1 Samuel 20

1 Samuel 20

Meyer - 1 Samuel 20:18 Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. Jonathan and David had entered into a covenant, each loving the other as his own soul. Anxious to shield his friend from the wrath of his father, Jonathan discloses to David the plan by which he shall know how matters fared in the royal palace. David’s vacant seat suggests a lesson for us. There are a good many empty seats in our houses. Those that occupied them can never do so again; they have gone never to return again, and we miss them sorely. Let us see to it that we do not leave our seats in the home circle needlessly vacant. Let not the mother be away at the dance, or even at the religious meeting, when she should be at home, joining in her children’s evening prayers. Let the father be very sure that God has called him elsewhere, before he habitually vacates his place in the evening family circle. Let each of us avoid giving needless pain to those we love by leaving empty seats. But if God calls us away to His service, then for those who miss us, another Form shall glide in, and sit in the vacant chair; and they will become conscious that the Master is filling the gap, and beguiling the weary moments. Above all, let not your seat be empty in the house of God, at the ordinary service, or at the Lord’s Table. We are too prone to allow a trifle to deter us from joining in the sacred feasts. At such times we are missed, our empty seat witnesses against us; there is a lack in the song and prayer, which cries out against us; there is a distinct loss to the power of the service, which is in proportion to the number of earnest souls present. Oh that there may be no empty seats at the marriage supper, vacated through our unfaithfulness! 1 Samuel 20:19 "When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel. LXE 1 Samuel 20:19 And thou shalt stay three days, and watch an opportunity, and shalt come to thy place where thou mayest hide thyself in the day of thy business, and thou shalt wait by that ergab. KJV 1 Samuel 20:19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. NET 1 Samuel 20:19 On the third day you should go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself the day this all started. Stay near the stone Ezel. CSB 1 Samuel 20:19 The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. ESV 1 Samuel 20:19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. NIV 1 Samuel 20:19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. NLT 1 Samuel 20:19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile. NRS 1 Samuel 20:19 On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there. NJB 1 Samuel 20:19 The day after tomorrow your absence will be very marked, and you must go to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and stay beside that mound. NAB 1 Samuel 20:19 On the following day you will be missed all the more. Go to the spot where you hid on the other occasion and wait near the mound there. YLT 1 Samuel 20:19 and on the third day thou dost certainly come down, and hast come in unto the place where thou wast hidden in the day of the work, and hast remained near the stone Ezel. hide: 1Sa 20:5 19:2 1 Samuel 20 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries JONATHAN'S INSTRUCTIONS - RENDEZVOUS AT THE STONE EZEL When you have stayed for three days - Three days may have been the length of celebration of New Moon festival (we know they had at least two feast days because Saul became angry on the second one), but in any event it was the specific timing for the rendezvous. you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day (in the day of the business), and you shall remain by the stone Ezel - Ezel means separation or departure, both of which transpired after their final meeting (there would be one final meeting - 1Sa 23:16-18+) What is that eventful day? We cannot state with certainty. Ryrie suggests "Either a reference to 19:2 or to some unrecorded occasion when Saul schemed to kill David." Spurgeon "Thus be arranged how to let David know in case he was in danger. Love is thoughtful, love would keep its object out of harm’s way; therefore, as we love any, let us try to preserve them from sin, let us endeavor to warn them when temptation is near, that they may not fall by the hand of the enemy." Warren