When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
Parallel Translations
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When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
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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.
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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.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 18:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
- 1 Samuel 20:17 Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
- 1 Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
- 2 Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
- Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
- Genesis 44:30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life;
- Deuteronomy 13:6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods”—which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
- 1 Samuel 19:2 Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, and live in a secret place, and hide yourself.
- Judges 20:11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
- 1 Chronicles 12:17 David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers see this and rebuke it.”
- 1 Samuel 14:1-14 Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he didn’t tell his father. Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men; including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone. Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.” His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.” Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him. That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.
- 1 Samuel 14:45 The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn’t die.
- Psalms 86:11 Teach me your way, Yahweh. I will walk in your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear your name.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (24 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain His affection was fully bent toward him.
His affection was fully bent toward him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 18:1 And it came to pass, when he…
1Sa 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.
Ver. 1. When he had made an end of speaking unto Saul.] No doubt but David spake much more than is here expressed, abasing himself, and exalting God, as sole Author of the victory over Goliath, &c. "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart," {Psa 37:30-31} and "in his tongue the law of kindness." {Pro 31:26} Hence Jonathan’s good heart was so fast glued to David, - for grace is of a uniting nature, - as also propter similitudinem morum et amorum, by reason of the similitude and suitableness of their natures and manners; for likeness maketh love.
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That the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.] Corporibus geminis spritus unus erat. So the primitive Christians were "of one heart and of one soul." {Act 4:32} Animo animaque inter se miscebantur, saith Tertullian. So were Basil and Nazianzen, Eusebius and Pamphilus, Minutius Faelix and Octavianus, as themselves witness.
And Jonathan loved him as his own soul.] A sweet mercy of God to David to have such a fast friend in court, to advertise him, and advise him on all occasions.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Partly for his excellent virtues and endowments, which shone…
Partly for his excellent virtues and endowments, which shone forth both in his speeches and actions; partly, for the great and good service which he had done to God and to his people; and partly, for the similitude of their age and qualities.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain David was anointed to the crown to take it…
David was anointed to the crown to take it out of Saul's hand, and over Jonathan's head, and yet here we find,
I. That Saul, who was now in possession of the crown, reposed a confidence in him, God so ordering it, that he might by his preferment at court be prepared for future service. Saul now took David home with him, and would not suffer him to return again to his retirement, Sa1 18:2. And David having signalized himself above the men of war, in taking up the challenge which they declined, Saul set him over the men of war (Sa1 18:5), not that he made him general (Abner was in that post), but perhaps captain of the life-guard; or, though he was youngest, he ordered him to have the precedency, in recompence of his great services. He employed him in the affairs of government; and David went out withersoever Saul sent him, showing himself as dutiful as he was bold and courageous. Those that hope to rule must first learn to obey. He had approved himself a dutiful son to Jesse his father, and now a dutiful servant to Saul his master; those that are good in one relation it is to be hoped will be so in another.
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II. That Jonathan, who was heir to the crown, entered into covenant with him, God so ordering it, that David's way might be the clearer when his rival was his friend. 1. Jonathan conceived an extraordinary kindness and affection for him (Sa1 18:1): When he had made an end of speaking to Saul he fell perfectly in love with him. Whether it refers to his conference with Saul before the battle (Sa1 17:34, Sa1 17:37), or to that after (v. 51), in which it is probable much more was said than is there set down, is uncertain. But, in both, David expressed himself with so much prudence, modesty, and piety, such a felicity of expression, with so much boldness and yet so much sweetness, and all this so natural and unaffected, and the more surprising because of the disadvantages of his education and appearance, that the soul of Jonathan was immediately knit unto the soul of David. Jonathan had formerly set upon a Philistine army with the same faith and bravery with which David had now attacked a Philistine giant; so that there was between them a very near resemblance of affections, dispositions, and counsels, which made their spirits unite to easily, so quickly, so closely, that they seemed but as one soul in two bodies. None had so much reason to dislike David as Jonathan had, because he was to put him by the crown, yet none regards him more. Those that are governed in their love by principles of wisdom and grace will not suffer their affections to be alienated by any secular regards or considerations: the greater thoughts will swallow up and overrule the less. 2. He testified his love to David by a generous present he made him, Sa1 18:4. He was uneasy at seeing so great a soul, though lodged in so fair a body, yet disguised in the mean and despicable dress of a poor shepherd, and therefore takes care to put him speedily into the habit of a courtier (for he gave him a robe) and of a soldier, for he gave him, instead of his staff and sling, a sword and bow, and, instead of his shepherd's scrip, a girdle, either a belt or a sash; and, which made the present much more obliging, they were the same that he himself had worn, and (as a presage of what would follow) he stripped himself of them to dress David in them. Saul's would not fit him, but Jonathan's did. Their bodies were of a size, a circumstance which well agreed with the suitableness of their minds. When Saul put these marks of honour on David he put them off again, because he would first earn them and then wear them; but, now that he had given proofs of the spirit of a prince and a soldier, he was not ashamed to wear the habits of a prince and a soldier. David is seen in Jonathan's clothes, that all may take notice he is a Jonathan's second self. Our Lord Jesus has thus shown his love to us, that he stripped himself to clothe us, emptied himself to enrich us; nay, he did more than Jonathan, he clothed himself with our rags, whereas Jonathan did not put on David's. 3. He endeavored to perpetuate this friendship. So entirely satisfied were they in each other, even at the first interview, that they made a covenant with each other, Sa1 18:3. Their mutual affection was sincere; and he that bears an honest mind startles not at assurances. True love desires to be constant. Those who love Christ as their own souls will be willing to join themselves to him in an everlasting covenant.
III. That both court and country agree to bless him. It is but seldom that they agree in their favourites; yet David was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also (which was strange) in the sight of Saul's servants, Sa1 18:5. The former cordially loved him, the latter could not for shame but caress and compliment him. And it was certainly a great instance of the power of God's grace in David that he was able to bear all this respect and honour flowing in upon him on a sudden without being lifted up above measure. Those that climb so fast have need of good heads and good hearts. It is more difficult to know how to abound than how to be abased.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when he had made…
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul,.... In answer to his questions about his descent and family, and doubtless more things were talked of than are recorded:
that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David: he won his heart, made a conquest of his affections, these went out towards him, and cleaved unto him; such were the comeliness of his person, his graceful mien and deportment, his freedom and fluency of expression, his courage and undauntedness, joined with prudence, modesty, and integrity, that they strongly attached him to him:
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and Jonathan loved him as his own soul; not only according to the excellency of David's soul, and the greatness of it, as that deserved respect and love, as Abarbinel suggests, but he loved him as he loved himself. There was a similarity in their persons, in their age, in the dispositions of their minds, in their wisdom, courage, modesty, faithfulness, and openness of soul, that attracted them to each other, that they became as another self; as one soul, as Aristotle speaks (r) of true friends: instances of very cordial friendship are given by Plutarch (s), as in Theseus and Pirithous, Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades, Pythias and Damon, Epaminondas and Pelopidas; but none equal to this.
(r) Ethic. l. 9. c. 4, 9. So Porphyr. de Vita Pythagor. (s) Apud Patrick in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain David becomes the friend of Jonathan, the constant attendant…
David becomes the friend of Jonathan, the constant attendant of Saul, and the favourite of all the people, ver. 1-5. Saul's envy raised, ver. 6-9. He seeks to kill David, ver. 10-11 Is afraid of him, ver. 12-16. Promises to give him his elder daughter, and gives him the younger, hoping to destroy him thereby, but in vain, ver. a 7-27. He is more feared by Saul and esteemed by the people, ver. 28-30.
Loved him - For his excellent virtues and endowments, which shone forth both in his speeches and actions; for the service he had done to God and to his people; and for the similitude of their age and qualities.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Jonathan and David commence a lasting friendship; and David
CHAPTER XVIII
Jonathan and David commence a lasting friendship; and David
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acts prudently with respect to Saul, 1-5
Saul becomes jealous of David, on account of the esteem in
which he is held in Israel; and, in his fury endeavours to
destroy him, 6-12.
David is made captain over a thousand; and the people love and
respect him, 13-16.
Saul, in order to ensnare him, offers him his daughter in
marriage, 17-24;
and requires a hundred foreskins of the Philistines for dowry;
hoping that, in endeavouring to procure them, David might fall
by the hands of the Philistines, 25.
David agrees to the conditions, fulfils them, and has Michal to
wife, 26-30.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII
Verse 1. When he had made an end of speaking] These first five verses are omitted by the Septuagint. See the notes on the preceding chapter.
Jonathan loved him as his own soul] The most intimate friendship subsisted between them; and they loved each other with pure hearts fervently. No love was lost between them; each was worthy of the other. They had a friendship which could not be affected with changes or chances, and which exemplified all that the ancients have said on the subject; Την φιλιαν ισοτητα ειναι, και μιαν ψυχην, τον φιλον ἑτερον αυτον; "Friendship produces an entire sameness; it is one soul in two bodies: a friend is another self."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 18:1. The soul of Jonathan was knit with…
1Sa 18:1. The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David — On account of the prudence and modesty of his discourse and behaviour after such an heroic action, and the other excellent virtues which shone forth both in his speeches and actions; for the service he had done to God and to his people; and for the similitude of their age and qualities.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Was knit with the soul of David - The…
Was knit with the soul of David - The same forcible phrase occurs of Jacob’s love for Benjamin (marginal reference). Jonathan’s truly heroic character is shown in this generous love of David, and admiration of his great deed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Soul. Pythagoras said, "that friendship is an equality, and…
Soul. Pythagoras said, "that friendship is an equality, and one soul, and that the friend is another self." It would be difficult to find two souls more tender and generous than those of David and Jonathan. (Calmet) --- Josephus speaks of their friendship on another occasion, as these five verses are omitted in the Roman Septuagint, &c. (Kennicott)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 2. David’s Friendship with Jonathan. He is made General…
2. David’s Friendship with Jonathan. He is made General of the Army
1Sa_18:1-5
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1And 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 2own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him no more go home 3[would not let him return] to his father’s house. Then [And] Jonathan and David 4made a covenant, because Hebrews 1 loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments [war-dress], even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
5And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely.2 And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
3. David is hated by King Saul. 1Sa_18:6-16
6And it came to pass as they came, when David was [om. was] returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,3 that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing,4 to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy and with instruments 7of music [triangles]. And the women answered one another as they played,8and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth,5 and the [this] saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed [given] unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [given] but thousands; and what can he have more but the kingdom? [there remains for9 him only the kingdom.]6 And Saul eyed6 David from that day and forward.
10And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied7 in the midst of the house; and David played [was playing] with his hand as at other times, and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand [and 11Saul’s javelin was in his hand]. And Saul cast8 the javelin, for he [and] said, I will smite David even to [I will pin David to] the wall with it [om. with it]. And 12David avoided out of his presence [turned away from him] twice. And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord [Jehovah] was with him, and was departed from 13Saul. Therefore [And] Saul removed him from him, and made him his [om. his] 14captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord [Jehovah] was with 15him. Wherefore when [And] Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, [ins. 16and] he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
4. Saul’s Artful Attempt against David’s Life in the Offer of Marriage with his Daughter. 1Sa_18:17-30
17And9 Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s [Jehovah’s] battles. For [And] Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines 18be upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what10 is my life, or [om. or] my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the 19king? But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel,11 the Meholathite, to wife. 20And Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing 21pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may [and she shall] be a snare to him, and that [om. that] the hand of the Philistines may [shall] be against him. Wherefore [And] Saul said to David [ins. the second time],12 Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain [om. in the one of the twain]. 22And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune [Speak] with David secretly, and say, Behold the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee; now, therefore, be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul’s servants spake these words in the 23ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a [the] 24 king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.
25And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry but13 an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. 26But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when [om., when] his servants told David these words, [ins. and] it pleased David well 27to be the king’s son-in-law; and the days were not expired.14 Wherefore [And] David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two15 hundred men, and David brought their foreskins, and they [better om. they16] gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul 28gave him Michal his daughter to wife. And Saul saw and knew that the Lord [Jehovah] was with David, and that [om. that] Michal,17 Saul’s daughter, loved 29him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul became [was] David’s 30enemy continually. Then18 [And] the princes of the Philistines went forth. And it came to pass, after [as often as] they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was set by.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Sa_17:55-58. David at the royal court, his lineage better known, and himself permanently taken up.—On the relation of this section to 1Sa_16:14-23 (the two coming from different sources), and to the general narrative, see the full discussion in the Introduction, p. 16 sqq. Considering the undeniable difference between the account here (where Saul is ignorant of David’s person and family), and that in 1Sa_16:14-23, (where Saul, after negotiation with Jesse, takes David to his court, and keeps him till the outbreak of the war), and considering the vain attempts which have been made to harmonize this difference, we accept Nägelsbach’s conclusion (Herz. xiii. 402): “All attempts at reconciliation failing, we can only, till a satisfactory explanation is found, suppose that these two accounts come from really different and discrepant sources.” [Without laying stress on the fact that Saul here inquires after David’s father, and not after David himself (which, though urged by Houbigant, Chandler, Wordsworth, and others, does not seem to amount to anything), we may still insist that the two accounts, though different, are not necessarily discrepant in the sense that both cannot be true. It is only necessary to admit that David’s absence at home had been long (and there is no exact chronological datum), that Saul had rarely seen him except in moments of madness, that Abner had been absent from court when David was there, and that the personal appearance of the latter had changed (suppositions which, taken singly or together, are not improbable), and Saul’s ignorance becomes natural, These old narratives, giving brief and partial views of occurrences, may well sometimes seem to contradict each other, and it is wise (as Nägelsbach hints) in view of the historical authority of the Heb. text, at least to suspend our judgment.—Tr.]
1Sa_17:55. We need not take the verbs here as Pluperf. (Then., Keil, &c.), since this narrative is to be regarded simply as an addition to the preceding. In their context 1Sa_17:55-56 belong after 1Sa_17:40 and form a supplement to the vivid description of David’s advance against Goliath. The words “against the Philistine” refer to the close of 1Sa_17:40. Saul’s question is to be understood not merely of David’s father and family, but also of his person. According to this Saul does not know him. The question and Abner’s answer must necessarily be taken in connection with the surprise and astonishment felt at David’s bold procedure. Saul’s question could not be answered till David’s return; it is therefore mentioned here, and connected with David’s appearance before Saul under Abner’s guidance.
1Sa_17:57-58. The concluding words of 1Sa_17:57 : “and the head,” &c., show that this statement is to be put between 1Sa_17:53 and 1Sa_17:54. According to this Abner’s leading David to Saul was occasioned by the latter’s question. David’s words in 1Sa_17:58 are not to be regarded as forming his whole answer; from 1Sa_17:1 we infer that he had a somewhat long conversation with Saul.
2. 1Sa_18:1-5. David’s friendship with Jonathan and permanent residence at Saul’s court as commander of the army. 1Sa_18:1. The consequence of this conversation was the formation of a friendship between David and Jonathan, as is indicated by the words: “when he had ceased speaking with Saul.” The word “knit” (נִקְשְׁרָה as in Gen_44:30) denotes, under the figure of a chain, the firm union and inseparable unity of souls in friendship, expressing the thought that their inner lives of feeling work deeply into each other, and so each has perpetually fast hold of the other. Clericus: “In almost all languages friendship is considered as a union of souls bound together by the band of love.” Grotius: “An admirable description of friendship. So Aristotle (Nicom. IX. 8) has noted that friends are called one soul. The same thing is set forth by the Lat. concordia and the Greek ὁμονοἰα. Papinius says that souls are bound together.”—And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. To the conception of firmness is here added the idea of innerness of friendship, the complete identification of essence of two souls.19 (The Kethib has the rarer contracted suffix וֹ, the Qeri the commoner ־ֵהוּ. Ew. § 249 b).—David’s heroic courage, firm trust in God, and splendid feat of arms had won him Jonathan’s heart.20
1Sa_18:2. Not till after the narrative of this friendship follows the statement that Saul took David permanently to court: he took him, that is, into his service, and allowed him not to return to his father’s house, as he had done in 1Sa_17:15; the words presuppose that David had desired to return thither. That Saul virtually ordered David’s permanent stay with him immediately after their conversation (Keil) is not necessarily to be assumed. Rather from the sequence of the sentences it seems as if the narrator intended to connect the rise of the friendship of David and Jonathan with the friendly relation which Saul first assumed in his conversation with David, and then to set forth David’s permanent stay at court as a consequence of this friendship.
