properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Saul
שָׁא֑וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
David
דָּוִ֛דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
earnestly
נִשְׁאֹ֨לnish.'Ol
H7592
to inquire · verb, niphal infinitive absolute
asked
נִשְׁאַ֥לnish.'Al
H7592
to inquire · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
me
מֵעִמָּדִ֖יme.'i.ma.Di
H5978
along with · preposition + preposition + pronominal suffix
Beth-lehem
בֵּ֥יתbeit
H1035
Beth-Lechem · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 20:6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly sa…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 20:24-34
Jonathan is here effectually convinced of that which he was so loth to believe, that his father had an implacable enmity to David, and would certainly be the death of him if it were in his power; and he had like to have paid very dearly himself for the conviction.
I. David is missed from the feast on the first day, but nothing is said of him. The king sat upon his seat, to feast upon the peace-offerings as at other times (Sa1 20:25), and yet had his heart as full of envy and malice against David as it could hold. He should first have been reconciled to him, and then have come and offered his gift; but, instead of that, he hoped, at this feast, to drink the blood of David. What an abomination…
on the morrow, which was the second day of the month--The time of the moon's appearance being uncertain--whether at midday, in the evening, or at midnight, the festival was extended over two days. Custom, not the law, had introduced this.
Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse--The question was asked, as it were, casually, and with as great an air of indifference as he could assume. And Jonathan having replied that David had asked and obtained his permission to attend a family anniversary at Beth-lehem [Act 20:28-29], the pent-up passions of the king burst out in a most violent storm of rage and invective against his son.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 20:25
The king sat upon his seat - It seems that there was one table for Saul, Jonathan, David, and Abner; Saul having the chief seat, that next to the wall. As only four sat at this table, the absence of any one would soon be noticed.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 20:28
And Jonathan answered Saul,.... In reply to Saul's question, and to excuse David, he said:
David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; his own city, his native place, where his family lived, whom he was desirous to see, and yet chose not to go without asking leave; and as Saul was not at home, he asked leave of Jonathan, who was next to him, and acted for him; and he was very pressing and importunate in his suit, and therefore Jonathan could not well deny him it; and he hoped this would ben sufficient excuse for his absence, especially when what follows should be observed.
The Church Fathers
And Jonathan answered Saul: He earnestly requested me that he might go to Bethlehem, etc. It indeed seems strange according to the letter, why he should think and inquire about David in this manner, or Jonathan should respond, when the very obvious cause of royal jealousy had occurred, by which David should rightly seek his own safety, or even life: unless perhaps Saul ought to be supposed to have done or said many things under the frequent invasion of the demon, which, like those possessed, he was neither able to premeditate beforehand nor to remember afterward: and among these, also, the matter regarding David is believed to have occurred rather in the spirit of one enraged than one listening. Even Scripture seems to support this view, which, with David absent from Saul's table, says that Saul did not reconsider the previously inflicted injury, but only thought that he might be unclean, either due to nocturnal sleep, or intercourse, or some touch of a funeral or something defiled, by which he would be kept from the company of the pure according to the edict of the law. Moreover, it supports what is written at the beginning of this entire reading: And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul (1 Samuel 19). However, whatever may be the case, the mystical sense is clear. For the dove-like simplicity of the chosen ones of Christ answered the ruling Synagogue that persecutes: Jesus Christ, whom you ask about, my God and Lord, earnestly requested me, that, by sending teachers for this very purpose and in every direction, I might bring Him into the heart of the New Testament of those rejoicing in grace, where there is no blood of victims, no Mosaic manna, but according to the order of Melchizedek, the living bread which came down from heaven is celebrated in a mystery. Hence the assembly of such people is most rightly called by the sacred name of Bethlehem, that is, house of bread. Let me go, he says, to such people, believing in the mystery of the same baptism, and also the companionship of your catholic peace. And what is first and last becomes fitting, the guardianship of the word by which they are catechized and perpetually confirmed is to be entrusted to them; for the solemn sacrifice is the very life of the converted in the city of our God, on his holy mountain (Ps. 47). The unity of my chosen ones, who are my brothers and coheirs by grace, beseeches…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Arrow · Shot by Jonathan as a sign to David — Shot by Jonathan as a sign to David
Jealousy · .Saul, of David — .Saul, of David
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 20:24-34
David thereupon concealed himself in the field, whilst Jonathan, as agreed upon, endeavoured to apologize for his absence from the king's table.
Sa1 20:24-25
On the new moon's day Saul sat at table, and as always, at his seat by the wall, i.e., at the top, just as, in eastern lands at the present day, the place of honour is the seat in the corner (see Harmar Beobachtungen ii. pp. 66ff.). "And Jonathan rose up, and Abner seated himself by the side of Saul, and David's place remained empty." The difficult passage, "And Jonathan rose up," etc., can hardly be understood in any other way than as signifying that, when Abner entered, Jonathan rose from his seat by the side of Saul, and gave up the…
A number of circumstances could render a person ceremonially unclean and thus unfit for attending a sacred festival (see Lev 7:20-21). Often, an unclean person was required to be excluded from such functions only until the evening of the same day (Lev 15). 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; 22:7), a description that functioned as David’s surname.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 20:27
The day after the New Moon. The day following the renewal28חֹדֶשׁ here means ‘renewal’ i.e., Rosh Chodesh and not ‘month.’ of the moon.
The second [day]. The second day of the month.
