The big picture
An empty chair at a royal meal becomes the instrument by which David and Jonathan test what safety means now. Jonathan begins from trust in his access to Saul, while David insists the king may be hiding his plan precisely because he knows of their friendship. The two move from immediate danger to future obligation, renewing a covenant that must protect Jonathan's household even if David one day holds the power. The practical test is almost modest: David misses the new moon feast, Jonathan offers the agreed explanation, and Saul's response will reveal his intent. What follows is not subtle. Saul declares that David must die, tells Jonathan that David's life threatens Jonathan's kingdom, and then throws a javelin at the son whose future he claims to be defending. Jonathan no longer needs a report. The arrow signal tells David what the spear has told him. Their farewell joins grief to covenant, and the chapter ends with two friends bound before the LORD precisely as they are forced to go in opposite directions.
Central truth
As Saul turns David's success into a reason for murderous jealousy, Jonathan binds himself to David in covenant and protects the friend whose future threatens his own succession.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
1 Samuel 20:1: “And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that…”
Slow down at the turning point
1 Samuel 20:22: “But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.”
Keep this word trail visible
Jonathan, David, father, LORD, arrows, field
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
1 Samuel 18:1-5
A covenant of soul
Open with Jonathan: "the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David." Explain "knit" as bound together and "loved him as his own soul" as covenant loyalty, the language of a sworn bond. Then the covenant and the gifts: robe, garments, sword, bow, girdle. Explain that as the king's son Jonathan is giving David the signs of his own status. Readers have long seen in this an acknowledgment that David will rule, which Jonathan says plainly in 23:17. Teach this first because Jonathan's generosity frames everything Saul does in these chapters.
1 Samuel 18:6-16
Thousands and ten thousands
Read the women's song and Saul's reaction. Explain that the song is a poetic pairing, but Saul hears it as a ranking. "Saul eyed David from that day and forward" (18:9). Then the evil spirit, the javelin, and David's escapes. Point to the repeated reason: Saul "was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul" (18:12). Explain "behaved himself wisely" as acting with skill and prudence. Teach this step to show jealousy growing from one remark into fear and attempted murder.
1 Samuel 18:17-30
Marriage as a snare
Walk through the two marriage offers. Saul promises Merab, then gives her to another man. Michal loves David, and Saul sees a chance. Read Saul's own words about using his daughters as a trap. Mention the dowry only as Philistine dead, without detail. Note David's humility in 18:18 and 18:23. End with 18:28-29: Saul sees that the LORD is with David and that Michal loves him, and "Saul became David's enemy continually". Teach this to show how Saul uses people, even his children, to remove a rival.
1 Samuel 19:1-17
Jonathan's defence and Michal's window
Saul now speaks openly of killing David. Jonathan warns David and pleads with Saul from the facts; Saul swears an oath and briefly restores David. Then war, success, and another javelin. Michal helps David escape through a window and deceives her father's messengers with an image in the bed. Explain "image" as a household idol, which tells us something about Michal's household. Read Michal's excuse in 19:17 as her account to protect herself, not proof that David threatened her. Teach this step to show Saul's oaths failing against his intentions.
1 Samuel 19:18-24
Saul among the prophets again
David flees to Samuel at Ramah. Saul sends three groups of messengers, and each one prophesies when the Spirit of God comes on them. Then Saul goes himself, prophesies, strips off his garments and lies before Samuel all day and night. Explain that this restrains Saul from harming David, and that the proverb from 10:11 returns in a sadder setting. Keep the nakedness description plain and brief. Teach this to show God protecting David and humbling Saul, and do not read it as Saul's repentance.
1 Samuel 20:1-42
The new moon and the arrows
David asks Jonathan what he has done. Jonathan doubts, then agrees to the test of the new-moon feast. Explain the new moon as a monthly festival meal at the king's table. Walk through the plan, the covenant renewed with Jonathan's house, and the arrow signal. Then the feast: Saul's silence on the first day, his question on the second, and his outburst. Handle 20:30 by saying Saul insulted Jonathan's mother to shame him; do not read it out with explanation. End with the arrows, the tears, and 20:42. Teach the covenant as costly faithfulness.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Jonathan should have been loyal to his father instead of David."
Jonathan honours his father and speaks to him respectfully (19:4-5; 20:32). But Saul is trying to kill an innocent man, and Jonathan asks, "wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?" (19:5). Loyalty does not mean helping someone do evil. Jonathan stays at his father's side to the end (31:2) while protecting David. Teach learners that honouring parents and refusing to join their wrongdoing can both be faithful. Be gentle with anyone whose family loyalties are painful.
"Saul promised not to kill David, so David should have trusted him."
