise.

• as he used to be with my father: Jonathan recognized that David had received the blessing from God that his father had once had. The divine favor that had brought Saul into royal office (9:14–10:1 ^j) would bring David into royal office as Saul’s replacement. Jonathan accepted this even though he was the natural successor to Saul.
Summary for 1Sam 20:14-16: 20:14-16 ^k faithful love: Hebrew khesed (see study note on 20:8). Jonathan was reminding David to keep his commitment to him when he became king. It was reasonable for Jonathan to be concerned that David might kill any descendant of Saul who could make a rival claim to his throne. Saul later made a similar request of David (24:21 ^l).
20:15 ^m treat my family: David later treated Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, as one of his own sons (2 Sam 9:1-13 ⁿ).
20:17 ^o See 18:3 ^p; 23:16-18 ^q.
Summary for 1Sam 20:18-22: 20:18-22 ^r Jonathan’s ruse would allow David to get the message even if there could be no face-to-face meeting; the boy’s presence would allay suspicion and provide Jonathan an alibi for going to the field. As it happened, no one but the boy accompanied Jonathan to the field, so when the boy left, David was able to speak with Jonathan face to face (20:40-42 ^s).
20:25 ^t Abner was Saul’s cousin and served as commander of Saul’s army (14:50 ^u; 17:55 ^v). His importance is indicated by his position beside the king at this festival.
Summary for 1Sam 20:26-27: 20:26-27 ^w A number of circumstances could render a person ceremonially unclean and thus unfit for attending a sacred festival (see Lev 7:20-21 ^x). Often, an unclean person was required to be excluded from such functions only until the evening of the same day (Lev 15 ^y). This explains why Saul became suspicious after David did not arrive the next day.

• Saul referred to David as the son of Jesse (also in 1 Sam 20:31 ^z; 22:7 ^aa), a description that functioned as David’s surname.
20:29 ^ab get away: This verb also describes David’s earlier escape from Saul (19:10-12 ^ac, 17-18 ^ad).
20:30 ^ae You stupid son of a whore! This epithet was as strong and insulting in Hebrew as it is in English.

• shaming yourself: Saul was interested in the legacy of his own dynasty. He viewed David’s actions as ultimately directed against Jonathan, the hereditary successor. To Saul, Jonathan was stupidly hurting and shaming himself by supporting David.
20:33 ^af hurled his spear at Jonathan: See also 18:11 ^ag; 19:10 ^ah.

• at last Jonathan realized: Jonathan had been reluctant to believe the truth about his own father (20:2-3 ^ai), but he could no longer deny it.
20:41 ^aj David bowed: Jonathan had the higher social rank, so David’s homage was fitting.

• Both of them were in tears: For the first time, the record of the emotion between these two men shows mutuality (see 18:1 ^ak, 3-4 ^al; 20:17 ^am).
20:42 ^an sworn loyalty to each other in the Lord’s name: See 18:3 ^ao; 20:15-17 ^ap; 23:16-18 ^aq.