Jonathan

Jonathan Before David

Jonathan (Hebrew Yehonatan, "Yahweh has given") was the eldest son of King Saul and the heir apparent to the throne. Before David ever appeared in the narrative, Jonathan had already proven himself as a warrior and a man of faith.

Jonathan's Earlier Exploits

Event	Detail	Reference
Strike against Geba garrison	Jonathan and 1,000 men defeated the Philistine garrison at Geba, igniting open war	1 Sam 13:3
Attack at Michmash	Jonathan and his armor-bearer alone climbed a cliff and killed about 20 Philistines in their own outpost, triggering panic that routed the entire Philistine army	1 Sam 14:1–14
The honey incident	Jonathan unknowingly violated Saul's rash oath by eating honey from a forest comb. Saul was prepared to execute his own son, but the people redeemed him	1 Sam 14:24–45

Jonathan's Faith

Before the Michmash attack, Jonathan said to his armor-bearer:

"Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few." — 1 Samuel 14:6

This theological insight — that God's deliverance is not dependent on the size of one's forces — is the same conviction David would later carry into the Valley of Elah.

The Covenant

The friendship is introduced immediately after David's victory over Goliath:

"As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." — 1 Samuel 18:1

The Hebrew phrase "the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David" (nikshrah nephesh-yonathan b'nephesh David) describes a bond at the deepest level of identity.

The Covenant Sign

Jonathan made a formal covenant with David and sealed it by giving him his own personal items:

"Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt." — 1 Samuel 18:3–4

The significance of each item:

Item	What It Represented
Royal robe	Position and identity as crown prince
Armor	Military authority and personal protection
Sword	Power to execute justice and authority
Bow	Status as a warrior (Jonathan was famed for his bow — 2 Sam 1:22)
Belt	Readiness and identity as a warrior

Jonathan, the rightful heir, transferred the symbols of his royal status to David. As crown prince, he had the most to lose from David's rise. Yet his very first act was to give David everything that marked him as the next king.

Multiple Covenants Renewed

The covenant between David and Jonathan is renewed at least three separate times in Scripture:

1. The initial covenant 1 Sam 18:3 — after Goliath
2. The covenant of the arrows 1 Sam 20:16–17, 42 — when David's life was in danger from Saul; Jonathan extracted from David a promise to deal kindly with Jonathan's house forever
3. The covenant at Horesh 1 Sam 23:18 — Jonathan's final visit to David in the wilderness; "they two made a covenant before the LORD"

Jonathan's Intervention with Saul

When Saul commanded all his servants and son to kill David, Jonathan immediately warned David and then advocated for him before his father:

"Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?" — 1 Samuel 19:4–5

Saul listened. He swore: "As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death" 1 Sam 19:6. The reconciliation was temporary. Saul tried again to kill David soon after, this time by hurling a spear at him during a private music session.

The Arrow Plan

1 Samuel 20 records one of the most detailed scenes between the two:

1. David secretly returned to Jonathan asking why Saul was trying to kill him.
2. Jonathan was at first unable to believe his father would keep this from him.
3. They devised a test: David would skip the new moon festival; Jonathan would explain his absence to Saul and observe his reaction.
4. Saul's response to David's absence was a furious tirade and an attempted spear-throw at Jonathan 1 Sam 20:33. Saul shouted: "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established."
5. Jonathan recognized that David was a marked man and devised a signal involving arrows to communicate this safely from a distance.

The Arrow Signal

Jonathan went out to a field where David was hidden behind a stone. He shot arrows and called out to his servant boy. The pre-arranged signals:

• "The arrows are on this side of you" = it was safe
• "The arrows are beyond you" = flee

Jonathan called out: "Is not the arrow beyond you?" 1 Sam 20:37. After sending the boy back to the city, Jonathan and David met one last time.

The Parting

"And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, 'Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, "The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever."'" — 1 Samuel 20:41–42

The kiss and the weeping are the standard signs of friendship-parting in the ancient Near East — and the text takes care to note that David wept the most.

