1 Samuel 20
1 And David flees from Naioth in Ramah, and comes, and says before Jonathan, “What have I done? What [is] my iniquity? And what [is] my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?”
Fugit autem David de Naioth, quæ est in Ramatha, veniensque locutus est coram Ionatha: Quid feci? quæ est iniquitas mea, et quod peccatum meum in patrem tuum, quia quærit animam meam?
2 And he says to him, “Far be it! You do not die; behold, my father does not do anything great or small and does not uncover my ear; and why does my father hide this thing from me? This [thing] is not.”
Qui dixit ei: Absit, non morieris: neque enim faciet pater meus quidquam grande vel parvum, nisi prius indicaverit mihi: hunc ergo celavit me pater meus sermonem tantummodo? nequaquam erit istud.
3 And David swears again and says, “Your father has certainly known that I have found grace in your eyes, and he says, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he is grieved; and yet, YHWH lives, and your soul lives, but—as a step between me and death.”
Et iuravit rursum Davidi. Et ille ait: Scit profecto pater tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, et dicet: Nesciat hoc Ionathas, ne forte tristetur. Quinimmo vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia uno tantum (ut ita dicam) gradu, ego morsque dividimur.
4 And Jonathan says to David, “What does your soul [desire]? Command and I do it for you.”
Et ait Ionathas ad David: Quodcumque dixerit mihi anima tua, faciam tibi.
5 And David says to Jonathan, “Behold, the new moon [is] tomorrow; and I certainly sit with the king to eat; and you have sent me away, and I have been hidden in a field until the third evening;
Dixit autem David ad Ionathan: Ecce calendæ sunt crastino, et ego ex more sedere soleo iuxta regem ad vescendum: dimitte ergo me ut abscondar in agro usque ad vesperam diei tertiæ.
6 if your father looks after me at all, then you have said, David earnestly asked of me to run to his city of Beth-Lehem, for there [is] a sacrifice of the days for all the family.
Si respiciens requisierit me pater tuus, respondebis ei: Rogavit me David, ut iret celeriter in Bethlehem civitatem suam: quia victimæ sollemnes ibi sunt universis contribulibus suis.
7 If thus he says: Good; [there is] peace for your servant; and if it is very displeasing to him—know that the evil has been determined by him;
Si dixerit, Bene: pax erit servo tuo. si autem fuerit iratus, scito quia completa est malitia eius.
8 and you have done kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of YHWH with you—and if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why [is] this [that] you bring me to your father?”
Fac ergo misericordiam in servum tuum: quia fœdus Domini me famulum tuum tecum inire fecisti. si autem est iniquitas aliqua in me, tu me interfice, et ad patrem tuum ne introducas me.
9 And Jonathan says, “Far be it from you! For I certainly do not know that the evil has been determined by my father to come on you, and I do not declare it to you.”
Et ait Ionathas: Absit hoc a te: neque enim fieri potest, ut si certe cognovero completam esse patris mei malitiam contra te, non annunciem tibi.
10 And David says to Jonathan, “Who declares [it] to me? Or what [if] your father answers you sharply?”
Responditque David ad Ionathan: Quis renunciabit mihi, si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure de me?
11 And Jonathan says to David, “Come, and we go out into the field”; and both of them go out into the field.
Et ait Ionathas ad David: Veni, et egrediamur foras in agrum. Cumque exissent ambo in agrum,
12 And Jonathan says to David, “YHWH, God of Israel, [is my witness]—when I search out my father about [this] time tomorrow [or] the third [day], and behold, [there is] good toward David, and I do not then send to you, and have uncovered your ear—
ait Ionathas ad David: Domine Deus Israel, si investigavero sententiam patris mei crastino vel perendie: et aliquid boni fuerit super David, et non statim misero ad te, et notum tibi fecero,
13 thus YHWH does to Jonathan, and thus He adds; when the evil concerning you is good to my father, then I have uncovered your ear, and sent you away, and you have gone in peace, and YHWH is with you, as he was with my father;
hæc faciat Dominus Ionathæ, et hæc addat. Si autem perseveraverit patris mei malitia adversum te, revelabo aurem tuam, et dimittam te, ut vadas in pace, et sit Dominus tecum, sicut fuit cum patre meo.
