1 Samuel 20:7

7 If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.

1 Samuel 20:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:7

If he say thus, [it is] well
It is very well, it is very good and right in him to do so:

thy servant shall have peace;
it will be a token that the wrath of the king was removed, and that his mind was well disposed towards David, and things had taken an happy turn, and would issue in his peace and prosperity:

but if he be very wroth;
with Jonathan for giving leave, and with David for going away:

[then] be sure that evil is determined by him;
that he has a settled obstinate malice in his heart, which is become implacable and inveterate, and confirmed in him; and that it is a determined point with him to slay David if possible, which he hoped to have an opportunity of doing at that time in which he was disappointed, and caused such wrath in him.

1 Samuel 20:7 In-Context

5 And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.

6 If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe.

7 If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.

8 Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.

9 And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.