may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don’t disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace. May Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.
- KJV The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
- BSB But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.
- NASB If it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to me and more so, if I fail to inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.
- NLT But if he is angry and wants you killed, may the Lord strike me and even kill me if I don’t warn you so you can escape and live. May the Lord be with you as he used to be with my father.
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
Jonathan invokes a curse on himself if he fails to warn David, and prays the Lord be with David as he was with Saul.
Overview
Jonathan binds himself with a solemn self-imprecation to send David away safely if danger looms. Remarkably, he prays that the Lord would be with David as once with Saul, implicitly acknowledging David as the coming king. His words show humble submission to God's choice over his own dynastic claim.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- 1 Chr 22:11Now, my son, may Yahweh be with you and prosper you, and build the house of Yahweh your God, as he has spoken concerning you.
- Ruth 1:17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
- Josh 1:5No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
- 1 Sam 17:37David said, “Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.”
- 1 Chr 22:16of the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and may Yahweh be with you.”
- 1 Sam 3:17He said, “What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please don’t hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you.”
- 1 Kgs 19:2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”
- 1 Kgs 20:10Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
- 1 Sam 10:7Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you.
- 2 Sam 3:35All the people came to urge David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, until the sun goes down.”
- Phil 4:9The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
- 2 Sam 7:15but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
- 1 Sam 18:12Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and had departed from Saul.
- Matt 28:20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- 1 Sam 25:22God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”
- 2 Sam 19:13Say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you aren’t captain of the army before me continually instead of Joab.’”
- 1 Sam 14:47Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned himself, he defeated them.
- 1 Sam 11:6–13God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot.
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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 20:13 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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