1Sa_18:3. Jonathan’s love for David (he loved him as his own soul) is the ground of this solemn and formal sealing of their friendship. The covenant indicates the mutualness of the love which they pledged one another. Grot.: “they mutually-promised perpetual friendship,” comp. 1Sa_20:3.
1Sa_18:4 is closely attached to 1Sa_18:3 in so far as here by the gift of the upper garment, the robe (מְעִיל) and the separate parts of the war-equipment to David, the conclusion of the covenant of friendship on Jonathan’s part is solemnly confirmed. Clericus supposes that the object of this gift was to enable the poorly-clad David to appear at court in seemly dress. But the mention of the several weapons, which together make a complete war-outfit, rather suggests that Jonathan wished to honor David as the military hero; and this manner of sealing their friendship was a proof that the two, as heroes, equally crowned by God with victory, could love one another, and that Jonathan was far from feeling envy and jealousy of David for his heroic deed. Jonathan’s here taking the initiative is in keeping with his position at court as king’s son in respect to the young shepherd. His clothing David with his own war-dress is sign that his hearty friendship sets aside the barrier which his rank and position would raise between them in the first instance on the common ground of the theocratic chivalry, as whose representatives they had come to love one another. [Philippson: The gift of one’s own garment, especially by a prince to a subject, is in the East still the highest mark of honor. So in “Esther” (1 Samuel 6) Mordecai is clothed in the king’s apparel.—Tr.]
1Sa_18:5 belongs to what goes before as the declaration of the honorable position which David (along with this relation to Jonathan) took at Saul’s court, as generally beloved in his office and calling. First, his position was a military one; for that the “went out” (which is to be taken separately, and not connected with the following)21 refers to war, and not to “general business” [Clericus] is plain not only from the following account which mentions not only military undertakings for Saul, but also from the statement of the position of General which he received in consequence of his success in what was entrusted to him, and from the account of the military equipment which Jonathan (1Sa_18:4) presented to him. In all, whereto Saul sent him, he was successful.—His warlike undertakings were fortunate and successful. The Verb (הַשְׂכִּיל) means “to act prudently, wisely” and then to be successful,” as in Jos_1:7 [Eng. A. V. “prosper”]. It always refers to conduct, “to act wisely, and then to be prosperous in one’s undertakings.” Saul set him over the men of war, that is, made him a military officer. He was appointed commander of a body of soldiers.—David soon attained to high consideration and acceptance in the eyes of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.—By this term we are to understand the officials at Saul’s court. David’s winning loveliness of character is here brought out more strongly by the statement that he did not excite the envy and jealousy of his fellow-officials at court. Clericus: “he pleased even the courtiers, who are commonly envious, especially of those who have newly found favor with the king.” This idea is involved in the “and also” [= and even]. [Philippson: “As he was afterwards promoted to be chiliarch, he must here have been made centurion.” But see on 1Sa_18:13.—Tr.]
3. 1Sa_18:6-16. Here is related how Saul’s deadly hatred against David springs from envy and jealousy. As the section 1Sa_17:54-58 lays the foundation for David’s permanent stay at the royal court—and as the section 1Sa_18:1-5, being the summary description of David’s personal relations to Saul’s family as Jonathan’s friend, and to the court-officials and the people as military commander, explains what is afterwards said of David’s relation to Jonathan and of his military career—so in this section, 1Sa_18:6-16, we have the cause of the deadly hate which Saul henceforth bore in his heart against David, there being preserved (a fact to be noted) in 1Sa_18:5 a significant silence as to Saul’s feeling towards him, only the friendly disposition of Jonathan and of the officials and people being mentioned. That no strict chronological advance is attempted in the narrative in 1Sa_17:55 sq. is clear from the above remarks. As in 1 Samuel 17. 1Sa_17:55 belongs as to its contents to 1Sa_17:40, and 1Sa_17:57 belongs next to 1Sa_17:54, so 1Sa_17:6 here is not connected in context and time immediately with 1Sa_17:5, but goes back to 1Sa_17:52-53. In 1Sa_17:1-4 is told what happened to David immediately after his victory over Goliath; he became Jonathan’s friend, and was permanently fixed at court. That was the immediate result of his exploit (which decided the issue of the war with the Philistines.) In 1Sa_18:5 we have a further consequence: Saul employs David in warlike enterprises against the Philistines, and gives him command of a body of troops. But, according to 1Sa_17:52-53, the war with the Philistines was not ended by the victory over Goliath; on the contrary, they were again several times defeated, and their camp was plundered by the victorious Israelites on their return from pursuit. That Saul in thus finishing the war employed David as a bold leader is clearly stated in 1Sa_18:5, wherewith is also summarily told how David in his new position won the favor of the people and also of Saul’s servants, while it is not said that Saul in appointing him to office bestowed his favor on him. The narration of 1Sa_18:6 now, going back to 1Sa_17:53, connects itself with the return of the people and of David from the concluded war, in order to point out how on this occasion Saul’s ill-will and hatred towards David arose, on which is founded the whole of the following narrative of the relation between David and Saul. The “as they came” refers to the return of the whole army from the happily ended war (comp. 1Sa_17:53); at the same time is mentioned David’s return with express reference to his victory over Goliath, which had determined the successful issue of the war, in order to bring into its proper historical connection the honor which then accrued to him. This return of David, therefore (along with the whole army), is not synchronous with his return to Saul in 1Sa_17:57 immediately after the killing of the Philistine, but occurred after the victory over the whole Philistine army was completed. Here began Saul’s envy and hatred against David. There is, therefore, no contradiction between the statement that Saul kept David by him and gave him a military command (1Sa_18:2; 1Sa_18:5), and the following statement (1Sa_18:6 sq.) that in consequence of the honor shown David he conceived a lasting hatred against him (1Sa_18:9).—We have the description of the festive reception given by the women from all the cities of Israel to the returning victorious army, Saul at its head. In the words: with song and dance the Art. [in Heb.] points to the usual employment of song and dance in such receptions. They met Saul with tabrets, with joyful outcry, and with triangles. Here שִּׂמְחָה [“joy”], standing between the two instruments of music, must denote, in distinction from the song of joy, the joyful cry which accompanied the beating of the tabrets. For dances accompanied by tabrets see Exo_14:20.
1Sa_18:7. The women performed an antiphonal song; “they answered one another in turn” (Cleric.). The Partcp. (מְשַׂחֲקוֹת [Eng. A. V. “played”]) means perhaps alternate dancing, corresponding to the alternate song (Winer: Contredance s. v. Tanz), along with the choral dancing (מְחֹלוֹת). The Piel of שָׂחַק, “laugh,” properly = “sport, play,” e.g., of children on the street, Zec_8:5.22—The song: “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (comp. 1Sa_21:12 and 1Sa_29:5)—a part of a folk-song, which shows the great consideration in the sight of the people which David had obtained by his victory over Goliath.
1Sa_18:8. Saul was very wroth that greater honor was paid to David than to him. And there is yet only the kingdom for him, that is, for him to obtain. In this outburst of wrath he expresses in a curt ejaculation the well-founded anticipation that the so highly honored David would receive the royal dignity in his place. Clericus: “especially since Samuel had more than once predicted that it would pass into another family.”
1Sa_18:9. From this point dated the evil, curious eye with which Saul henceforth looked on David.23 Clericus: “in these words we see envy and jealousy.” Luther: “And Saul looked sourly on David.” It is an express statement of the continuous bitterness of Saul against David from now on.
1Sa_18:10-11. Saul’s anger against David rises to madness and to murderous purpose. The evil spirit from God came upon Saul. Comp. 1Sa_16:14 : “וַיִּתְנַבֵּא [Eng. A. V. “prophesied;” Erdmann, “raved”], the influence of the evil spirit, analogous to the ecstatic condition of inspiration in which the good spirit from God put the prophets: he raved, raged. The old condition of internal disorder again came over Saul, now heightened by envy and jealousy against David. As in 1Sa_16:23, David seeks by playing on the harp to mitigate Saul’s rage. But as he was its object, the madness takes the form of an attempt on his life. The harp in David’s hand and the spear in Saul’s hand—taking the place of the sceptre, 1Sa_22:6—are here put in sharpest contrast to one another.—[Saul’s condition of mind is neither that of simple madness nor that of true prophecy. He is under the control of a power higher than himself; but it is an evil power. For the precise expression of this supernaturally-determined condition of mind and soul, in which the whole spiritual energy of the man moves freely, yet in a sphere into which it is supernaturally brought, becoming for the time one with the spirit, the Heb. has no other word than naba (נבא), and the Eng. no other word than prophecy. R. P. Smith (“Prophecy a Preparation for Christ,” II. 54 sq.) points out a difference between the Niphal (generally but not always used of true divine prophecy) and the Hithpael (generally but not always of false prophecy), and we may here render: “he acted the prophet” (so here Junius); but it is desirable to exhibit in the translation, if possible, the supernatural element. Whether the Eng. “prophesied” will bear the meaning “spoke like a prophet” or “raved supernaturally” is doubtful; but it is so used of false prophets in Eng. A. V. in 1Ki_22:10 (Hithp.) and 12 (Niph.).—Tr.]
1Sa_18:11. (וַיָּטֶל, Hiph. of טּוּל, properly “to stretch out longitudinally,” comp. Psa_37:24). As it is not said, that Saul actually threw the spear against the wall (as in 1Sa_19:10), the sense rather is: “he purposed to throw;” and we are to suppose a threatening movement of the arm.24—David turned, withdrew before this threatening movement. Twice he did so; this supposes that Saul twice lifted his spear. This also proves that Saul only moved, did not throw the spear, as in 1Sa_19:10. Bunsen well observes: “If Saul actually threw the spear, we could not understand David’s twice retiring. Saul held the spear in his hand, and David stood so near him that he could save himself only by withdrawing.” This is therefore not the same thing as what is told in 1Sa_19:9-10, where Saul actually throws the spear, which pierces the wall. The Sept. has after its manner arbitrarily omitted this section 1Sa_18:9-11, because it wrongly assumed the identity of the two accounts.
1Sa_18:12 relates how Saul’s heart was divided between fierce envy and fear of David; the latter became an object of fear to him. The reason given for this is that the Lord was with David, and was departed from Saul. Through the honor accorded David for his God-given victory Saul became aware of what had already taken place, namely, that he was forsaken and rejected by the Lord.
1Sa_18:13. Enmity against David (born of envy and jealousy) and fear of him (as one specially blessed by God) led Saul to remove him from his presence.—He made him captain over a thousand. This means a different military position from that mentioned in 1Sa_18:5, “whether it denotes a higher position than the first, or the latter means an undefined promotion, as to which we can now hardly determine with certainty” (Keil).—He went out and in before the people is to be understood of David’s military undertakings.
1Sa_18:14. Here as before (1Sa_18:5) David is in everything prosperous. Whereby Saul’s fear (which had led him to remove David from his side) is only increased, he was afraid of him (1Sa_18:15); for he saw afresh that God was with David (1Sa_18:14), but was departed from him.
1Sa_18:16. The love of the whole people for him now grew still greater, his consideration rose still higher. This must needs have increased Saul’s fear, and along with it his envy and jealousy. So Saul’s condition of soul is portrayed in progressive development with psychological truthfulness. Of this nothing is said in 1Sa_18:5, not a word of Saul’s feeling towards David’s success. Here, therefore, in 1Sa_18:15-16, we have not the same situation (as if from a different source) as in 1Sa_18:5. The difference between them and the advance in the exhibition of Saul’s inner life and his attitude towards David is obvious.25
4. 1Sa_18:17-30. Saul’s attempt on David’s life in connection with his marriage with his daughter. In fulfilling his promise to give his daughter to the conqueror of Goliath (1Sa_17:25), Saul takes occasion to prepare the way for David’s death in battle with the Philistines by requiring him to inflict a heavy defeat on them, thus artfully hoping to get rid of him. Such a murderous purpose Saul doubtless had when, after the failure of his murderous attempt in the house, he gave David command over a thousand. A clear light is thus thrown on his new appointment here to a definitely determined military position.
1Sa_18:17. “My oldest daughter” (Heb. large, as in 1Sa_16:11 small = youngest). Saul’s words: only be valiant, etc., are not to be taken as a condition, for the condition of receiving Saul’s daughter to wife was the conquest of Goliath; but they contain an obligation which Saul lays on him, and which David is to accept in return for the honor of becoming Saul’s son-in-law. Such exhortation and expectation on Saul’s part would not seem strange to David, since in his continued wars against the Philistines Saul needed valiant heroes as leaders of his soldiers. It was also in itself perfectly proper for Saul to say to David: “Fight the battle or wars of the Lord;” for in thus designating Israel’s wars against the Philistines, he expresses the same idea which David expressed in the words (1Sa_17:36; 1Sa_17:47): “He has defied the ranks of the living God,” and “The battle is the Lord’s.” These wars were “the wars of Jehovah,” because Israel, whom the Philistines oppressed, was God’s chosen covenant-people, in which the kingdom of God was to take shape within the territory contested by the Philistines, in attacking whom, therefore, the Philistines were trying to make void God’s purpose of salvation. So must God needs oppose these enemies of His people and of the holy affairs of His kingdom. And this is the meaning of the title of that old collection of songs, Num_21:14 : “Book of the Wars of the Lord.” And as it was the war of God Himself, the combatants therein were necessarily sure of the Lord’s assistance.—But behind this proper language of Canaan was hid Saul’s cunning and wickedness towards David.—Saul thought: My hand shall not be on him, but the hand of the Philistines shall be on him.—This “he thought” shows the same disposition in Saul as the same expression [Eng. A. V. “said”] in 1Sa_18:11. There he had stretched out hand and spear; but the deed had not come to performance. Here Saul resolves that David shall not die by his hand; but guile shall lead him to the desired end. So deep-sunken is he morally and intellectually that he seeks to avoid only the outward completion of the evil deed with his own hand, separates between the criminal hand and the wicked heart, and besides covers his wickedness with the hypocritical tongue, which speaks zealously for the things of the Lord. Berl. Bib.: “The finer the words the greater the deceit. Further, he would rather see the Philistines triumph than David survive.”
