Passage

1 Samuel 20.14-15

Book: 1 Samuel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. And Jonathan said unto David, Jehovah, the God of Israel, be witness: when I have sounded my father about this time to-morrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose it unto thee? 13. Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it not unto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and Jehovah be with thee, as he hath been with my father."

"14. And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not; 15. but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, not when Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth."

"16. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David's enemies. 17. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul." (1 Samuel 20:12-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. Jonathan said to David, “By Yahweh, the God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good toward David, won’t I then send to you, and disclose it to you? 13. Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don’t disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace. May Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father."

"14. You shall not only while yet I live show me the loving kindness of Yahweh, that I not die; 15. but you shall also not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the surface of the earth.”"

"16. So Jonathan made a covenant with David’s house, saying, “Yahweh will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.” 17. Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul." (1 Samuel 20:12-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee; ^{sounded: Heb. searched} ^{shew: Heb. uncover thine ear} 13. The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. ^{shew: Heb. uncover thine ear}"

"14. And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15. But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth."

"16. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. ^{made: Heb. cut} 17. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ^{because: or, by his love toward him}" (1 Samuel 20:12-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. And Jonathan saith unto David, 'Jehovah, God of Israel, when I search my father, about [this] time to-morrow [or] the third [day], and lo, good [is] towards David, and I do not then send unto thee, and have uncovered thine ear, 13. thus doth Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus doth He add; when the evil concerning thee is good to my father, then I have uncovered thine ear, and sent thee away, and thou hast gone in peace, and Jehovah is with thee, as he was with my father;"

"14. and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not, 15. but thou dost not cut off thy kindness from my house unto the age, nor in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.'"

"16. And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought [it] from the hand of the enemies of David; 17. and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him." (1 Samuel 20:12-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H2617 - hesed

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.