Jonathan Son of Saul

Scripture: 1 Samuel 13:2–3; 14:1–46; 18:1–4; 19:1–7; 20:1–42; 23:16–18; 31:1–2; 2 Samuel 1:17–27; 9:1–7

The warrior (1 Samuel 13:2–3; 14:1–46), Jonathan son of Saul appears first as a military commander: he attacked the Philistine garrison at Geba (13:3). He is already positioned as the active military force that Saul's own hesitation does not produce. In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan and his armor-bearer alone climb to the Philistine outpost at Michmash: "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that YHWH will work for us, for nothing can hinder YHWH from saving by many or by few" (14:6). They killed about twenty men in a half-acre of ground. YHWH sent a great panic in the Philistine camp. The ground shook. The Philistine forces struck each other in confusion, and all Israel joined the pursuit. Saul, meanwhile, was under a foolish oath, he had bound the army to fast for the day. Jonathan, not knowing of the oath, tasted honey and his eyes brightened. When told of the oath, he said: "My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great" (14:29–30). The people rescued Jonathan from the consequence of violating the oath, they would not let Saul execute him.

The covenant with David (1 Samuel 18:1–4), After David killed Goliath and was brought before Saul, "the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (18:1). They made a covenant. 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 (18:3–4). The crown prince of Israel gave his royal garments and his weapons to the son of Jesse, the man who would take his throne. Whatever Jonathan understood about David's destiny, the robe-stripping was its own symbolic transfer: the crown prince investing the shepherd. It was not political calculation; the text calls it love.

Intercession for David (1 Samuel 19:1–7), When Saul told his servants and Jonathan to kill David, Jonathan warned David to hide and then spoke to Saul: "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 YHWH 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?" (19:4–5). Saul listened to Jonathan's voice. He swore: "As YHWH lives, he shall not be put to death." Jonathan brought David to Saul. Then Saul's jealousy returned.

The arrow and the farewell (1 Samuel 20:1–42), David and Jonathan met in the field in a scene of direct and sustained honesty. Jonathan said to David: "Far be it from you! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so" (20:2). He was wrong about Saul's intent; David was right. They devised a plan involving Jonathan's arrows at target practice as a signal for whether David should flee. When Jonathan shot and the arrows were beyond the lad, the danger signal, he sent the lad back to the city. Then "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. Jonathan said to David, 'Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of YHWH, saying, "YHWH shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever"'" (20:41–42). They would not see each other again until the one meeting in the wilderness.

The wilderness meeting (1 Samuel 23:16–18), "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.' And the two of them made a covenant before YHWH" (23:16–18). This is the last conversation between Jonathan and David in the text. Jonathan knew David would be king; he named the succession. He made a second covenant. He went home.

Death at Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1–2), "Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul." Jonathan died beside his father. He had served a king whose jealousy drove out the man he loved; he had interceded for David, warned him, wept for him, and named him as the coming king, and died on the same mountain as the man who wanted David dead.

David's lament (2 Samuel 1:17–27), The lament for Saul and Jonathan that David commanded to be taught to the people of Judah: "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" (1:25–26). The Hebrew is פְלִאתָה אַהֲבָתְךָ לִי (pela'atah ahavatkha li), your love for me was wonderful, extraordinary, beyond the ordinary. David's lament is the text's own assessment: the covenant between these two men was a love the narrator calls wonderful.

Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:1–7), After David was established as king, he asked: "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (9:1). There was: Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, crippled in both feet. David said: "I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always" (9:7). The covenant Jonathan and David made, including the offspring, held across the change of dynasties. Jonathan's son ate at the king's table.

Jonathan is the crown prince who gave away the crown. He stripped his robe and armor and invested the son of Jesse. He knew David would be king and said so in the wilderness meeting: "You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you." He died at Gilboa alongside the father who had tried to kill the man Jonathan loved. David's lament, "your love to me was wonderful", is the biblical record's own closing word on what the covenant between these two men was. The Sanctum holds Jonathan as the man whose greatness was not the throne he was born to but the covenant he kept.