Saul asks of David in this verse that which his son Jonathan had asked earlier (see 20.14-16).

Swear … by the LORD: see the comments on 20.42.

Cut off my descendants after me: it was not unusual for a new ruler to kill all of the descendants of the previous king (see Judges 9.5; 1 Kgs 15.29; 16.11; 2 Kgs 10.1-17; 11.1). The Hebrew verb “cut off” is frequently used in the sense of “to kill” or “to eliminate.” This is probably the intended meaning here. In some cases the negative statement (not cut off) may be worded positively by using a verb like “save” or “allow to live.”

The exact sense of the words after me is not clear. Many understand this to mean the descendants who come after Saul chronologically. But since all descendants come “after” an ancestor, many translations omit these words as being redundant and say simply “my descendants” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible). More likely, however, these words mean “after my death” (so La Bible du Semeur). Compare also New Jerusalem Bible (“that you will not suppress my descendants once I am gone”) and Bible en français courant (“So swear to me in the name of the Lord that after my death…”).

Saul’s two wishes, (1) that his descendants not be killed and (2) that his name not be destroyed, are basically synonymous. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente provides a model in which the two wishes are expressed as one: “Therefore swear to me in the name of the LORD, that you will not cause my family to disappear, killing my descendants.”

Not destroy my name: may be translated positively as “allow my name to continue” or something similar. On the significance of the name, see the comments at 18.30.

My father’s house: that is, “my father’s family.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .