• 1 Samuel 18:1, “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and JONATHAN LOVED HIM AS HIS OWN SOUL.”
  • 1 Samuel 18:3, “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because HE LOVED HIM AS HIS OWN SOUL.”
  • 1 Samuel 20:4, “Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.”

These verses (and others) show there was a tremendous love between David and Jonathan.  It was just after David slew Goliath that he met Jonathan.  These two men created an unlikely and tremendous bond.  David was a simple shepherd the Lord used to slay the giant, Goliath.  He was of the tribe of Judah, the tribe that the Lord determined to be the tribe the kings would come from. (Genesis 49:8-10).  Jonathan was the son of King Saul.  Perhaps Jonathan sat at his father’s side and watched young David kill Goliath.  Upon meeting David, we see that Jonathan’s soul was “knit with the soul of David.”  The Lord created such a great friendship between this poor shepherd and this king’s son. 

The love Jonathan had for David was so great it caused him to defy his father’s orders.  1 Samuel 19:1-2, tells us, “And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself.”  Saul was greatly jealous of David, but Jonathan was successful in convincing his dad not to kill David at this point. (Verses 4-7).

We read of the tragic death of Saul and Jonathan by the hands of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 31.  In verse 2, we read, “And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.”  This greatly grieved the heart of David, and we read his lamentation of Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1:17-27.  We read particularly in verse 26, “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”  He valued this friendship with Jonathan and declared Jonathan’s love as “passing the love of women.”  The Wycliffe Bible translates this verse this way, “I make sorrow upon thee, my brother Jonathan, full fair and amiable more than the love of women; AS A MOTHER LOVETH HER ONLY SON, so I loved thee. (I have sorrow for thee, my brother Jonathan, so delightful, and whose love for me was more than even the love of women; LIKE A MOTHER LOVETH HER ONLY SON, so I loved thee.)”

I point that out because some have taken this wonderful brotherly love between these two men and have perverted it to say they were homosexual lovers.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  David and Jonathan’s love for each other is the perfect example of true biblical friendship as brought together by God. 

David’s continuing love for Jonathan, even after his death is illustrated in 2 Samuel 9:1, “And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

Dear reader, we need MORE of this kind of love between believers.  We are exhorted in Hebrews 13:1 to, “Let BROTHERLY LOVE continue.”  We read in Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with BROTHERLY LOVE; in honour preferring one another.”  May we learn the practical lesson of the love between David and Jonathan and love one another with the love of God that “is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”  (CC)  (733.2)