And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever — Jonathan's *va'yomer Yehonatan le'David lechi b'shalom*, go in peace, releases David from hiding, from danger, into the world. The *al asher nishbanu* (forasmuch as we have sworn) invokes their covenant, the oath that transcends the immediate crisis. The final phrase—*v'YHWH yihiye beinenu u'bein zaraenu adolam*, the LORD be between us and our descendants forever—extends the covenant beyond the two friends into an eternal future, a dynastical bond that will encompass generations. Jonathan recognizes David's destined kingship and swears loyalty to David's seed, a sacrifice of his own dynastic hopes for the sake of covenant loyalty.

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