Davids og Jonatans venskab
1David flygtede så fra Najot ved Rama og opsøgte Jonatan. „Hvad har jeg gjort?” udbrød han. „Har jeg fornærmet din far, siden han er så opsat på at slå mig ihjel?”
2„Min far har ikke i sinde at slå dig ihjel,” protesterede Jonatan. „Han har altid fortalt mig om sine planer. Jeg er sikker på, at han ikke ville skjule en så alvorlig plan for mig. Det hele må være en misforståelse.”
3„Jamen, din far ved jo, at vi er venner,” indvendte David. „Derfor tænker han: ‚Jeg vil ikke sige noget til Jonatan, for det vil bare gøre ham ked af det.’ Men sandheden er, at jeg går med livet i hænderne—det sværger jeg på.”
4„Hvad vil du have, jeg skal gøre?” spurgte Jonatan.
5David svarede: „I morgen begynder nymånefesten, og din far regner med, at jeg kommer til hans fest. Men jeg vil bede dig om at give mig fri, så vil jeg gemme mig ude på marken indtil i overmorgen om aftenen. 6Hvis din far spørger efter mig ved måltidet, skal du sige til ham: ‚David bad mig om lov til at tage hjem til Betlehem for at deltage i den årlige offerfest med sin familie.’ 7Svarer han så: ‚Det er i orden!’ er det et tegn på, at jeg ikke behøver at bekymre mig, men bliver han vred, er det, fordi han er besluttet på at slå mig ihjel. 8Jonatan, jeg ved, jeg kan regne med dig, for vi har indgået en bindende venskabspagt for Herrens ansigt. Hvis jeg har gjort noget, jeg fortjener døden for, foretrækker jeg, at du slår mig ihjel, frem for at din far gør det.”
9„Jeg kunne aldrig finde på at slå dig ihjel,” udbrød Jonatan. „Og hvis jeg havde den mindste anelse om, at min far stræbte dig efter livet, tror du så ikke, jeg straks ville advare dig?”
10Da spurgte David: „Hvem kan fortælle mig om din fars reaktion ved nymånefesten?”
11„Kom, lad os gå ud på marken,” svarede Jonatan. Det gjorde de så. 12„Jeg lover dig ved Herren, Israels Gud, at enten i morgen eller i overmorgen ved denne tid vil jeg have fundet ud af, hvad min far tænker om dig,” sagde Jonatan. „Så vil det vise sig, at din bekymring er ubegrundet. Ellers skal jeg nok give dig besked. 13Må Herren straffe mig, hvis jeg ikke fortæller dig det, hvis min far ønsker at dræbe dig. Hvis det er tilfældet, skal jeg nok sørge for, at du kan undslippe i god behold. Må Herren selv beskytte dig, som han har beskyttet min far. 14-15Og må du altid vise mig den samme trofaste kærlighed, som Herren gør, så længe jeg lever. Og skulle jeg dø, så vær nådig mod mine børn, når Herren hjælper dig med at tilintetgøre alle dine fjender.”
16Derefter bad Jonatan denne højtidelige pagtsbøn for David og hans efterkommere: „Må Herren straffe Davids fjender.”20,16 Teksten er uklar. 17Således stadfæstede Jonatan sin venskabspagt med David på grund af sin kærlighed til ham, for Jonatan elskede David lige så højt, som han elskede sig selv.
18Derefter sagde Jonatan: „I morgen under nymånefesten vil de uden tvivl savne dig, når de opdager, at din plads ved bordet står tom, 19og i overmorgen vil de alle sammen spørge efter dig. Gem dig derfor i det gamle skjulested, du brugte sidste gang Saul var ude efter dig,20,19 Jf. 1.Sam. 19,1-4. derude bag rokkestenen. 20Bagefter kommer jeg derud og lader, som om jeg øver mig i at skyde til måls med min bue. Jeg skyder tre pile af sted, 21hvorefter jeg sender en dreng ud efter pilene. Hvis du hører mig råbe til drengen: ‚Pilene ligger her hen mod mig!’ er det signal til, at der ikke er fare på færde. 22Men hvis jeg råber: ‚Gå længere frem! Pilene ligger foran dig!’ er det signal til, at du må skynde dig at flygte. 23Må Herren hjælpe os til altid at holde den venskabspagt, vi har svoret hinanden, for han er vores vidne.” 24-25Så gemte David sig i sit skjulested på marken.
