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{{Short description|Biblical figure; eldest son of the Israelite king Saul}}
{{About|the Biblical person from 1 Samuel||Jonathan (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the biblical person from 1 Samuel||Jonathan (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton of Stretton - Jonathan’s Token to David - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail| Frederic Leighton, Jonathan’s Token to David .<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/jonathan%E2%80%99s-token-to-david/nwHooVVlCEsUAw|title=Jonathan's -token-to-david|publisher=www.google.com}}</ref> Jonathan shooting three arrows to warn David]]
{{Expand Hebrew}}
{{missing|whether modern scholars consider Jonathan to be a historical person or a legendary figure|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox saint
'''Jonathan''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|יְהוֹנָתָן}} ''Yəhōnāṯān'' or {{Script/Hebrew|יוֹנָתָן}} ''Yōnāṯān''; "[[Yahweh]] has gifted") is a heroic figure in [[Books of Samuel|1 Samuel]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. A prince of the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Kingdom of Israel]], he was the eldest son of [[King Saul]] as well as a close friend of [[King David|David]], who eventually succeeded Saul as king.
| name = Jonathan

| birth_date =
⚫
Like his father, he was a man of great strength and swiftness ([http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_2samuel01.htm#2samuel_1:23 2 Samuel 1:23]), and he excelled in [[archery]] ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|20:20|NKJV}}, [http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_2samuel01.htm#2samuel_1:22 2 Samuel 1:22]) and slinging ([http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1chronicles12.htm#1chronicles_12:2 1 Chronicles 12:2]).<ref name="bibleing">{{cite web |url=http://www.bibleing.com/definitions/jonathan.html |title=BIBLEing.com, 'Jonathan' |access-date=2014-05-23}}</ref>
| death_date =
| feast_day = December 29<ref name="heiligen">{{Cite web|url=https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienJ/Jonathan.html|title=Jonatan|website=Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon}}</ref>
| venerated_in = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| image = File:Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton of Stretton - Jonathan’s Token to David - Google Art Project.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = Jonathan shooting three arrows to warn David<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/jonathan’s-token-to-david/nwHooVVlCEsUAw|title=Jonathan's Token to David - Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton of Stretton|website=Google Arts & Culture}}</ref>
| birth_place =
| death_place =
| titles = Prince of Israel and King David's friend
| beatified_date =
| beatified_place =
| beatified_by =
| canonized_date =
| canonized_place =
| canonized_by =
| attributes = Bow and Arrow
| patronage =
| suppressed_date =
| issues =
| prayer =
| prayer_attrib =
}}
⚫
'''Jonathan''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|יְהוֹנָתָן}} ''Yəhōnāṯān'' or {{Script/Hebrew|יוֹנָתָן}} ''Yōnāṯān''; "[[Yahweh]] has gifted") is a figure in the [[Book of Samuel]] of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. In the biblical narrative, he is the eldest son of [[King Saul]] of the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]], and a close friend of [[King David|David]]. He is described as having great strength and swiftness ([https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_2samuel01.htm#2samuel_1:23 2 Samuel 1:23]) and excelling in [[archery]] ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|20:20|NKJV}}, [https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_2samuel01.htm#2samuel_1:22 2 Samuel 1:22]) and slinging ([https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1chronicles12.htm#1chronicles_12:2 1 Chronicles 12:2]).<ref name="bibleing">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/definitions/jonathan.html |title=BIBLEing.com, 'Jonathan' |access-date=2014-05-23}}</ref>


