How do David and Jonathan learn Saul’s intention and arrange for David to leave?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

David proposes being absent at the new-moon meal and having Jonathan watch Saul’s response. Saul’s demand for David’s death and spear raised against Jonathan make the intention clear to Jonathan, who gives the agreed beyond-the-boy arrow signal and sends David away in peace under their oath.

Chapter breakdown

David flees Najoth in Ramatha and asks Jonathan what wrong or sin he has done against Saul that Saul seeks his life. Jonathan says he will not die: his father does nothing great or little without telling him, so he doubts this alone is hidden. He swears again. David says Saul knows Jonathan favours him and would withhold this to spare Jonathan grief. Swearing by the living Lord and Jonathan’s soul, David says there is but one step, as he may say, between him and death. Jonathan promises whatever David’s soul asks. David says tomorrow is the new moon, when he customarily sits beside the king to eat, and asks to hide in the field until the evening of the third day. Challoner separately explains new moon as the neomenia, first day of the moon kept by law as a festival, when Saul feasted and expected his family. If Saul inquires, Jonathan must say David asked to run to his city Bethlehem for solemn sacrifices for all his tribe. If Saul says it is well, David will have peace; if angry, his malice has reached its height. David asks mercy under their covenant of the Lord, but if guilty asks Jonathan to kill him instead of bringing him to Saul. Jonathan says that if he certainly knows evil is determined, he must tell him. David asks who will bring word if Saul answers harshly. Jonathan invites him to the field, and both go.

Jonathan calls on the Lord God of Israel: if he learns his father’s mind tomorrow or the next day and there is good for David but he does not immediately send word, may the Lord do so and add more to Jonathan. If Saul continues in malice, Jonathan will tell David and send him away in peace, with the Lord as he has been with Saul. Jonathan asks the Lord’s kindness from David if he lives, and if he dies, kindness never withdrawn from his house. He speaks of the Lord rooting every enemy of David from the earth, of Jonathan being taken from his house, and of the Lord requiring it at David’s enemies’ hands. Challoner separately explains taking Jonathan away as a curse on himself if he is not faithful to his promise, and requiring it as revenge upon David’s enemies and upon Jonathan if he fails his given word. Jonathan makes a covenant with David’s house, and the Lord requires it at David’s enemies’ hands. Jonathan swears again because he loves David as his own soul.

Jonathan says David will be missed at tomorrow’s new moon because his seat will be empty until after tomorrow. He tells him to go down quickly to the hiding place on the day when it is lawful to work and remain beside the stone Ezel. Jonathan will shoot three arrows near it as if practising at a mark and send a boy to fetch them. If he says the arrows are on this side of the boy and tells him to take them up, David may come to Jonathan because he has peace and no evil, as the Lord lives. If he says they are beyond the boy, David must go in peace because the Lord has sent him away. Concerning their spoken agreement, the Lord is to be between them for ever.

David hides in the field. At the new moon Saul sits to eat bread, in his customary chair beside the wall. Jonathan rises, Abner sits by Saul and David’s place is empty. Saul says nothing that day, thinking David may not be clean or purified. On the second day after the new moon the place is again empty, and Saul asks Jonathan why Isai’s son came neither yesterday nor today. Jonathan says David earnestly asked leave for Bethlehem, reporting his words about a solemn city sacrifice, a brother sending for him, and going quickly to see his brothers if favoured. Saul angrily calls Jonathan the son of a woman who is the ravisher of a man, and says his love for Isai’s son brings confusion to himself and his shameless mother. Saul says Jonathan and his kingdom will not be established while Isai’s son lives on earth; he orders David fetched at once as the son of death. Challoner separately explains that term as one deserving death who will surely be put to death; it explains Saul’s wording rather than adding a verdict on David’s guilt. Jonathan asks why David must die and what he has done. Saul catches up a spear to strike Jonathan. Jonathan then understands Saul has determined to kill David. He rises from the table in great anger and eats no bread on that second day, grieved for David because his father put him to confusion.

In the morning Jonathan goes to the field as appointed, with a little boy. He tells him to fetch the arrows he shoots; as the boy runs Jonathan shoots another arrow beyond him. The boy reaches the arrow’s place, and Jonathan calls that it is farther beyond him, then urges haste and not standing still. The boy gathers the arrows and brings them to his master. He knows nothing of the matter, which only Jonathan and David know. Jonathan gives him his arms and orders him to carry them to the city. When the boy leaves, David rises from his place toward the south, falls face down and adores three times. They kiss and weep together, David more. Jonathan tells him to go in peace and let stand all they swore in the Lord’s name: the Lord be between them and between their seed for ever. David rises and departs; Jonathan goes into the city.

The story inside

David and Jonathan begin with different accounts of what Saul might reveal. David proposes the meal absence and two possible reactions, then asks about carrying the answer. In the field Jonathan swears immediate notification and kindness is requested for him and his house; the actual note explains the self-curse. The Ezel plan has two arrow messages with different instructions. At the meal Saul first thinks uncleanness explains the absence, then asks on the second day. Jonathan’s answer brings an insult, a kingdom statement and a death demand. His two questions are followed by Saul raising the spear, which establishes the intention for Jonathan. Next morning he gives the beyond signal, sends the unaware boy away and meets David. Three adorations, kisses, unequal weeping and the continuing oath precede their separate departures.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The plan begins with uncertainty and named evidence. Jonathan initially doubts concealment; David gives his explanation and proposes Saul’s response to absence as a test. The spear raised against Jonathan is where he understands the decision to kill David.
2
The promises cover notification and kindness. Jonathan vows immediate good news or warning and peaceful departure, while kindness is asked for his life and house after death. Challoner explains a curse on Jonathan himself if unfaithful; no unstated surrender of the throne is added.
3
The signal has two branches before the actual event. On-this-side means coming safely; beyond means departure in peace. The boy retrieves arrows without knowing the matter, then takes the arms to the city, allowing the recorded farewell and oath between their descendants.

Test your recall

Why do David and Jonathan disagree at first, what reactions does the absence plan test, how does Saul’s spear clarify his intention, and which arrow message leads to their farewell?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 30385–30435
1 Kings Chapter 20 Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent away by Jonathan. 20:1. But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life? 20:2. And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be. 20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death. 20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee. 20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day. To morrow is the new moon.... The neomenia, or first day of the moon, kept according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and expected the attendance of his family. 20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe. 20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height. 20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father. 20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee. 20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me? 20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,
Lines 30437–30464
20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father’s mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee, 20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die, 20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. May he take away Jonathan, etc.... It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be faithful to his promise.—Ibid. Require it, etc.... That is, revenge it upon David’s enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him. 20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies. 20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
Lines 30466–30487
20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed: 20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel. 20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark. 20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows. 20:22. If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away. 20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever.
Lines 30489–30531
20:24. So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread. 20:25. And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place appeared empty. 20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified. 20:27. And when the second day after the new moon was come, David’s place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to day? 20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem. 20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king’s table. 20:30. Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother? 20:31. For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death. The son of death.... That is, one that deserveth death, and shall surely be put to death. 20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? What hath he done? 20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David. 20:34. So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.
Lines 30533–30563
20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him. 20:36. And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy. 20:37. The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee. 20:38. And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master: 20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city. 20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David more. 20:42. And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. 20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.