Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?”
Parallel Translations
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Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?”
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Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
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Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 20:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
- 2 Samuel 14:32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.” ’ ”
- 1 Samuel 23:18 They both made a covenant before Yahweh. Then David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his house.
- 1 Samuel 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with David’s house, saying, “Yahweh will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
- Genesis 24:49 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”
- Genesis 47:29 The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,
- Joshua 2:14 The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
- Joshua 22:22 “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),
- Ruth 1:8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
- 1 Chronicles 12:17 David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers see this and rebuke it.”
- Psalms 7:4-5 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust.
- Psalms 116:11 I said in my haste, “All people are liars.”
- Proverbs 3:3 Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.
- Acts 25:11 For if I have done wrong and have committed anything worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die; but if none of those things is true that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 20:8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy…
1Sa 20:8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
Ver. 8. Into a covenant of the Lord.] Who is witness to the bargain, and keepeth the bands.
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Slay me thyself.] Let me die by a friendly and merciful hand. Nimis opto amantis immori manibus, said she in Seneca. {a} This David speaketh pathetically, to stir up his friend Jonathan to act vigorously for him.
For why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?] Who will not only slay me, but so torture me, that I may feel myself to die. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruelties." {Pro 12:10}
{a} Phaedra, apud Sen.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant, in giving…
Thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant, in giving me timely notice, and a true account of Saul’s disposition and intention towards me.
A covenant of the Lord, i.e. a solemn covenant, not lightly undertaken, but seriously entered into, in the name and fear of God, and in his presence, calling him to be the witness of our sincerity therein, and the avenger of perfidiousness in him that breaks it.
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Slay me thyself; I am contented thou shouldst kill me.
Why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? why shouldst thou betray me to thy father, by concealing his evil intentions from me?
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore thou shall deal kindly with thy servant,.... By…
Therefore thou shall deal kindly with thy servant,.... By informing him how his father's mind stood affected to him, that he might conduct himself accordingly, either by appearing at court, or by providing for his safety by flight:
for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee; a covenant of friendship between Jonathan and David, of which Jonathan was the first mover, and so is said to bring or persuade him into it; called the covenant of the Lord, because made in his name and fear, and before him as a witness of it; and this David pleads as an argument with Jonathan, to deal kindly and faithfully by him in the present case:
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notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself: or pass sentence upon him to be slain; which, if guilty, he might have power to do in his father's absence, and which David desires might be done, notwithstanding the covenant of friendship between them, should he appear to deserve it by any action of his, of which he was not conscious; this expresses the strong sense he had of his own integrity, and served to confirm Jonathan in his opinion of it:
for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? deliver him up into his hands to be put to a cruel death by him, or give him the trouble of doing it, when he might as well dispatch him at once.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Deal kindly - In giving me timely notice, and…
Deal kindly - In giving me timely notice, and a true account of Saul's disposition and intention towards me. A covenant of the Lord - That is, a solemn covenant, not lightly undertaken, but seriously entered into, in the name and fear of God, and in his presence, calling him to be the witness of our sincerity therein, and the avenger of perfidiousness in him that breaks it. Slay me - I am contented thou shouldst kill me. For why - Why shouldst thou betray me to thy father, by concealing his evil intentions from me?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. If there be in me iniquity] If…
Verse 8. If there be in me iniquity] If thou seest that I am plotting either against the state, or the life of thy father, then slay me thyself.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 20:8. Thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant…
1Sa 20:8. Thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant — In giving me timely notice, and a true account of Saul’s disposition and intention toward me. A covenant of the Lord — That is, a solemn covenant, not lightly undertaken, but seriously entered into, in the name and fear of God, and in his presence, calling him to be the witness of our sincerity therein, and the avenger of perfidiousness in him that breaks it. Slay me — I am contented thou shouldest kill me. For why — Why shouldest thou betray me to thy father, by concealing his evil intentions from me?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Lord, the most durable and sacred, confirmed by the…
Lord, the most durable and sacred, confirmed by the name of God. (Calmet) --- Kill. So Moses besought God to take away his life. A friend would put him to as little torture as possible. (Menochius) --- But David only means strongly to assert his own innocence. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. thou hast brought, &c.] The initiative had been…
8. thou hast brought, &c.] The initiative had been on Jonathan’s side (1Sa_18:3). David calls their league of friendship “a covenant of Jehovah” as being ratified in His name by solemn oath. See 1Sa_20:12 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) A covenant of the Lord with thee.—It may…
(8) A covenant of the Lord with thee.—It may at first sight seem strange that we have these last meetings of David and Jonathan told us in such detail—the speaker’s very words quoted, and so many apparently trivial circumstances related.
The question, too, might be asked: Whence did the compiler of the book derive his intimate acquaintance with what took place at these meetings, when David was alone with Jonathan? But the difficulties are only surface ones, for we must never forget how intensely interesting to the chosen people were all the circumstances connected with their loved king’s life—never lose sight of the deathless interest with which they would hear and read the particulars of David’s rise through great suffering and long trial to the throne; and this period here related in such detail was the turning-point of a grand career. From this moment, David’s way diverged from the every-day life of ordinary duty and prosperity, and became, during a long and weary period, for him the way of almost uninterrupted suffering. The way of suffering and of trial is in all ages the royal road to true greatness. As to the source whence the compiler of the book derived his knowledge of what passed at these last meetings of the two friends, Ewald suggests that when in after years David drew to his Court the posterity of Jonathan, he often told them himself of these last events before their separation (events with which no one but the two friends could be acquainted).
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Slay me thyself.—“This supposes that Jonathan had the right to inflict capital punishment for crimes against his father as king.”—Lange. This was David’s last earnest request to the prince. If Jonathan felt there was any truth in the charges brought against him by Saul—if he deemed his friend a traitor to the reigning dynasty—let him slay the betrayer himself there and then.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of…
Thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee. As the friendship between Jonathan and David had been cemented by the invocation of the name of Jehovah, it was one firm and assured, and David might look not merely for one act of kindness, but for constant truth and help. It was, moreover, Jonathan"s own doing; and yet, if there be in me, David says, iniquity, i.e. treason against Saul, if I have not been a faithful and true servant to him, but, on the contrary, have plotted evil against him, or now entertain any evil designs, then let the covenant be abrogated. David refuses to shelter himself under it if he has incurred guilt, and only asks that Jonathan, by the authority which he exercised as the king"s son, should himself put him to death, and not deliver him up to Saul
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
David continues speaking to Jonathan.
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with your servant ... have brought your servant
David speak of himself in the third person as a form of humility. AT: "with me, your servant ... have brought me, your servant" or "with me ... have brought me" (See: Pronouns)
you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you
What it was that the two men agreed on can be made explicit. AT: "Yahweh heard you when you made a solemn agreement with me that you and I will always be good friends" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
for why then should you bring me to your father?
This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "then there would be no reason for you to bring me to your father" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Far be it from you!
This is an idiom that means it will never happen to you. AT: "This will never happen to you!" (See: Idiom)
would I not tell you?
This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "I would certainly tell you." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
covenant
Yahweh
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:8 Loyalty (Hebrew khesed) denotes faithfulness between covenant partners.…
20:8 Loyalty (Hebrew khesed) denotes faithfulness between covenant partners. • a solemn pact: See 18:3; 20:16.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.