Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
David, remonstrating with Jonathan about his father's unjust hatred of him, renews and confirms with him the covenant made with certain pacts. Therefore Jonathan, at v. 18, promises to explore his father's disposition toward David and to signal by arrows whether it is love or hatred. So, at v. 27, he excuses David to his father; but his father, blazing against him, prepares a spear. Whereupon, at v. 36, Jonathan by the prearranged signal signifies to David his father's implacable hatred through the arrows, and soon, embracing him with tears, sends him away in peace.
Vulgate Text: 1 Kings 20:1-43
1. And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan: What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin against your father, that he seeks my life? 2. And he said: God forbid; you shall not die. For my father does nothing without first telling me. 3. And David said: Your father surely knows that I have found grace in your eyes; moreover, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but one step between me and death. 4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatever your soul says, I will do for you. 5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am accustomed to sit beside the king to eat; let me go therefore that I may hide in the field until the evening of the third day. 6. If your father misses me, you shall say: David earnestly asked me to let him go to Bethlehem his city, because there is a yearly sacrifice there for all his kinsmen. 7. If he says: Good -- there will be peace for your servant. But if he is angry, know that his evil intent is determined. 8. Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you have made me enter into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you yourself kill me, and do not bring me to your father.
9. And Jonathan said: Far be it from you; for if I learn that my father's evil intent is determined, would I not tell you? 10. And David said: Who will report to me if your father answers harshly? 11. And Jonathan said: Come, let us go out into the field. 12. And Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I have searched out my father's mind, and there is something good for David, and I do not send and make it known to you, 13. may the Lord do this and more to Jonathan. But if my father's evil persists against you, I will reveal it to you and send you away in peace; and may the Lord be with you as He was with my father. 14. And if I live, you shall show me the kindness of the Lord; but if I die, 15. you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever. 17. And Jonathan made David swear again, because he loved him as his own soul. 18. Then Jonathan said: Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed. 19. Go down quickly and come to the stone called Ezel. 20. And I will shoot three arrows beside it. 22. If I say to the boy: The arrows are on this side of you -- come, for there is peace. But if I say: The arrows are beyond you -- go in peace, for the Lord has sent you away. 23. And as for the word we have spoken, may the Lord be between me and you forever.
24. So David hid in the field, and the new moon came. 25. And the king sat on his seat beside the wall; Jonathan stood, and Abner sat at Saul's side, and David's place was empty. 26. And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought: Something has happened to him; he is not clean. 27. And on the second day David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan: Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal? 28. And Jonathan answered: David asked me to let him go to Bethlehem. 30. Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said: You son of a perverse rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame? 31. For as long as the son of Jesse lives, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. He is a son of death. 32. But Jonathan said: Why should he be killed? What has he done? 33. And Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. Then Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. 34. So Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food, for he was grieved for David.
35. And in the morning Jonathan went out into the field with a small boy. 36. And he said to the boy: Run and find the arrows. And as the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37. And Jonathan cried out: Is not the arrow beyond you? 38. Hurry, make haste, do not stop! 39. And the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40. Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. 41. And David rose from beside the stone toward the south, and falling on his face, he bowed three times; and they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the more. 42. Then Jonathan said: Go in peace, inasmuch as we have both sworn in the name of the Lord: The Lord be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever. 43. And David departed; and Jonathan went into the city.
Verse 3: One Step Between Me and Death
THERE IS BUT ONE STEP (so to speak) BETWEEN ME AND DEATH -- that is, I am near to death; death prepared by your father presses upon me. All that is lacking is the occasion to accomplish my murder; he seeks it, and once given it, he will certainly kill me. So death presses upon the sick and the aged, that they seem to be but one step or pace from it. So those sailing at sea are but one hand's breadth, and as the poet says, "four fingers," from death; for only by a hand's breadth does the rim of the ship rise above the sea, and if the waves surpass it, they will submerge the ship with its crew. So every person stands but one step from death: if seized by fever or plague, he will die; indeed, a single drop of water or mucus flowing into the throat at night will suffocate him, as we have seen happen to many. And this is life -- so fragile, so uncertain, so brief -- to which mortals eagerly cling, and as if it would last forever, they devote themselves to acquiring wealth, honors, and pleasures without end. O how small are the boundaries of mortal life! O how small are the souls of mortals! "Sons of men, why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?" Why do you not despise this present life, so deceitful, and aspire to the blessed and eternal one?
