1 Samuel 20:30

1Sa 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious [woman], do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?

Ver. 30. Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman.] Or, O thou son of perverse rebellion. He calleth good Jonathan all that is naught, and holdeth the worst word in his belly, as they say, too good for him. Nihil tam volucre quam maledictum, saith Cicero, nihil facilius emittitur. If passionate people be but crossed of their wills, oh the tragedies, the blusters, the thunder cracks of fierce and furious language that they presently vent and utter, railing with as much bitterness as if they went as far as hell for every word that comes from them! How basely doth this tyrant revile both his wife as perverse and rebellious, who perhaps was neither; and his son as a bastard, and so like the mother, that he was the worse again!

And unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness.] As if she were a harlot, and thou illegitimate; and so not fit to inherit the kingdom.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:30 You stupid son of a whore! This epithet was as strong and insulting in Hebrew as it is in English. • shaming yourself: Saul was interested in the legacy of his own dynasty. He viewed David’s actions as ultimately directed against Jonathan, the hereditary successor. To Saul, Jonathan was stupidly hurting and shaming himself by supporting David.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thou art ever contrary unto me as thy mother is.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman--This is a striking Oriental form of abuse. Saul was not angry with his wife; it was the son alone, upon whom he meant, by this style of address, to discharge his resentment. The principle on which it is founded seems to be, that to a genuine filial instinct it is a more inexpiable offense to hear the name or character of a parent traduced, than any personal reproach. This was, undoubtedly, one cause of "the fierce anger" in which the high-minded prince left the table without tasting a morsel.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 30. Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman] This clause is variously translated and understood. The Hebrew might be translated, Son of an unjust rebellion; that is, "Thou art a rebel against thy own father." The Vulgate, Fili mulieris virum ultro rapientis; "Son of the woman who, of her own accord, forces the man." The Septuagint is equally curious, Υἱε κορασιων αυτομολουντων; "Son of the damsels who came of their own accord." Were these the meaning of the Hebrew, then the bitter reflection must refer to some secret transaction between Saul and Jonathan's mother; which certainly reflects more dishonour on himself than on his brave son. Most sarcasms bear as hard upon the speaker, as they do on him against whom they are spoken. Abusive language always argues a mean, weak, and malevolent heart.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(30) Saul’s anger was kindled.—As David expected, his absence kindled into a flame the anger of Saul. Probably he had determined at that very feast, surrounded by his own devoted friends and members of his family, to carry out his evil designs against David’s life.

Murder was, probably enough, one of the incidents arranged for at that banquet, but the absence of the intended victim marred the plot; besides which, the king, too, with the cunning which the partially insane so often display, saw through the veil of the specious excuse that David too clearly suspected his wicked design, and purposely stayed away; nay, more, that his own son Jonathan, the heir of his kingdom, suspected him, and openly sympathised with his friend David, for whose pointed absence he thus publicly apologised.

Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman.—These words, spoken in public, in any sense were a bitter insult to the prince. Another and better rendering has, however, been suggested. The word naãvath, rendered perverse, instead of being a feminine adjective, is probably an abstract noun. The translation would then run, “Thou son of perversity of rebellion,” a common Hebraism for “a man of perverse and refractory nature;” so Clericus, Lange, and Payne Smith. This avoids the extreme improbability that Saul insulted his own wife, Jonathan’s mother, which, as has been observed, contradicts the Hebrew family spirit.

The confusion of thy mother’s nakedness.—This is far from insulting Jonathan’s mother; it is simply an Oriental mode of saying, “she will feel ashamed at having brought such a son into the world.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30. Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman] “To any Oriental, nothing is so grievously insulting as a reproach cast upon his mother.… The mother herself is not held to be affronted in such cases, but the son who hears such words applied to her is insulted, and meant to be insulted, beyond expiation.” Kitto, Bible Illustr. The words might also be rendered, “thou son of perverse rebellion,” i.e. according to a common Heb. idiom (cp. 1Sa_1:16), “thou perverse rebel.”

that thou hast chosen] The Sept. reads, “that thou consortest with.”

to thine own confusion, &c.] Thy unfilial conduct disgraces both thyself and the mother who bare thee.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan,.... For giving David leave to go, and for excusing him in this manner:

and he said unto him, thou son of the perverse and rebellious woman; most of the Jewish commentators supply it as we do, but the supplement of woman may as well be left out, and be read, "thou son of perverse rebellion" (f); thou perverse and rebellious wretch, perverse in thy temper, and rebellious in thy conduct; for the design of the expression is not to reproach his mother, for which there seems no provocation, but Jonathan only; and the next clause confirms it, which expresses a concern for his mother's honour and credit; the Targum is,"an obstinate son, whose rebellion is hard,''or intolerable; according to which, Abarbinel says, it may refer to David:

do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? The above writer observes, that he does not say to his own confusion, because David would not reign in his lifetime, only after his death, but to the shame of Jonathan and his mother; to Jonathan's shame, who would be reckoned by men an arrant fool, to be so friendly to a rival, and who in all probability would jostle him out of the throne; and what would men say of him? that either he was not fit to reign, or had no right to the throne, that a son-in-law took place before him; and that his mother had played the whore, and he was no son of Saul, having nothing of his genius, temper, and disposition in him, as appeared by loving such his father hated; and besides, his mother would not have the honour she expected, to be the mother of a king.

