down] by the side of Saul”), as in the Syriac, is open to this objection, that in addition to the necessity of supplying ו, it is impossible to see why Jonathan should have risen up for the purpose of sitting down again. The rendering “and Jonathan came,” which is the one adopted by Maurer and De Wette, cannot be philologically sustained; inasmuch as, although קוּם is used to signify rise up, in the sense of the occurrence of important events, or the appearance of celebrated of persons, it never means simply “to come.” And lastly, the conjecture of Thenius, that ויּקם should be altered into ויקדּם, according to the senseless rendering of the lxx, προέφθασε τὸν Ἰονάθαν, is overthrown by the fact, that whilst קדּם does indeed mean to anticipate or come to meet, it never means to sit in front of, i.e., opposite to a person.
Verse 26
On this (first) day Saul said nothing, sc., about David's absenting himself, “for he thought there has (something) happened to him, that he is not clean; surely (כּי) he is not clean” (vid., Lev 15:16.; Deu 23:11).
Verses 27-29
But on the second day, the day after the new moon (lit., the morrow after the new moon, the second day: השּׁני is a nominative, and to be joined to ויהי, and not a genitive belonging to החדשׁ), when David was absent from table again, Saul said to Jonathan, “Why is the son of Jesse not come to meat, neither yesterday nor to-day?” Whereupon Jonathan answered, as arranged with David (compare 1Sa 20:28 and 1Sa 20:29 with 1Sa 20:6). “And my brother, he hath commanded me,” i.e., ordered me to come. צוּה as in Exo 6:13, and אחי, the elder brother, who was then at the head of the family, and arranged the sacrificial meal.
Verses 30-31
Saul was greatly enraged at this, and said to Jonathan, “Son of a perverse woman (נעות is a participle, Niph. fem. from עוה) of rebellion,” - i.e., son of a perverse and rebellious woman (an insult offered to the mother, and therefore so much the greater to the son), hence the meaning really is, “Thou perverse, rebellious fellow,” - “do I not know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?” בּחר, to choose a person out of love, to take pleasure in a person; generally construed with בּ pers., here with ל, although many Codd. have בּ here also. “For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the earth, thou and thy kingdom (kingship, throne) will not stand.” Thus Saul evidently suspected David as his rival, who would either wrest the
