1 Samuel 20:1

Listen to 1 Samuel 20:1
1 David fled from Nayot in Ramah, and came and said before Yonatan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?

1 Samuel 20:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:1

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah
While Saul was prophesying, or lay in a trance there:

and came;
to Gibeah, where Saul dwelt, and had his palace, and kept his court:

and said before Jonathan;
whom he found there, and for whose sake he thither fled to have his advice, and to use his interest with his father, and be his friend at court:

what have I done? what [is] mine iniquity? and what [is] my sin before
thy father, that he seeketh my life?
surely, as if he should say, I must have been guilty of some very great crime, and yet I am not sensible of it; canst thou tell me what it is that has so provoked thy father, that nothing will satisfy him but the taking away of my life, which he seeks to do?

Unlock Deeper Insights: Get Over 20 Commentaries with Plus! Subscribe Now

1 Samuel 20:1 In-Context

1 David fled from Nayot in Ramah, and came and said before Yonatan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?
2 He said to him, Far from it; you shall not die: behold, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
3 David swore moreover, and said, Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, Don't let Yonatan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
4 Then said Yonatan to David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you.
5 David said to Yonatan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at even.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.