The meaning of this verse is closely linked to the preceding verses. Some follow the Septuagint and incorrectly understand that it is Jonathan who makes a commitment to David, as in “Jonathan then renewed his oath to David” (so New Jerusalem Bible).

But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, provides a clear explanation. In verse 16 Jonathan has obtained an oath, or promise, from David. Now in verse 17 Jonathan makes David swear an oath again, this time guaranteeing the oath by the love that he has for Jonathan. Good News Translation incorrectly says that Jonathan “made David promise to love him.” But Jonathan does not ask David to promise to love him. Rather, he asks David to promise to keep the covenant with Jonathan’s descendants and asks David to guarantee this by swearing on the basis of his love for Jonathan (by his love for him). Compare Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, “Jonathan made David swear again in the name of his friendship; he loved him more than a brother.” In some cases the meaning of swear again may have to be filled out to say something like “promise that he would be kind to his descendants.”

For he loved … his own soul: literally “for love of his nefesh he loved him.” Nefesh here stands for a person’s whole being. A literal translation will be obscure in many languages. In some languages the best translation will be the reflexive pronoun “himself” as in Good News Translation and other modern versions. Others may say “his own life.” It may also be necessary to make clear that the subject of the verb loved is Jonathan, as in Good News Translation. See the similar statement in 18.1, 3.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The new moon: see the comment on verse 5.

You will be missed: it will be necessary in some languages to use an active verb and say “they will miss you” (Bible en français courant uses the indefinite pronoun on as the subject, “one will miss you”) or “my father will notice you’re gone” (New Century Version; see verse 6).

Because your seat will be empty: in some cases this clause may be translated as a separate sentence: “Your empty seat will remind people that you are not there.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

There are textual problems both at the beginning and at the end of this verse. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the Septuagint in both parts of the verse. In the first part of the verse, however, the Masoretic Text makes sense, and there is no need to follow the Greek. The main difficulty lies in the translation of the Hebrew adverb rendered “quickly” in the footnote in Revised Standard Version. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament supports this rendering of the Hebrew adverb.

This adverb may be translated “very much.” New Revised Standard Version says “you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid,” but the sense of the English rendering “go a long way down” is not clear. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “You will go down a lot.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates more naturally “go down all the way to the place where you hid.”

Anchor Bible proposes that the Hebrew should be written with different vowels to read “But on the third day you will be long gone,” that is, by the third day of the festival Saul will no longer be looking for David, and it will be safe for David to return in secret. See also the Anchor Bible translation of verses 20-21 below.

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests that the verb “go down” means “you shall go southward.” Compare Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, which says “go toward the south.” It is difficult to choose among the various possible translations, but La Bible Pléiade (“you will go down quickly”) or New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh (“go down all the way”) seem to make the best sense of the Hebrew.

On the third day: compare verses 5 and 12.

You will be greatly missed: if the Revised Standard Version reading of the text is accepted, this passive will have to be handled in a way similar to “you will be missed” in the previous verse. That is, in those languages where passive forms are not naturally used, translators may say something like “they [or, people] will miss you very much.”

The place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand: the reference is to 19.1-3.

When the matter was in hand: literally “the day of the business [or, matter].” The literal rendering of the New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote is “on the day of the incident.” Some other possible translations of the meaning here are much simpler and more natural sounding: “earlier” (New Revised Standard Version); “before” (Contemporary English Version); “the other time” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

Yonder stone heap is based on the Septuagint, which reads “by that argab.” Argab in Hebrew means “heap stone.” The Septuagint is followed by many translations, including New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible. The actual word in the Hebrew is ha-ezel, and some have suggested that the word is probably a scribal error, reversing the letters z and l for the Hebrew demonstrative pronoun hallaz, which means “this,” that is, “this stone.”

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text. If translators follow the Hebrew text, there are two possible ways to render the word ezel. (1) It may be a proper noun, designating that particular stone, the Ezel stone (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). (2) The word ezel may be based on a verb meaning “to leave,” “to depart.” La Bible Pléiade understands ezel to refer to a stone that marked the route one should follow and renders this “the guide [or, route] stone.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament renders it “the departure stone.” Contemporary English Version translates this idea with the more colloquial “Going-Away Rock.” See also comments on verse 41.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

To the side of it: the Hebrew literally has a single word that usually means “side” (compare 6.8). This can mean either the side of the rock itself or a point off to the side of the rock. Either understanding is possible. But the majority of modern versions seem to prefer the idea that the target was to the side of the rock rather than “at it.”

Anchor Bible proposes that the Hebrew be changed to read “As for me, on the third day I shall shoot an arrow from the side [of the mound] aiming toward a target.” The Hebrew text makes sense as it is, however, and should be followed.

As though I shot at a mark: some may translate the idea here more naturally by saying “pretending to be shooting at something.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

And behold: the focusing particle here directs particular attention to the most important thing that Jonathan wanted to say, namely the way he will get the message to David.

Revised Standard Version has supplied the verb saying. The Hebrew says literally “I will send the lad, ‘Go, find.’ ”

Look translates the same Hebrew word as rendered “behold” in the beginning of this verse. But here it is to be understood in its more literal sense, telling the servant who was chasing the arrows which way to look. The Hebrew is hinneh, the usual focusing particle.

As the LORD lives: see the comments on 14.39.

Both times that the Hebrew text has the plural noun arrows in this verse, the Septuagint (followed by Osty-Trinquet) has the singular noun “arrow.” See the comments on the text of verse 20 above. Anchor Bible, in keeping with its translation of verse 20, also says “arrow” both times.

The embedded quotations in this verse may have to be made into indirect discourse in certain languages. A possible model for this is:

• Then I will tell my servant to go and find the arrows. If you hear me tell him to look for them to his side, that will show that you will not be harmed, so you can come out. I swear by the living LORD that no one will hurt you.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The Hebrew word translated youth is different from the word translated lad in verse 21, but the two words may be treated as synonyms in translation, since they certainly refer to the same person.

Look: see verse 21.

If the embedded quotation is a problem here, as suggested in the previous verse, the following model will show how it may be avoided:

• But if I tell him to go look for them some distance farther away, then you must escape. That will show that the LORD wants to send you farther away.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The matter of which you and I have spoken: the meaning of these words may be more evident to readers if a word like “promise” (Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation), “agreement” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “pledges” (Revised English Bible) is used here in place of the more general term matter. The Hebrew term is the one that is usually translated in English as “word.” The reference is clearly to the pact between David and Jonathan.

Behold: see verse 21.

The LORD is between you and me forever: the sense is apparently that the LORD will be a witness between them. The Septuagint adds the word “witness” and is followed by New Revised Standard Version and Osty-Trinquet. It is not clear whether other translations such as Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible that add “witness” do so because of translation principles or because they follow the Septuagint.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

So: the common Hebrew conjunction is taken by most modern versions as a logical connector as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, although it can be understood as a temporal connector, “Then.”

The field: see the comments on 19.3.

When the new moon came: since some languages have special words that are used in reference to the movements of the moon, this vocabulary will be appropriate here. Some may say that “the new moon appeared” or “… showed itself.” See the comments on verse 5.

The king refers to King Saul, and this may be made explicit as in Good News Translation.

Sat down to eat food: literally “sat down to bread to eat.” The Hebrew word for “bread” is used here in a more general sense for food and is not limited to bread only.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .