Bible Strands
1 Samuel 20:10
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks to Jonathan immediately after Jonathan’s pledge of loyalty, asking who will deliver a warning if Saul reacts with hostility. This exchange occurs during their private conversation just before they depart for the field.
The words — The Hebrew verb יַגִּיד (ya.Gid) literally means “will he tell” and frames David’s practical concern about receiving a report. The interrogative מַה (mah) translates to “what?” and specifies that David needs to know the exact nature of Saul’s potential rebuke.
The thread — The motif of harsh speech appears in Genesis 42:7 and 42:30, where Joseph’s brothers recount the Egyptian ruler’s severe questioning, and in 1 Samuel 20:30, where Saul verbally assaults Jonathan. These references establish a biblical pattern of royal authority using sharp or accusatory language.
Why it lands — The text records David’s shift from receiving reassurance to planning for contingency. It asks a reader to acknowledge the necessity of practical vigilance and reliable communication when navigating unpredictable political danger.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
Cross-references
- Genesis 42:7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
- Genesis 42:30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
- 1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?
- 1 Samuel 25:10 But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
- 1 Samuel 25:14 Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.
- 1 Samuel 25:17 Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
- 1 Kings 12:13 And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders
- Proverbs 18:23 The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.