1 Samuele 20:42 Commento

David, having several times narrowly escaped Saul's fury, begins to consider at last whether it may not be necessary for him to retire into the country and to take up arms in his own defence. But he will not do so daring a thing without consulting his faithful friend Jonathan; how he did this, and what passed between them, we have an account in this chapter, where we have as surprising instances of supernatural love as we had in the chapter before of unnatural hatred. I. David complains to Jonathan of his present distress, and engages him to be his friend (Sa1 20:1-8). II. Jonathan faithfully promises to get and give him intelligence how his father stood affected to him, and renews the covenant of friendship with him (Sa1 20:9-23). III. Jonathan, upon trial, finds, to his grief, that his father was implacably enraged against David (Sa1 20:24-34). IV. He gives David notice of this, according to the appointment between them (Sa1 20:35-42).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 20 David fleeing from Naioth came to Jonathan, and acquainted him with his circumstances, and entreated his favour, Sa1 20:1; which Jonathan promised, and renewed the covenant with him, Sa1 20:9; a scheme was formed between them, by which David might know whether Saul was reconciled to him, and he might come to court, Sa1 20:18; which being tried, Jonathan found it was not safe for him to appear, Sa1 20:24; of which he gave notice by the signals agreed on, Sa1 20:35; and they took their leave of one another with strong expressions of affection and attachment to each other, Sa1 20:41.

And Jonathan said to David, go in peace,.... In peace of mind, committing himself, his family, and affairs, to the providence of God, who would take care of him, and keep him in safety from the evil designs of Saul; and particularly he would have him be easy with respect to what had passed between them two, not doubting but it would be faithfully observed on both sides: forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord: had made a covenant with each other by an oath, in the name and presence of God as a witness to it: saying, the Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever; as a witness of the agreement between them, including them and their offspring, and as a revenger of such that should break it. The Targum is,"the Word of the Lord be between thee and me, &c." and he arose and departed; that is, David arose from the ground, and took his leave of Jonathan, and departed into the country for the safety of his person and life: and Jonathan went into the city; into the city of Gibeah, where Saul dwelt and had his court. Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 21

And when the boy had gone, David arose from his place, etc. When the disciples, obeying the command of their elders, went to compile the events of their times according to the writings of their predecessors, the grace of Christ appeared more abundantly, shining forth from the virtues of the saints, those, of course, who kept their hearts open to receive the gifts of the most fervent charity given by the Holy Spirit with humble submission. For this is the most splendid diversity of the growing Church, which the forty-fourth Psalm sings, so that some manifest Christ’s presence in themselves by shining with miracles; others, still intent on sacred writings, consider how the old and new harmonize with each other; others perform various services of the same faith; and still others embody what the following words signify, that divine love suddenly coming to earthly hearts provokes them with diligent contrition to adore more fervently the glory of the Holy Trinity; which our strong and desirable Lord Himself is said to do when He kindles His saints inwardly to act. As it is also said about the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit helps our infirmities (for we do not know how to pray as we ought), but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings" (Romans VIII); that is, He causes; this figure of speech is very common in sacred Scriptures, called "metonymy" by grammarians in Greek, that is, transnaming, while through the efficient the effect is intended to be understood. Just like the lawgiver's words: "The Lord your God tests you to know whether you love Him or not" (Deut. XIII); that is, to make it known. And they kissed each other and wept. Not in vain; for the more mutual love, which inward virtue nourished, sweetly incited those very holy youths to embraces and kisses, the more the everlasting separation, which they now saw impending for them, provoked them more sharply to tears and lamentations. But in the typological sense, it must be said that our Lord bestowed His holy gifts of His mouth on those believing in Him from among the Jews; for the non-believers and those expelling Him by persecution, He did not refuse to weep, saying: "If you too had known." For David and Jonathan kissing each other signifies the Lord bestowing to the Church the salutary gifts of His word, and the Church responding devoutly to the Lord with the same word’s confession or teaching. They weep together, and this signifies the Lord, in our flesh, shedding tears both for awakening the elect to life and for the reprobate remaining in eternal death; one proven in the resurrection of Lazarus, the other in seeing and lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem; and His saints even now, inspired by Him, mourn many who sin and have not cared to return to salvation through repentance. For the believers could not see without pain and sorrow the Lord Christ leaving their compatriots in unbelief to convert to the salvation of the Gentiles. They wept together, he said, but David even more; because whatever the Church works for either her growth, in which she rejoices, or her loss, in which she grieves, it is far less indeed in comparison to what God could do in the flesh for her.

Then Jonathan said to David: Go in peace, etc. However, the Lord rose from the midst of the unbelieving Synagogue, saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing? Behold, your house is left to you desolate (Matthew 23); and He went to seek a Church for Himself from the Gentiles. But even the more perfect returned to the teachers in the primitive Church from the consideration of the aforementioned right hand of the Most High, to complete the new peaks of the city descending from God out of heaven. If the city, as seen above, is pleasing to be understood as the fortification of prophetic reading, from which it is said: And we have the more sure prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star arises in your hearts (2 Peter 1); and it is very pleasing for the afflicted and sorrowful to enter this, so that under its protection each one may either more secretly indulge in tears or more wisely wipe away the tears.

David complains to Jonathan of Saul's enmity against him; Jonathan comforts him, Sa1 20:1-10. They walk out into the field, and renew their covenant, Sa1 20:11-17. David asks Jonathan's leave to absent himself from Saul's court; and Jonathan informs him how he shall ascertain the disposition of his father towards him, Sa1 20:18-23. David hides himself; is missed by Saul; Jonathan is questioned concerning his absence; makes an excuse for David; Saul is enraged, and endeavors to kill Jonathan, Sa1 20:24-33. Jonathan goes out to the field; gives David the sign which they had agreed on, and by which he was to know that the king had determined to take away his life, Sa1 20:34-39. He sends his servant back into the city; and then he and David meet, renew their covenant, and have a very affectionate parting, Sa1 20:40-42.

DAVID CONSULTS WITH JONATHAN FOR HIS SAFETY. (Sa1 20:1-10) David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan--He could not remain in Naioth, for he had strong reason to fear that when the religious fit, if we may so call it, was over, Saul would relapse into his usual fell and sanguinary temper. It may be thought that David acted imprudently in directing his flight to Gibeah. But he was evidently prompted to go thither by the most generous feelings--to inform his friend of what had recently occurred, and to obtain that friend's sanction to the course he was compelled to adopt. Jonathan could not be persuaded there was any real danger after the oath his father had taken; at all events, he felt assured his father would do nothing without telling him. Filial attachment naturally blinded the prince to defects in the parental character and made him reluctant to believe his father capable of such atrocity. David repeated his unshaken convictions of Saul's murderous purpose, but in terms delicately chosen (Sa1 20:3), not to wound the filial feelings of his friend; while Jonathan, clinging, it would seem, to a hope that the extraordinary scene enacted at Naioth might have wrought a sanctified improvement on Saul's temper and feelings, undertook to inform David of the result of his observations at home.

Jonathan said to David, Go in peace--The interview being a stolen one, and every moment precious, it was kindness in Jonathan to hasten his friend's departure. Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 21