1 Samuel 20:4

4 "What do you want me to do?" Jonathan said to David. "I'll do it."

1 Samuel 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:4

Then said Jonathan unto David
Now giving credit to what he had said, and in order to comfort and support him under the apprehensions he had of danger:

whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do [it] for thee;
for the preservation of his life, by speaking to his father on his behalf, endeavouring to dissuade him from his evil intentions, or by hiding and concealing him in some obscure place, that he might not execute his evil designs upon him, or by any method he could point out to him.

1 Samuel 20:4 In-Context

2 Jonathan said to him, "No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn't do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn't true!"

3 But David solemnly promised in response, "Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he'll be upset.' But I promise you—on the LORD's life and yours!—that I am this close to death!"

4 "What do you want me to do?" Jonathan said to David. "I'll do it."

5 "Okay, listen," David answered Jonathan. "Tomorrow is the new moon, and I'm supposed to sit with the king at the feast. Instead, let me go and I'll hide in the field until nighttime.

6 If your father takes note of my absence, tell him, ‘David begged my permission to run down to his hometown Bethlehem, because there is an annual sacrifice there for his whole family.'