(f) "fili perversae rebellionis", Pagninus, Montanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The greatest insult and most stinging reproach that can be cast upon an Oriental is to reproach his parents or ancestors (see Job 30:8). Saul means to intimate that Jonathan was stubborn from his mother’s womb.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A man. Hebrew, "of an unjust revolt." Thou hast taken part against thy father. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "son of the perverse rebellious woman." Septuagint, "of the fugitive, (Haydock) or of those girls who go in quest of men." We must not suppose that Jonathan’s mother was really of this description. Saul, in rage, wishes to affront his son, (Calmet) as some frantic parents call their children bastards, not reflecting that the reproach would fall upon themselves. --- Isai, as he styles him out of contempt, ver. 27. --- Mother. Hebrew, &c., "of thy mother’s nakedness or shame." (Menochius) --- Instead of a crown, thou must expect ot be reduced to a private station, to the disgrace of my family. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman; this base temper of thine thou hast not from me, but from thy mother; of whose perverseness I have had so much experience. Or,

thou son of perverse rebellion, i.e. thou perverse and rebellious son. Or, thou most perverse rebel; for in the Hebrew language, the word

son thus used, is an aggravation of a man’s crime, and notes one who is extraordinarily addicted to it. Thus he calls him, because he hid and preserved that man whom the king had commanded to be brought forth, that he might be slain.

To thine own confusion; for it will be a horrible shame and reproach unto thee, that David by his crafty insinuations, and fair pretences, should cheat thee of thy kingdom. To the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness; men will conclude, that thy mother was a whore, and thou a bastard; and that thou hast no royal blood in thy veins, that canst so tamely give up thy crown to so contemptible a person.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

30. Son of the perverse rebellious woman — On this passage the versions vary, but ours conveys the meaning of the Hebrew. “There are some traces of this form of abuse, in principle, among the least refined portion of our own population; but in the East no man is too high or too refined to be above it. Even a son will abuse his brother by casting contumely upon his mother, regardless of the fact that she is also his own mother, and whom, as such, he venerates and loves. The mother herself is not held to be affronted in such cases, but the son who hears such words applied to her is insulted, and is meant to be insulted, beyond expiation.” — Kitto.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 30, 31. Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman. Literally, "thou son of one perverse in rebellion." In the East it is the greatest possible insult to a man to call his mother names; but the word rendered perverse, instead of being a feminine adjective, is probably an abstract noun, and "son of perversity of rebellion" would mean one who was thoroughly perverse in his resistance to his father"s will. Unto the confusion of thy mother"s nakedness. Ie. thy mother will feel ashamed and disgraced at having borne such a son. He shall surely die. Hebrew, "he is a son of death," son, being constantly used in Hebrew to express qualities, or, as here, the fate to which a man is destined.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy confusion - Men will conclude that thou hast no royal blood in thy veins, that canst so tamely give up thy crown to so contemptible a person.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Saul's anger burned against Jonathan

Here "anger burned" is a metonym that refers to becoming very angry. AT: "Saul became very angry with Jonathan" (See: Metonymy)

You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!

This is an idiom. Saul uses this phrase as a harsh rebuke to Jonathan and his concern for David. AT: "You stupid son of a prostitute" or "You stupid traitor" (See: Idiom)

Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse ... mother's nakedness?

Saul uses this question to emphasize that he knows that Jonathan and David are friends. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse ... mother's nakedness." (See: Rhetorical Question)

to the shame of your mother's nakedness

Here "mother's nakedness" is an idiom that refers to the mother who gave birth to you. AT: "to the shame of your mother who gave birth to you" (See: Idiom)

neither you nor your kingdom will be established

This can be stated in active form. AT: "you will not become king and will not establish your kingdom" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

anger

Jonathan

perverse

rebel

shame

life

earth

kingdom

die

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

A straying woman, deserving of punishment.נָע is an expression of straying and wandering, a gadding woman. Just as you have זַעֲוָה from זָע, similarly you have נַעֲוָה from נָע, and the 'ת' is for construct state, for it is connected to הַמַּרְדּוּת.

Deserving of punishment. Who deserves to be chastised and disciplined. Another explanation is that when the men of Binyomin grabbed the girls of Shiloh, who came out to dance in the vineyards, Shaul was bashful, and did not want to grab, until she herself came, behaving insolently, and pursued him.

Straying. Because of the vineyards. And that is the winepress, as in 'purge the winepress' [and] 'His winepresses will drip with wine,' in the Targum's translation of 'His eyes are red [from wine].'

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.