1 Samuel 23:16
New International Version
And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.

New Living Translation
Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.

English Standard Version
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.

Berean Standard Bible
And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

King James Bible
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

New King James Version
Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

New American Standard Bible
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, set out and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

NASB 1995
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

NASB 1977
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God.

Amplified Bible
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went [into the woods] to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

Christian Standard Bible
Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God,

American Standard Version
And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Jonathan, son of Shaul, arose and he went on to David into the forest and strengthened his hands in God

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Jonathan son of Saul rose, and went to David to Caene, and strengthened his hands in the Lord.

Contemporary English Version
But Jonathan went to see David, and God helped him encourage David.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Jonathan the son of Saul arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:

English Revised Version
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Saul's son Jonathan came to David at Horesh. He strengthened David's [faith] in the LORD.

Good News Translation
Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection,

International Standard Version
Saul's son Jonathan got up and went to David at Horesh, and he encouraged him to trust in God.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

Literal Standard Version
And Jonathan son of Saul rises, and goes to David [in the] forest, and strengthens his hand in God,

Majority Standard Bible
And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

New American Bible
Then Saul’s son, Jonathan, came down to David at Horesh and encouraged him in the LORD.

NET Bible
Then Jonathan son of Saul left and went to David at Horesh. He encouraged him through God.

New Revised Standard Version
Saul’s son Jonathan set out and came to David at Horesh; there he strengthened his hand through the LORD.

New Heart English Bible
Jonathan, Saul�s son, set out and came to David at Horesh and encouraged him in the LORD.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

World English Bible
Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David into the woods, and strengthened his hand in God.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jonathan son of Saul riseth, and goeth unto David to the forest, and strengtheneth his hand in God,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Saul Pursues David
15While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. 16And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God, 17saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”…

Cross References
1 Samuel 23:15
While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

1 Samuel 30:6
And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

Nehemiah 2:18
I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. "Let us start rebuilding," they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.


Treasury of Scripture

And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

strengthened

Deuteronomy 3:28
But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

Nehemiah 2:18
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Job 4:3,4
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands…

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David Encouraged Hand Hands Helped Horesh Jonathan Riseth Rose Saul Saul's Strength Strengthened Strengtheneth Strong Wood
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David Encouraged Hand Hands Helped Horesh Jonathan Riseth Rose Saul Saul's Strength Strengthened Strengtheneth Strong Wood
1 Samuel 23
1. David, enquiring of the Lord by Abiathar, rescues Keilah
7. God showing him the coming of Saul, and the treachery of the Keilites,
13. he escapes from Keilah
14. In Ziph Jonathan comes and comforts him
19. The Ziphites discover him to Saul
25. At Maon he is rescued from Saul by the invasion of the Philistines
29. He dwells at En Gedi














(16) And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David.--Some have wished to show that the account of the last interview between the friends really belongs to the secret meeting between David and Jonathan recounted in 1 Samuel 20, and that it has got transposed; but such a view is quite untenable, for the narrative here is circumstantial, and even mentions the scene of the interview--"the wood," or, less probable, the town named "Horesh." The expression "strengthened his hand in God" is added by the narrator to show how sorely tried was the king of the future at this juncture, notwithstanding that so many gallant spirits rallied round him. The determined and relentless hostility of the king of the land, his sovereign, and once his friend--the apparent hopelessness of his struggle--the cruel ingratitude of whole bodies of his fellow countrymen, such as the men of Ziph--his homeless, outlawed condition: all these things naturally weighed upon the nervous and enthusiastic temperament of David, which was soon depressed. His sad forebodings in his desolateness and loneliness at this time are breathed forth in not a few of the Psalms which tradition ascribes to him. At such a juncture the warm sympathy, the steady onlook to a sunnier future of one like Jonathan was a real help to David. Jonathan was far-sighted enough when David's fortunes were at their lowest ebb to look confidently forward to a time when all these thick dark clouds of trouble should have passed away. Jonathan, we know (1Samuel 20:14-15) possessed sufficient confidence in David's future fortune even to ask the hunted exile to remember him, the prince, with kindness when he should have come into his kingdom. Such warm sympathy, such glowing trustful words, we may well imagine, raised the spirits of the outlaw, and gave him new courage to face the grave difficulties of his dangerous position.

Verses 16-18. - Jonathan... went to David into the wood. To Horesh, as in ver. 15. This visit suggests two things: the first, that, after the scene in 1 Samuel 22:8, Saul was estranged from his son, and treated him harshly, regarding him as a fellow conspirator with David; the second, that there was a growing conviction, not only in Jonathan's mind, but generally, that Jehovah had transferred the kingdom from Saul to David, and that consequently David's final success was inevitable. He strengthened his (David's) hand in God. Such a visit, and the expression of Jonathan's strong conviction that Jehovah was with David, must necessarily have had a powerful moral effect upon his mind. Under such trying circumstances David must often have been tempted to despair; but the assurance of Jonathan's unbroken love for him, and the knowledge that he and many more regarded him as chosen by God to be Israel's king, would revive his courage and make him content to bear the hardships of his present lot. I shall be next unto thee. Had he not been killed in Mount Gilboa, it seems that, unlike Ishbosheth, Jonathan would have resigned all claim to the crown. But the feeling must often have distressed David, that the kingdom could become his only by dispossessing his true and unselfish friend. Nor would such a regret be altogether removed by Jonathan's ready acquiescence in it as God's will, though, as next to him, and beloved as he deserved, his position as the king's friend would have been a not unenviable one. Still, to be second where by right of inheritance he should have been first would have been a very trying lot, and it was better for Jonathan that he should die a soldier's death, even granting that he would have felt a lively joy in David's success and the glory of his empire. But their love was to be exposed to no vicissitudes, and the two friends parted never to meet again - David remaining at Horesh, while Jonathan returned to his home at Gibeah.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And
וַיָּ֙קָם֙ (way·yā·qām)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6965: To arise, stand up, stand

Saul’s
שָׁא֔וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

son
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

Jonathan
יְהוֹנָתָ֣ן (yə·hō·w·nā·ṯān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3083: Jonathan -- 'the LORD has given', the name of a number of Israelites

came
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ (way·yê·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

David
דָּוִ֖ד (dā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

in Horesh
חֹ֑רְשָׁה (ḥō·rə·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2793: Horesh -- a forest

and strengthened
וַיְחַזֵּ֥ק (way·ḥaz·zêq)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2388: To fasten upon, to seize, be strong, obstinate, to bind, restrain, conquer

his hand
יָד֖וֹ (yā·ḏōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

in God,
בֵּאלֹהִֽים׃ (bê·lō·hîm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT History: 1 Samuel 23:16 Jonathan Saul's son arose and went (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 23:15
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