1 Samuel 20:5

20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. ¹  You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now.

1 Samuel 20:24-26

20:24 So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 20:25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ²  and Abner at his side. ³  But David’s place was vacant. 20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ⁴  that day, for he thought, ⁵  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

[20:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:25]  ² tc Heb “and Jonathan arose.” Instead of MT’s וַיָּקָם (vayyaqam, “and he arose”; from the hollow verbal root קוּם, qum), the translation assumes a reading וַיִּקַדֵּם (vayyiqaddem, “and he was in front of”; from the verbal root קדם, qdm). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.

[20:25]  ³ tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”

[20:26]  ⁴ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.