God do so to the ENEMIES of David and more also

[tonychanyt]

ESV, 1 Samuel 20:

12 Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you?"

Jonathan swore to David to be truthful to him.

16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies [H341].”

God would punish David's enemies for breaking the covenant. The penalty for breaking the oath fell on the oath maker.

17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

In turn, David also swore.

A couple of years later, David protected the properties of Nabal in Paran in 1 Samuel 25:

21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow [Nabal] has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

Then David swore:

22 God do so to the enemies [H341] of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

Ellicott explained:

If God’s anger for the broken vow visited even David’s enemies, as distantly connected with him, how much more the guilty oath breaker himself?

Geneva Study Bible:

Meaning by this proverb that he would destroy both small and great.

It was idiomatic. David swore: If I do not kill Nabal and all his men, may god punish me and my enemies.

LXX omitted the word "enemies".

Berean Standard Bible:

May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

BSB and other translations mentioned the oath breaker only to simplify the idiom. This formula for swearing indicated how serious David swore on this one.

As it turned out, Nabal's wise wife interceded and apologized to David. David accepted her offer and did not kill anyone.

Did David break his oath without receiving the penalty?

David swore: If I do not kill Nabal and all his men, may god punish me and my enemies.

God did not punish David for not killing Nabal. However, God did kill David's enemy, Nabal.

38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

In this case, God used Nabal's wife to override David's oath. Doing David a favor, God would kill Nabal himself.