1 Samuel 20:10
in 1 Samuel 20Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer thee roughly?
KJV
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
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This verse in 1 Samuel 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThen said David to Jonathan, who shall tell me?.... The disposition of Saul's mind towards him, whether he gave a kind answer to the report of Jonathan concerning him: or what if thy father answer thee roughly? or hard words, as the Targum, whether he answers in a kind, loving, and smooth manner, or whether in a rough and angry one: the question is here, how he should be informed of this, since especially, if in the latter, it would not be safe for Jonathan to come himself to him, nor could he well trust the message with any other.
This site's exposition
Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly
on 1 Samuel 20:10-11
David's practical question forces the two friends out of the palace and into a field belonging to Gibeah, where no servant of Saul can overhear them. The privacy the scene requires is itself evidence of how far things have fallen: a king's son and the king's own son in law can no longer plan safely inside the king's house. The move outdoors sets up both the covenant oath of verses 12 to 17 and the archery signal that follows it.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
IT WAS NOT AN UNLIKELY THING that his father would answer Jonathan roughly. Saul had taken great umbrage against David, while Jonathan his eldest son, on the contrary, loved David as his own soul. Jonathan could hardly think that his father really meant harm to so good a man as David, and he expressed to David that opinion, and then David, to be prepared for the worst, put to him this question, ‘What if thy father answer thee roughly? ‘It did so turn out.
IT WAS NOT AN UNLIKELY THING that his father would answer Jonathan roughly. Saul had taken great umbrage against David, while Jonathan his eldest son, on the contrary, loved David as his own soul. Jonathan could hardly think that his father really meant harm to so good a man as David, and he expressed to David that opinion, and then David, to be prepared for the worst, put to him this question, ‘What if thy father answer thee roughly? ‘It did so turn out. Saul answered his son with bitter words, and in the desperation of his anger he even hurled a javelin at him to smite him; yet Jonathan did not forsake David, he clung to him with all the faithfulness of love, and until his death, which was much mourned by David, he remained his fast and faithful friend Now, this question of David to Jonathan is one which I wish to put this morning to all believers in Christ, especially to the younger ones who have lately entered into covenant with the great Son of David, and who, in the ardor of their hearts, feel that they could live and die for him. I want to put before them the supposition that they will meet with opposition from their dearest friends, that perhaps their father, brother, husband, or uncle will answer them roughly, or perhaps their mother, wife, or sister will become a persecutor to them. What then? What will they do under such circumstances? Will they follow the Lord through evil report? ‘What if thy father answer thee roughly?’ Remember that this supposition is a very likely one. There are a few Christians so favourably circumstanced that all their friends accompany them in the pilgrimage to heaven. What advances they ought to make in the sacred journey! What excellent Christians they ought to be! They are like plants in a conservatory’they ought to grow and bring forth the loveliest Bowers of divine grace.
Who shall tell me? - Who shall give me the necessary information? What means wilt thou use to convey this intelligence to me?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Then said David to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, whether perhaps your father answers you with harsh words?”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְה֣וֹנָתָ֔ן | yehonatan | Jonathan | H3083 → | 81 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יַגִּ֣יד | yagid | will he tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לִ֑י | li | to <the> me | ||
| א֛וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יַּעַנְךָ֥ | yaankha | will he answer you | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אָבִ֖יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| קָשָֽׁה׃ ס | kashah | hard | H7186 → | 36 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְה֣וֹנָתָ֔ןJonathan
yehonatanH3083 →81 times
מִ֖יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יַגִּ֣ידwill he tell
yagidH5046 →370 times
לִ֑יto <the> me
li
א֛וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יַּעַנְךָ֥will he answer you
yaankhaH6030 →331 times
אָבִ֖יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
קָשָֽׁה׃ סhard
kashahH7186 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 18:23The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
it leads to
- James 2:3
If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
- Exodus 5:2
But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- James 1:9–11
The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.
- James 2:6
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- James 2:3
Through
1 Samuel 25:17Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 20:7
If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
- Deuteronomy 13:13
that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),
- 1 Samuel 20:7
Through
1 Kings 12:13And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:23
The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
- Proverbs 18:23
Through
Genesis 42:30“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
it leads to
- Genesis 42:7
And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied.…
- Genesis 42:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonEarly monarchyJonathanSon of King Saul who climbed a cliff to rout a garrison on the conviction that nothing restrains Jehovah; cut a covenant of steadf…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1188: “A Word for the Persecuted” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.