==Conflicts with Saul==
==Conflicts with Saul==
Jonathan first appears in the biblical narrative as the victor of [[Geba (city)|Geba]], a [[Philistine]] stronghold (1 Samuel 13), while in the following chapter he carries out a lone and secret attack on another Philistine garrison, demonstrating his "prowess and courage as a warrior."<ref name=NBD>T. H. Jones, "Jonathan," in J. D. Douglas, (ed.), ''New Bible Dictionary'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 654.</ref> However, he eats [[honey]] without knowing that his father had said, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes" (1 Samuel 14:24). When he learns of his father's oath, Jonathan disagrees with the wisdom of it, as it requires the soldiers to pursue the enemy although weak from fasting.<ref>[https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/472/jbq_472_barsauljonathan.pdf Bar, Shaul. "Saul and Jonathan". Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2019, p. 95]</ref> Saul decides to put Jonathan to death for breaking the ban, but relents when the soldiers protest ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|14:45|NKJV}}).
Jonathan first appears in the biblical narrative as the victor of [[Geba (city)|Geba]], a [[Philistine]] stronghold ([[1 Samuel 13]]), while in the following chapter he carries out a [[Battle of Michmash|lone and secret attack]] on another Philistine garrison, demonstrating his "prowess and courage as a warrior."<ref name=NBD>T. H. Jones, "Jonathan," in J. D. Douglas, (ed.), ''New Bible Dictionary'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 654.</ref> However, he eats [[honey]] without knowing that his father had said, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes" (1 Samuel 14:24). When he learns of his father's oath, Jonathan disagrees with the wisdom of it, as it requires the soldiers to pursue the enemy although weak from fasting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/472/jbq_472_barsauljonathan.pdf|title=Bar, Shaul. "Saul and Jonathan". Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2019, p. 95}}</ref> Saul decides to put Jonathan to death for breaking the ban, but relents when the soldiers protest ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|14:45|NKJV}}).


The story of [[David and Jonathan]] is introduced in chapter 18, where it says that "Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself" (verse 1). The feeling is expressed before the men exchanged a single word, and some scholars have proposed that what Jonathan felt can be described [[love at first sight]]. Others describe it as ''Phila'' or loving friendship – a type of love is still prevalent among soldiers on the battlefield today, also know as comradery, or in a lesser form as "love for a common interest". Jonathan's feelings are perhaps provoked by David's compliance with order.{{clarify|date=2021-02-14}} This is expressed when Jonathan denies his father's order to have David killed.{{efn|In the text, the attraction of Jonathan to David begins almost immediately, as Saul is delighted by his new companion. This spiritual attraction is given extravagant expression. In the first place it appears to be love (Phila) at first sight. We are told: "When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David" (1 Sam 18:1). It seems unlikely that it was caused by something David has said, since what David said to Saul immediately preceding is only "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite" (17:58). [[Joyce Baldwin]] suggests that this indicates that Jonathan recognised David as the future king.<ref>Baldwin, J., ''1 and 2 Samuel'' (TOCT; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), p. 135.</ref>}}
The story of [[David and Jonathan]] is introduced in [[Samuel 1]] (18:1), where it says that "Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself". The feeling is expressed before the men exchanged a single word in an interaction that has been described as ''[[philia]]'' or [[love at first sight]].{{efn|In the text, the attraction of Jonathan to David begins almost immediately, as Saul is delighted by his new companion. This attraction is given extravagant expression. In the first place it appears to be love (''philia'') at first sight. We are told: "When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David" (1 Sam 18:1). It seems unlikely that it was caused by something David has said, since what David said to Saul immediately preceding is only "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite" (17:58). [[Joyce Baldwin]] suggests that this indicates that Jonathan recognised David as the future king.{{sfn|Baldwin|1988|p=135}}}} The relationship between David and Jonathan has also been compared more explicitly to other homoerotic relationships in Near Eastern literature, including by the Near Eastern scholar [[Cyrus H. Gordon]], who noted the instance in the [[Book of Jashar]], excerpted in [[Samuel 2]] (1:26), in which David "proclaims that Jonathan's love was sweeter to him than the love of a woman" as being similar to [[Achilles]]' comparison of [[Patroclus]] to a girl and [[Gilgamesh]]'s love for [[Enkidu]] "as a woman".{{sfnm|Gordon|1955|1p=89|Horner|1978|2p=19}}


