1 Samuel 20:35

JONATHAN SIGNALS THE BAD NEWS TO DAVID

"In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little lad. And he said to his lad, "Run and find the arrows which I shoot." As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, "Is not the arrow beyond you"? And Jonathan called after the lad, "Hurry, make haste, stay not." So Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the lad knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to the lad, and said to him, "Go and carry them to the city." And as soon as the lad had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times; and they kissed one another and wept with one another, until David recovered himself. Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, `The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'" And he rose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city."

This episode confirmed the status of David as an outlaw, to be hunted down and destroyed like a ravenous beast, provided that Saul, with all of the resources of the kingdom of Israel at his disposal, could successfully achieve it. The rest of First Samuel is devoted to the record of how God protected and preserved David from the myriad dangers that confronted him.

This final meeting of David and Jonathan is sad indeed.

"David rose from ... the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground" (1 Samuel 20:41). We cannot suppose that this final farewell of these two noble men took place in the open field. After the lad had gone, Jonathan no doubt went to the hiding place where he knew David was waiting; and there, in the safe security of that hiding place, these tearful actions occurred. David's falling upon his face and his repeated bowing down before Jonathan were David's way of extending his thanks and honor to Jonathan for saving his life. In this, he also honored Jonathan as the Crown Prince of Israel and the heir-apparent of the throne.