1 Samuel 18 (JND) - Bible Truth Library

the soul of Jonathan.The modesty, piety, and courage of David were so congenial to the character of the amiable Jonathan, that they attracted his most cordial esteem and affection; so that the most intimate friendship subsisted between them from that time, and they loved each other with pure hearts fervently.

Their friendship could not be affected by the common vicissitudes of life; and it exemplifies by fact what the ancients have written on the subject; [Ten philian isoteta einai, kai mian psychen ton philon heteron auton.]

"Friendship is an entire sameness, and one soul:

a friend is another self."

1 Sam. 14:1‑14,45• ¹Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armour, Come and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison which is on the other side. But he did not tell his father.
²And Saul abode at the extreme end of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which was in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men.
³(And Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, Jehovah's priest in Shiloh, wore the ephod.) And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone.
⁴Now between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison there was a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
⁵The one crag formed a pillar on the north opposite to Michmash, and the other on the south opposite to Geba.
⁶And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: perhaps Jehovah will work for us; for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.
⁷And his armour-bearer said to him, Do all that is in thy heart; turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
⁸Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will shew ourselves to them.
⁹If they say thus to us, Stand still until we come to you, then we will stay in our place, and will not go up to them.
¹⁰And if they say thus, Come up to us, then we will go up; for Jehovah has given them into our hand; and this shall be the sign to us.
¹¹And both of them shewed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
¹²And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armour-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you something. And Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, Come up after me; for Jehovah has delivered them into the hand of Israel.
¹³And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armour bearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan; and his armour-bearer slew after him.
¹⁴And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armour-bearer wrought was about twenty men, as it were on the half-furrow of an acre of land.
⁴⁵And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! as Jehovah liveth, there shall not a hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has wrought with God this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he died not. (1 Sam. 14:1‑14,45)

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Gen. 44:30• ³⁰And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us,--seeing that his life is bound up with his life, (Gen. 44:30)

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Judg. 20:11• ¹¹And all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. (Judg. 20:11)

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1 Chron. 12:17• ¹⁷And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If ye come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers see it and rebuke it. (1 Chron. 12:17)

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Psa. 86:11• ¹¹Teach me thy way, Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Psa. 86:11)

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Col. 2:2• ²to the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God; (Col. 2:2)

loved him.

1 Sam. 18:3• ³And Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. (1 Sam. 18:3)

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1 Sam. 20:17• ¹⁷And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. (1 Sam. 20:17)

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2 Sam. 1:26• ²⁶I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant wast thou unto me; Thy love to me was wonderful, passing women's love. (2 Sam. 1:26)

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Prov. 18:24• ²⁴A man of many friends will come to ruin but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Prov. 18:24)

• When Christ makes Himself known, the remnant (which Jonathan represented) loves Him as his own soul, and this beloved one becomes the object of his whole affection. (“1 Samuel 18-19” by J.N. Darby)

• Here Jonathan enters into a personal relationship with David, Goliath’s conqueror. In type he is one who knows Christ as the One who has conquered Satan through death but who is nevertheless rejected by the world. This knowledge corresponds to the knowledge Christians have today, although Jonathan properly is the type of the remnant of Israel to whom the Lord will make Himself known before taking the kingdom, and who love Christ even though He is still rejected by the people. (“1 Samuel 18” by H.L. Rossier)

• He appreciates the moral beauty with which his words are impressed more than his own outward advantages. (“1 Samuel 18” by H.L. Rossier)

J. N. Darby Translation

And it came to pass, when he had ended speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.