14 and not only while I am alive do you do the kindness of YHWH with me, and I do not die,
Et si vixero, facies mihi misericordiam Domini: si vero mortuus fuero,
15 but you do not cut off your kindness from my house for all time, nor in YHWH’s cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.”
non auferes misericordiam tuam a domo mea usque in sempiternum, quando eradicaverit Dominus inimicos David, unumquemque de terra: auferat Ionathan de domo sua, et requirat Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
16 So Jonathan cuts [a covenant] with the house of David, and YHWH has sought [it] from the hand of the enemies of David;
Pepigit ergo Ionathas fœdus cum domo David: et requisivit Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
17 and Jonathan adds to cause David to swear, because he loves him, for he has loved him [as] the love [for] his own soul.
Et addidit Ionathas deierare David, eo quod diligeret illum: sicut enim animam suam, ita diligebat eum.
18 And Jonathan says to him, “Tomorrow [is] the new moon, and you have been looked after, for your seat is looked after;
Dixitque ad eum Ionathas: Cras calendæ sunt, et requireris:
19 and on the third day you certainly come down, and have come to the place where you were hidden in the day of the work, and have remained near the stone of Ezel.
requiretur enim sessio tua usque perendie. Descendes ergo festinus, et venies in locum ubi celandus es in die qua operari licet, et sedebis iuxta lapidem, cui nomen est Ezel.
20 And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out at a mark for myself;
Et ego tres sagittas mittam iuxta eum, et iaciam quasi exercens me ad signum.
21 and behold, I send the youth, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I say to the youth at all, Behold, the arrows [are] on this side of you—take them and come, for [there is] peace for you, and there is no [adverse] word—[as] YHWH lives.
Mittam quoque et puerum, dicens ei: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas.
22 And if thus I say to the young man, Behold, the arrows [are] beyond you—go, for YHWH has sent you away;
Si dixero puero: Ecce sagittæ intra te sunt, tolle eas: tu veni ad me, quia pax tibi est, et nihil est mali, vivit Dominus. Si autem sic locutus fuero puero: Ecce sagittæ ultra te sunt: vade in pace, quia dimisit te Dominus.
23 as for the thing which you and I have spoken, behold, YHWH [is] between me and you for all time.”
De verbo autem quod locuti sumus ego et tu, sit Dominus inter me et te usque in sempiternum.
24 And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sits down by the food to eat,
Absconditus est ergo David in agro, et venerunt calendæ, et sedit rex ad comedendum panem.
25 and the king sits on his seat, as time by time, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan rises, and Abner sits at the side of Saul, and David’s place is looked after.
Cumque sedisset rex super cathedram suam (secundum consuetudinem) quæ erat iuxta parietem, surrexit Ionathas, et sedit Abner ex latere Saul, vacuusque apparuit locus David.
26 And Saul has not spoken anything on that day, for he said, “It [is] an accident; he is not clean—surely not clean.”
Et non est locutus Saul quidquam in die illa: cogitabat enim quod forte evenisset ei, ut non esset mundus, nec purificatus.
27 And it comes to pass on the second day of the new moon, that David’s place is looked after, and Saul says to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come in, either yesterday or today, to the food?”
Cumque illuxisset dies secunda post calendas, rursus apparuit vacuus locus David. Dixitque Saul ad Ionathan filium suum: Cur non venit filius Isai nec heri, nec hodie ad vescendum?
