1 And David again came {vayasef: resumed visit} to Jonathan and said to him, “What have I done? What have I sinned? And what is your offense {avon: moral wrongdoing} that a man from your father’s house is seeking to kill me?”
2 And Jonathan said to David, “You shall not die! For my father does not undertake any of this great matter {davar: serious undertaking} without disclosing it to me; why should he conceal {ma’ar: keep secret} it from me?”
3 And David swore and said, “Only your father knows that I have found favor {khafets: delight} in your eyes, and he says, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved on my account.’ Yet truly, as I live {chai: solemn oath}, there is but a step between my life and death.”
4 And Jonathan said to David, “What do you desire{chafets: heartfelt desire}? I will do{eeseh: promised action} for you.”
5 And David said, “Then it will be the new moon{chadash: calendar festival} day, and you will dine with the king, but I will go and hide myself{histatterti: covert concealment} in the field until the evening of the third day.”
6 If your father misses me at all, then say, “David earnestly asked leave {hish’alti: formal request} from me to run to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice {zevach-chag: festival offering} there for the whole clan.”
7 If he says, “Good {tov: morally favorable},” then your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then know that harm {raʿāh: hostile intent} is determined by him.
8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant {berit: solemn promise} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant LORD} with you. Yet if there is guilt in me, strike me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?
9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! {halo: emphatic denial} For if I knew for certain that my father had determined {qavaʿ: fixed decree} harm to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Please {na: polite entreaty}, who will tell me if your father answers you harshly {qashe: stern tone}?”
11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come and let us go out {netse: proceed outward} into the field {sadeh: cultivated land}.” So they both went out into the field.
12 And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness} God of Israel, when I have sounded out {b’shuvi: direct personal inquiry} my father about this time tomorrow or on the third day, behold, if he is good toward David, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you?”
13 May the LORD {YHWH, Just Ruler} do so to Jonathan and more also, if it pleases my father to kill you and I do not disclose it to you and send you away in peace {shalom: wholeness}; and may the LORD be with you just as He was with my father.
14 If I am still alive, will you not show me the loyal love {chesed: covenant loyalty} of the LORD {YHWH, Promise Keeper}, that I may not die?
15 Do not cut off your kindness {chesed: covenant loyalty} from my house forever—no, not even when the LORD {YHWH: Righteous Judge} cuts off the enemies of David, every one of them, from the face of the earth.
16 And Jonathan made a covenant {berit: solemn pledge} with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Keeper} require it from the hand of David’s enemies.”
17 And Jonathan made David swear {shevuah: solemn pledge} again, because he loved him as he loved his own soul {nefesh: life force}.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the new moon {chadashim: calendar festival}, and you will be missed, because your seat {moshbecha: honored position} will be empty.”
19 And on the third evening {ervei sheloshah: precise time marker} he shall come to the place where I hid {chavateti: concealed beforehand} by the stone Ezel, and you shall go, and Aaron will be with you.
20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side {tsidah: boundary area}, as though I shot at a mark {sum-lakh: shoot at mark}.
21 And I will send a boy and say to him, “Go, find the arrows.” And it shall be when I say to the boy, “Behold {hen: emphatic signal}, the arrows are on your side; bring them to me,” you will be safe {shalom: covenant safety}, and there will be no harm, as the LORD {YHWH, Living Witness} lives.
22 But if I say thus to the young man, “Behold, the arrows {hitzim: departure cues} are beyond you,” then go your way, for the LORD {YHWH, Divine Sender} has sent you away.
23 And concerning the matter that you have spoken {dibarta: recounted pledge} with me, let the LORD {YHWH, Eternal Witness} be a witness between you and me forever.
24 And David hid {satar: deliberate concealment} in the field, and the month {chodesh: renewal cycle} came, and the king sat down to eat.
25 And he sat in his customary{namul: established routine} place by the wall opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat at his side, but David’s place was empty{reikam: conspicuous absence}.
26 Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day {yom: appointed period}, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean {tame: ritually defiled}; surely he is unclean.”
27 And it was the next day, the second day of the month, and David’s place was filled; and Saul said to Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse{ben-Yishai: David’s patronymic reference} not come today and also{ve-gam: coordinated absence} yesterday to the meal?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for leave {mincholah: formal permission} to go to Bethlehem {beit-lechem: house of bread}.”
29 And he said, “Let me go, please, for our clan{mishpachah: extended family} holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there; and now, if I have found favor{chen: delight} in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.”
30 Then Saul’s anger flared against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman {naqam: twisted, defiant}! Did I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness {maarpêka: exposed shame}?”
31 How long will this youth, whom I will not cut off {ekhreṯennû: irrevocable exclusion} and whom I will not send to me, live? Your kingdom {malkūt·ḵā: realm of authority} will not be established, son of rest, the pleasant one.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, “Why should this man die {yamet: judicial condemnation}? What has he done {asah: completed act}?”
33 Then Saul hurled {wayetal: forceful casting} his spear at Jonathan to strike him, and Jonathan knew that his father desired {chafetz: volitional intent} to put David to death.
34 And Jonathan rose {qum: sudden departure} from the table in fierce anger, and on the second day he did not eat because he was grieved {nikkar: inner anguish} for David and because his father had disgraced him.
35 And Jonathan {Yonatan: David’s Ally} went out early in the morning to the field to meet David, and a boy {na’ar: attendant youth} was with him.
36 Then he said to the boy {na’ar: youthful attendant}, “Run and find the arrows {hitzim: missile weapons} that I will shoot.” And the boy ran, and he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 And the boy came to the place {maqom: appointed site} where Jonathan had shot the arrow, and Jonathan called to the boy and said, “Is not the arrow {khetsi: signal marker} beyond you?”
38 And Jonathan called the lad {na'ar: youthful attendant} and said, “Hurry! Run! Do not stop.” Then the lad took the arrows {hatsim: projectiles} and returned to his master.
39 But the youth {naʿar: adolescent male} knew nothing {meʾummah: complete oblivion}; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his weapons {klei: martial gear} to the boy and said {vayomer: issued directive} to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”
41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone {even: meeting spot} on the south side, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times; then they kissed {vayyishku: ritual farewell} one another and wept until David wept very much.
42 And Jonathan said to David, “Peace to you, for we have sworn friendship {shibarnu: binding oath} between us in the name of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guarantor}, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you and between your descendants and between my descendants forever.’” Then David departed, and Jonathan returned to the city.