Saul suspects that Jonathan is colluding with David, who he believes is conspiring to overthrow him. Saul insults Jonathan calling him the "...&nbsp;son of a perverse and rebellious woman!" in 1 Samuel 20:30.{{efn|While this is an "idiom of insult directed at Jonathan",<ref>David Toshio Tsumura, ''The First Book of Samuel'' (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 520.</ref> some scholars see in this verse support for the theory that [[Ahinoam]], the wife of Saul was also the wife of David. [[Jon D. Levenson|Jon Levenson]] and [[Baruch Halpern]] suggest that the phrase "to the shame of your mother's nakedness" suggests "David's theft of Saul's wife",<ref>[[Jon D. Levenson]] and [[Baruch Halpern]], "The Political Import of David's Marriages", ''[[Journal of Biblical Literature|JBL]]'' 99 [1980] 515.</ref> but such an event is never described in the Bible and one Bible scholar, Diana V. Edelman, has ruled it as unlikely. The taking of Saul's wives by David had not yet taken place, and when it did happen was not theft – at that point in the narrative, Saul and Jonathan were dead, and the royal harem were all widows. In fact, it was YHWH (God of Israel) that anointed David's lineage with the Kingship instead of Saul's:<blockquote>“''Such a presumption would require David to have run off with the queen mother while Saul was still on the throne, which seems unlikely. In view of the possession of the royal harem as a claim to royal legitimacy, Nathan’s comment can be related to David’s eventual possession of Saul’s wives after he ascended the throne in the wake of Eshbaal’s death&nbsp;...''”<ref>Edelman, Diana. "Ahinoam (Person)", The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. (David Noel Freedman. ed.) New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1:118:</ref></blockquote>}} Saul even goes so far as to attempt to kill Jonathan by throwing a javelin at him during a fit of paranoid rage. But, before this event happened, all Jonathan did was ask his father what did David do to him so that he would be put to death? (1 Sam. 20:32-33), which suggests David had never wronged Saul.{{efn|Jonathan sharing mutual interests with David denied his own throne because David was anointed by Samuel; the last judge and first priest of Israel. In other words, the hand to the King. Jonathan denied his throne to serve his God, and he blessed David. Therefore, Jonathan is righteous before the Lord.}}
Saul suspects that Jonathan is colluding with David, who he believes is conspiring to overthrow him. Saul insults Jonathan calling him the "...&nbsp;son of a perverse and rebellious woman!" in 1 Samuel 20:30.{{efn|While this is an "idiom of insult directed at Jonathan",<ref>David Toshio Tsumura, ''The First Book of Samuel'' (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 520.</ref> some scholars see in this verse support for the theory that [[Ahinoam]], the wife of Saul, was the same Ahinoam who is described as the second wife of David. [[Jon D. Levenson|Jon Levenson]] and [[Baruch Halpern]] suggest that the phrase "to the shame of your mother's nakedness" suggests "David's theft of Saul's wife",<ref>[[Jon D. Levenson]] and [[Baruch Halpern]], "The Political Import of David's Marriages", ''[[Journal of Biblical Literature|JBL]]'' 99 [1980] 515.</ref> but such an event is never described in the Bible and one Bible scholar, Diana V. Edelman, has ruled it as unlikely:<blockquote>"''Such a presumption would require David to have run off with the queen mother while Saul was still on the throne, which seems unlikely. In view of the possession of the royal harem as a claim to royal legitimacy, Nathan’s comment can be related to David’s eventual possession of Saul’s wives after he ascended the throne in the wake of Eshbaal’s death&nbsp;...''"<ref>Edelman, Diana. "Ahinoam (Person)", The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. (David Noel Freedman. ed.) New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1:118:</ref></blockquote> The taking of Saul's wives by David had not yet taken place, and when it did happen was not theft – at that point in the narrative, Saul and Jonathan were dead, and the royal harem were all widows.}} Saul even goes so far as to attempt to kill Jonathan by throwing a javelin at him during a fit of paranoid rage. But, before this event happened, all Jonathan did was ask his father what did David do to him so that he would be put to death? (1 Sam. 20:32-33), which suggests David had never wronged Saul.


The last meeting between Jonathan and David would take place in a forest of [[Ziph (Judean Mountains)|Ziph]] at Horesh, during Saul's pursuit of David. There, the two would make a covenant before the Lord before going their separate ways<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel23.htm#1samuel_23:15 |title=1 Samuel 23:15}} <br/> {{cite web |url=http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel23.htm#1samuel_23:18 |title=1 Samuel 23:18}}</ref>.<ref name="bibleing" />
The last meeting between Jonathan and David would take place in a forest of [[Ziph (Judean Mountains)|Ziph]] at Horesh, during Saul's pursuit of David. There, the two would make a covenant before the Lord before going their separate ways.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel23.htm#1samuel_23:15 |title=1 Samuel 23:15}} <br/> {{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel23.htm#1samuel_23:18 |title=1 Samuel 23:18}}</ref><ref name="bibleing" />


==Death==
==Death==
[[Image:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 031.jpg|thumb|210px|right|''[[David and Jonathan (Rembrandt)|David and Jonathan]]'', 1642, by the studio or a follower of [[Rembrandt]]. Jonathan is the figure in the turban.<ref>[http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/11/b2003/hm11_1_86.html Hermitage News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704204052/http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/11/b2003/hm11_1_86.html |date=2008-07-04 }}</ref>]]
[[Image:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 031.jpg|thumb|210px|right|''[[David and Jonathan (Rembrandt)|David and Jonathan]]'', 1642, by the studio or a follower of [[Rembrandt]]. Jonathan is the figure in the turban.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/11/b2003/hm11_1_86.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704204052/http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/11/b2003/hm11_1_86.html|url-status=dead|title=Hermitage News|archivedate=July 4, 2008}}</ref>]]
Jonathan died at the battle of [[Mount Gilboa]] along with his father and brothers<ref>({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|10:1–2|NIV}})</ref> (1 Samuel 31). His bones were buried first at Jabesh-gilead, ([http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel31.htm#1samuel_31:13 1 Samuel 31:13]) but were later removed with those of his father and moved to [[Zelah,_Judea|Zelah]].<ref name="bibleing" /> <ref> G. Darshan, [https://www.academia.edu/7021887/The_Reinterment_of_Saul_and_Jonathans_Bones_II_Sam_21_12-14_in_Light_of_Ancient_Greek_Hero-Cult_Stories_ZAW_125_4_2013_640-645 "The Reinterment of Saul and Jonathan’s Bones (II Sam 21, 12–14) in Light of Ancient Greek Hero-Cult Stories"], [[Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft | ZAW]], 125,4 (2013), 640–645. </ref> Jonathan was the father of [[Mephibosheth]], to whom David showed special kindness for Jonathan's sake (2 Samuel 9), which memorably included describing the love between the two men as superior to the love that David experienced from women.
Jonathan died at the battle of [[Mount Gilboa]] along with his father and brothers<ref>({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|10:1–2|NIV}})</ref> (1 Samuel 31). His bones were buried first at Jabesh-gilead, ([https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.bibleing.com/versions/kjv/kjv_1samuel31.htm#1samuel_31:13 1 Samuel 31:13]) but were later removed with those of his father and moved to [[Zelah,_Judea|Zelah]].<ref name="bibleing" /> <ref> G. Darshan, [https://www.academia.edu/7021887/The_Reinterment_of_Saul_and_Jonathans_Bones_II_Sam_21_12-14_in_Light_of_Ancient_Greek_Hero-Cult_Stories_ZAW_125_4_2013_640-645 "The Reinterment of Saul and Jonathan’s Bones (II Sam 21, 12–14) in Light of Ancient Greek Hero-Cult Stories"], [[Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft | ZAW]], 125,4 (2013), 640–645. </ref> Jonathan was the father of [[Mephibosheth]], to whom David showed special kindness for Jonathan's sake (2 Samuel 9).


