David swore moreover, and said, Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, Don't let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
Jonathan refused to kill David but promised to tell him if Saul responded angrily as David predicted he would (1 Samuel 20:9). Jonathan then suggested a plan by which he could communicate with David without revealing David’s location (1 Samuel 20:10-11).