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Selected Verse: 1 Samuel 20:3 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
1Sa 20:3	King James	And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And David sware moreover - Rather, "yet again." He met Jonathan's denial by repeating his statement and confirming it with an oath.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And David sware moreover - Rather, "yet again." He met Jonathan's denial by repeating his statement and confirming it with an oath.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
David sware - The matter being of great moment, and Jonathan doubting the truth of it, he confirms his word with an oath, which follows in the end of the verse. Only he interposeth a reason why Saul concealed it from Jonathan.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

David sware - The matter being of great moment, and Jonathan doubting the truth of it, he confirms his word with an oath, which follows in the end of the verse. Only he interposeth a reason why Saul concealed it from Jonathan.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
There is but a step between me and death - My life is in the most imminent danger. Your father has, most assuredly, determined to destroy me. The same figure used here, there is but a step between me and death, may be found in Juvenal, who, satirizing those who risk their lives for the sake of gain in perilous voyages, speaks thus: - I nune et ventis animam committe, dolato Confisus ligno, digitis a morte remotus Quatuor aut septem, si sit latissima teda. Sat. xii., ver. 57. "Go now, and commit thy life to the winds, trusting to a hewn plank, four or seven fingers thick, if the beam out of which it has been cut have been large enough."

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

There is but a step between me and death - My life is in the most imminent danger. Your father has, most assuredly, determined to destroy me.

The same figure used here, there is but a step between me and death, may be found in Juvenal, who, satirizing those who risk their lives for the sake of gain in perilous voyages, speaks thus: -

I nune et ventis animam committe, dolato

Confisus ligno, digitis a morte remotus

Quatuor aut septem, si sit latissima teda.

Sat. xii., ver. 57.

"Go now, and commit thy life to the winds,

trusting to a hewn plank, four or seven fingers thick,

if the beam out of which it has been cut have been large enough."

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