1Sa_18:18. David’s artless simplicity and honest humility are here sharply contrasted with Saul’s artfulness and trickiness. As heretofore the struggle between Saul’s better and worse impulses and the progress of the latter has been set forth with admirable delicacy and clearness, so now, on the other hand, David’s disposition and character is most excellently exhibited by the simple narration of his conduct.—By the question: Who am I? David intimates the distance between his insignificant person as shepherd-lad and the high honor offered him. The question: מִי חַיַּי [Eng. A. V.: “what is my life?”] does not refer to David’s life; for if it mean his personal life, it involves a tautology with the preceding, and reference to his official life does not suit the connection, where the point is only of his person and family, apart from the fact that grammatically the personal interrogative pron. [so in the Eng.: “who is my life?”—Tr.] does not suit the noun “life.” Nor can it mean in general position in life; חַיִּים never means this. Keil, in defence of this view, says, that “מִי refers to the persons of the class of society to which David belonged,” in which he admits that it is not the neuter real [Germ, sachliche—Tr.] conception “condition of life,” but the fundamental meaning of the word “The living” that is here employed; “for מִי never refers to things, but always to persons” (Böttcher). The word means here (as חַיָּה in Psa_68:11; 2Sa_23:11; 2Sa_23:13) a troop, people, or, from the connection: “my folks, my family.” See Ew. § 179 b. To this is added: My father’s family.—In his own eyes David seems too insignificant in person, in family and the House of his father to be son-in-law to the king.26
1Sa_18:19. “In the time of giving,” that is, when she ought to have been given. Ew. § 237 a: “When the time is clear from the connection, a future event may be expressed by the Inf. with בְּ.” Comp. Deu_23:14; 2Ki_2:2.—Saul did not keep his word; for some reason he gave Merab to Adriel, the Meholathite to wife, “which cannot surprise us, considering Saul’s capricious disposition in his advanced age” (Stähelin, Leben Davids, p. 11). A place, Abelmeholah, is mentioned in Jdg_7:22, in Manasseh, west of the Jordan.—The section 1Sa_18:17-19 is arbitrarily omitted in the Sept. because the translators did not understand why Saul failed to keep his promise, and why his action was so contradictory or undecided.—One really does not see why the oscillating, self-contradictory Saul, governed by the momentary whims of his discordant soul, should not have been guilty of such breach of faith. Thenius’ confident assertion “that these verses contain nothing but a popular story made out of the fact related in 1Sa_18:20 in imitation of Jacob’s marriage with Leah and Rachel,” is wholly without ground. To such an imitation there is lacking agreement in the chief features of the two narratives.
1Sa_18:20-30. Michal becomes the wife of David, who issues victoriously out of the great dangers in battle with the Philistines, into which Saul had sent him to a certain death, as he hoped. That it is expressly said of Michal: She loved David, does not warrant the conclusion that Merab did not love him, and was therefore not given to him. The reason for this is not mentioned, simply because Saul’s procedure was arbitrary. Perhaps there was at this moment no war with the Philistines in which he might have looked for David’s destruction. It pleased Saul that Michal loved David. Between the transpiring of Michal’s love and Merab’s marriage we must suppose a space of time, during which Michal’s love was developed.
1Sa_18:21. Michal was to be a snare to David, that is, Saul would impose such conditions on him in the marriage as would secure his death: on her account or occasion the hand of the Philistines should be on him (comp. 1Sa_18:25):—בִּשְׁתַּיִם [Eng. A. V. in the one of the twain,” see “Text and Gram.”] is literally: in two [feminine]. Accordingly it is proposed to render (as Bunsen): David is to make a double marriage with Merab and Michal, as Jacob did; in this case (so Tremell.) 1Sa_18:19 is to be taken as Pluperfect: “she had been given.” Similarly, S. Schmid, only he takes 1Sa_18:19 in this way, that Saul excused himself to David, and offered to restore Merab to him, she having been already married to another; but if he did not wish this, he should at least marry Michal. Or it is rendered: “Twice shalt thou sue for my alliance”—having failed in Merab’s case, thou shalt succeed in Michal’s (Cler.); or it is translated in duabus rebus gener meus eris hodie [in two things27 thou shalt be my son-in-law to-day] (Vulg.), or, “by the second thou shalt contract an alliance with me to-day” (S. Schmid in the 2d ed. of the Bib. Heb. of Ev. v. d. Hooght, Lips., 1740). But all these renderings are materially [that is, as to content; German, sachlich.—Tr.] and linguistically untenable. The difficulty lies in their taking the numeral as a cardinal number. But there are passages where it = the second time, as undoubtedly in Job_33:14, and Neh_13:20. If now we connect the word with the following (according to the accents), it reads: “a second time wilt thou become my son-in-law,” that is, according to the explanation first given by Bunsen: “The first time by the betrothal to Merab (afterwards broken off), the second time by the actual marriage with Michal.” Bunsen remarks that this explanation is forced and grammatically hard, as to which (1) grammatically the “second time,” is justified by the above-cited passages, and (2) as to content or meaning this view is far less difficult and suspicious than that preferred by Bunsen, though it must be confessed to be open to the objection that the first marriage did not actually take place.—Keil’s explanation: “in a second way thou shalt be my son-in-law,” is unclear, and the rendering “second way” seems not grammatically sustained.—We escape all the difficulties of a connection with what follows if, with De Wette and Thenius, neglecting the accents (which cannot be finally decisive), we connect with the preceding and translate: “And Saul said to David the second time” (understanding the first time to be in 1Sa_18:17).—Thenius thinks that the words “And Saul said * * * * to-day” [Eng. A. V. “Saul said * * * * twain”] are an interpolation by the same hand as 1Sa_18:17-19, (1) because Saul would not have made the proposition first himself and then through the courtiers (1Sa_18:22); (2) because he certainly acted only through others, the better to conceal his shameful purpose, and (3) because, if Saul had spoken first directly to David, we should expect also a direct answer from David (as in 1Sa_18:18). But these three reasons seem insufficient to establish his view; for (1) it does not appear why Saul should not first make this proposition himself, when we recollect that David returned no answer, and he thought it necessary to employ the agency of the courtiers28; (2) in making the proposition himself he could the better conceal his purpose, as he had not performed his first promise to David, and might now seem to make it good by offering his second daughter; (3) David’s experience of deceit was sufficient to make him silent at first in respect to Saul’s offer. O. v. Gerlach here well says: “Saul proposed this matter to David; but the latter did not answer, as he knew Saul’s vacillation, and distrusted him; it therefore needed the persuasion of others to induce him to come into Saul’s views.”
1Sa_18:22 sq. In the fluent discourse of the courtiers we see (1) something of the flattering, conciliatory tone usual in such circles, and (2) Saul’s lively interest in the success of his plan to destroy David through Michal’s love. Saul’s servants were to speak with David “in secret,” that is, “as if they did it behind the king’s back” (Keil).—David’s answer (1Sa_18:23) is two-fold: (1) he affirms the great importance of such a step as marrying the king’s daughter—referring to the distance between him and the honor for which he was to strive, and probably also herein alluding to Saul’s former breach of faith in respect to Merab, which proceeded from contempt for his person; (2) he declares himself too poor to furnish a dowry suitable for a king’s daughter. As to the dowry, or “morning-gift,” see Gen_34:12.
1Sa_18:25. In consequence of the courtiers’ report of David’s reasons for declining the marriage, Saul advances another step.29 To attain his end he dispenses with the usual dowry, and demands only a hundred foreskins of Philistines (Jos. Ant., vi. 10–27, 600 heads)! It is herein supposed that the Philistines were again attacking Saul. This appears also from the fact that David was in this way to show that he had killed a hundred Philistines, to avenge the king of his enemies. Thus Saul thought to put David out of the way by the hand of the Philistines.
1Sa_18:26. David accepts Saul’s proposition the more gladly as the demand was in keeping with his military calling, and he was to win Michal by a heroic achievement. And the days were not expired, that is, the time to the marriage, or the time set by Saul for the performance of the warlike deed, though Saul is not expressly said to have set any limit. Ewald explains that the time for the marriage with Merab was not yet expired [so Bib. Com.—Tr.]; but it is more natural to refer to the marriage with Michal.
1Sa_18:27. David marched to battle with his men, that is, with the thousand which had been assigned him (1Sa_18:13), not with a few valiant followers (as Ewald, Bunsen, and others hold, because with a large body there would have been no danger); we are to suppose that David attacked a large Philistine force, as is intimated in the words “he slew among the Philistines two hundred men,” which he could not have done with a small party. David doubly fulfills Saul’s demand by bringing two hundred foreskins. And they counted out the full number. The arbitrary method of the Sept. is seen in their reading “one hundred” from 1Sa_18:25 instead of “two hundred.” [Many modern critics, neglecting the spirit of the narrative, prefer the Sept. reading to the Heb., referring also to 2 S. 1Sa_3:14. Ignoring the enthusiasm and prowess of David, they insist on an arithmetical correctness in his slaughter, as if a youthful warrior on such an occasion would not rejoice in going beyond the mark. In 2 S. 1Sa_3:14 David properly mentions the price demanded by Saul; all beyond was not price, but free gift.—Tr.] 1Sa_18:28 sq. Here, similarly, the Sept. for “Michal, Saul’s daughter,” puts “all Israel.” Bunsen: “A completely unfounded change of the Heb. text,” taken from 1Sa_18:16. The issue of the hostile schemes set on foot against David is the opposite of what Saul intended. The narrative asserts not only that God was with David, but also that Saul knew it. Michal’s love to David, and Saul’s hate, which had grown into permanent enmity, are here sharply contrasted. “Saul was yet the more afraid” points back to 1Sa_18:12-15. Saul’s perception of the fact that David was under God’s special protection only increased the feeling that he himself was forsaken and rejected by God, who shielded David against his wicked designs.30
1Sa_18:30 stands in pragmatic connection with the following narrative of Saul’s conduct towards David, whose brilliant exploits against the Philistines and rising reputation still more inflamed the jealousy and hatred of Saul.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. The history of sin in Saul’s inner life shows a steady and rapid progress in evil after it had gained footing and mastery in his heart. When a man once gives place to passion in his soul, he comes more and more into its power, and is at last completely ruled by it, and driven even more violently on from sin to sin. “He that doeth sin is the slave of sin.”—Jealousy, which, in a heart that has lost God’s love and honor as its centre, is born of selfishness (wanting all love, honor, joy for itself alone), has always for its companion envy of the successes, the honor and the good fortune of others. From envy come gradually hatred and enmity, and then, by hidden or by open ways, murder—“he who hateth his brother is a murderer.” Parallel to the example of Saul are those of Cain and Joseph’s brothers.
2. With the deeds which God the Lord performs in the history of his kingdom through chosen instruments, whom He has thereto prepared and enabled by the wise leadings of His grace, are often connected immediate consequences, which (like the consequences of David’s victory for him,) are of far-reaching importance for their further course in life, and provide them with broader and higher equipment of the inner and outer life for greater tasks which are assigned them for the kingdom of God. And the more willingly they thus enter the school of suffering and conflict, as David did, the more do they grow in humility, obedience, and childlike submission to God’s will, but the more also do they learn the truth of the word: God gives grace to the humble, He makes the upright to prosper. He who, like David, walks humbly and obediently in God’s ways, unmoved by the good fortune granted him, or by the trials and conflicts which often come upon him out of such good fortune through the sins of others, sees himself everywhere led by the Lord’s hand, and accompanied by His blessing.
3. True friendship in two souls must be rooted in a like attitude of the heart to a loving God, must exhibit itself in a mutual unselfish devotion of heart in love which is based on a common love to the Lord, and must approve itself in the school of suffering.
4. In the character-pictures which it presents to us (as is clear in the history of Saul and David), Holy Scripture never exhibits a pause in religious-moral life, but always holds up the mighty “Either * * * Or,” which man has to decide,—either forward on the way in which man walks at the hand of God with giving up of his own will and humble obedience to the will of God, or backwards with uncheckable step, when man puts God’s guidance from him, and, following his own will, suffers not God’s will to be accomplished in, on, and through himself.
[Maurice: (Prophets and Kings of the Old Test.): I have not tried to ascertain the point at which the moral guilt of Saul ends and his madness begins; the Bible does not hint at a settlement of that question. It is enough for us to know, and to tremble as we know, that the loss of all capacity for discerning between right and wrong may be the rightful and natural result of indulging any one hateful passion. On the other hand, it is comforting to believe that there are conditions of mind to which we must not and dare not impute moral delinquency; a still greater and deeper comfort to know that in these conditions, as well as those where there is most of wilful wrong, God may still be carrying on His great and wonderful work of “bringing souls out of darkness and the shadow of death, of breaking their bonds asunder.” There are glimpses of light in the later life of Saul which must be referred to the divine source.
Chandler (Life of David, p. 60): David, in the destruction of the Philistines, acted contrary to no rules of religion and morality; for the men he destroyed were the enemies of his country, in a state of actual war with his prince and people, and therefore lawful prize wherever he could lay hold of them.—Tr.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa_17:1 sq. J. Lange: To love good people, and that in such a way that one loves and esteems them for the good he sees in them, is a sign that one is good himself.—Schlier: True friendship is a gift of God, and God grants it to those who fear Him.—Berl. Bible: The connection which God establishes between truly converted men is almost indescribable. There is an incomprehensible something that out of two such souls makes a single one in God. No blood relationship or natural friendship comes up to this, because such a union proceeds from utter conformity. When men have experienced such a oneness of soul, they make with each other an everlasting covenant.—[1Sa_18:3. Taylor: A league of friendship, which for sincerity, constancy, and romantic pathos, is unrivalled in the annals of history, whether sacred or profane.—Tr.]
1Sa_17:4. Schmid: True and genuine love delights to show itself also by outward signs.—Cremer: They are true friends who help not only in prosperity but also in necessity.—F. W. Krummacher: These two loved each other truly in God, to whose service they had devoted themselves in holy hours of consecration, and their views, judgments, opinions and strivings were completely harmonious.—When such conditions concur, there grows up the sweet flower which the apostle, in distinction from universal love, calls “peculiar.” There blooms the friendship, which, rooting itself in similarity of sanctified natural disposition, and working an improvement of this on both sides, takes one of the highest places among earthly blessings. There knits itself the communion of heart, in consequence of which one man becomes to another, as it were, a living channel, through which there incessantly streams upon him a fulness of refreshing consolation and encouragement, enriching his inner life.
1Sa_17:5. Schlier: The Lord makes everything right and good! That God who so wonderfully led David, and even in the least and most trifling things trained him up for his calling, will also lead us by the hand step after step, and if we let ourselves be led, will certainly lead everything to a good result. Let us always hold to the old saying: As God will, hold I still!
1Sa_17:7. F. W. Krummacher: Let us always celebrate our heroes, perpetuate their memory in monuments, twine laurel crowns for all who have done good service for the common weal, or through their creative gifts have enlarged the domain of elevating and wholesome ideas. Only let us not forget, through whatever of great, noble and blessed is achieved by the sons of man, to be reminded first of the Father of spirits, from whom every good and perfect gift comes down to us, and let us in humility and modesty give to Him, before all others, the honor which is His due.
1Sa_17:8. Starke: Where prosperity comes, envy soon follows (Gen_37:8, Dan_6:1-5). [Henry: Now begin David’s troubles, and they not only tread on the heels of his triumphs, but take rise from them; such is the vanity of that in this world which seems greatest.—Scott: Lavish commendations of those whom we love and admire, in such a world as this, often prove a real injury.—Tr.]
1Sa_17:9. sq. F. W. Krummacher: Were it granted us in our own local circles everywhere to look behind the curtain, who knows how often we too should behold like scenes! Scenes of a wild outpouring of an injured feeling of honor, or of unrestrained vexation at losses, or of flaming and heart-consuming envy, so that we too could not avoid designating these paroxysms by the expression “demoniacal.”—Berl. Bible: Selfishness occasions a deadly jealousy, for it makes one grudge the favors which God grants to others.—Schlier: If everything had gone on so, if all the people had continually shouted to meet the bold hero, how easily might pride have taken possession of him, how easily might he have fallen from his humility, and become full of vanity and assumption. Therefore God the Lord took him into His own school, and such a school of trouble is indeed bitter, but it is good and wholesome, and he who learns in it first rightly becomes a man after God’s own heart.—F. W. Krummacher: Scarcely one trying condition of life can be thought of, in which David had not found himself at some time or other during his pilgrimage. Even for his own sake, that he might not be exalted above measure through the abundant favors vouchsafed unto him, he needed continual reminders of his dependence on Him who, on high and in the sanctuary, dwells with those who are of contrite and humble spirit. Besides, David was to become even for thousands of years a loved and comforting companion to the weary and oppressed of every sort, and for that reason, also, no cup of trouble must pass him by untasted.—[Scott: For every great and good work a man must expect to be envied by his neighbor; no distinction or preeminence can be so unexceptionably obtained, but it will expose the possessor to slander and malice, and perhaps to the most fatal consequences. But such trials are very useful to those who love God; they serve as a counterpoise to the honor put upon them, and check the growth of pride and attachment to the world; they exercise them to faith, patience, meekness, and communion with God; they give them a fair opportunity of exemplifying the amiable nature and tendency of true godliness, by acting with wisdom and propriety in the most difficult circumstances; they make way for increasing experience of the Lord’s faithfulness, in restraining their enemies, raising them up friends, and affording them His gracious protection; and they both prepare them for those stations in which they are to be employed, and open their way to them: for in due time modest merit will shine forth with double lustre.—Tr.]
