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1 Samuel 27

W
The Whosoever Study Bible
Whosoever will, may come.
the first book of samuel
Samuel (with Nathan and Gad contributing) · c. 1010 BC
Chapter the Twenty-seventh
And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.
And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.
And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
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PROVISIONIST · DISPENSATIONAL · PRE-TRIBULATIONAL

Chuck Smith on 1 Samuel 27

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Verse 1 Chapter 27 Now David made a negative confession in chapter twenty-seven, and if what these people are preaching today, David would've been killed by Saul. If what they say is true, "If you are what you say," if words have a creative force, and words become a creative force, and you can say it into existence, and so forth, then you've got God's divine fiat power and you've become as God. But David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul ( 1 Samuel 27:1 ): What a negative confession. "One day Saul's gonna get me." Now if what they teach is true, then it should follow that Saul one day killed David. But that didn't happen. Don't let people lay a trip on you because you may have a negative personality, and say negative things. "Oh, that's gonna happen to you. You shouldn't be saying that. That's just what's gonna take place." That's not true. There are a lot of negative people that have positive things happen to them, and a lot of positive people that have negative things happen to them. The Bible says, "The sun shines on the just and the unjust alike, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust"( Matthew 5:45 ). I don't care who you are, you're gonna have problems in your life, and you're gonna have good times in your life. You can say negative things and not have to go around cringing, fearing, "Oh, I said it and now it's gonna happen." David said in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul." there's nothing better for me than I should speedily escape the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of seeking me any more in the coast of Israel: and I'll escape out of his hand. So David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him to Achish, the king of Gath ( 1 Samuel 27:1-2 ). Verses 2-4 Now Gath is one of the major five Philistine cities. It lies about ten miles inland from Ashdod. and Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ashkelon both being on the coast, and Gath made sort of a triangle about ten miles inland from these two Philistine cities, down in the southern part, fifty kilometers from Beersheba, this city of Gath. The ruins are still there today. We stopped by just the other day, and looked at the ruins of the city of Gath. In my mind I tried to picture David as he first came to Achish and let the spit run down his beard, and slobbered all over, and acted like a madman, scrabbling on the walls. I could see the walls of the ancient city of Gath, and I could in my mind picture old David there doing his little scene in front of Achish. Now this time he comes to Achish again and he is seeking actually political asylum almost because Saul was after him. So Achish received David, and David said, "Look, I don't need to dwell in this city, but just give me a city around here. I don't need to dwell in the royal city. So he gave him Ziklag ( 1 Samuel 27:5-6 ): Verses 5-9 So David then and his men began to invade areas around them. Now though I admire David for a lot of things, yet I don't admire David for other things. This I cannot really find any real excuse for David's actions. He would go out and he would totally wipe out a city, and he'd kill everybody so that there'd be no one to come back and tell people what was happening. He was making excursions against these cities. And when Achish would see him, he'd say, [Well, where you been?] Where have you been building a road today? And he said, Over against Judah ( 1 Samuel 27:10 ). Verses 10-11 Actually he was wiping out a lot of these little Philistine villages, and Canaanite villages and making out to king Achish that he was fighting against Judah. So he thought [Oh boy] they're gonna utterly hate David over in Judah now ( 1 Samuel 27:12 ). Verse 12 But he would kill everybody so that there'd be no one to tell what he was doing. That is not at all right, it isn't admirable. I don't have any excuses for David in these actions. The only thing I think that it does point out is that God can use men that aren't perfect. David was far from perfect. I think that many times we have some kind of a concept that only God, God only uses perfect people. That isn't so. Many times we disqualify ourselves from serving the Lord, being used of God, because we're so conscious of our own imperfections. But God used David and that's always an encouragement to me. If God could use a guy like David, then God can use a guy like me because I'm far from perfect also. He can also use a person like you, because I don't think you're so perfect either. "

Commentary on 1 Samuel 27

Whosoever Will · the Seven Threads Commentary

1 Samuel 27:1

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:2

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:3

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:4

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:5

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:6

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:7

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:8

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:9

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:10

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:11

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17

1 Samuel 27:12

The years between David's anointing and his coronation are the years of the fugitive: hunted by Saul, protected by Jonathan, living in caves and among Israel's enemies. The contrast runs through the whole final section of 1 Samuel: the LORD was with David and had departed from Saul. Jonathan is the sacrifice that the story requires. As Saul's eldest son he is the natural heir to his father's throne. He knows David has been anointed. He makes a covenant with David: gives him his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. He strips himself of everything that marks him as crown prince and gives it to the man God has chosen instead. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. Saul's descent is the mirror. He throws a spear at David twice. He sends him into dangerous battle hoping the Philistines will kill him. He pursues him through the wilderness of Ziph and En-gedi. Twice David has Saul in his power and refuses to strike. The LORD's anointed, he says, cannot be touched by my hand. The restraint is not weakness; it is faith that the throne does not need to be seized, only received. Thread 3 is the long wait for what the anointing guaranteed: Thread 3 operating across time, through suffering, to its appointed arrival. Thread 4 is David's genuine choices not to take the throne by force even when he could. Thread 1 is in Jonathan's selfless covenant love, the God who cannot stop reaching using the love of a friend to protect the anointed king through the years when the kingdom had not yet come.
The LORD was with David and was departed from Saul. The two sentences side by side describe the dispensational shift that the anointing enacted; Saul has the throne but not the Spirit; David has the Spirit but not yet the throne.
וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (ve-nefesh Yehonatan niqsherah be-nefesh David): the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: niqsherah (was knit, bound, Niphal of qashar, to bind, tie together; the binding is complete and passive, it happened to Jonathan's soul; the covenant friendship that follows is one of the most extraordinary in the OT, a model of selfless love that sacrifices dynastic ambition for genuine covenant loyalty)
threads t1 · t3 · t4 · see 1 Samuel 20:17 · 1 Samuel 26:9-11 · Proverbs 17:17
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