48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Jonathan made [a covenant] with the house of David,.... Not with David himself only, which was now renewed, but with his family also: [saying], let the Lord even require [it] at the hand of David's enemies; take vengeance on Jonathan, or on any of his posterity, should they break this covenant, by showing themselves enemies to David, and his...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. David...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jonathan caused David to swear again,.... Or Jonathan added to make David swears (u); having sworn himself to make a covenant of friendship with David and his family, he moved and insisted on it, that David should swear to keep covenant with him, and his family: because he loved him; it was not so much for the good and safety of his offspring...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Jonathan said to David, tomorrow [is] the new moon,.... The first day of the month, as David had before observed, 1 Samuel 20:5; and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty; or be inquired after, because not in his usual place at mealtime.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And [when] thou hast stayed three days,.... From court, either at Bethlehem, which seems most probable, or in some other place incognito; however, not in the field he proposed to hide himself in, where he could not continue so long for want of food: [then] thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself; which makes...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will shoot three arrows on the side [thereof],.... On the side of the stone Ezel; three are pitched upon, according to the number of the days David was missing: as though I shot at a mark; as if he made the stone the mark he shot at; so that his shooting would not be taken notice of.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And, behold, I will send a lad,.... That attended on him, and carried his bow and arrows, and fetched his arrows when he had shot them: [saying], go, find out the arrows; where they are fallen, and return them: if I expressly say unto the lad, behold, the arrows [are] on this side of thee, take them; on one side of him, whether the one or the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if I say thus unto the young man, behold, the arrows [are] beyond thee,.... Being shot to a greater distance than where the young man was: go thy way, for the Lord hath sent thee away; then he was to depart directly, without staying to have any conversation with Jonathan, which would not be safe for either of them, and so make the best of his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And [as touching] the matter which thou and I have spoken of,.... The covenant they had made between them and their families: behold, the Lord [be] between me and thee for ever: as a witness of the covenant, and a revenger of those that should break it; so the Targum, "behold, the Word of the Lord be between me and thee a witness for ever.''
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So David hid himself in the field,.... Not directly, but at the time appointed; for he went to Bethlehem, and returned from thence before that time: and when the new moon was come; the first clay of the month, which was a solemn festival: the king sat him down to eat meat; Saul sat down at his table to eat of the provisions that were set upon it;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty. Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king sat upon his seat as at other times,.... Upon the seat he usually sat on: [even] upon a seat by the wall; on a couch by the side of the wall; or, as Jarchi and R. Isaiah say, at the head of the couch by the wall, which was the most honourable place; and Kimchi observes, it was the custom in those days to eat meat sitting on beds or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Nevertheless, Saul spake not anything that day,.... About David's absence, took no notice of it, said nothing about it: for he thought something had befallen him; some impurity, some nocturnal pollution, see Leviticus 15:16; he [is] not clean, surely he [is] not clean; which he repeated in his mind for the confirmation of it, and in contempt, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass on the morrow, [which was] the second [day] of the month,.... The Targum is, "and it was on the day after it, which was the intercalation of the second month;'' when the beginning of the month was judged of by the appearance of the moon, and there was a difficulty about that, what day it appeared on, two days were kept for it;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, let me go, I pray thee, for our family hath a sacrifice in the city,.... In the city of Bethlehem where they lived, a peace offering on account of the new moon, and as an anniversary thanksgiving for the mercies of the year, 1 Samuel 20:6; and seeing, though he was not at the feast in one place, he observed it in another, his absence...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan,.... For giving David leave to go, and for excusing him in this manner: and he said unto him, thou son of the perverse and rebellious [woman]; most of the Jewish commentators supply it as we do, but the supplement of woman may as well be left out, and be read, "thou son of perverse rebellion" (f);...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom,.... He would not, though heir to the crown, be sure of it; it would be precarious to him, he would be in great danger of being deprived of it on the death of his father; and therefore it would be his highest wisdom to deliver David up to be...