And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
The verse belongs to the covenant that united Jonathan and David as brethren after the slaying of Goliath, when Jonathan's soul was knit with David's soul and he loved him as his own soul. Their sacred bond was God's doing. The covenant was sworn by both men in the name of the LORD. In the verse Jonathan asks David to show him the LORD's kindness while he lives so that he will not die, to keep showing him the Lord's covenant kindness and spare his life.
The covenant bound David and Jonathan themselves and bound their seed forever, with the LORD set between them and between their descendants forever, so the covenant kindness was pledged also to Jonathan's family. As part of the covenant Jonathan would help preserve David's life when Saul sought to kill him. David was innocent and had done nothing to deserve death, yet stood but a step from death because of Saul's ungovernable, murderous anger, which Jonathan's intercession could not turn away.
The covenant was reaffirmed in sorrow at their parting, after they wept together, when Jonathan sent David away in peace to flee as a fugitive while Jonathan returned to face Saul. David later honored the covenant by restoring Saul's property to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth and welcoming him as a regular guest at the royal table.
The verse belongs to the covenant that united Jonathan and David as brethren after the slaying of Goliath, when Jonathan's soul was knit with David's soul and he loved him as his own soul. Their sacred bond was God's doing. The covenant was sworn by both men in the name of the LORD. In the verse Jonathan asks David to show him the LORD's kindness while he lives so that he will not die, to keep showing him the Lord's covenant kindness and spare his life.
The covenant bound David and Jonathan themselves and bound their seed forever, with the LORD set between them and between their descendants forever, so the covenant kindness was pledged also to Jonathan's family. As part of the covenant Jonathan would help preserve David's life when Saul sought to kill him. David was innocent and had done nothing to deserve death, yet stood but a step from death because of Saul's ungovernable, murderous anger, which Jonathan's intercession could not turn away.
The covenant was reaffirmed in sorrow at their parting, after they wept together, when Jonathan sent David away in peace to flee as a fugitive while Jonathan returned to face Saul. David later honored the covenant by restoring Saul's property to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth and welcoming him as a regular guest at the royal table.