Jonathan's Final Visit

One more meeting is recorded. While David was hiding in the Wilderness of Ziph at Horesh:

"And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, 'Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.'" — 1 Samuel 23:16–17

This is one of the most extraordinary statements in Scripture. The crown prince of Israel told the fugitive shepherd: you will be king, and I will serve as your second. Jonathan willingly surrendered his right to the throne.

It is also a heartbreaking statement in light of what followed. Jonathan would not live to see David crowned. He would die before the prophecy reached its fulfillment.

Jonathan's Death

Jonathan died alongside his father Saul and his brothers Abinadab and Malchi-shua on Mount Gilboa, fighting the Philistines 1 Sam 31:2. The Philistines pressed the battle hard, and Jonathan was killed by archers on the mountain slope.

His body, along with Saul's and his brothers', was beheaded by the Philistines, stripped of armor, and fastened to the wall of Beth-shan 1 Sam 31:8–10. The valiant men of Jabesh-gilead — whom Saul had once rescued at the beginning of his reign — walked all night to recover the bodies, burned them at Jabesh, and buried the bones under a tamarisk tree 1 Sam 31:11–13.

David's Lament

When the news reached David, he tore his clothes, fasted until evening, and composed one of the most poignant elegies in all of Scripture — the Song of the Bow 2 Sam 1:17–27:

"Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult... Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" — 2 Samuel 1:19–27 (excerpt)

David commanded that this song be taught to the people of Judah. It was recorded in the now-lost Book of Jashar 2 Sam 1:18.

The Phrase "Surpassing the Love of Women"

The line "your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women" has been the subject of various interpretations. The straightforward reading in the ancient Near Eastern context is that the bond of covenant brotherhood — willingly forged, life-risking, kingdom-sacrificing — exceeded the natural affections of romantic relationships, which were often arranged and political. There is no textual or contextual indication of anything beyond the deepest possible covenantal friendship.

Ancient cultures recognized male covenant friendship as a category of love distinct from but as profound as romantic love. The biblical paradigm is one of brotherly devotion sealed in covenant before God.

Jonathan's Children

Jonathan had at least one son: Mephibosheth (also called Merib-baal). When the news of Saul and Jonathan's deaths reached the palace, Mephibosheth's nurse picked up the five-year-old boy to flee. She fell, and Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet for life 2 Sam 4:4.

Mephibosheth had a son named Mica 2 Sam 9:12, from whom the genealogical line of Jonathan continued. 1 Chronicles 8:34–40 traces the line of Jonathan's descendants through Mica down to "mighty men, valiant men of bow" — preserving Jonathan's archer reputation through his line.

The Covenant Honored

Years later, when David was firmly established as king, he remembered his covenant with Jonathan:

"And David said, 'Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?'" — 2 Samuel 9:1

Through Ziba, a servant of Saul's house, David located Mephibosheth at Lo-debar. He summoned him to court. Mephibosheth's response — "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?" 2 Sam 9:8 — reveals his self-perception as a forgotten remnant.

David's response:

• Restored all the land of Saul to Mephibosheth
• Appointed Ziba and his fifteen sons and twenty servants to farm the land for Mephibosheth
• Brought Mephibosheth to live in Jerusalem permanently, eating at the king's table "like one of the king's sons"

This is one of the clearest pictures of grace in the Old Testament — a crippled descendant of David's enemy, with no claim and no leverage, brought to the king's table because of a covenant made before he was born.

The Friendship as a Theological Picture

Jonathan as a Type

Jonathan, the rightful heir who freely laid down his throne for the sake of God's chosen one, is often noted as a foreshadowing of John the Baptist — who said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30. Both willingly stepped aside for the one God had chosen.

The Covenant of Kindness

Jonathan extracted from David a promise to "show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die" and to extend that love "to my house forever" 1 Sam 20:14–15. The Hebrew word is chesed — covenant loyalty. David's kindness to Mephibosheth fulfilled this promise.

The Permanent Loss

For David, Jonathan's death was a wound that did not heal. Even at the dedication of Jerusalem, even in the establishment of his kingdom, even at the height of his glory, Jonathan was not there to share it. The friend who had said "you shall be king and I shall be next to you" was buried at Jabesh-gilead while David sat on the throne alone.