1Sa_17:10. Cramer: When one opens the door of his heart to the devil by envy, pride, scorn, sour looks and rudeness, he is not far off, but soon enters in with his hellish forces (Gen_37:8; Gen_37:18 sq.). Wurt. Summ.: How unhappy is a man who has turned away from God, and yet will not acknowledge and confess his guilt, but still assumes that he is in the right! This makes him discontented with God, and grudging and hostile to others who are favored by God.
1Sa_17:11. Starke [from Bp. Hall]: It is well for the innocent that wicked men cannot keep their own counsel. [Henry: Compare David, with his harp in his hand, aiming to serve Saul, and Saul, with his javelin in his hand, aiming to slay David; and observe the sweetness and usefulness of God’s persecuted people, and the brutishness and barbarity of their persecutors.—Tr].
1Sa_17:12. Osiander: God turns away the blows of enemies, be that they are in vain and do no damage.—Starke: Those who have in God a gracious father and a protector are feared by others (Mar_6:20).
1Sa_17:13. S. Schmid: The evil which ungodly men threaten and do to the pious God knows how to change into something good (Gen_1:20).
1Sa_17:15. Schmid: One can avenge himself on envious men in no better and nobler way, than when with God’s help, he behaves himself wisely, and seeks in prayer the increase of the divine blessing.
1Sa_17:16. Starke: When ungodly men think to lessen the honor and consideration of the pious, it is often so much the more increased.—Chrysostom (3 Homilies on David and Saul): But that holy man even after all this, continued caring for the other’s interests, and incurring perils to promote his safety, and taking place in the ranks in all battles, and preserving by his own perils the one who wished to slay him, and neither in words nor in deeds did he provoke that savage wild beast, but in all things yielded and was obedient.—Tr.].
1Sa_17:17. Friendlier face, worse rogue; therefore try the spirits (Psa_28:3; Psa_55:22 [21]). [Saul a hypocritical pretender, both to paternal affection (comp. 1Sa_18:20-21), and to pious devotion, “the Lord’s battles.”—Tr.]—Osiander: Hypocrites persuade themselves that they have done no evil if only they do not put their own hand to it, although they manage to do it through others.—Starke: A true Christian must also be a good soldier, and fight the Lord’s battles (2Ti_2:5; 2Ti_4:7).
1Sa_17:18. A pious man is even in prosperity humble of heart.—Berl. Bible: This humility of David may teach us much. He knew well that he was to be king, and that God had caused him to be anointed thereto; yet he never spoke of such a favor, but rather gives it to be understood how utterly nothing he is, and how unworthy he thought himself.
1Sa_17:20. Schlier: When God does not give us something which we have desired, we should be certain that our wish would not have been good for us, and should be not less certain that God has something better in store for us.
1Sa_17:22. Starke: One should not let himself be used for the purpose of causing others to fall.
1Sa_17:23. Berl. Bible: A truly humble man never seeks his own honor, even though opportunities should occur in which he might well do so.—Simplicity and uprightness put all the devices of evil subtlety to shame. And those who always go straight forward often catch those who wanted to catch them.
1Sa_17:29. Osiander: The greater injustice and violence any one does to innocent people, the more must he be afraid of them.
[Henry: Observe how God brought good to David out of Saul’s projects against him. 1. Saul gave him his daughter to be a snare to him, but that marriage made his succeeding Saul less invidious. 2. Saul thought by putting him upon dangerous service to have him taken off, but that very service increased his popularity and facilitated his coming to the crown. Thus God makes the wrath of man to praise Him, and serves His designs of kindness to His own people by it.—Tr.]
1Sa_17:1-2. F. W. Krummacher. The fruit which David personally gained from his triumph over Goliath was threefold: a joyful acquisition, a perilous honor, and a threatening displeasure.
[1Sa_17:12. Taylor. Three lessons from this chapter: (1) The evil of centering our thoughts and plans entirely on ourselves. This was the root of Saul’s misery. (2) The servant of God may expect to encounter adversity in an early stage of his career. (3) The wisest course in time of danger is to do faithfully his daily duty, and leave our case with God.—Tr.]
Chap. 18. Disselhoff: Pleasure and Burden, or, Temptation and Victory: (1) In the pleasure lies the temptation, (2) in the burden lies the power to overcome.
[1Sa_18:1-4. Jonathan, the man of generous soul. (1) Generous in admiring, (a) Not jealous, though his own military fame is eclipsed. (b) Fully appreciating the merit of a new and obscure man. (c) Admiring not only a brilliant exploit, but modest, graceful and devout words (David’s “speaking,” comp. 1Sa_17:37; 1Sa_17:45-47, and remember that he was a poet of rare genius). (2) Generous in proposing friendship, where he might so naturally have indulged jealousy (as his father did). Love at first sight, seeking permanent union. (Hall: “A wise soul hath piercing eyes, and hath quickly discovered the likeness of itself in another. * * * * That true correspondence that was both in their faith and valor, hath knit their hearts.”) (3) Generous in giving, what was not only valuable and suitable to his friend’s present wants, but honorable as being associated with himself.—Generosity, shown in mutual appreciation and mutual benefits, is the basis of sweet and lasting friendship—and in general, it is one of the noblest traits of human character.
1Sa_18:1-9. How David gained a friend and an enemy. (Hall: “David’s victory had a double issue, Jonathan’s love and Saul’s envy, which God so mixed that the one was a remedy of the other.”)
1Sa_18:5-30. David’s prudence. (1) Amid the perils of sudden prosperity. The shepherd-youth honored with the friendship of the prince, the plaudits of the multitude, military command, the prospect of entering the royal family—but he behaved wisely and prospered all the more. (Henry: “Those that climb fast have need of good heads and good hearts.” Hall: “Honor shows the man. * * * * He is out of the danger of folly, whom a speedy advancement leaveth wise.” Comp. Joseph and Daniel.) (2) Amid the plots of jealous rivals—Saul, the courtiers—but he avoids the javelin of rage, and foils the cunning of hypocrisy. (3) Amid provocations to wrath, by promises broken (1Sa_18:19), and fresh demands (25). The brilliant young warrior and poet as prudent as a sage statesman—for the Lord was with him (1Sa_18:12; 1Sa_18:14; 1Sa_18:28).
1Sa_18:17. The shrinking hand and the scheming heart.
1Sa_18:28-29. Growing prosperity, growing hate.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][1Sa_18:3. The Sing. pron. is due to the fact that “Jonathan” is the real subject in the foregoing clause.—Tr.]
[2][1Sa_18:5. The verb שָׂכַל means in Hiph. properly “to act prudently;” but there is sometimes connected with this the notion of success, as probably throughout this chapter. ו is to be supplied before the verb.—Tr.]
[3][1Sa_18:6. Margin of Eng. A. V. “Philistines,” and so the Arab.; the other VSS. have the Sing., which is to be preferred here, though the return at the end of the campaign is meant, because the slaying of Goliath was its most prominent event.—Tr.]
[4][1Sa_18:6. The Heb. is difficult. The Sept. has merely: “And the dancers came out to meet David,” etc., omitting the first clause perhaps to avoid the statement that David excited Saul’s jealousy on the day of his combat with Goliath, and yet was afterwards preferred by him to places of honor. This difficulty is removed if we suppose this verse to refer to the end of the campaign (Philippson).—Chald. has “to praise with dances,” Syr. renders the second word “drums.” Wellhausen proposes to substitute (after the Sept.) הַמְּחוֹלְלוֹת for הַנָּשִׁים. According to Ew., § 339 a we may translate: “for song and dance;” but this is difficult here on account of the Art. and the nature of the words, and it seems better to change the Art. ה into ל and render as in Vulg. and Eng. A. V., or with Thenius to insert ב, and render “song with dancing.”—The Kethib “to sing” (so Chald. and Syr.) is preferable in the latter case, the Qeri “for song” in the former.—Tr.]
[5][1Sa_18:8. These two clauses are omitted in the Sept., which has thus a noticeable simplicity and directness in its narrative, but loses much of the warmth and life of the Heb. To reject these clauses as “exaggerated” and “psychologically inaccurate” (Wellhausen) is obviously carrying subjective criticism too far. The historical authority is every way in favor of the Heb. text.—Tr.]
[6][1Sa_18:9. Keth. Partcp. of stem עון, Qeri of st. עין. Sept. omits 1Sa_18:9-12, as to which see remark on 1Sa_18:8. This passage may be omitted without injuring the sense; but it adds to the vividness of the narrative, agrees with 1Sa_16:14-23, and rests on the same authority as the other portions of the chapter.—Tr.]
[7][1Sa_18:10. Erdmann and Philippson: “raved,” and so Wordsworth and the Targum; the Syr., Arab. and Vulg. and most Eng. commentators (Patrick, Gill, Clarke, Bib. Com.) render “prophesy.” See the Exposition.—Tr.]
[8][1Sa_18:11. The Greek (Alex. MS.) and Chald. have “lifted,” as if from נָטַל, and this seems better (וַיִּטּל), since it does not appear that he actually cast the weapon (see 1Sa_19:10).—Tr.]
[9][1Sa_18:17. The passage 1Sa_18:17-19 is omitted in Sept. (Vat.), namely, the story of Merab, perhaps as apparently useless in advancing the narrative. The name Merab means “increase.” Comp. in Eng. the well-known “Increase Mather.”—Tr.]
[10][1Sa_18:18. Literally “who is my life?” which is explained by the following clause; but this clause is not therefore necessarily a marginal (unauthorized) addition. The Alex. Sept. has: “what is the life of my father’s family?” which is clear, but unsupported.—Tr.]
[11][1Sa_18:19. Some MSS. and VSS. have Azriel.—Tr.]
[12][1Sa_18:21. The Heb. text (בִּשְׁתַּיִם) seems to be supported by all the VSS. (the clause is omitted in Vat. Sept.). The translation here given (which is that of Thenius. Erdmann, Wordsworth, Bib. Com.) is the most satisfactory as to sense; but its correctness is open to doubt. Philippson renders: “with the second,” the older Eng. Comms. follow the Targ.: “in one of the two.” Theodotion has the ingenious rendering: ἐπὶ ταῖς δυσίν, and another Gr. VS.: ἐφ’ αιρέσει. The Arab. cuts the knot by translating: “I wish thee to be my son-in-law,” herein forsaking the Syr., which has “in both of them.” Some Jews held that David married both the daughters.—Tr.]
[13][1Sa_18:25. Some MSS. have כִּי אִם, which is not necessary, since כִּי alone may mean “but;” or it may be taken as=“for.”—Tr.]
[14][1Sa_18:26. This clause is omitted in Vat. Sept. See on 1Sa_18:8.—Tr.]
[15][1Sa_18:27. This number is sustained by all the VSS. except Vat. Sept., which has “one hundred,” probably to avoid an apparent contradiction. Here the presumption is not in favor of the smaller number (Wellhausen), but in favor of the harder reading. Wellh. refers to 2Sa_3:14, where the Heb. has 100, and the Syr. 200, which perhaps shows a disposition to exaggerate, but cannot be regarded as decisive against our text.—Tr.]
[16][1Sa_18:27. The Sing. is found in Sept., Aq and Theod., as well as in Vulg., Syr., Arab.—Tr.]
[17][1Sa_18:28. Sept.: “all Israel,” which is better suited to the context.—Tr.]
[18][1Sa_18:30. This verse is omitted in Sept. (Vat.).—Tr.]
[19][The German (obviously by oversight) has: “and he loved Jonathan as his soul,” and explains it as the expression of the formation of friendship on David’s part.—Tr.]
[20][Jonathan’s conduct no less exhibits his own lofty and generous nature (Bib. Com.).—Tr.]
[21][Erdmann translates (not so well): “And David went out; everywhere, whither Saul sent him, he was prudent (successful).” This is to avoid supplying “and” before “was prudent;” it seems better (with Chald., Syr.) to supply “and.” See “Text. and Gram.”—Tr.]
[22][And see Jdg_16:25 for its use on festive occasions.—Tr.]
[23] עֹוֵן, “eyeing,” Denom. from עַיִן, “eye.”
[24][For a different pointing of the verb=“he lifted,” see “Text. and Gram.” Erdmann’s rendering is allowable, but rare.—Tr.]
[25][The separate mention of Israel and Judah in 1Sa_18:16 points to the independence and separateness of Judah even at that time (Bib. Com.), and perhaps also to a post-Solomonic date for the authorship of the book.—Tr.]
[26][On the text of this verse see “Text. and Gram.” Philippson explains: “My life offered in battle would be a poor gift,” which, however, the text will hardly bear.—Tr.]
[27][That is, by two deeds—killing Goliath and slaying the Philistines (1Sa_18:25.)—Tr.]
[28][That is, David’s silence as to Saul’s proposition explains why the latter had recourse to his courtiers.—Tr.]
[29]It is unnecessary to read, with Sept., Vulg., Chald., and others, כִּיֹאִם, instead of כִּי. Maurer: “Here, as often elsewhere, after a negative, כִי signifies “but,” or rather “for” in this sense: the king desires no dowry, but (for) he desires a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
[30] לֵרֹא contracted from יֵרֹא and prefix לְ—Ew. § 328 c. Olshausen, Gr., pp. 297, 530, regards it as a clerical error for לִירִא.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain FRIENDSHIP OF DAVID AND JONATHAN, 1Sa_18:1-4.
FRIENDSHIP OF DAVID AND JONATHAN, 1Sa_18:1-4.
1. When he had made an end of speaking unto Saul — That is, after the interview mentioned in the last verse of the preceding chapter, in which David informed Saul of his father. All their conversation on that occasion is not recorded, for it is manifest that that verse contains but a very small part of it. Enough is given, however, to acquaint us with the main subject of their conversation.
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The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David — An instance of more touching and tender friendship is not recorded on the page of history, nor even in works of fiction. Here was a fellowship of souls. On the part of Jonathan it was the more remarkable, inasmuch as David became his rival for the throne. But even after this became well known Jonathan’s love never cooled, but rather warmed with intenser devotion to his friend, and he often gave aid and comfort to the son of Jesse in the time of his persecution. 1Sa_23:17. Well might the psalmist king say, in his requiem over the fallen hero, (2Sa_1:26,) “Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”
On this subject Ewald’s note is fine. “Nothing can establish a true bond between two friends and produce pure friendship except a loftier necessity which stands above them both, and which both alike burn to satisfy with ever-increasing fulness — the necessity. namely, of finding and loving in others, if possible in a yet higher degree, the purely divine power already felt within, and thus mutually living under its influence. It is in an age which is possessed, above all things, by a pure aspiration to obtain noble gifts, that the blessing of such a genuine friendship will also most readily be realized; and so the period in Israel’s history with which we are now concerned furnishes, among so many other glorious spectacles, that of a friendship which shines for all ages an eternal type.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. the soul of Jonathan was knit with the…
1. the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David] The same expressive phrase is used of Jacob’s love for Benjamin in Gen_44:30, which might be rendered “seeing his soul is knit up with the lad’s soul.”
loved him as his own soul] Cp. 1Sa_20:17; Deu_13:6; 2Sa_1:26. Thus commenced that attachment “which is the first Biblical instance of a romantic friendship, such as was common afterwards in Greece, and has been since in Christendom; and is remarkable, both as giving its sanction to these, and as filled with a pathos of its own, which has been imitated but never surpassed, in modern works of fiction. Each found in each the affection that he found not in his own family.” Dean Stanley in Dict. of Bible, I. 1122. Theseus and Peirithous; Achilles and Patroclus; Orestes and Pylades; Damon and Pythias; Epaminondas and Pelopidas; are the most familiar instances in classical literature.
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Ch. 1Sa_18:1-5. Jonathan’s friendship for David
1–5. This section also is not found in the Septuagint (B).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) The soul of Jonathan was knit with the…
(1) The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.—We have in this and the following chapters somewhat of a detailed account of David at the Court of Saul. In 1 Samuel 16 this Court life of the future king has been already touched upon, notably in 1Sa_18:21-23, where the affection of Saul for David was mentioned, where also the appointing of the young shepherd to a post about the king’s person is recorded. But this mention in 1 Samuel 16 considerably anticipated the course of events. In relating the results of this affection of Saul for David, the writer of what we may term the episode treating of the influence of music and poetry passed over, so to speak, the story of several years, in the course of which took place the single combat of David with the Philistine giant, and the victorious campaign in which the young hero took so distinguished a part. The history here takes up the thread of the future king’s life, after the campaigns which immediately followed the discomfiture of the Philistine champion (1Sa_18:6 and following). 1Sa_18:1-4 simply relate the beginning of the world-famous friendship between Prince Jonathan and David.
The Hebrew is rendered “was knit,” or better, was bound up. This is a strong term, and is used in Gen_44:30 of Jacob’s love to Benjamin: “seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life.” Aristotle, Nicom. ix. 8, has noted that friends are called one soul.
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Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—As has been before remarked, the character of the princely son of Saul is one of the most beautiful in the Old Testament story. He was the type of a true warrior of those wild, half-barbarous times—among brave men seemingly the bravest—a perfect soldier, whether fighting as a simple man-at-arms or as the general of an army—chivalrous and generous—utterty free from jealousy—a fervid believer in the God of Israel—a devoted and loyal son—a true patriot in the highest sense of the word, who sealed a devoted life by a noble death, dying as he did fighting for his king and his people. The long and steady friendship of Jonathan no doubt had a powerful and enduring influence on the after life of the greatest of the Hebrew sovereigns. The words, the unselfish, beautiful love, and, above all, the splendid example of the ill-fated son of Saul, have no doubt given their colouring to many of the noblest utterances in David’s Psalms and to not a few of the most heroic deeds in David’s life.
We read of this friendship as dating from the morrow of the first striking deed of arms performed by David when he slew the giant. It is clear, however, that it was not the personal bravery of the boy hero, or the rare skill he showed in the encounter, which so singularly attracted Prince Jonathan. These things no one would have admired and honoured more than the son of Saul, but it needed more than splendid gallantry and rare skill to attract that great love of which we read. What won Jonathan’s heart was the shepherd boy’s sublime faith, his perfect childlike trust in the “Glorious Arm” of the Lord. Jonathan and David possessed one thing in common—an intense, unswerving belief in the power of Jehovah of Israel to keep and to save all who trusted in Him.
The two were typical Israelites, both possessing in a very high degree that intense confidence in the Mighty One of Israel which was the mainspring of the people’s glory and success, and which, in the seemingly interminable days of their punishment and degradation, has been the power which has kept them still together—a people distinct, reserved yet for some mighty destiny in the unknown future.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain JONATHAN LOVES DAVID (vers. 1-5).
JONATHAN LOVES DAVID (vers. 1-5).
When he had made an end of speaking. This conversation took place as soon as the pursuit of the Philistines and the collecting of the spoil were over. There would then be a muster of the Israelites, and Abner would naturally present the youthful champion to the king, who is represented as having virtually forgotten him, and as anxious to learn his history; nor had his stay been long enough for Abner to remember him. As this conversation is narrated as an introduction to the account of Jonathan"s friendship for David, the last four verses of ch. 17. ought to be prefixed to ch. 18. A new beginning commences with them, in which we are told of the commencement of this friendship, of the growth of Saul"s hatred, and of the trials which befell David, proceeding on the king"s part from bad to worse, till at last he was driven away and compelled to lead the life of an outlaw. But by his envy, cruelty, and bad government Saul was alienating the minds of the people from him, and preparing the way for his own downfall and David"s ultimate triumph. The episode of Jonathan"s love is as beautiful as Saul"s conduct is dark, and completes our admiration for this generous and noble hero. The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. These kindred spirits had so much in common that, as David with modest manliness answered the king"s questions, an intense feeling of admiration grew up in the young warrior"s heart, and a friendship was the result which ranks among the purest and noblest examples of true manly affection. The word rendered knit literally means knotted, tied together firmly by indissoluble bonds.
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Vers. 1-4.
Religious friendship.
The facts are
1. Jonathan, on becoming acquainted with David, forms a strongattachment for him.
2. Saul, to show his gratitude for David"s aid, constrains him into hisservice.
3. Jonathan and David enter into a solemn covenant of friendship. It isobvious that David desired to retire to the quietude of rural life, thus displaying simplicity of purpose and freedom from the ambition charged on him by Eliab (ver. 28), as also superiority to the temptation of success. Saul"s will that he should "go no more home to his father"s house" was fraught with a long train of consequences which told on the development of the higher qualities of the coming king. The first of these was the formation of that beautiful friendship with Jonathan, which shines as a welcome light amidst the gloom of the last years of Saul"s reign. There are in this section two matters deserving special attention.
I AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE HARMONIES OF PROVIDENCE. On a priori grounds we may conclude that always, in all things, however apparently clashing, there is an interior harmony in the ordinations and unfoldings of Providence. In many instances we seem to hear discord; faith only enables us to refer the discord to our defective organs of knowledge. But here, as in some other instances, we can trace the exquisite harmony between David"s detention by Saul, involving his friendship with Jonathan, and David"s subsequent entrance on the duties and dignities foreshadowed by the anointing by Samuel. Unquestionably, as seen in the history and in the Psalms composed during the period, David"s trials and the public position arising out of this forced detention by Saul were, in their effects on his character and abilities, wonderfully harmonious with his preordained kingship. Moreover, this providential opportunity for forming personal friendship beautifully harmonises with both the cutting off of Saul"s line (1Sa_15:27-29) from the succession and the acquisition by David of the title, in virtue of his religious and general qualities. Such friendship, formed on the purest religious basis, and before developments with respect to the succession were made, would save both David and Jonathan from the possibility of regarding each other as rivals, and would also be a blessed counterpoise to David"s unmerited sorrows during Saul"s violent persecutions. Jonathan never lived to see the throne taken by another; but his life was not embittered by the griefs of jealousy, because of the deep love he had for his friend. David, while in the decree of God destined to be king, loved Jonathan too well to think of setting him aside. Beautiful providence that could insure a succession out of the line, and yet sweeten and ennoble the lives of those whose interests were involved in it! It would be easy for Jonathan to resign to David, should they both survive Saul"s decease; for did he not love him with a love passing that of women? (2Sa_1:26) And it would be far from David"s desire to set him aside, seeing the loving esteem in which he was held. Yea, was there not an instinctive homage paid to David"s character, as though the pure soul saw in him the coming king, when Jonathan stript himself of his princely attire and placed it on David? Harmonies of Providence are constant, if only we had the eye to discern them. Paul"s early training worked into his life"s mission, though at first tending another way. The flight of Mary and Joseph into Egypt no doubt checked a premature notoriety of the child Jesus.
II AN ILLUSTRATION OF A TRUE RELIGIOUS FRIENDSHIP. Friendship in some degree is a necessity of man"s life. A perfectly solitary being, whose feelings cling to no one, and around whom no one clings, is truly lost. Ordinary friendships are based on the existence of natural affinities and contrarieties. That similarity of mind is the basis of friendship is only true in a limited sense, for one is drawn to another not only by the affinity of common tastes and qualities, but because of a recognition and admiration of qualities that are lacking in self. We seek to supplement the deficiencies of our own life by taking into ourselves, as far as possible, the excellences of another life, and friendship is the means to this end. This is not indeed a full rationale of friendship, nor must it be inferred that cool calculation of personal profit enters into it. The love, the sympathy, the tender, undefinable interest and absolute trust cannot be disentangled from the perception of qualities supplementary to one"s own. The friendship of David and Jonathan embraced all that enters into ordinary friendship, appreciation, love, confidence, tenderness, fidelity, unsuspicious intercourse, with an additional religious element. This religious friendship may be considered as to
1. Its nature. In David and Jonathan we recognise, besides the usual essentials of friendship, the responsive action of a common faith in God and delight in his service. Each saw in the other, as by a higher spiritual insight, a spiritual kinship. The circumstances of the age intensified this mutual attraction. As holy, consecrated young men, they cherished a secret sorrow over the unhappy spiritual condition of their countrymen; and their joy in the recent victories was joy in God and the holy cause for which Israel was chosen out from among the nations. Among Christians the same religious feeling operates in the formation and maintenance of friendships. It is true that all are one in Christ, and each sees in every other a member of the household of faith: religiously there is a common interest in all. (1Co_12:26, 1Co_12:27) So far, therefore, there is a friendship subsisting between each member of Christ"s body and every other, as distinguished from his interest in men of the world. But affection needs for its own life concentration; and while, therefore, we are in general friendship with all Christ"s people, and are conscious of a blessed and indestructible bond, the necessities of our life lead to the formation of personal friendships in which all ordinary feelings are intensified and beautified by the infusion of a spiritual element. Some modification of the view just given is requisite in considering the friendship of Christ for John and the family at Bethany. But although the perfect Saviour saw not in others qualities deficient in himself, he did see in the ardent John and the tender sympathy and fine appreciation of the family at Bethany that which he was so eagerly in quest of in this rough, unspiritual world. His weary heart delighted to rest in such pure love and sympathy, and he returned the affection a hundredfold.
2. Its maintenance. The noblest form of friendship needs culture if it is to be permanent. How David and Jonathan nourished theirs is a matter of history, and should be noted. Few things are more sad to reflect on than a broken friendship it means the embitterment and sad solitariness of two human beings. No detailed rules can be set for nourishing that which in its very nature overleaps all formalities and rigid lines. Ordinarily we may strengthen our friendships by cherishing a conviction of their sacredness not to be rudely handled and lightly thought of; by making it a point to secure sufficient intercourse or interchange of feeling; (Pro_18:24) by a studied respect for the minor differences which advancing age and changed circumstances may develop; by prayer for the blessing of God on each other; and, if possible, by sharing in some common work for Christ. Why should not friendships continue through life?
General lessons:
1. Knowing the force of impulse and the growth of interest when once aroused, we should be careful in placing youth in such circumstances as may lead to the formation of true and lasting friendships.
2. It should be a question for each how it is that Christian feeling does notenter so fully as it ought into the friendships of some professedly religious people.
3. It would be an instructive study for young and old to trace out in historysome of the achievements in religious work and fidelity promoted by the maintenance of strong personal friendships.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1-30. (GIBEAH.)
David"s life at court.
On his victory over Goliath, David was conducted by Abner (1Sa_14:50) into the presence of Saul, "with the bead of the Philistine in his hand." He appears to have been unrecognised by the king, perhaps because of the alteration that had taken place in his personal appearance. Henceforth he resided at Gibeah (ver. 2), where he remained for two or three years. The court of Saul, while unlike that of Solomon, half a century later, was not destitute of worldly show, and was marked by the obsequiousness, self-seeking, emulation, and intrigue which too often prevail in such places, especially when the monarch is capricious, proud, and without the fear of God. (1Sa_22:6, 1Sa_22:7) David"s connection with it was of great importance in relation to the position which he was destined by Divine providence to occupy; continued his education for it; and afforded (as every promotion to high place does in its measure a wider scope for
I THE EXERCISE OF ABILITY.
1. Outward circumstances, though they may not create eminent ability,serve to call it forth. Much excellence doubtless exists, but is never displayed on account of the absence of favourable conditions.
2. Great genius is shown in one who has the faculty of adapting himself to varied positions in life and their varied requirements.
3. The proper use of power strengthens it and develops it to perfection.
4. The humble, faithful, and efficient discharge of duty in one position prepares the way for another and a higher. It was thus with David, who passed from the narrow circle of private life to the wider one of public life, from the sheepfold to the palace, from contending against a lion and a bear to military expeditions (vers. 5, 13, 30) against the enemies of Israel, and ultimately from loyal obedience to royal rule.
II ACQUAINTANCE WITH MEN, and the knowledge of human nature. David was familiar with "fields, and flocks, and silent stars," but needed training in another school.
1. There are few things more valuable than an accurate and extensive knowledge of men: their divers temperaments, tendencies, and capacities; their peculiar excellences and defects; their varied wishes and aims; and underneath all the great principles of humanity that are the same in all.
2. Some circumstances afford special opportunity for the attainment of such knowledge. What a field of observation were the court and camp of Saul to one of such mental activity and profound insight as David!
3. The knowledge of men produces in the heart that is sincere, devout, andacquainted with itself a large sympathy with them in their sorrows, joys, imperfections, and strivings after higher things. Of this sympathy the psalms of David are a wonderful expression.
4. It is necessary to the knowledge of the most effectual methods of dealing with them one of the most needful and desirable qualifications in a ruler.
III THE TRIAL OF PRINCIPLE. David, no less than Saul, must be put to the test, and his fidelity to Jehovah tried as silver "in a furnace of earth.
1. Trial is needful to prove the reality of principle, and manifest its strength and brightness.
2. One trial is often followed by another and a greater. The royal favour into which David was suddenly raised was as suddenly succeeded by royal jealousy, hatred, and craft. Surely no man was ever more fiercely assailed by temptation.
3. When endured aright, in faith and obedience, trial, however painful, is morally beneficial.
4 . The victory which is gained over one temptation is an earnest of a victory over the next. The triumph of humility in David was followed by that of simplicity, patience, and forbearance.
IV ADVANCEMENT IN POPULAR FAVOUR (vers. 7, 16, 30), which, in the case of David, paved his way to the throne; though he neither coveted nor, during the life of Saul, put forth any effort to gain that object.
1. A course of wise and prosperous action, as it well deserves, so it generally obtains the approbation of the people.
2. Such a course of action ought to be aimed at, rather than the popularfavour with which it is attended.
3. The favour of the people is to be valued only in subordination to the favour of God, and in so far as it accords with it.
4. Popular favour should be regarded not as an end in itself, but as a means of promoting the Divine glory and human welfare. D.
Vers. 1-4. (GIBEAH.)
True friendship.
References: (1Sa_19:1-5 1Sa_20:1-23 1Sa_23:16-18)
1. Friendship is a mutual affection between persons of congenial minds,arising out of their esteem for each other"s excellence, and expressing itself in kindly offices. Attachment to kindred is in some respects surpassed by that which is felt towards the friend "who is even as thine own soul". (Deu_13:6) In allusion to it "Abraham was called the friend of God" (2Ch_20:7; Isa_41:8; Jam_2:23) possibly in the first instance by God himself; and "God spake to Moses as a man to his friend". (Exo_33:11) The Book of Proverbs abounds in statements concerning the worth and claims of friendship. (Pro_17:17 Pro_18:24 Pro_27:6, Pro_27:9, Pro_27:10, Pro_27:17) And Jesus said to his disciples, "I have called you friends". (Joh_15:15)
1. Much that is usually called friendship is not worthy of the name. "Thereare three things that engender friendship profit, pleasure, virtue. The first two do not beget true friendship, for as soon as the profit or pleasure ceaseth, friendship is gone; but virtue only maketh love and friendship to continue" (Willet).