28 And Jonathan answers Saul, “David has earnestly asked [permission] from me [to go] to Beth-Lehem,
Responditque Ionathas Sauli: Rogavit me obnixe, ut iret in Bethlehem,
29 and he says, Please send me away, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother has given command to me himself, and now, if I have found grace in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers; therefore he has not come to the table of the king.”
et ait: Dimitte me, quoniam sacrificium sollemne est in civitate, unus de fratribus meis accersivit me: nunc ergo si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, vadam cito, et videbo fratres meos. Ob hanc causam non venit ad mensam regis.
30 And the anger of Saul burns against Jonathan, and he says to him, “Son of a perverse [woman] of rebellion! Have I not known that you are fixing on the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of your mother?
Iratus autem Saul adversum Ionathan, dixit ei: Fili mulieris virum ultro rapientis, numquid ignoro quia diligis filium Isai in confusionem tuam, et in confusionem ignominiosæ matris tuæ?
31 For all the days that the son of Jesse lives on the ground you are not established, you and your kingdom; and now, send and bring him to me, for he [is] a son of death.”
Omnibus enim diebus, quibus filius Isai vixerit super terram, non stabilieris tu, neque regnum tuum. Itaque iam nunc mitte, et adduc eum ad me: quia filius mortis est.
32 And Jonathan answers his father Saul and says to him, “Why is he put to death? What has he done?”
Respondens autem Ionathas Sauli patri suo, ait: Quare morietur? quid fecit?
33 And Saul casts the javelin at him to strike him, and Jonathan knows that it has been determined by his father to put David to death.
Et arripuit Saul lanceam ut percuteret eum. Et intellexit Ionathas quod definitum esset a patre suo, ut interficeret David.
34 And Jonathan rises from the table in the heat of anger, and has not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he has been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.
Surrexit ergo Ionathas a mensa in ira furoris, et non comedit in die calendarum secunda panem. Contristatus est enim super David, eo quod confudisset eum pater suus.
35 And it comes to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goes out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth [is] with him.
Cumque illuxisset mane, venit Ionathas in agrum iuxta placitum David, et puer parvulus cum eo,
36 And he says to his youth, “Now run, find the arrows which I am shooting”; the youth is running, and he has shot the arrow, causing [it] to pass over him.
et ait ad puerum suum: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas, quas ego iacio. Cumque puer cucurrisset, iecit aliam sagittam trans puerum.
37 And the youth comes to the place of the arrow which Jonathan has shot, and Jonathan calls after the youth, and says, “Is the arrow not beyond you?”
Venit itaque puer ad locum iaculi, quod miserat Ionathas: et clamavit Ionathas post tergum pueri, et ait: Ecce ibi est sagitta porro ultra te.
38 And Jonathan calls after the youth, “Speed, hurry, do not stand”; and Jonathan’s youth gathers the arrows, and comes to his lord.
Clamavitque iterum Ionathas post tergum pueri, dicens: Festina velociter, ne steteris. Collegit autem puer Ionathæ sagittas, et attulit ad dominum suum:
39 And the youth has not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word.
et quid ageretur, penitus ignorabat: tantummodo enim Ionathas et David rem noverant.
40 And Jonathan gives his weapons to the youth whom he has and says to him, “Go, carry into the city.”
Dedit ergo Ionathas arma sua puero, et dixit ei: Vade, et defer in civitatem.
41 The youth has gone, and David has risen from Ezel, at the south, and falls on his face to the earth, and bows himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep with one another, until David exerted himself;
Cumque abiisset puer, surrexit David de loco, qui vergebat ad Austrum, et cadens pronus in terram, adoravit tertio: et osculantes se alterutrum, fleverunt pariter, David autem amplius.
42 and Jonathan says to David, “Go in peace, in that we have sworn—the two of us—in the Name of YHWH, saying, YHWH is between me and you, and between my seed and your seed—for all time”; and he rises and goes; and Jonathan has gone into the city.
Dixit ergo Ionathas ad David: Vade in pace: quæcumque iuravimus ambo in nomine Domini, dicentes: Dominus sit inter me et te, et inter semen meum et semen tuum usque in sempiternum. Et surrexit David, et abiit: sed et Ionathas ingressus est civitatem.
