And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death — Saul's *va'yishma Shaul b'qol Yehonatan*, Saul hearkened, represents a temporary victory for Jonathan's mediation, the father yielding to the son's passionate advocacy. Saul's oath (*va'yishaba Shaul chai YHWH ki lo yumit*), swearing by the living God, has the weight of covenantal language; he binds himself before God to preserve David's life. Yet the future will show that Saul's oath, like his character, is unstable, subject to the surges of the *ruach ra'a*.

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