1. The true friendship which subsisted between Jonathan and David "shines for all ages an eternal type." It is "the first Biblical instance of such a dear companionship as was common in Greece, and has been since in Christendom imitated, but never surpassed, in modern works of fiction
2. (Stanley). The most celebrated of the instances referred to were those of Orestes and Pylades, Damon and Pythias, Nisus and Euryalus.
3. The friendship of Jonathan toward David (the formation of which is here described) was Divinely provided as a means of guarding the life of the latter from the attacks of Saul, and of preserving his loyalty to the king and his faith in God. "Thy love to me was wonderful". (2Sa_1:26) On the other hand, that of David toward Jonathan exerted an elevating and sanctifying influence upon him. Of true friendship observe that
I IT EXISTS ONLY IN NOBLE SOULS. Both Jonathan and David were virtuous, generous, and devout. They were one in "the love of virtue and the fear of God." Persons destitute of these principles can neither esteem the excellence of others nor be esteemed for their own. "We are so formed by nature that there should be a certain social tie among all; stronger, however, as each approaches each. Now friendship is nothing else than a complete union of feeling on all subjects, Divine and human, accompanied by a kindly feeling and attachment. The entire strength of friendship consists in an entire agreement of inclinations, pursuits, and sentiments" (Cicero, "On Friendship").
A generous friendship no cold medium knows, Burns with one love, with one resentment glows (Homer).
"A good man in the best friend, and therefore soonest to be chosen, longest to be retained, and, indeed, never to be parted with, unless he ceases to be that for which he was chosen" (Jeremiah Taylor).
II IT IS FOUNDED UPON MUTUAL ESTEEM. When David "had made an end of speaking unto Saul," in which he doubtless said much more than is recorded, the soul of Jonathan was knit (linked or chained) with the soul of David, etc. (ver. 1). Nothing is said of Jonathan at the time of David"s conflict with Goliath. He may have been absent; or, if present, not permitted to risk his life in the encounter. Perhaps his faith and courage were not strong enough. But "he loved that which went beyond his own spirit, yet was of the same heroic order. He saw in David a higher and greater Jonathan, the ideal of his own actual life, himself transfigured and perfected. What he had dreamt he might be he beheld in David" (B. Kent). He admired the faith, courage, modesty, and moral excellence which lay beneath the "outward appearance." "Now they are worthy of friendship in whom there exists a reason why they should be loved; a rare class, for in truth all that is excellent is rare" (Cicero).
III IT CONSISTS OF DISINTERESTED AFFECTION. "Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (vers. 1, 3; 1Sa_20:17) with the same kind and the same measure of affection. Hence the sympathy, generosity, fidelity, and constancy which he displayed. A friend is "another self." "Though judgment must collect the materials of the goodly structure of friendship, it is affection that gives the cement" (Melmoth). "It really seems to consist in loving rather than being loved. It is the wishing a person what we think good for his sake, and not for our own, and, as far as is in our power, the exerting ourselves to procure it. And a friend is he who entertains and meets a return of this feeling" (Aristotle, "Ethics," 8.; "Rhetoric," 2). "I hope I do not break the fifth commandment if I conceive I may love my friends before the nearest of my blood, even those to whom I owe the principles of life. I have loved my friend as I do virtue, my soul, my God" (Sir T. Browne, "Religio Medici").
IV IT UNITES IN A STEADFAST BOND. Knit sincerely, closely, firmly joined, grappled together "as with hooks of steel." "A friend loveth at all times," in adversity as well as in prosperity; and his friendship endures the strain caused by conflicting interests, misrepresentation, and many imperfections; it may even be said to be "one soul dwelling in two bodies." "Now the foundation of that steadfastness and constancy which we seek in friendship, is sincerity; for nothing is steadfast which is insincere" (Cicero). Friendship founded on worldly principles is natural, and, though composed of the best elements of nature, is not exempt from its mutability and frailty; but friendship founded on religion is spiritual, and therefore unchanging and imperishable" (R. Hall, "Works," 5.).
V IT IS CONFIRMED BY A SOLEMN COMPACT. "And Jonathan and David made a covenant," etc. (ver. 3; 1Sa_20:16, 1Sa_20:17) In it they gave and received assurance of affection, agreed to be faithful to each other under all circumstances, and called the Lord in whom they trusted to be witness between them; to it they were impelled by the strength of their love and "a loftier necessity of finding and loving in one another, if possible in a yet higher degree, the purely Divine power already felt within, and thus mutually living under its influence" (Ewald); and by it their friendship was rendered sacred and strong and permanently established. In times when "the love of many waxes cold and iniquity abounds," men of a common faith and love toward God do well to draw closely together and strengthen each other"s hearts and hands by sacred vows.
VI IT IS MANIFESTED IN GENEROUS GIFTS. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him," etc. (ver. 4). He gave him what best expressed the gift of himself, and what would continually remind David of his friend and increase his confidence and love. It was little that David could give him in return of an outward kind, but he gave him confidence for confidence, love for love, life for life. Friendship is practical, self-sacrificing, and helpful, and gives of its best. "David is seen in Jonathan"s clothes that we may take notice he is Jonathan"s second self. Our Lord Jesus Christ has thus showed his love to us, that he stripped himself to clothe us, humbled himself to enrich us. Nay, he did more than Jonathan he clothed himself with our rags, whereas Jonathan did not put on David"s" (M. Henry).
Exhortation:
1. Seek friendship only among the wise and good. If you would have a true friend, make a friend of him who is a friend of God.
2. Strive to be as worthy of the friendship of the good as David was of thefriendship of Jonathan.
3. Be as sincere and faithful to your friend as Jonathan was to David.
4. Value the friendship of Christ beyond all other. D.
HOMILIES BY G. WOOD Vers. 1-9.
Love and jealousy.
One great exploit performed in the sight of two armies took David at once and forever out of obscurity. Thenceforth he was a man much observed. The quiet pastoral life at Bethlehem was ended, and could never be resumed. Sudden success brings rapid distinction, but also brings trials and risks from which the obscure are free. David leaped at a bound into honour and fame, but for that very reason he found himself at the beginning of his troubles. Well that, before those troubles began to press him, he knew the Lord as his refuge; well, too, that he won to himself in the very sphere of danger a loving and faithful friend.
I JONATHAN"S LOVE. If there was a man in Israel who had reason to be jealous of David, it was the Prince Jonathan. He was a gallant soldier, and here was a greater hero to eclipse him. He had by personal valour gained a signal victory over the Philistines, and here was a personal courage still more brilliant, and a discomfiture of the enemy more easy and more complete. He was the heir to the throne, and if this youth should aspire to rule as well as deliver Israel, it was Jonathan whom he would supplant. Yet in this generous prince there appeared not even a shade of envy. He saw in the young shepherd a congenial spirit a temper adventurous as his own, with a faith in God firm and ardent as his own. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. It was good for Jonathan to find a friend who could evoke an admiration and affection so intense. He could no longer look up to his own father with respect or confidence. In the circle or court about the king the finer qualities of Jonathan"s nature found no harmony, no encouragement. But here was one who could understand him, and in whom he could see and admire what a leader in Israel ought to be. It was good for David, too, to find that he was cared for, that his pure and devout patriotism was appreciated, and that he had the fraternal sympathy of at least one in that higher grade of life on which he was now so suddenly to enter. The time was at hand when such strong and faithful love would be very precious.
II SAUL"S JEALOUSY. At first it appeared as though David was to have nothing but honour. The king obeyed his good impulse, and gave the young hero high promotion among his officers, with the evident approval of the soldiers and all the people. But a black cloud of jealousy soon gathered. Saul could not bear to hear this new champion praised more than himself; and he began to brood over the thought that this might be the man at whom Samuel hinted, to whom the Lord would give the kingdom. "What can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day forward." We soon read of the jealous king trying to take David"s life. Oh, cruel envy! No worthiness, no goodness is a defence against it. The sight of good excites it to evil. It is the passion of a mean spirit; or, if it fastens on a character which has some great qualities, it tends to weaken and degrade it. Indeed, no more wretched fate can befall any man than to be filled with envy, and so to chafe and jibe at all who surpass him; to become a prey to jealousy, and mistrust or disparage all who seem to please God or man more than he. How fatal for Saul himself was this jealous passion! By the help of David the king might have recovered something of his lost health and happiness, and repaired some of the errors of his reign. But once jealousy took possession of him all this was impossible. Saul became gloomy, crafty, and cruel; and the more David did for the kingdom, hearing himself wisely in camp and court, the more was he watched with envious eyes, and pursued with sullen hatred. "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" This seemed an ominous beginning for David; but it served its purpose in the training through which God meant him to pass. After Saul was anointed he was put through no such ordeal. The slight opposition which was made to his sudden elevation was soon surmounted, and the son of Kish stepped up to the throne of Israel with very little difficulty. But this was really ominous. It was a sign that God was to have little service or glory from King Saul. The son of Jesse had a higher destiny, and therefore he was tried and proved. His faith was tested as by fire; his discretion was ripened by the knowledge that jealous eyes were watching him; his patience was perfected; his staying power developed through an experience hard and harassing.
III SUGGESTIONS OF JESUS CHRIST, LOVED AND HATED. As David in his youth, and on the threshold of his public career, overcame the strong enemy of Israel in single combat, so Jesus in youth, and on the threshold of his public life, encountered the adversary of the people of God, and overcame the tempter in the wilderness. Then, as David endured much before he reached the throne, so Jesus Christ endured much before God raised him up and gave him glory. And during that time of his lowly suffering Jesus was, like his human ancestor David, solaced by love and pursued by envy.
1. Loved. The Son of David had the applause of the multitude, and bore himself so wisely that the keenest observers could find no fault in him. Withal he had the power of knitting souls to himself, so as to make them willing to forsake all for his sake. Now this was always a strong characteristic of David a charm of character and bearing which attached to him many lovers and friends. Jonathan loved him in youth as his own soul. His warriors were so devoted to him, that he had but to wish for water from the well of Bethlehem, and three heroes dashed through the ranks of the Philistines to draw water and bring it to their chief. Ittai the Gittite and others are evidences that David retained this attaching power even in old age. And did not the Son of David, with an attraction which we cannot analyse or define, draw to himself the sons of Zebedee, and the sons of Jonas, the brother and sisters at Bethany, Mary of Magdala, and many more who found in his companionship and favour all that their hearts desired? Did he not afterwards draw to himself the persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, and engage the all-enduring loyalty and love of Paul? And are there not thousands on thousands who, though they have not seen him, love him, and in whose eyes he is never more worthy of love than when contemplated as One despised and rejected of men, "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief"? It was a solace to Jesus in his deepest suffering that they who knew him best loved him. How often he dwelt on it, on the
2. night in which he was betrayed 1 "If ye love me keep my commandments" "He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father." "The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me." Just as it comforted David when hunted and proscribed to know that Jonathan loved him truly and well, so it comforted the Son of David, that though men might hate and kill him, there were those who loved him truly and well, and whom neither death nor life could separate from his love.
3. Hated. We have seen how David"s courage and discretion stirred Saul"s jealousy. A man so rare in his qualities, so evidently fitted for greatness, drew after him eyes of cruel envy. So it befell the Son of David. Because Jesus drew to him disciples and friends, the priests and rabbis hated him. Because he was followed by multitudes, the rulers took counsel together against him. Because he answered and acted wisely, the scribes and Pharisees were filled with malice against him. Wherever he went, jealous eyes watched him, and crafty questions laid wait for him. The Scripture was fulfilled: "They hated me without a cause." Pontius Pilate easily detected the motive (no just cause)which led the Jewish Council to arraign the Son of David at his judgment seat. "He knew that for envy they had delivered him." So it is today. Jesus Christ is proclaimed as mighty to save. The world is being filled with his name, and everywhere cries ascend of "Hosanna to the Son of David." And how is it taken? Some love, but some also hate. Some feel as Jonathan did. They are quite drawn out of themselves to the Lord Jesus. He is, he must be, their Beloved and their Friend. And how significant of his greatness it is that he, now unseen, awakens in human hearts a faith as strong, an attachment as ardent, as thrilled the breasts of apostles who accompanied him and women who ministered to him in Galilee! Paul, who had not seen him in the flesh, loved him as truly and served him as enthusiastically as Peter and John, who had. Christians of the eleventh century, like Bernard of Clairvaux, or of the fifteenth, like him who wrote as Thomas a Kempis, clave to him as devoutly as the Fathers who lived within a few generations of the apostles. And comparative moderns, like Herbert, Bengel, Rutherford, Madame Guyon, Brainerd, Whitefield, the Wesleys, Toplady, Hervey, Henry Martyn, McCheyne, Adolph Monod, have held him as precious as did the most fervent spirits of earlier times. Jesus Christ has always known how to draw men to himself, and hold them by cords of spiritual attraction, so that they have loved him as their own souls. Others, however, eye him as Saul eyed David, in order to find fault with him. Oh, what a triumph it would give to a certain class of men if they could only find a blot in the Lord Jesus; if they could show him to have been no better or higher than ether men! But it cannot be done. His way is perfect. His character, however closely scrutinised, reveals no flaw. It comes to this, that men hate him because he is so good. They love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. F.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul…
1Sa_18:1-4
The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.
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The story of a great love
True Christianity consists in devotion to a Person, not in the acceptance of a series of doctrines or theories, nor even in the adoption of a certain line of conduct. Doctrines have their proper place, and conduct which is pure and godlike will necessarily flow from it; but the essence of true Christianity consists, as I have said, in the devotion of the human heart to a Person--a personal God revealed in Jesus Christ. Without this our religion is but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; we are devoid of that which is absolutely essential to a truly Christian life. How strange a thing it is that we are able to love One whom we have never seen, whose voice we have never heard, with whose form we have never been brought into contact! This is altogether at variance with ordinary human experience. For a great man who lives at a distance we may be able to feel a certain amount of enthusiastic admiration; he may be the leader of some great cause in which we are deeply interested, or his personal talents and character may command our respect; but can we truly say that we love him? We ere living in an age in which not a few remarkable men have attracted public attention, and some of these, like the great Italian patriot, Garibaldi, have stirred our hearts to their inmost depths by their exploits; but while we have admired such persons, could we with any degree of truth have said that we loved them? No; to love them we need to be brought into some kind of direct personal contact with them. But here is One whom having not seen men yet have loved with a greater love than any earthly object. Truly a wonderful thing is the love of God in the heart of man! Indeed, no less can be said of it than that it is a miracle, a thing that cannot be naturally produced, a thing that belongs not to earth, and that can only exist here when it is brought down from heaven by the Spirit of Love, and planted, like a precious exotic, in our heart, a flower of Paradise on the soil of earth. In considering the story of this most remarkable instance of unselfish devotion, we shall find ourselves supplied with a very striking illustration of that higher affection of which I have been speaking, and from this we shall be in a position to learn some important lessons with respect to that life of love which should bind together the true disciple and his Divine Master.
1. And first we observe that the love of Jonathan for David seems to have been caused in the first instance by the act of heroism on the part of David which brought life and liberty to the thousands of Israel. Jonathan had sat by his fathers tent, and washed the single combat on which the destinies of two nations might be said to hang. He had seen the gigantic champion of Gath march down with stately stride into the valley, and his youthful antagonist advance to meet him, and all the chivalrous enthusiasm of his nature seems to have been stirred at the sight. David has been brought into the presence of Saul with the head of Goliath in his hand, and the king proceeds to enquire his parentage, in order that he may mete out the reward promised to the victor. While the conversation is going on between Saul and David, Jonathan, Sauls son, is standing by, all eyes and ears. Interested from the first in this remarkable young man, he now feels his interest ripen into affection. He admired him at first; he loves him now. Consider the elements of this affection. There was an overpowering sense of gratitude. They were all saved, and David was the saviour. He himself, more than almost anyone else, was under the deepest obligation to the youthful hero; for his life and his honour and his crown had been redeemed. Had David been overthrown, and Goliath victorious, never would he have filled the throne of his father, and reigned over his people. Israel would have become a nation of serfs. Here we have our first lesson, which may serve to show us what it is that first kindles the love of God in the heart of man. We begin to love when we apprehend the first great deliverance which Christ has wrought out for us, and gaze with adoring gratitude upon the Deliverer. We may be interested in the character of Christ, even as David no doubt had excited the interest of Jonathan before the deliverance was wrought; we may admire the Christ as Jonathan did David, when he went forth to meet the Philistine; but love does not spring into life till the moment of deliverance, or of apprehension of deliverance. And even so is it with our Deliverer. The birth of love takes place in the apprehension of that which his love has wrought for us. But here much must depend upon the line of conduct that we assume towards the Deliverer. It is possible to check love at its very birth by averting our inward gaze from Him who has so loved us, and I fear too many believers make a false start here. I fear it is so with many of us who have taken Christ for our Saviour. We needed a deliverer, and we found one in Jesus. The revelation of the cross brought us peace and joy, and set our fears at rest. We rejoiced in the deliverance; but did we cling to the Deliverer? We raised the shout of triumph; we welcomed the happiness and the security and the immunity from condemnation, the freedom from fear, the hope of heaven. But what then? Did we turn from the gifts to the Giver, and fix our adoring gaze of loving gratitude on Him till all our heart flowed out towards Him, and our soul was knit unto Him, and we loved Him as our own soul? Or did we go our way, well pleased to reap the benefit of His work, but forgetful of the obligation under which we rested, and of the debt we owed? It is no use trying to make ourselves love God. All love that deserves the name must be spontaneous, and such love can never be generated by an effort of the will, still less by a process of moral analyses and introspection. Love grows by acquaintance with the loved object. Christ will become more to us than Deliverer. We shall love Him because of what He is, as well as because of what He has done, and our souls will be knit unto Him, and we shall love Him as our own soul.
2. Proceeding with the narrative, we observe the immediate results of the establishment of this affection. The first thing that follows is the making of a covenant between the two friends--a covenant involving reciprocal obligations, and binding each to be true to the other in all the various changes and chances of life. Not dissimilar to this is the order of events in the life of love between thy soul and its Lord. The act of Baptism, which in the case of the adult believer would naturally follow immediately on the acceptance of the great deliverance, brings the soul within the bonds of a spiritual covenant, involving reciprocal obligations. Remember, too, that the covenant involves reciprocal obligation.
3. We pass on to the next incident in the story of this great love, and we read that Jonathan stripped himself of his robe, and also his garment, even to his sword, and his bow, and his girdle. It is only in the school of grace, and under the influence of love, that we learn to divert ourselves of all that we naturally prided ourselves upon, and to present all, cheerfully and with an enthusiasm of devotion, to Another. Nor is this all. Jonathan makes over to David, what must always be dear to the warriors heart, his sword, and his bow, and his girdle. The very weapons which he had carried on many a hard-fought field--weapons with which he had performed already notable and splendid exploits. What is there you most naturally pride yourself upon, or if you do not pride yourself upon it, what faculty or quality are you most conscious of possessing in a special degree? Is it your intellect? Has God given you a strong head, and a clear judgment? Put the bow and the sword into Davids hands. He wont despise the gift, but use it for his own glory. Has God bestowed on you the gift of language, fluency and readiness in speech? You are quick at repartee; or perhaps you possess a lively humour, and the dangerous gift of wit, and those qualities you were wont to exercise in order to gratify your vanity, or to make yourself highly acceptable to society. Let those lips of yours be anointed with the holy unction of the blessed Spirit, so that through Him you may speak as the oracles of God. Give Him the bow, give Him the sword. Has He given you wealth? Remember it is all His already; but He gives you the privilege of giving it back to Him. Lay it at His feet. Has He given you influence? Consecrate that influence to Him, it belongs to Him. Do not let Him have to ask you for it twice. Give it to Him because you love Him. Whatever it is, my friend, that belongs to you in an extraordinary and unusual degree, these are the special presents that you are privileged to make to Him to whom your hearts are already given, and whom having not seen you have begun to love. (W. H. M. H. Aitkin, M. A.)
Love story of David and Jonathan
Now it is my purpose to use this beautiful love scene between David and Jonathan as an illustration of the love which Christ offers to us.
1. In the first place, it truly suggests that Christ, the Prince of Heaven, comes seeking a compact with us. Christ sees something in man, at his worst, that He loves, and that seems to Him worth living and dying to save.
2. There is another suggestion that is very comforting, and that is that as Jonathans love prompted him to give his own clothes to David, so that his humble friend might look as much the prince as himself, Christ comes offering to clothe us in his own beautiful garments of purity and righteousness. It is the glory of Christians that Christ helps them to become like Himself. Our ragged clothing of sin and of evil habit is to be east off, and we are to be clothed with goodness and gentleness and meekness and love and hope. That is the most glorious thing about Christianity. It is not that a man may be simply saved from sorrow and despair and punishment on account of his sins, but the sinners nature may be transformed and he may become a prince of Gods realm, a holy man. The drunkard may put on sobriety. And the promise is that this robing of the soul, this beautifying of the character, shall go on until, when we awake in heaven, we shall awake in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
3. There is one other suggestion here which we find also fulfilled in Christs treatment of the sinner: Jonathan bestowed upon David, not only his own clothing, but he gave him his own armour and weapons. So Christ equips us with the very weapons with which He battled in this world when He was tempted in all points like as we are and yet came off victorious without sin. He gives us the girdle of truth, and the breastplate of righteousness; on our feet He puts shoes made of the preparation of the Gospel of peace; on the left arm we carry the shield of faith--a wonderful shield that is able to stop every fiery dart of the wicked one. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
Friendship
I. The choice of friends. The commonest advice given to young men on this subject is to choose their friends well. But do we really choose our friends? Like love, friendship may kindle at first sight. The instant you see a man, something within you may say, This is the man for me. This is the man who is going to be the other half of my soul. My friends, says Emerson, have come to me unsought. The great God gave them to me, and I expect some of us could say that too. Although in the initial stages friendship seems to be more a matter of good luck than of choice, or, rather, let me say a matter of Gods kind Providence, there are subsequent stages when friendship does need to be cultivated. For instance, when friends separate in Providence to live in different towns or in different countries, unless friendship is to lapse it must be cultivated by correspondence, and letters long unanswered are very apt to cool the heart of a friend. Or when other ties are formed friendship is apt to be sacrificed to them, as, when a man is married, he is apt to drop his friends; but that is a great mistake, because the home is enriched with the visits of friends if they are good ones. What is a man to do if he has been unfortunate enough to contract a friendship which is injurious? There may be such friendships. There are more instances than one of this kind, for example, in the life of Robert Burns, the poet, but one of them was especially influential in determining his moral history. One winter, chancing to be at the town of Irvine, learning flax dressing, a detail of farming in those days, he fell in with a young man rather older than himself, and much more versed in the ways of the world, for whom he instantly contracted a romantic attachment. I loved and admired him, says he himself, to a degree of enthusiasm, and, of course, strove be imitate him. His mind was fraught with independence, magnanimity, and every manly virtue, but he spoke of illicit love with the levity of a sailor, which hitherto I had regarded with horror. Here his friendship did me a mischief. And the mischief turned out to be more lasting and decisive than, even at the time when writing this sentence, Burns himself had any conception of. Is there not something horrible in the name of friendship being attached to a relationship which is undermining the character and threatening the whole future of one who is engaged in it.
II. The gains of friendship. The prime gain of friendship is just the knowledge of a noble soul. That was what Jonathan felt. It is the man who has most in himself to give who gives most, not the man who has most of what is external to give. No counter gifts can altogether balance those which an opulent nature bestows when it gives itself. That, then, is the first gain of friendship, simply to know a noble nature.
2. The second gain of friendship is that it develops the powers of those engaged in it. History contains many striking instances of how friends have stimulated one another to the highest intellectual attainment. For instance, Goethe and Schiller, the two greatest chiefs of German literature, though differing widely in genius and disposition, both produced their grandest works when living in the same town and daily enjoying each others conversation. And German history has a still more striking example. Just as Goethe and Schiller lived together at Weimar, so Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon lived together at Wittenburg, and their friendship did a great deal to stamp its character on the Reformation. It is perfectly delightful to hear Luther and Melancthon speaking about each other. For instance, Luther says on one occasion, Philip is a wonder to us all. If the Lord will, he will beat many Martins as the mightiest enemy to the devil and scholasticism. I am the rough woodman who has to make a path; but Philip goes quietly and peaceably along it, builds and plants, sows and waters. On the other hand, the younger man said on one occasion, Luther supplies the place of all my friends. He is greater and more admirable in my sight than I dare express.
3. Then a third gain of friendship is that a friend can often speak a good word for his friend, and otherwise promote his advantage. Flattery is the poison of friendship, because it is false, and it has always been counted one of the greatest gains of friendship that cane friend can, without offence, tell the other his faults. An ancient Chinese philosopher says about this close friendship, The heaven-ordained relationship, on which depends the correction of ones character; and a very ancient Indian poet expresses this still more beautifully in these words:
The words which from a strangers lips offend
Are honey-sweet if spoken by a friend,
As when the smoke of common wood we spurn,
But call it perfume sweet when fragrant aloes burn;
and the Scripture clinches this matter by saying, Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
III. The qualifications for friendship. Philosophers are too apt to speak as if friendship were possible only to philosophers, or men of genius. Thus Sir Thomas Browne says, This noble affection falls not on vulgar or common constituents, but on such as are marked for virtue. La Bruyere, the French philosopher, says, Pure friendship is something which men of an inferior nature can never taste; and Charles Kingsley says, It is only the great-hearted who can be true friends; the mean and cowardly can never know what true friendship means. If a man only be genuine he is quite fit for this relationship, and if in addition he be tender and unselfish he can give the highest pleasure in this relationship. It was part of the low estimate of women universal in the ancient world that the ancient philosophers deny that women could be friends. Christianity, however, has corrected this, as so much else, and we know that women are not only as capable as men of being friends to one another, but of being friends to men. I might quote such historical examples as St. Francis and St. Clara, or as between the poet Cowper and Mrs. Unwin. Is the highest friendship possible without religion? One of the most obvious and inalienable qualities of friendship is this, that friends talk confidentially to each other on important subjects. They exchange with each other their deepest subjects. Now, if the deepest subject of all is excluded--if religion is kept out of the conversation--must we not pronounce the friendship to be imperfect and mutilated? The most elementary dictate about friendship is that one friend must do the other as much good as he can. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
Friendship, a circumstance of holy youth
There have been certain proverbial friendships stereotyped on the social history of the world; those of Pylades and Creates, Nisus and Euryalus, Jonathan and David. Certain similar features marked them all, they were in all cases the friendships of youth, of self-sacrifice, of heroic generosity, and of perseverance to death. Another feature distinguished them. The friendship wag in each case vowed upon the altar of boyish devotion. The boy did not mistake the character of his own disposition or the friend whom he selected; and the experience of after life confirmed and verified the choice of youth. There are many occasions in life in which the boy is not the best decider upon truth, and in which the decisions of early days and first choices are not confirmed by the experience of riper years. It is happily not the case with friendship. There, often, he whom we have chosen as the depository of our first conscious feelings, the chosen companion of the long walk on the school holiday, the friend to whom we have applied in the difficulty of the lesson, is the companion of the sore struggle of after days, the accepted friend of the wife of our choice, and sometimes our kind and tender comforter when we are mourners over the grave of the wife or of the child. In the advance of onward years, the friend of boyhood sits by us when we are dying, follows us to the grave, places the tablet in the church or the inscription on the tombstone, and is steadfast at the last hour, as he was in the schoolroom, by the rivers bank, on the playground and on the holiday. The love of David and Jonathan was singularly beautiful and true.
1. All boys have a natural tendency towards forming friendships. Such friendships tend to bring out the character; without them the powers of a boy will very often lie dormant and undeveloped through his future life. Up to a certain age a youth, though full of affection towards those who are the relations of his life, may be unconscious of them. For his friend at school, in connection with whom none of those relationships exist he is able to realise love and regard, and in connection with him first becomes conscious of the power of love at all. The knowledge of this fact alone expands and invigorates the whole disposition.
2. The friendship of youth frequently ends in important results of usefulness in after life. There is something striking in the altered circumstances which in turn affected the sons of Kish and Jesse; and it was in these very adversities that each was so invaluable to the other. It is very hard to tell what our lot may be in future life. Vicissitudes, as untoward as that which lost Jonathan his throne, may affect us in our onward career; and fortune, as unexpected as that which fell to Davids lot, may fall to our share. Many a boy is flushed with high birth or illustrious parentage, or has some bright promise of future position, which will elevate him above his fellows; but the possibility of a future change in the position of boyhood is strongly brought to mind by the story of Jonathan and David. But while this covenant was thus acted upon in after days, the covenant itself was a very striking and beautiful circumstance. Two young men, each of them full of high energies; ambitious, brave, and noble; were, nevertheless, so deeply conscious of their dependence upon God and the necessity of serving Him, as to bind themselves by an agreement of a distinctly religious character; thus evincing their piety and showing that the claims of God infinitely transcend the highest earthly employment. Such a thing is rare.
3. And again, there is something very grand in the long pause in the personal communications between David and Jonathan. They loved each other as boys and as youths. When David walked forth fresh and ruddy from the wilderness of Bethlehem, and Jonathan shone in all the lustre of the son of a great king, the prince and the shepherd boy loved each other. They took delight in telling their love one for the other, and made their covenant before God in the field of Ezel, and their souls were satisfied. They saw each other no more in the passage of years. Indeed, Davids eye rested not on the countenance of his friend until it was brought a corpse from the streets of Bethsban. Trouble of all kinds marked the interval. Nevertheless, all this sufficed not to shake the foundations of Jonathans love for David. It is a very poor and narrow view, to imagine that real friendship should need constant expression. It is a deep, wide, lasting thing, whose seed is sown, as in some eases, in the period of boyhood, and may spring up into a plant which may shadow a long-after day, though the interval that elapses between the ratification of that friendship and the hour of death, may be marked by a long suspension of intercourse: aye! and even by circumstances.
4. Another lesson that we learn from the friendship of these two youths is, that true friendship exists in a desire to discover points of beauty and nobility in everything, however otherwise defective or polluted. Through the outward circumstance of a lineage opposed to the present and future interest of David, he was able to perceive, to value, end to love the noble qualities of Jonathan. While in the shepherd boy, whose destiny had been already declared by an unerring voice to be one which would finally eclipse the house of Saul, Jonathan was able to see the lustre of those qualities which eventually made David the sweet psalmist of Israel and the man after Gods own heart; and seeing them, he had the disinterestedness to love them, and to ally himself to them. (E. Monro.)
Friendship
How dreary would this world be if there were no friendships in it, if no heart union between man and man, husband and wife, parent and child, young man and maiden. How narrow must be the soul of that man who has never known what it is to be absorbed in someone else, so absorbed, that the mention of the name of that one will cause a peculiar thrill of joy. How sad to care only for oneself. How woeful to be uncared for. Miserable the state of one represented as saying, Theres not much to live for. I dont suppose I have a friend in all the world. Still sadder to me is the one who replied, If you have no friend, you have nobody to borrow money of you; nobody to call when you are in the middle of an interesting book; nobody to tell stories about you to other people; nobody, in short, to bore you before your face and abuse you behind your back. That was a cynical view of a selfish man, of one who never could have tasted the sweets of a real friendship or the magnetic power of love. David drew Jonathan and held him as the magnet does steel filings. You cannot see the subtle power that attracts, but it is there. It is a mystery in evidence.
