Commentary for I Samuel 20:5
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֜ד אֶל־יְהוֹנָתָ֗ן הִֽנֵּה־חֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ מָחָ֔ר וְאָנֹכִ֛י יָשֹׁב־אֵשֵׁ֥ב עִם־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לֶאֱכ֑וֹל וְשִׁלַּחְתַּ֙נִי֙ וְנִסְתַּרְתִּ֣י בַשָּׂדֶ֔ה עַ֖ד הָעֶ֥רֶב הַשְּׁלִשִֽׁית׃
And David said unto Jonathan: ‘Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, when I should sit with the king to eat; so let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
Rashi on I Samuel
Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon. The renewal of the moon.2From the word חָדָשׁ [=new]. He could not state that tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh, because Rosh Chodesh could only be declared by בֵּית דִין and the actual day of Rosh Chodesh is unknown until it is sanctified by בֵּית דִין. And of all those who eat at the king's table, no one declines from coming to the repast on the festive day.3The New Moon [=Rosh Chodesh] was celebrated as a festive day. See II Melachim 4:23 and Hosheia 2:13.
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Rashi on I Samuel
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.'
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Rashi on I Samuel
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.
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