It happened on the next day after the new moon, [which was] the second [day], that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why doesn't the son of Jesse come to meat, neither yesterday, nor today?
Jonathan’s ambitions were not the same as Saul’s. He wanted God’s plans to succeed more than he wanted to become Israel’s king. Therefore he interceded for David again (1 Samuel 20:32; cf. 1 Samuel 19:4). Saul, exasperated by what he interpreted as Jonathan’s selfless folly, tried to execute David’s advocate as he had formerly tried to kill David himself (1 Samuel 20:33; cf. 1 Samuel 18:11; 1 Samuel 19:10). This brush with death finally convinced Jonathan that David had been right about Saul’s intentions after all (cf. 1 Samuel 20:3). It also convinced him to get out of the king’s presence. Jonathan departed in hot anger because of Saul’s attitude toward David and because of Saul’s attitude toward himself. Saul had said David would not allow Jonathan to rule, but Saul himself almost prevented that from happening by attacking the crown prince. Jonathan’s departure from Saul’s table symbolized his departure from his father’s fellowship.