Key Verse Spotlight
1 Samuel 20:35 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. "
1 Samuel 20:35
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
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Here is Jonathan’s faithful carrying out of his promise to tell David the result of this dangerous test. He went out at the agreed time and place (1 Samuel 20:35). David was hiding nearby, and Jonathan sent his boy to fetch the arrows, which he shot as if at random (1 Samuel 20:36). Then he gave David the deadly serious signal by shooting an arrow beyond the boy (1 Samuel 20:37): “Is not the arrow beyond you?” David understood that word “beyond” better than the boy did.
Jonathan sent the boy away, since the child knew nothing about the matter. When he saw that the way was clear and there was no danger of being found out, he took one brief chance to speak with David in person. He had already told him to run for his life, and now that warning had to be carried out at once.
This was the sad parting of two very faithful friends, and, as far as we know, they did not meet again openly, except once later in secret in the woods (1 Samuel 23:16). David came to Jonathan with the respect of a servant more than the ease of a friend. He fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times, showing how deeply he felt his debt to Jonathan for all the help he had given him.
Then they said goodbye with great affection, with kisses and tears. They wept in each other’s arms until David wept even more (1 Samuel 20:41). The separation was painful for both of them, but David’s sorrow was greater. Jonathan was going back to his family and friends, while David was leaving behind all his comforts, even the blessings of God’s sanctuary. His spirit may also have been more tender, and his grief more intense.
In that hard moment, they clung to the covenant, that is, their solemn friendship agreement, that stood between them. Both found comfort in what they had sworn in the Lord’s name, for themselves and their descendants, that they and their children would keep faith and kindness with one another from generation to generation. In the same way, while we are still in this life and away from the Lord, our comfort is this: he has made an everlasting covenant with us.
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From This Chapter
1 Samuel 20:1
"And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?"
1 Samuel 20:2
"And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so."
1 Samuel 20:3
"And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."
1 Samuel 20:4
"Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee."
1 Samuel 20:5
"And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even."
1 Samuel 20:6
"If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family."
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