Verse 5: The New Moon and David's Plan
BEHOLD, TOMORROW IS THE NEW MOON, AND I AM ACCUSTOMED TO SIT BESIDE THE KING TO EAT. LET ME GO THEREFORE, THAT I MAY HIDE IN THE FIELD UNTIL THE EVENING OF THE THIRD DAY. -- The "Calends" was the first day of the month, which among the Hebrews was not properly a feast day, but was nonetheless celebrated with sacrifices. It was called in Hebrew Chodesh, that is, the renewal of the moon and month; in Greek, neomenia; in Latin, novilunium (new moon). For the Hebrews had lunar months, and accordingly the new moon, or the first day of the new moon and lunar cycle, was the first day of the month, as I said at Numbers 28:11, where I gave the reasons for this. Therefore on that day they offered sacrifice and then held a banquet with friends. For this reason David, as the king's son-in-law, was accustomed on that day to sit at Saul's table; but because he had found him so hostile, he did not dare approach him, lest he be struck again by his spear. So he asks Jonathan to explore his father's disposition toward him, while he himself, in disguise, would hide in a nearby field to await Jonathan's answer until the third day -- so that if on the first day of the new moon Jonathan had no opportunity to speak with his father about David, he might find one on the second, and on the third day signal the result to David: if the father was appeased and had laid aside his hatred, David would come to his table; but if not, David would seek safety in flight.
The Chaldean says it was the new moon of the second month, namely April, and an intercalary day, on which therefore the Passover was celebrated -- so that David, thus sought by Saul for death on it, was a type of Christ killed by the Jews at Passover, but gloriously rising from death on the third day.
Likewise the Romans had their celebrated Calends of the months. "For the Calends, says Macrobius, book I of the Saturnalia, chapter 16, near the end, were so called because on them the Pontiff, with the people called (calata) to the Capitol, would announce how many days remained from the Calends to the Nones -- proclaiming the fifth day by saying the word kalo five times, and the seventh by repeating it seven times." The Greeks also celebrated feasts of the new moon (neomenia), as Turnebus attests, book III, chapter 4.
Verse 8: The Covenant of the Lord
FOR YOU HAVE MADE ME, YOUR SERVANT, ENTER INTO A COVENANT OF THE LORD WITH YOU. -- He calls it a "covenant of the Lord" because it was made in the presence of the Lord and with the Lord's name interposed in the oath of alliance. Also because it was sanctified out of respect for, veneration of, and love for God. David says this to sting Jonathan's conscience more sharply to keep the covenant and, in accordance with it, to provide him help with his father -- help that he would be rendering not only to David but also to God, to whom it was, as it were, promised.
BUT IF THERE IS ANY INIQUITY IN ME, YOU YOURSELF KILL ME, AND DO NOT BRING ME TO YOUR FATHER -- lest he, burning with his inveterate hatred, rage against me and cruelly torment me. That is to say: Let me rather die by a friendly hand than by an enemy's. Thus Phaedra in Seneca says to her Hippolytus: "I deeply desire to die at the hands of one who loves me." Similarly David says here: If I cannot escape death; if I must die, I prefer to fall by your friendly hand in friendship, rather than to be tortured by the hostile and cruel vengeance of an enemy. David knew that Jonathan, being his friend, would by no means do this; but he uses this expression for the sake of pathos, to wring Jonathan's heart and drive him to plead his cause before his father seriously and effectively. So Abulensis. For thus lovers are accustomed to sharpen the love of those who love them by stimulating it. Similarly, the Japanese behead their relatives or friends who are condemned to death by the king with their own hand, lest it be done by an enemy or an executioner; for they consider this shameful and disgraceful.
Verse 9: The Father's Evil Intent Determined
THAT MY FATHER'S EVIL INTENT AGAINST YOU IS DETERMINED -- that is, that he has fully and plainly resolved to pursue and kill you.
Verse 12: Jonathan's Broken Oath
O LORD GOD OF ISRAEL -- supply: punish and avenge me, if I have betrayed the faith given to my David.
