So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, “As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.”
- KJV And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.
- BSB Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”
- NKJV So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”
- NASB Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the Lord lives, David shall not be put to death.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Saul heeds Jonathan and swears by the Lord that David will not be put to death.
Overview
Jonathan's intercession succeeds for the moment, and Saul takes an oath in the Lord's name to spare David. The temporary reconciliation shows that even a hardened heart can be restrained. Yet Saul's later breaking of this oath exposes the instability of a man not surrendered to God, whose reform is shallow and short-lived.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 26:24–25A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but he harbors evil in his heart.
- Jer 5:2Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear falsely.”
- 1 Sam 14:39For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
- 1 Sam 28:10Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.”
- 1 Sam 19:10–11Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled, and escaped that night.
- Ps 15:4In whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 19:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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