1 Samuel · chapter 20 of 31
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1 Samuel 20 tells how David asks Jonathan to find out whether Saul truly wants to kill him. At the new moon feast Saul erupts in anger over David's absence and hurls his spear at his own son. Jonathan warns David with arrows, and the two friends part in tears and renew their covenant in the name of the Lord.
David has fled from Saul and from Naioth, and now he needs to know whether the danger is real. This chapter shows the covenant friendship between David and Jonathan tested by loyalty to a father and king. Jonathan must choose between his family and his friend anointed by God, and he chooses truth and faithfulness to the Lord.
David flees from Naioth and comes to Jonathan, asking what he has done that Saul seeks his life. Jonathan cannot believe his father would do such a thing without telling him, but David swears that there is only a step between him and death. Jonathan agrees to do whatever David asks. They plan for David to miss the new moon feast while Jonathan watches Saul's reaction. Before they part, Jonathan asks David never to cut off his kindness from his house, and they renew the covenant out of love.
Jonathan proposes a signal: he will shoot three arrows beside a stone and tell his servant boy where to look, to show whether there is peace or danger. At the feast, on the first day Saul says nothing, but on the second he asks about the son of Jesse. Jonathan explains that David asked permission to go to Bethlehem for a family sacrifice. Saul explodes, insults Jonathan, tells him that as long as David lives his kingdom will not be secure and orders David brought to be killed. When Jonathan asks what David has done, Saul hurls his spear at his own son, and Jonathan rises from the table angry and grieved.
The next morning Jonathan goes out to the field with a boy and shoots an arrow beyond him, the signal of danger. He sends the boy back to the city. David comes out of hiding, bows three times, and the two friends kiss and weep, David most of all. Jonathan sends him off in peace, recalling the oath they have sworn in the name of the Lord between themselves and their descendants.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David swears that there is only a step between him and death. That sentence sums up his situation: the man anointed as future king lives as a fugitive, not knowing whether tomorrow will come.
Jonathan asks David to show him the kindness of the Lord while he lives and never to cut it off from his house. Jonathan knows David will be king and trusts he will not destroy his family; it is a covenant request that David will fulfill later.
Saul insults Jonathan and warns that as long as the son of Jesse lives, neither he nor his kingdom will be secure. The king sees David as a rival, not understanding that God has already decided the throne; his own son has accepted what the father rejects.
Jonathan sends David off in peace and recalls the oath sworn in the Lord's name between them and their descendants. Their friendship rests on a covenant with God, not on personal sympathy alone.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To miss the new moon feast and watch how Saul reacted to his absence. — 1 Samuel 20:5-7
Answer: That he never cut off his kindness from Jonathan's house, even when the Lord cut off David's enemies. — 1 Samuel 20:14-15
Answer: If Jonathan told the boy the arrows were beyond him, David was to flee. — 1 Samuel 20:21-22
Answer: That David had asked permission to go to Bethlehem for his family's yearly sacrifice. — 1 Samuel 20:28-29
Answer: He was furious and hurled his spear at him, and Jonathan understood that his father was determined to kill David. — 1 Samuel 20:33
Answer: They kissed and wept together, and Jonathan sent him off in peace, recalling their oath in the name of the Lord. — 1 Samuel 20:41-42
Jonathan's friendship with David was not comfortable: it cost him his father's anger and, in the end, his own future. A Christian friendship is measured by what we are willing to risk for another's good. In your small group, think about who needs a faithful friend this week, one who tells the truth and not just what is pleasant to hear.
The chapter also speaks of promises kept. Jonathan and David bound themselves before the Lord, and that commitment survives distance and danger. Ask which promises made to God and to others need renewing, and how you can care for the families of those who are no longer with us.
1 Samuel 20 closes with a painful farewell: David goes into the wilderness as a fugitive and Jonathan returns to his father's city. The friendship continues, but their paths part. In 1 Samuel 21 David will arrive at Nob, where he needs bread and weapons.
The text shows that Jonathan recognizes that the Lord is with David and that David will be the one to reign (1 Samuel 20:13-15 and 23:17). It does not present his attitude as weakness but as faith: he prefers to submit to God's will rather than cling to his father's throne.
It was a monthly celebration in Israel, with sacrifices and meals, tied to the beginning of each month in the calendar. In this account it is a meal with the family and Saul's officers, where David was expected to be seated at the king's table.
It is a solemn commitment made in the Lord's name that includes their descendants. David will fulfill it later with Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son (2 Samuel 9). The text shows that biblical friendship includes loyalty, protection and faithfulness beyond death.