For Jonathan, out of the heat of love, speaks in a disturbed, interrupted, and broken manner, as lovers are accustomed to do. For he invokes God but does not complete his meaning; instead, by a change of person, he turns his mind and mouth from God to David, so greatly loved by him, saying:
AND IF I DO NOT IMMEDIATELY SEND TO YOU (O my David! Then he completes the meaning by saying): MAY THE LORD DO THIS TO JONATHAN, AND ADD MORE -- that is, may He afflict me with such and such punishments, and add more, piling punishment upon punishment.
Verse 13: May the Lord Be With You
I WILL REVEAL IT TO YOUR EAR -- that is, secretly but certainly I will pour it into your ear and tell you.
AND MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU, AS HE WAS WITH MY FATHER -- that is, just as He raised him from a humble and lowly state to the kingdom and heaped victories upon him, so may He do also for you. For here Jonathan tacitly prophesies the kingdom to David. Hear St. Jerome here in the Traditions: "May the Lord be with you, as He was with my father -- that is, may He make your kingdom exalted, as He made my father's kingdom exalted. And if I live, you shall show me the kindness of the Lord -- that is, that I may be second in your kingdom; and if I die, you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever."
So also Angelomus, Lyranus, Abulensis, and Vatablus; and that this is so is clear from the fact that Jonathan says to David in chapter 23, verse 17: "And you shall reign over Israel, and I shall be second to you, and even my father Saul knows this."
Verse 14: The Kindness of the Lord
AND IF I LIVE, YOU SHALL SHOW ME THE KINDNESS OF THE LORD -- that is, the kindness promised to me by you in the covenant made before the Lord and with the Lord's name interposed, chapter 18, verse 3; for thus he had called it a "covenant of the Lord," verse 8. Others say: "of the Lord," that is, pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, says Pagninus. Or rather: "of the Lord," that is, great and distinguished, such as the Lord customarily shows to His faithful and friends -- for the things that are of the Lord are great. Thus "cedars of God" and "mountains of God" mean great and lofty ones. So Vatablus, Sanchez, and others.
Moreover, the Hebrew here is intricate and obscure, and variously translated by various interpreters. But you may best translate it by reading the word velo, that is, "and not" (which occurs three times), not assertively but interrogatively, as follows: "And not" -- that is, "and will you not, while I am still alive" -- "will you not, I say, show me the kindness of the Lord? And will you not, if I die, refrain from cutting off your kindness from my house?" -- meaning: You will certainly do it, and you will not cut it off, as our translator clearly renders it. The Septuagint seems to interpret it this way, for instead of "and not" they translate "and if," that is, "will you not?" If, however, you prefer to read it assertively, after the words "and not" supply "only"; thus translate word for word with Pagninus and Vatablus: "And not only while I am alive will you show me the kindness of the Lord, so that I may not die; but also you will not cut off your kindness from my house forever, not even when the Lord has cut off the enemies of David." This meaning is in substance the same as the former; and the Vulgate translator renders both clearly.
Verse 15: May He Cut Off Jonathan
MAY HE CUT OFF JONATHAN FROM HIS HOUSE. -- These words are not in the Hebrew, but in the Septuagint and the Latin Roman texts. The meaning is: If I, Jonathan, am unfaithful and a breaker of the covenant to you, O David, I pray that God may punish me and take away and destroy my family and posterity, and that God may require -- that is, judge, avenge, and punish -- the enemies of David, and consequently me and mine, if contrary to the covenant made with him I show myself his enemy. So Abulensis. For Jonathan swears with an execratory oath that he will keep the faith given to David.
Verse 16: The Lord Required It
AND THE LORD REQUIRED IT AT THE HANDS OF DAVID'S ENEMIES. -- The author of the book here interrupts the series of the narrative and the pact to indicate that it actually came to pass afterwards as Jonathan had imprecated -- namely, that God "required," that is, exacted vengeance from Saul and the other enemies of David who had unjustly persecuted and afflicted him. So Angelomus, who also offers another interpretation, namely this: "God required," that is, demanded an account from those who were unwilling to enter into a covenant with David as Jonathan had done -- since they could see the Lord standing and fighting with David.
