1 Samuel 18:1

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ¹  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ²  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ³ 

1 Samuel 20:2

20:2 Jonathan ⁴  said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing ⁵  large or small without making me aware of it. ⁶  Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”

[18:1]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ² tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ³ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:1]  sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:2]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading “he will not do,” rather than the Kethib of the MT (“do to him”).

[20:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “without uncovering my ear.”