Rashi on the Former Prophets

There is but a step. With one step I left from being before him, and he drove the spear into the wall. With that step, I was saved from death.

Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon. The renewal of the moon. And of all those who eat at the king's table, no one declines from coming to the repast on the festive day.
And I usually sit with the king to eat. This is the present tense [meaning] 'and I am accustomed to sit with the king regularly, to eat beside him.'
Let me leave. From now, and I will hide until the evening of the third day, and I will not be with the people eating, and my seat will be empty; the king will wonder about me either tomorrow or the following day.

Asked. He asked me for permission.
An annual feast-offering. From year to year at this time.

If he says thus, 'Good'. I.e., he is not angry.
It is well for your servant. He has no intention to kill me.
But if he gets very angry. This is because he wants me to be accessible so that he can kill me.
He has decided upon evil. The conclusion is, that he has an evil thought concerning me.

Be kind. To let me go.

Far be it from you. To suspect me thus, that I know he has decided upon evil, and not to tell you.

Who will tell me. In the place where I will hide.

Adonoy the God of Yisroel. This is an expression of oath.
On the third day. Of the following day. That means the third day at this time, for tomorrow is the new moon, and tomorrow my father might not wonder; but he will wonder on the third day.

So may Adonoy do to Yonoson. The Holy One, Blessed is He, when I question my father, and find that he is favorable toward you, if I do not [send word] through a messenger and reveal to you, for good I am able to reveal. But if it pleases my father to do evil to you, that I will not reveal [by messenger], lest my father find out your whereabouts, but I will personally reveal it to you.

I will not [ask of you] if I still be alive. An expression of request, as in and if only [וָלאׁ] it will be given to your bondsman.' It is not removed from its usual meaning, 'and will you not do with me good while I am still alive, and do with me the kindness of Adonoy before I die?' And what is the kindness? That you will not discontinue your kindness with my household. Regarding this, you will make a covenant with me in my lifetime.

Not even when Adonoy cuts off. And also, you will not remove your kindness from them even when retribution befalls my father's house, for I know that God will cut off your enemies.

May Adonoy exact punishment. Of this covenant.
From Dovid's enemies. Scripture euphemized. Its real meaning is that the The Holy One, Blessed is He, demanded the punishment of the transgression from Dovid. When he transgressed the covenant, and said to Mefiboshes, "You and Tziva shall divide the field," a bas kol came forth, and said, 'Rechavam and Yorovom shall divide the kingdom.' And so did Targum Yonoson render, 'and Adonoy took retribution from Dovid's enemies.'

Tomorrow is the New Moon. And it is customary for all those who eat at the king's table to come on the festive day to the table.
And you will be missed. My father will miss you, and ask where you are. Because your seat will be empty. For your seat in which you sit, will be empty, and so did Targum Yonoson render, 'and you will be sought, for your seat will be vacant.'
And you will be missed. An expression of remembering.
Will be empty. An expression of missing.

For three days. You shall triple the days, and then you should go down very much, i.e., when the third day arrives, you should go down into a secret place, and hide very well, because they will seek you then. And you shall come to this secret place, where you are hiding today, which is a work day. And similarly Targum Yonoson renders, on a week day, for he hid on that day, as it is stated, 'and Dovid hid in the field,' and immediately, 'it was the New Moon' on the next day.
The marker stone. A stone which was a landmark for travelers.
The marker for those who travel. And similarly Targum Yonoson renders אֶבֶן אָתָא, 'the stone [that served as] a sign.'

I will shoot in that direction. This is not a dotted ה׳. Thus צִדָּה is interpreted like לַצַּד [to a side]. Every word which requires a 'ל' as a prefix, Scripture puts a 'ה' as a suffix, meaning, 'at the side of that stone, I will shoot arrows to a target' so that the youth will not understand, and this sign will be for you to divine whether you need to run away.

Behold, I will then send… And it is customary for the one who is looking for a shot arrow to go to the place where he sees the arrow flying, but he cannot calculate exactly; sometimes he searches for it, and the arrow is beyond him, and sometimes he goes beyond the arrow and searches for it, and you shall divine with this [sign].
If I say to the lad…take [the arrows] and come. You should emerge from your hiding place, and take it, and come to me, for you have nothing to fear, for it is well with you. The Holy One, Blessed is He, desires that you be here, and do not fear, even if I have heard evil from [my] father.

But, if I say thus…then go for Adonoy has sent you away. The Holy One, Blessed is He, tells you to run away and escape.

But as for the matter of which we have spoken. The covenant which we made together.
Behold, Adonoy is [witness] between me and you. A witness concerning that matter.

On the seat against the wall. At the head of the couch, next to the wall.
Yonoson rose. He stood up from his place, because it is not proper for a son to recline beside his father; their custom was to eat while reclining on couches, and Dovid would recline between Yonoson and Shaul. Now that Dovid did not come, Yonoson did not recline until Avneir sat down beside Shaul, and afterwards, Yonoson sat beside Avneir. And if you say that he did not sit as all, Scripture states, 'And Yonoson rose from the table,' implying that he had been sitting.

Something happened. He has experienced [a discharge of] semen.
He must be impure. And he has not yet immersed himself for his [discharge of] semen, for had he immersed himself for his [discharge of] semen, he would not have to wait for sunset [to eat] ordinary food.
For he is not ritually pure. This [clause] gives reason for the matter, because he is not pure, he, therefore, did not come, so that he would not contaminate the feast.

The day after the New Moon. The day following the renewal of the moon.
The second [day]. The second day of the month.

And he, my brother, summoned me. The eldest of the household, summoned me that I be here; and he is my brother Eliav.
Let me hurry away. Esmucier in O.F. I shall go away for a day and come [back].

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].'

He was saddened over Dovid. Concerning Dovid.
Because his father had humiliated him. Concerning Dovid.

For the meeting with Dovid. At the time which Dovid had set for him.

Beyond him. The arrow went beyond the lad.

From near the southern side. [Targum renders,] 'from the side of the landmark stone which was toward the south.'
Until Dovid exceeded. I.e., he cried more.

Go to peace. And the oath which we have sworn, may ה׳ be its witness forever.