Bible Strands
1 Samuel 20:41
When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — After Jonathan’s messenger departs with the king’s equipment, David rises from the south side of the stone and bows before embracing and weeping with Jonathan.
The words — The Hebrew קָם (kam) means “he arose,” and לְאַפָּיו (le’appāyw) literally translates to “to his face,” describing David’s prostration.
The thread — The text records the kiss and shared weeping that parallels Jacob’s reunion with Rachel in Genesis 29:11 and Laban’s embrace of Jacob in Genesis 29:13, while reinforcing the covenant sworn in 1 Samuel 18:3.
Why it lands — The narrative presents David’s intensified mourning and physical submission as a response to imminent separation, requiring the reader to acknowledge grief as a concrete reaction to disrupted fellowship rather than a rhetorical flourish.
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 as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
Cross-references
- Genesis 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
- 1 Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.
- Genesis 29:13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, where Jacob told him all that had happened.
- Genesis 43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.
- Genesis 45:15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.
- 1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- 1 Samuel 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.
- 2 Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
- 2 Samuel 9:6 And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.
- 2 Samuel 19:39 So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned home.