Kings I 20:42

42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, and as we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be witness between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever— . And David arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

Kings I 20:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:42

And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord
He spake not his own sense, and in his own words, but in the name of the Lord, for which he had authority, that it might have the greater weight with Ahab:

because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to
utter destruction;
meaning Benhadad; or "the man of my anathema or curse" ^F23; cursed of God for his blasphemy of him, and devoted by him to ruin on that account; or "of my net" ^F24, being by his providence brought into a net or noose at Aphek, out of which he could not have escaped, had not Ahab let him go:

therefore thy life shall go for his life;
as it shortly did, and that by the hand of a Syrian soldier, ( 1 Kings 22:34 1 Kings 22:35 ) ,

and thy people for his people;
which was fulfilled by Hazael king of Syria, the sins of Israel rendering them deserving of the calamities they endured by his means, see ( 2 Kings 8:12 ) ( 10:32 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (ymrx vya) "vir anathematis mei", Montanus, Piscator.
F24 "Vir retis mei"; so some in Vatablus.

Kings I 20:42 In-Context

40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to his boy, Go, enter into the city.

41 And when the lad went in, then David arose from the argab, and fell upon his face, and did obeisance to him three times, and they kissed each other, and wept for each other, for a great while.

42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, and as we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be witness between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever— . And David arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.