Da nymånefesten begyndte, indtog kongen sin sædvanlige plads ved bordet, ind mod væggen. Jonatan satte sig overfor, og Abner satte sig ved siden af Saul. Davids plads stod tom. 26Men Saul spurgte ikke til David den dag, for han gik ud fra, at der var sket noget, som havde gjort David uren indtil om aftenen. Ja, det måtte være grunden til hans udeblivelse. 27Næste dag, da Davids plads stadig stod tom, spurgte Saul: „Hvor er vores unge helt blevet af? Hverken i går eller i dag har han deltaget i måltidet.”
28-29„Han bad mig om lov til at tage hjem til Betlehem og deltage i en familiesammenkomst,” svarede Jonatan. „Hans bror forlangte, at han kom hjem, så jeg gav ham min tilladelse.”
30Da kogte Saul af raseri og råbte: „Hvilken udspekuleret oprørskhed! Tror du ikke, jeg ved, at du holder med den fyr til skam og skændsel for dig selv og for din mor. 31Er du klar over, at så længe han er i live, bliver du aldrig konge? Få fat i ham, så jeg kan slå ham ihjel.”
32„Hvad ondt har han gjort?” blev Jonatan ved. „Hvorfor skal han dø?”
33Som svar kastede Saul sit spyd efter Jonatan for at dræbe ham. Da gik det op for Jonatan, at hans far var fast besluttet på at slå David ihjel. 34Han rejste sig fnysende fra bordet og spiste intet resten af dagen, for han var ked af det for Davids skyld og oprørt over sin fars hån.
35Næste morgen gik Jonatan som aftalt ud på marken sammen med en dreng.
36„Løb hen og saml de pile op, jeg skyder,” befalede han drengen. Drengen begyndte at løbe, og Jonatan skød en pil forbi ham. 37Kort før drengen nåede frem til pilen, råbte Jonatan: „Gå længere frem! Pilen ligger foran dig! 38Skynd dig af sted!” Så skyndte drengen sig hen og samlede pilen op, hvorefter han bragte den til sin herre. 39Han anede naturligvis ikke noget om, hvad der gik for sig, kun Jonatan og David kendte det hemmelige signal. 40Jonatan gav nu buen og pilene til drengen og sagde: „Gå du bare hjem med dem.”
41Så snart drengen var forsvundet, kom David frem fra sit skjulested bag stenen og bøjede sig tre gange mod jorden. Derpå kyssede de hinanden på kinden og tog grædende afsked. 42„Gå med fred!” sagde Jonatan. „Husk, at Herren var vidne til den pagt, vi indgik med hinanden. Han vil altid stå som vidne mellem os to og mellem vores børn.”
David and Jonathan
1Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, ‘What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?’
2‘Never!’ Jonathan replied. ‘You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why should he hide this from me? It isn’t so!’
3But David took an oath and said, ‘Your father knows very well that I have found favour in your eyes, and he has said to himself, “Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.” Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.’
4Jonathan said to David, ‘Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.’
5So David said, ‘Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6If your father misses me at all, tell him, “David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his home town, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.” 7If he says, “Very well,” then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?’
9‘Never!’ Jonathan said. ‘If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?’
10David asked, ‘Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?’
11‘Come,’ Jonathan said, ‘let’s go out into the field.’ So they went there together.
12Then Jonathan said to David, ‘I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favourably disposed towards you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family – not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.’
16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.’ 17And Jonathan made David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19The day after tomorrow, towards evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21Then I will send a boy and say, “Go, find the arrows.” If I say to him, “Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,” then come, because, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22But if I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are beyond you,” then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23And about the matter you and I discussed – remember, the Lord is witness between you and me for ever.’
24So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,20:25 Septuagint; Hebrew wall. Jonathan arose and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, ‘Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean – surely he is unclean.’ 27But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, ‘Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?’
28Jonathan answered, ‘David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, “Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favour in your eyes, let me go to see my brothers.” That is why he has not come to the king’s table.’
30Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!’
32‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ Jonathan asked his father. 33But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
34Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.
35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36and he said to the boy, ‘Run and find the arrows I shoot.’ As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, ‘Isn’t the arrow beyond you?’ 38Then he shouted, ‘Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!’ The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39(The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, ‘Go, carry them back to town.’
41After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together – but David wept the most.
42Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, “The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants for ever.” ’ Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.20:42 In Hebrew texts this sentence (20:42b) is numbered 21:1.