Saul swore "As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain" (19:6), and within a few verses he threw a javelin at David again (19:9-10). Promises must be tested against conduct. Teach learners that forgiveness and trust are not the same, and that people in danger are right to protect themselves even after an apology. This matters for anyone in the room living with someone who repeatedly promises to change and does not.
"David was just using Jonathan to get the throne."
The covenant is Jonathan's initiative (18:1-4), and David repeatedly speaks of himself humbly (18:18, 23; 20:1). At the parting "they kissed one another, and wept one with another" (20:41), and David later honours Jonathan's son (2 Samuel 9:1-7). The text presents a mutual covenant of love and loyalty sworn before the LORD. Teach it as one of the Bible's great friendships, and as a model of loving someone whose rise costs you.
Learning objectives
- Trace Saul's movement from suspicion to open attempts on David's life.
- Explain what Jonathan gives David when they make their covenant.
- Identify the cost of Jonathan's defense before his father.
- Distinguish Saul's public assurances from his subsequent actions.
- Explain the new-moon test and the arrow signal.
- Describe the lasting commitment in the friends' farewell.
Teacher preparation
- Read 17:55–58 and 18:1–5 together; connect the covenant to David's arrival in Saul's household.
- Outline the scenes across three chapters; select speeches rather than attempting every verse aloud.
- Explain that 'behaved himself wisely' describes David's conduct, not merely clever tactics, in 18:5, 14–15.
- Prepare the new-moon meal and arrow signal on a simple timeline; distinguish the signal from their later conversation.
- Handle Saul's sexualized insult in 20:30 without reenactment; never require learners to discuss unsafe family relationships.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Point to 18:1–4 and 20:14–17: Jonathan and David covenant together, with kindness extending to Jonathan's household.
Scripture-supported
Compare 19:4–7 with 19:9–11: Saul's oath does not prevent another attack; his assurances must be tested against conduct.
Strong inference
Infer from 20:30–34 that Jonathan's loyalty costs him royal advantage and personal safety; Saul explicitly links David's survival to Jonathan's lost kingdom.
Possible or traditional reading
Present Jonathan's gifts in 18:4 as sometimes read as symbolic surrender of succession; distinguish that interpretation from the explicit gift and covenant.
Limit
State that 19:17 reports Michal's explanation to Saul, not independent confirmation that David threatened her; 19:23–24 does not establish Saul's lasting repentance.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What does Jonathan give David before Saul begins counting the women's song as a threat?
What a good answer contains
Everything that marks him as the king's son and heir. "Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle" (18:4). This follows a covenant made "because he loved him as his own soul" (18:3). Then the women sing, "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands", and Saul asks, "what can he have more but the kingdom?" (18:7-8). A good answer sets Jonathan's giving against Saul's grasping. A weak answer treats the gift as a simple present between friends.
Show teacher guidance
Identify robe, garments, sword, bow, and girdle in 18:4; contrast this generosity with Saul's possessive reading of praise in 18:8.
2. What does Saul hope marriage will accomplish?
What a good answer contains
David's death at Philistine hands. Of Merab, "Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him" (18:17). Of Michal, "I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him" (18:21), and the dowry of a hundred Philistine dead is set because "Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines" (18:25). A good answer reads the stated purpose behind the public offer. Keep the dowry detail brief and non-graphic. A weak answer thinks Saul is honouring David, as his servants were told to say.
Show teacher guidance
Read 18:17, 21, 25: he intends the Philistines to kill David. Do not mistake the offer's public appearance for its stated purpose.
3. How does Jonathan defend David to Saul?
What a good answer contains
With facts. "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good" (19:4). Then he points to Goliath: "he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice" (19:5). He asks why Saul would "sin against innocent blood". A good answer sees an appeal to evidence, to justice and to God's work. A weak answer reduces it to Jonathan liking David.
Show teacher guidance
Use 19:4–5: David has served Saul, risked his life, and brought deliverance. Notice the appeal to evidence, not merely affection.
4. Why does Jonathan need the new-moon test?
What a good answer contains
Because Jonathan does not believe his father would hide a plan to kill David. "God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me" (20:2). David answers that Saul would hide it from Jonathan precisely because of their friendship, and "there is but a step between me and death" (20:3). The new-moon feast will test Saul's reaction to David's absence (20:5-7). A good answer sees Jonathan's trust in his father and David's realism. A weak answer misses that Jonathan needs proof.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 20:1–9: David reports mortal danger while Jonathan initially doubts Saul would conceal it; the meal exposes Saul's settled intention.
