And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow [is] the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third [day] at even.
Ver. 5. Behold, tomorrow is the new moon.] The first day of the month - the Hebrews reckoned their months by the moon - the Calends, which was a kind of a holy day, not only among the Jews, but the Greeks and Romans also, a in testimony of thankfulness for their time, which is the Lord's: according to that of David, "The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun." Psa 74:16
Let me go, that I may hide myself] From the fury of thy father, whom I have little reason to trust, though I saw him prophesying so lately at Naioth. Vulpes pilum murat, non naturam. Lupus venit fremens, redit tremens: lupus est tamen, et fremens et tremens, b So are hypocrites as wicked in their fearful abstaining from sin, as in their furious committing of sin.
a Macrob., Sat., lib. i. cap. 16.
b Aug., De Verb. Apost. Serm. 21.