Moreover, the Septuagint, the Chaldean, and Vatablus aptly translate from the Hebrew thus: "and may the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies." And they explain it so that these words are, as it were, the substance of the covenant that Jonathan made with David, as if to say: Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David by saying: May the Lord require -- that is, punish and avenge -- the enemies of David who unjustly harass and persecute him; and consequently may He punish and chastise me and mine if I break faith and turn from a friend into an enemy.
Verse 19: The Stone Ezel
FOR YOUR SEAT WILL BE NOTICED -- that is, the place of your seat at the table. That is, Saul will ask why your seat is empty, why you are absent from the table contrary to custom. For David often used to sit at the king's table, especially on feast days or celebrated occasions such as the new moon, in the third place, as the king's son-in-law, say the Septuagint and Josephus. For at the table Saul sat first, Jonathan the son sat second on the right, David the son-in-law third. Abner, Saul's cousin and commander of the army, sat second on the left, opposite Jonathan.
UNTIL THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW -- for on the first day of the new moon Saul held a solemn banquet from the peace offerings he had sacrificed to God; and on the second day he consumed the leftovers according to the law, Leviticus 7. Therefore until the third day David's place at Saul's table would be empty, and Saul would ask Jonathan the reason for David's absence.
GO DOWN THEREFORE QUICKLY AND COME TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE TO HIDE ON THE DAY WHEN WORK IS PERMITTED -- that is, on the first day after the new moon come to Ezel, to hide there; for on the new moon day itself it was not permitted to "work," and consequently to set out on and make a long journey. For although the new moon or Neomenia was not properly a feast ordained by law so that work and travel were forbidden, nevertheless the people by custom observed the Neomenia as a feast day, ceased from work on that day, and devoted themselves to sacrifices and banquets. So Abulensis, who cites St. Augustine saying: "Jewish women would do better to spin on the new moon than to dance immodestly at it." Perhaps also Jonathan is speaking not of the new moon but of the Sabbath, which fell at that time, on which work was not permitted.
AND YOU SHALL SIT BESIDE THE STONE CALLED EZEL. -- In Hebrew, Ha-Ezel, that is, you shall sit beside a certain stone called Ezel, meaning "wayfarer's stone," says Pagninus, because at a crossroads it showed travelers the destination of each road, like the stone of Mercury -- for Mercury was the god and guide of roads. So Lyranus and Vatablus. Or it is called "wayfarer's stone" because it showed travelers the miles and distances of places. For later the Romans, imitators of all civil order, set up milestone stones on the more frequented roads. Hence those phrases: "At the first milestone from the city, at the second or third milestone from the city" -- these milestone stones still exist in several places in Rome. And such seems to have been this stone Ezel. Hear Adrichomius: The stone Ezel is so named from travelers or from walking; it is 150 stadia from Jerusalem and 60 stadia from the Jordan, according to Josephus, book V, Antiquities, chapter 4. The Septuagint calls this same stone or place Ergab; I will explain the reason at verse 41.
Verse 20: Shooting at a Target
AND I WILL SHOOT AS THOUGH I WERE PRACTICING AT A TARGET -- so as to hit the mark with an arrow. So the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and others.
Verse 22: The Lord Has Sent You Away
THE LORD HAS SENT YOU AWAY -- that is, free. God has freed you from the hand of Saul and caused you, having learned through me of his hatred for you, to flee away free.
Verse 23: The Lord Between Me and You
AS FOR THE WORD THAT WE HAVE SPOKEN, YOU AND I, MAY THE LORD BE BETWEEN ME AND YOU -- that is, as witness. We two alone are entering this covenant; therefore no one is its witness except God, who alone suffices for all, to keep us ever mindful of this covenant made in His presence and to bind us to keep it exactly.
Verse 25: Seating at the King's Table
AND WHEN THE KING SAT ON HIS SEAT. -- From this it appears that Saul sat at the table and did not recline; therefore the custom of reclining at meals among the Hebrews seems to have been introduced later.
JONATHAN ROSE UP -- that is, he stood up in honor of the arriving Abner, says Vatablus. The Chaldean translates: Jonathan stood; the Septuagint: Jonathan anticipated him -- because since Saul's seat was against the wall, Jonathan had to pass first to his own place before Saul, by sitting down, blocked his way. Or "Jonathan rose," namely to go to his place at the table and take his seat.