5. What finally convinces Jonathan that Saul intends to kill David?
What a good answer contains
Saul's rage and his javelin. When Jonathan defends David, Saul insults him and says, "as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom" (20:31). Jonathan asks, "Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?" (20:32). Then "Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David" (20:33). A good answer includes the spear thrown at Jonathan himself. A weak answer stops at the empty seat.
Show teacher guidance
Read 20:30–33, including the spear thrown at Jonathan; correct answers that stop with David missing dinner.
6. Why does the farewell mention their descendants?
What a good answer contains
Because their covenant reaches to their families. Jonathan had asked, "thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever" (20:15), and at the parting he says, "The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever" (20:42). A good answer sees a lasting covenant made "in the name of the LORD", which David will keep in 2 Samuel 9 with Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. A weak answer treats the farewell as a sad goodbye between two allies who happened to need each other.
Show teacher guidance
Read 20:42 alongside 20:14–17: the covenant reaches beyond immediate escape. Do not reduce the parting to a temporary arrangement between useful allies.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Compare Saul's arithmetic of praise with Jonathan's generosity; ask how a fictional colleague could celebrate another's achievement without treating it as theft.
Relationships and community
Examine a fictional assurance contradicted by repeated threats; distinguish reconciliation's hope from an obligation to remain within reach of harm.
Loyalty with a cost
Ask a group to identify how Jonathan protects David through speech, evidence, and action, rather than calling every agreeable friendship courageous.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Knit together
Read 18:1-5. Ask question one and explain the gifts.
Thousands and ten thousands
Read 18:6-16. Note how jealousy grows, verse by verse.
A snare
Read 18:17-29. Ask question two, keeping 18:25 brief.
Jonathan speaks up
Read 19:1-12. Ask question three and use confusions one and two.
The new moon
Read 20:1-7 and 20:24-42. Take questions four, five and six and confusion three.
Handout
Read the key verse together and give out the handout. Pray for faithful friends.
90 minutes
True friends
Ask what makes a friend loyal when it costs them something. Note answers, then read 18:1-4.
Jonathan's gifts
Read 18:1-5. Take question one and look ahead to 23:17.
Jealousy
Read 18:6-16. Discuss how Saul's fear grows and why, using 18:12.
Daughters and a trap
Read 18:17-30. Take question two, keeping the dowry brief.
Jonathan's defence
Read 19:1-17. Take question three and confusions one and two.
At Naioth
Read 19:18-24 and connect it to 10:11-12.
The feast and the javelin
Read 20:1-34, summarising 20:30 without reading the insult aloud. Take questions four and five.
The arrows and the parting
Read 20:35-42 and 2 Samuel 9:1. Take question six and confusion three.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Tell how Jonathan gave David his coat, his sword and his bow as a sign of friendship, and let two children act it out with a cloak and a toy bow. Show three arrows and play the arrow signal game in the room. Keep Saul's anger simple: he was jealous and wanted to hurt David, and Jonathan helped David stay safe. Leave out the dowry and the insult in 20:30.
Youth
Talk about jealousy and friendship. Read 18:7-9 and ask how one comparison can poison a relationship. Then follow Jonathan's loyalty, especially 19:4-5 and 20:30-34. Ask what it costs to stand up for a friend. Some may live with family conflict or with someone whose promises fail; let 19:6-10 speak carefully and offer private conversation.
Adults
Discuss covenant friendship, the cost of Jonathan's loyalty, and Saul's use of family members as tools. Give time to the difference between forgiving someone and trusting their promises. Handle 20:30 soberly and without reenactment. Some adults are in unsafe family relationships; make clear that protecting oneself is not disloyalty, and point to help where needed.
One to one
Read 20:1-17 together and ask who has been a Jonathan to them, and to whom they could be one. If they are in a relationship marked by broken promises, read 19:6-10 and talk about safety and wise trust. Pray together for faithful friendships and for courage to speak up for someone who is being treated unjustly.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
1 Samuel 18:1–20:42
The passage in brief
After David defeats Goliath, Jonathan, Saul's son, makes a covenant of friendship with him and gives him his robe and weapons. The women sing that David has slain ten thousands, and Saul becomes jealous and afraid, because the LORD is with David. Saul throws a javelin at David and tries to have the Philistines kill him. Jonathan defends David to his father. When Saul's anger is proved at the new moon feast, Jonathan warns David with arrows in a field, and the two friends part in tears, promising loyalty forever.
A verse to keep
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
1 Samuel 18:1 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did Jonathan give David, and why (18:3-4)?
Why did Saul become afraid of David (18:12, 28-29)?
What did Jonathan and David promise each other when they parted (20:42)?
This week
Do one concrete thing this week to stand by a friend, even if it costs you something.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
