What kind of oath did David make? (1 Samuel 20:3)
1 Samuel 20:2-4 Common English Bible 2 Jonathan said to him, “No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn’t do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn’t true!” 3 But David solemnly promised in response, “Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he’ll be upset.’ But I promise you—on the Lord’s life and yours!—that I am this close to death!” 4 “What do you want me to do?” Jonathan said to David. “I’ll do it.”
1 Samuel 20:2 - 4
ESV - 2 And he said to him, "Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so. 3 But David vowed again, saying, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.' But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
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Tim Maas
Supporter
The oath that David made (as recorded in 1 Samuel 20:3) was a reaffirmation of an oath that he had originally sworn in 1 Samuel 18:3 with Saul's son Jonathan that they would be loyal to one another, regardless of how Saul might try to come between them. (Even though Jonathan had a succession right to Israel's throne as Saul's son, Jonathan himself recognized that God had chosen David to replace Saul because of Saul's disobedience.) Even after Jonathan was killed, David fulfilled this oath by his kind treatment of Jonathan's lame son Mephibosheth, as described in 2 Samuel 9.
Donna Williams
Supporter
According to the conversation between Jonathan and David, it is apparent that they were disagreeing about the fact that King Saul was seeking to take David's life. David wasn't making false accusations against the king, so in order to prove that he was telling the truth he took an oath. He swore by the LORD and by the soul of Jonathan to solidify his oath. David knew that the LORD was his witness; otherwise he would have been guilty of taking the name of the Lord in vain which is the third commandment in Exodus 20:7.
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