Verse 26: Saul Assumes David Is Unclean
NOR PURIFIED HIMSELF. -- From this it appears that this banquet of King Saul at the new moon was prepared from peace offerings -- that is, from victims offered to God for the peace, prosperity, and well-being of the entire month, so that God would make this month favorable and salutary for himself and his kingdom. For unclean persons could eat common food and sit at the king's table -- they were not barred from the company of men, but from sacred things, namely entry to the temple. Saul therefore thought that David had contracted legal impurity from killing some Philistine or from some similar matter, and had not yet purified himself, and therefore was absent from the king's table, at which meats offered to God were served, which the unclean could not eat.
Verse 27: Why Has the Son of Jesse Not Come?
WHY HAS THE SON OF JESSE NOT COME? -- See how Saul's bitterness reveals itself here: for he does not call David by his own name, but contemptuously calls him "the son of Jesse," a common man.
Verse 28: Jonathan's Lie for David
HE EARNESTLY ASKED ME TO LET HIM GO TO BETHLEHEM. -- Jonathan lies, but out of a sense of duty, thinking this was permitted to excuse his friend David.
Verse 30: Son of a Perverse Rebellious Woman
YOU SON OF A PERVERSE REBELLIOUS WOMAN -- that is, son of a harlot: for such a woman solicits men and entices them to wickedness. So also the Septuagint: "Son, they say, of girls who come of their own accord"; whence they seem to have read naaroth, that is, "of girls," with a tav. Now they read naavath. Hence with Pagninus they translate: "Son of perverse rebellion"; for this is what naavath signifies. Our translator, with the Septuagint reading different vowel points, reads moredoth, that is, "of women who go down to men and thrust themselves upon them" -- for yarad means to descend. Or our translator read mardot, that is, "of dominant women," namely those who dominate men by their allure and beauty, from the root rada, meaning to dominate. The meaning therefore is: Saul says: It seems to me, Jonathan, that you are not my son, but the son of an adulterous mother, because you neither obey nor favor me, but love David more than me -- as if he or some kinsman of his were your father, not I, and as if your mother conceived and bore you not from me but from David, and therefore instilled in you not love for me but for David. Whence follows:
TO THE SHAME OF YOUR MOTHER -- that is, by the very fact that you so love David, you put yourself and your mother to shame; for you show that she conceived not from me, but from some friend of David.
Verse 31: He Is a Son of Death
HE IS A SON OF DEATH -- that is, he is guilty of death, worthy of death, and therefore destined by me for death.
Allegorically, Angelomus says: "David, hidden in the field, is Christ concealed. He was in the world (says John), and the world did not know Him. He sat beside the stone, because He was written in the tablets of the law. Saul, hating him and sitting at his banquet, judged him a son of death; and the Jewish people, feasting at the Passover banquet, were plotting the death of Christ."
Verse 41: David Bows Toward the South
FROM THE PLACE (of the stone Ezel) THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE SOUTH. -- In Hebrew, minnegab, that is, toward the south or noon. The Septuagint retained the name negab as if it were a proper noun, but it was corrupted by copyists so that instead of negab one reads Ergab or Argab or Argaph or Annegab. Hear St. Jerome in the Hebrew Places: "Ergab, the place where Jonathan, son of Saul, aimed his javelin, exercising himself with military darts. For which Aquila and Symmachus translated 'stone,' although Symmachus in another place rendered it as perimetron, that is, 'circumference.'" Moreover, St. Jerome calls veru a spear or javelin, made in the likeness of a spit, just as Virgil does in book VII of the Aeneid, saying: "And they fight with pointed blade and Sabellian spit."
BOWING FACE DOWN TO THE GROUND, HE PAID HOMAGE THREE TIMES -- that is, he prostrated himself on the ground three times, and thus showed his reverence to Jonathan.
Verse 42: Whatever We Have Sworn
WHATEVER WE HAVE SWORN IN THE NAME OF THE LORD -- namely, let it remain ratified and firm; or let us always be mindful of it. It is an ellipsis and a reticence wonderfully fitting for those who grieve; for in their grief they leave much unsaid -- grief closes their mouth and throat, so that they break off their words and cut their sentences in half. Such is that saying of Christ weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem: "If you had known" (Luke 19:42).