1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants to kill David. And Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted in David very much. 2 And Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul, my father, seeks to kill you. So now, please keep watch in the morning, and stay in the secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside i my father in the field where you are. And I will speak about you to my father and see what and tell you. 4 And Jonathan spoke about David good to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, for he has not sinned against you; and because his deeds are very good to you. 5 And he put his soul in his palm and struck the Philistine, and Yehvah worked great salvation for all Israel. You saw and rejoiced. So, why do you sin against innocent blood to kill David for nothing?” 6 And Saul listened to Jonathan's voice, and Saul swore, “Yehvah lives. He shall not be killed.” 7 And Jonathan called to David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was before him as in times past.
8 And there was the war again. And David went out and fought against the Philistines and struck them a great slaughter, and they fled from before him. 9 And a bad spirit of Yehvah was to Saul, and he was sitting in his house. And his spear was in his hand, and David was playing by hand. 10 And Saul sought to strike his spear in David and in the wall. And he got away from before Saul. And he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped in that night. ii
11 And Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, his woman, told David, saying, “If you do not escape with your soul tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 And Michal let David down through the window, and he went and fled and escaped. 13 And Michal took the teraphim iii and put to the bed and put a net iv of the goats at his head and covered in the garment.
14 And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, “He is sick.” 15 And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up in the bed to me to kill him.” 16 And the messengers came in, and behold, the teraphim to the bed and a net of the goats at his head. 17 And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me so and send away my enemy and he escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, 'Send me away. Why should I kill you?'”
18 And David fled and escaped and came to Samuel to the Height and told him all that Saul did to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. v 19 And it was told to Saul, saying, “Behold, David is in Naioth in Height.” 20 And Saul sent messengers to take David. And seeing the company of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing presiding over them, so Gods' spirit was upon Saul's messengers; and they also prophesied. 21 And they told Saul, and he sent other messengers. And they also prophesied. And Saul again also sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied.
22 And he also went to Height and came unto the great well that was in Sechu, vi and asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And he said, “Behold, in Naioth in the Height.” 23 And he went there, to Naioth in the Height. And Gods' spirit was upon him also, and he went walking and prophesied until he came in to Naioth in the Height. 24 And he also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel and fell naked all that day and all the night. Therefore, they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” vii
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf.
- לרידד) leyad) “beside” - more literally, “to hand of” - i.e. “to my father's hand” ^
- As recorded, this is the third time Saul tried to pin David to the wall. See 1 Samuel 18:11 for the other two. ^
- תררהפיים) terâphiym) “teraphim” - see footnote for Genesis 31:19. µypir;T] (terâphiym) - “teraphim” (= "idols"); NKJV “household idols” - sometimes translated "teraphim," found also in Genesis 31:34-35 (see NKJV footnote); Judges 17:5; 18:14, 17, 20; 1 Samuel 15:23; 19:13, 16; 2 Kings 23:24; Ezekiel 21:21; Hosea 3:4 (teraphim, NKJV) Zechariah 10:2 (see NKJV footnote). There are several different words translated "idol." See word study on idols in Appendix. ^
- כרבייר) keviyr) “net” DARBY, NRSV; “mattress” YLT; “pillow” KJV; “cover” NKJV; “quilt” NAS – found also in 1 Samuel 19:16 – exact meaning unknown. ^
- Written ימת ור נה) nâvyot); read נהיות) nâyot) “Naioth” - found also in 1 Samuel 19:19, 22-23; 20:1. ^
- כו ת ש) sekhu) “Sechu” - only here. ^
- See also 1 Samuel 10:10-12. ^
For all of you have conspired against me, and no one uncovers my ear, my son cutting with Jesse's son. And no one of you is sick for me. And no one uncovers my ear that my son has raised up my servant against me to lie in wait, as it is this day.” -- חשלאה) choleh) “sick” (e.g. same exact word as in 1 Samuel 19:14 “sick”); NKJV “sorry”; YLT “grieving”
And he said to Sacrifice and Zalmunna, “Where are the men who you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “As you, as they, each one as the form of the king's sons.” -- ה אפייפ') êyphoh) “Where” ESV, RSV, LXX (ποῦ [pou]); “How” YLT; “What kind of” NKJV, NAS; “What manner of” KJV – this is a peculiar use. Elsewhere, always “where” (Genesis 37:16; Ruth 2:19; 1 Samuel 19:22; 2 Samuel 9:4; Job 4:7; 38:4; Isaiah 49:21; Jeremiah 3:2; 36:19; ).
And he said, “They were my brothers, sons of my mother. Yehvah lives. If you had let them live, I would not have killed you.” -- ה חי) chay-yehvâh) “Yehvah lives” - YLT “Jehovah liveth”; Green “As Jehovah lives”; NKJV, etc. “As the LORD lives” - same exact words as in Psalm 18:46(H47) “The LORD lives!” (NKJV). Used when taking an oath (e.g. 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Kings 1:29). This exact phrase can also be found in Ruth 3:13; 1 Samuel 14:39, 45; 19:6; 20:21; 25:26, 34; 26:10, 16; 28:10; 29:6; 2 Samuel 4:9; 12:5; 14:11; 15:21; 22:47; 1 Kings 2:24; 17:1, 12; 18:10, 15; 22:14; 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6; 3:14; 4:30; 5:16, 20; 2 Chronicles 18:13; Jeremiah 4:2; 5:2; 12:16; 16:14-15; 23:7-8; 38:16; Hosea 4:15. There is also חיי־אפיל (chay-'êl) “God lives” in Job 27:2; ים להי אל א הה י חי) chay hâ'elohym, singular adjective, plural noun) “the God lives” or “the Gods, He lives” in 2 Samuel 2:27; הה ינהוי יי הנה ד י־אד חי) chay-'adonây yehvih) “Yehvih Lords lives” in Jeremiah 44:26; ה ינהוה י חי ת צנבהאו) chay yehvâh tsevâot) "Yehvah of armies lives" in Kings 18:15; 2 Kings 3:14; ם עולה הה י חפי) chay hâ`olâm) “the eternal one lives” in Daniel 12:7; by God Himself, ניי י־אה חי) chay-'âniy) “I live” in Numbers 14:21, 28; Isaiah 49:18; Jeremiah 22:24; 46:18; Ezekiel 5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16, 19; 18:3; 20:3, 31, 33; 33:11, 27; 34:8; 35:6, 11; Zephaniah 2:9; and ם הלה ע לנ י הכי נ אה י חי) chay 'ânokiy le`olâm) “I live forever” in Deuteronomy 32:40.