Bible Strands
1 Samuel 20:28
Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jonathan addresses King Saul immediately after Saul questions David’s absence from the New Moon feast.
The words — נִשְׁאַל (nish.'Al) literally means “he asked for himself,” marking David’s formal petition for leave.
The thread — The same phrasing recurs in 1 Samuel 20:6, where Jonathan prepares Saul for David’s absence.
Why it lands — It demands a reader weigh the necessity of strategic mediation against the reality of royal suspicion.
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
And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth–lehem:
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 20:6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’