1 Samuel 19:5
“for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?””
What does 1 Samuel 19:5 mean?
Jonathan is reminding his father King Saul of something Saul himself witnessed: David's courage and faithfulness when he risked everything to fight Goliath and win a great victory for Israel. Jonathan is essentially saying, "You saw how God worked through David. You were glad about it then. So why would you now kill him for no reason?" He's appealing to Saul's own memory and conscience, pointing out the contradiction between celebrating David's heroic act and now wanting him dead. It's a powerful moment of someone speaking truth to power, trying to help a leader see that his current path of jealous revenge contradicts his own better judgment.