==Cultural symbolism==
==Cultural symbolism==
Jonathan has typically been portrayed as a "model of loyalty to truth and friendship", in the words of T. H. Jones.<ref name=NBD />
Jonathan has typically been portrayed as a "model of loyalty to truth and friendship", in the words of T. H. Jones.<ref name=NBD />

He is venerated as a saint by the [[Roman Catholic Church]], with a feast day on 29 December.<ref name="heiligen"/>


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 26: Line 51:


==References==
==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}
===Sources===
*{{cite book |title=1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary |first=Joyce G. |last=Baldwin |author-link=Joyce Baldwin |publisher=Inter-Varsity Press |date=1988 |isbn=9780830814268 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OtXAAAAYAAJ}}
*{{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Cyrus H. |author-link=Cyrus H. Gordon |title=Homer And Bible: The Origin and Character of East Mediterranean Literature |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=26 |date=1955 |pages=43–108 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23506150 |jstor=23506150}}
*{{cite book |title=Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times |first=Tom |last=Horner |publisher=John Knox Press |location=Westminster |date=1978 |isbn=9780664241858 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oocu8JqOz_MC}}


{{Commonscat|Jonathan (Biblical figure)}}
{{Commonscat|Jonathan (Biblical figure)}}

==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*Adam Green, ''King Saul, The True History of the First Messiah'' ([[Lutterworth Press]], 2007) – includes a critical literary reassessment of the character and personality of Jonathan and his relationships with Saul and David.
*Adam Green, ''King Saul, The True History of the First Messiah'' ([[Lutterworth Press]], 2007) – includes a critical literary reassessment of the character and personality of Jonathan and his relationships with Saul and David.


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Books of Samuel]]
[[Category:David]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible people]]
[[Category:11th-century BCE Hebrew people]]
[[Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded]]
[[Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]
[[Category:Jewish royalty]]
[[Category:Jewish royalty]]
[[Category:House of Saul]]
[[Category:House of Saul]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the Old Testament]]
[[Category:Archers]]
[[Category:Children of Saul]]
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[[Category:Sons of kings]]

Latest revision as of 02:16, 22 December 2024

This article is about the biblical person from 1 Samuel. For other uses, see Jonathan (disambiguation).
Jonathan
Jonathan shooting three arrows to warn David[1]
Prince of Israel and King David's friend
Venerated inRoman Catholicism
FeastDecember 29[2]
AttributesBow and Arrow

Jonathan (Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן‎ Yəhōnāṯān or יוֹנָתָן‎ Yōnāṯān; "Yahweh has gifted") is a figure in the Book of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, he is the eldest son of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel, and a close friend of David. He is described as having great strength and swiftness (2 Samuel 1:23) and excelling in archery (1 Samuel 20:20, 2 Samuel 1:22) and slinging (1 Chronicles 12:2).[3]

Conflicts with Saul

[edit]

Jonathan first appears in the biblical narrative as the victor of Geba, a Philistine stronghold (1 Samuel 13), while in the following chapter he carries out a lone and secret attack on another Philistine garrison, demonstrating his "prowess and courage as a warrior."[4] However, he eats honey without knowing that his father had said, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes" (1 Samuel 14:24). When he learns of his father's oath, Jonathan disagrees with the wisdom of it, as it requires the soldiers to pursue the enemy although weak from fasting.[5] Saul decides to put Jonathan to death for breaking the ban, but relents when the soldiers protest (1 Samuel 14:45).

The story of David and Jonathan is introduced in Samuel 1 (18:1), where it says that "Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself". The feeling is expressed before the men exchanged a single word in an interaction that has been described as philia or love at first sight.[a] The relationship between David and Jonathan has also been compared more explicitly to other homoerotic relationships in Near Eastern literature, including by the Near Eastern scholar Cyrus H. Gordon, who noted the instance in the Book of Jashar, excerpted in Samuel 2 (1:26), in which David "proclaims that Jonathan's love was sweeter to him than the love of a woman" as being similar to Achilles' comparison of Patroclus to a girl and Gilgamesh's love for Enkidu "as a woman".[7]

Saul suspects that Jonathan is colluding with David, who he believes is conspiring to overthrow him. Saul insults Jonathan calling him the "... son of a perverse and rebellious woman!" in 1 Samuel 20:30.[b] Saul even goes so far as to attempt to kill Jonathan by throwing a javelin at him during a fit of paranoid rage. But, before this event happened, all Jonathan did was ask his father what did David do to him so that he would be put to death? (1 Sam. 20:32-33), which suggests David had never wronged Saul.

The last meeting between Jonathan and David would take place in a forest of Ziph at Horesh, during Saul's pursuit of David. There, the two would make a covenant before the Lord before going their separate ways.[11][3]

Death

[edit]
David and Jonathan, 1642, by the studio or a follower of Rembrandt. Jonathan is the figure in the turban.[12]

Jonathan died at the battle of Mount Gilboa along with his father and brothers[13] (1 Samuel 31). His bones were buried first at Jabesh-gilead, (1 Samuel 31:13) but were later removed with those of his father and moved to Zelah.[3] [14] Jonathan was the father of Mephibosheth, to whom David showed special kindness for Jonathan's sake (2 Samuel 9).

Cultural symbolism

[edit]

Jonathan has typically been portrayed as a "model of loyalty to truth and friendship", in the words of T. H. Jones.[4]

He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day on 29 December.[2]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ In the text, the attraction of Jonathan to David begins almost immediately, as Saul is delighted by his new companion. This attraction is given extravagant expression. In the first place it appears to be love (philia) at first sight. We are told: "When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David" (1 Sam 18:1). It seems unlikely that it was caused by something David has said, since what David said to Saul immediately preceding is only "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite" (17:58). Joyce Baldwin suggests that this indicates that Jonathan recognised David as the future king.[6]
  2. ^ While this is an "idiom of insult directed at Jonathan",[8] some scholars see in this verse support for the theory that Ahinoam, the wife of Saul, was the same Ahinoam who is described as the second wife of David. Jon Levenson and Baruch Halpern suggest that the phrase "to the shame of your mother's nakedness" suggests "David's theft of Saul's wife",[9] but such an event is never described in the Bible and one Bible scholar, Diana V. Edelman, has ruled it as unlikely:

    "Such a presumption would require David to have run off with the queen mother while Saul was still on the throne, which seems unlikely. In view of the possession of the royal harem as a claim to royal legitimacy, Nathan’s comment can be related to David’s eventual possession of Saul’s wives after he ascended the throne in the wake of Eshbaal’s death ..."[10]

    The taking of Saul's wives by David had not yet taken place, and when it did happen was not theft – at that point in the narrative, Saul and Jonathan were dead, and the royal harem were all widows.

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jonathan's Token to David - Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton of Stretton". Google Arts & Culture.
  2. ^ a b "Jonatan". Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon.
  3. ^ a b c "BIBLEing.com, 'Jonathan'". Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  4. ^ a b T. H. Jones, "Jonathan," in J. D. Douglas, (ed.), New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 654.
  5. ^ "Bar, Shaul. "Saul and Jonathan". Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2019, p. 95" (PDF).
  6. ^ Baldwin 1988, p. 135.
  7. ^ Gordon 1955, p. 89; Horner 1978, p. 19.
  8. ^ David Toshio Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 520.
  9. ^ Jon D. Levenson and Baruch Halpern, "The Political Import of David's Marriages", JBL 99 [1980] 515.
  10. ^ Edelman, Diana. "Ahinoam (Person)", The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. (David Noel Freedman. ed.) New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1:118:
  11. ^ "1 Samuel 23:15".
    "1 Samuel 23:18".
  12. ^ "Hermitage News". Archived from the original on July 4, 2008.
  13. ^ (1 Chronicles 10:1–2)
  14. ^ G. Darshan, "The Reinterment of Saul and Jonathan’s Bones (II Sam 21, 12–14) in Light of Ancient Greek Hero-Cult Stories", ZAW, 125,4 (2013), 640–645.

Sources

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonathan (Biblical figure).

Further reading

[edit]
  • Adam Green, King Saul, The True History of the First Messiah (Lutterworth Press, 2007) – includes a critical literary reassessment of the character and personality of Jonathan and his relationships with Saul and David.
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