I. Friendship through respect. Love blazed up towards David very suddenly. Still, it was love, founded on respect. With some love may be more slowly kindled, but may die very hardly. Love at first sight is a possibility, and a constantly-renewed experience in this old world. Thank God that romance is not yet banished from the earth. In some nations affections are more kept under control than in England; marriages are made to depend on the amount of the dowry. Harmony of taste and principle characterised the friendship of the son of Saul and the son of Jesse. There was true piety in both. There is little prospect of happiness in any union without piety. First impressions are not always right. We may not always follow them. Reciprocal was the affection between Israels prince and its future sweet singer. Sometimes a man may care for one who cares nothing for him. Many a maiden, too, has given affection to one who may not really have had a serious thought about returning it. Imagination can throw round another a glamour of qualities he or she may not possess. People do not always meet with a return of affection. And yet some are as greedy of it as the eucalyptus is of water. Affection should beget affection, but it is not always successful in the transfer. Even when Christ loved with an infinite and Divine love it has not always found a response in souls.
II. Discriminating friendship. Seneca tells of a distinguished citizen of Rome who introduced the fashion of separating his visitors. Some were left in hall or court, others were admitted to the antechamber, and others were led into the boudoir of privacy and rest. Today some are acquaintances of the street, others of the church, and others of the home. A sensible man will know how to discriminate. He will not carry his heart on his sleeve. He will not be like bill distributors who thrust their papers into anybodys hands. He will find an intensified interest in the special affection he has for one of like mind to himself.
1. Unreservedness and unsuspiciousness will be found in a true friendship. A Jonathan will pour out his admiration and affection to a David. He will have nothing to hide. There will be free interchange of feeling. When danger threatens one the other will be alive to it. Faithfulness in a friend is promoted by absolute trust. But let me here say that this absolute trust should not lead to presumings. Some are always ready to act as if the surest signs of friendship were found in free comments on conduct.
2. Disinterested and ready to bestow will be the attitude of a true friend. A Jonathan gives his bow and his robes to David. For him he foregoes his claim to a kingdom. He esteems the friendship of David of greater worth than a crown. How suggestive of that Divine love that gave up majesty, glory, heavens rest, for reviling, rejection, mocking, scourging, loneliness, and death, even the death of the cross for sinners such as ourselves.
3. Unchangeable and unwavering to the end will a true friendship be. Some friendships are like the strings of musical instruments that snap so easily when there is an alteration in the temperature.
III. The test of friendship. Adversity is a test of faithfulness. When a man is prosperous he will have many friends. They will flock around, bend heads, and bow bodies. Let the tide of prosperity, however, turn, and many will rapidly fade from vision, having wind and tide in their favour as they speed away. One said, Early fruits rot soon, so friendships too rapidly ripened. Gushing protestations are often followed by tantalising flirtations and bitter and cruel estrangements. Trifling is the death of friendship. Not so was it with David and Jonathan. What misery can be wrought into hearts and homes by those who are unfaithful, and who are not worthy the sacred name of friend! Such bitter experiences were unknown to David and Jonathan. They were faithful to each other right to the end. David would have readily died for Jonathan if he could. (F. Hastings.)
Jonathan
In heavens vault there are what are known as binary stars, each probably a son, with its attendant train of worlds, revolving around a common centre, but blending their rays so that they reach the watchers eye as one clear beam of light. So do twin souls find the centre of their orbit in each other; and there is nothing in the annals of human affection nobler than the bond of such a love between two pure, high-minded and noble men, whose love passes that of women. Such love was celebrated in ancient classic story, and has made the names of Damon and Pythias proverbial. It has also enriched the literature of modern days in the love of a Hallam and a Tennyson. But nowhere is it more fragrant than on the pages that contain the memorials of the love of Jonathan and David.
I. Consider the qualities of this friend whom Jehovah chose for the moulding of the character of his beloved; and then be prepared to surrender to his care the choice of your most intimate associates. He knows what your temperament needs, and where to find the companion who shall strengthen you when weak, and develop latent unknown qualities.
1. He was every inch a man. In true friendship there must be a similarity of tastes and interests. The prime condition of two men walking together is that they should be agreed. And the bond of a common manliness knit these twin souls from the first. Jonathan was every inch a man; as dexterous with the bow as his friend with the sling.
2. He was withal very sensitive and tender. It is the fashion in some quarters to emphasise the qualities supposed to be specially characteristic of men--those of strength, courage, endurance--to the undervaluing of the tenderer graces more often associated with women. But in every true man there must be a touch of woman, as there was in the ideal Man, the Lord Jesus. There should be strength and sweetness, courage and sympathy; the oak and the vine, the rock and the moss that covers it with its soft green mantle.
3. Jonathan had a marvellous power of affection. He loved David as himself; he was prepared to surrender without a pang his succession to his fathers throne, if only he might be next to his friend; his was the love that expresses itself in tender embraces and tears, that must have response from the object of its choice. We judge a man by his friends, and the admiration he excites in them. Much is said of the union of opposites, and it is well when one is rich where the other is poor; but the deepest love must be between those whose natures are close akin.
4. He was distinctly religious. He must be strong who would strengthen another; he must have God, and be in God, who would give the consolations of God to his brother; and we can easily understand how the anguish of Jonathans soul, torn before filial devotion to his father and his love to his friend, must have driven him back to those resources of the Divine nature, which are the only solace of men whose lives have been cast in the same fiery crucible.
II. Consider the conflict of Jonathans life. He was devoted to his father. He was always found associated with that strange dark character, melancholy to madness, the prey of evil spirits, and yet so keenly susceptible to music, and so quick to respond to the appeal of chivalry, patriotism, and generous feeling; resembling some mountain lake, alternately mirroring mountains and skies, and swept by dark storms. Father and son were together in life, as they were undivided in death. When he woke up to find how truly he loved David, a new difficulty entered his life. Not outwardly, because, though Saul eyed David with jealousy, there was no open rupture. David went in and out of the palace, was in a position of trust, and was constantly at hand for the intercourse for which each yearned. But when the flames of hostility, long smouldering in Sauls heart, broke forth, the true anguish of his life began. On the one hand, his duty as son and subject held him to his father, though he knew his father was doomed, and that union with him meant disaster to himself; on the other hand, all his heart cried out for David. His love for David made him eager to promote reconciliation between his father and his friend. It was only when repeated failure had proved the fruitlessness of his dream that he abandoned it; and then the thought must have suggested itself to him: Why not extricate yourself from this sinking ship while there is time? Why not join your fortunes with his whom God hath chosen? The new fair kingdom of the future is growing up around him--identify yourself with it, though it, be against your father. The temptation was specious and masterful, but it fell blunt and ineffectual at his feet. Stronger than the ties of human love were those of duty, sonship, loyalty to Gods anointed king; and in some supreme moment he turned his back on the appeal of his heart, and elected to stand beside his father. From that choice be never flinched. When David departed whither he would, Jonathan went back to the city. It was one of the grandest exhibitions of the triumph of principle over passion, of duty over inclination, that the annals of history record. Jonathan died as a hero; not only because of his prowess in battle with his countrys foes, but because of his victory over the strongest passion of the human heart, the love of a strong man, in which were blended the strands of a common religion, a common enthusiasm for all that was good and right. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The attachment of Jonathan and David
I. The first particular belonging to this remarkable and most interesting attachment, was its sudden formation. It was from predisposition that this friendship so suddenly arose; from the possession and exhibition of modesty, piety, and courage, that it derived its strength and ardour, and finally its permanence. And all this will, in a great degree, account for the otherwise strange mutability, which we observe in human affections. History, poetry, society, are all eloquent in praise of friendship; yet when we look for such an affection, and tax memory and observation on the question, all we have is an account of sudden or violent attachment, formed upon fancy, and not upon predisposition; of friendships as rapidly dissolved as they are raised; oftentimes converted into animosity and hatred; more frequently wasting and decaying into indifference from their first enthusiasm, and seldom durable except when self-interest was largely and deeply involved. This is no slander upon worldly amity, for every mans experience will corroborate the truth of the account.
II. The admiration of Jonathan terminated in his affection for David, but the affection became mutual. The friendship of the world, in its best form, seems to be rather favouritism or partiality, than mutual and equal attachment, something more like parental regard or patronage, than that which the word friendship properly expresses. This one-sided regard, this favouritism, has in it none of the advantages of friendship. He who has a friend, as old writers say, has got a second self, doubled powers, for good or for evil. In friendships, and we speak only of religious friendships, how many advantages arise to both parties! Their equality and freedom lead to the communication and increase of piety; to the correction of errors in judgment, and errors of infirmity in moral disposition and practice; to a greater facility of approach to God, and a steadier advance through life to his kingdom.
III. It will be well to thine a little on the means used for its preservation and permanence. These were pious exercises. Thus we read, that Jonathan and David entered into a solemn league and covenant of friendship, with every appeal to heaven to bless their mutual regard, and promote its effects to the advantage of their descendants.
IV. There is one friend to be found, one true heart, one faithful soul, well tried in the furnace of afflictions and temptations, whose proffered regard, with all its enduring and imperishable benefits and excellences, men too frequently overlook. That friend, who, in Scripture language, is said to stick closer than a brother, and is a brother born for adversity, you anticipate me by naming, the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Jonathan, captivated with David, stripped himself of all his robes of honour, in order to array him with these, as a proof of his affection--the overture of a covenant attachment, never to be violated. So did Christ.
2. Again we are prompted to consider from this narrative the abiding mercies of the Redeemer. Our first acquaintance with Him (if we possess any) arose from His own gracious condescension.
3. On every occasion of intimacy we read that Jonathan failed not to encourage Davids hand in God. This was the part of a holy friend, one who saw the value of better things than this world contained, and knew the value of such consolations and encouragements as religion--the true religion alone can give in our times of weakness, and depression, and suffering. Has it not ever been so between Christ and the believer?
4. Finally, we learn that it was never in Davids power to requite the fidelity of Jonathan, save only in the person of his child, Mephibosheth. Yet him he sought out diligently, and to him repaid, as far as possible, the kindness of his departed friend. Oh! is not this a stirring appeal to us in behalf of Christian gratitude and Christian benevolence. Our friend is removed from us, departed to make way for our inheritance to kingly honour. We cannot even pour out our tears upon his grave, or embalm his sacred remains with ceremonious sorrow. Nevertheless his children are amongst us, the poor ones of his flock--the despised and forgotten of the world. Seek them out, feed them, clothe them, comfort them, cheer them; this tribute, and this tribute only, will be accepted. Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. (C. M. Fleury, A. M.)
Jonathan the friend
The absence of friends makes the busiest place a solitude; nor is there any vacuum Nature abhors more than that. She teaches us to seek a heart that beats in unison with our own; looks of sympathy and kindness; a bosom into which we can pour the secrets of our souls; when burdens press heavy, an arm to lean on; when our back is at the wall, an ally to stand fighting by our side; in our difficulties a counsellor to advise with; in our sorrows one to divine, and in our joys one to double them. This is so natural, and to possess such a friend is both so delightful and profitable, that, whether his home be a castle or a cabin, and he himself a king or a beggar, oven though he was rich with the wealth of banks, and filled the earth with his fame, for a man to want friends, true friends, according to Lord Bacon, is to find this world a wilderness. The value which all ages and countries have set on friendship may be estimated by the honours they have paid to it, and the care they have taken to embalm the memory of those whose lives have afforded remarkable illustrations of what friendships could dare, and bear, and do. We have an example of this in the beautiful story of Damon and Pythias, where we see how it has filled the worst of men with admiration, disarming the hand and quenching the rage of tyrants. The first, a Pythagorean philosopher, was condemned to death by Dionysius; the execution of the sentence, however, being suspended in consequence of his obtaining leave to go home to settle his domestic affairs--a favour which the tyrant granted on condition of his returning by a stated day to suffer the penalty of death. The promise was given, but not reckoned sufficient. He dies on the spot, unless he finds a hostage--a friend who will pledge himself to die in his room. At this juncture Pythias steps forward; and delivering himself up to the hands of the tyrant, becomes Damons surety--to wait his friends return, or suffer in his stead. At length the day arrives and the hour; but no Damon. Pythias must be his substitute; and he is ready. Thanking the gods for the adverse winds that retarded the ship in which Damon sailed, he prepares to die, a sacrifice on the altar of friendship. And had fallen, but that before the blow descends, Damon rushes panting on the scene. Now the strange and friendly strife begins. Each is eager to die for the other; and each, appealing to Dionysius, claims the bloody sword as his right and privilege. Though inured to scenes of cruelty, the tyrant cannot look unmoved on such a scene as this. Touched by this rare exhibition of affection, be is melted: nor only remits the punishment, but entreats them to permit him hereafter to share their friendship and enjoy their confidence. What an honour it were to the Gospel were there many instances of such friendship among its professors! Why should there not? Has not Jesus laid this injunction on us all, Love one another, even as I have loved you? There is another, and almost equally remarkable, example of friendship told of such as never heard of Him who is the friend of sinners. It is so remarkable indeed that it procured Divine honours to Orestes and Pylades from the Scythians--a race so bloody, rude, and savage that they are said to have fed on human flesh, and made drinking cups of their enemies skulls. Engaged in an arduous enterprise, Orestes and Pylades, two sworn friends, landed on the shores of the Chersonesus to find themselves in the dominions and power of a king whose practice was to seize on all strangers and sacrifice them at the shrine of Diana. The travellers were arrested. They were carried before the tyrant; and, doomed to death, were delivered over to Iphigenia, who, as priestess of Dianas temple, had to immolate the victims. Her knife is buried in their bosoms, but that she learns before the blow is struck that they are Greeks--natives of her own native country. Anxious to open up a communication with the land of her birth, she offers to spare one of the two, on condition that the survivor will become her messenger, and carry a letter to her friends in Greece. But which shall live, and which shall die? That is the question. The friendship which had endured for years, in travels, and courts, end battlefields is now put to a strain it never bore before. And nobly it bears it. Neither will accept the office of messenger, leaving his fellow to the stroke of death. Each implores the priestess to select him for the sacrifice; and let the other go. While they contend for the pleasure and honour of dying, Iphigenia discovers in one of them her own brother. She embraces him; and sparing both flees with them from that cruel shore. Both are saved; and the story, borne on the wings of fame, flies abroad, fills the world with wonder, and carried to distant regions, excited such admiration among the barbarous Scythians, that they paid Divine honours to Orestes and Pylades, and deifying these heroes, erected temples to their worship. But to illustrate what a friend has been, and friends should be, we haves yet brighter example and more certainly truthful story in that of Jonathan--at once so touching and so tragic. It finds its type in those rivers, the Rhine and Rhone for instance, which, fed by exhaustless snows, and springing into light in lofty regions, high above the sea to whose distant shores their waters wend, are rivers at their birth; bursting from the icy caverns of Alpine glaciers in full, impetuous flood. It has its origin in a very memorable event, and on one of the most notable days in the whole history of Israel.
1. The friendships are few that survive years of separation; the shock of conflicting interests; the drain made on our old affections by new claims; the trials they are put to by infirmities of temper, by plain dealing with faults, by a manly independence, by requests refused, by favours unrequited, by the rivalries of business, by the partisanship that springs from creeds or politics, and by a thousand other nameless circumstances. Fragile as the flowers the winter frost traces on our windows, there are friendships that a breath will melt away. It may be very wrong and very pitiful, but, as the wise man says, a whisper separateth chief friends; and who lives long lives to see so many, like leaves the frost has nipped, fall off, and the ties which friendship had formed, so often and sometimes so easily dissolved, that he comes to read with little astonishment, and no great sense of exaggeration, the words of one who, describing his relationships, said, Though the church would not hold my acquaintances, the pulpit is large enough to bold all my friends. Happily, there are friendships that stand the test of time and the severest strain; but among these, what poet or panegyrist has recorded with glowing pen one to be compared with Jonathans? It is quite unique; remarkable as his fathers stature. The words of the poet may be justly applied to Jonathan--
None but himself could be his parallel.
For example, men will praise their friends, but how few are generous enough without jealousy to hear others praise them, at their expense, in eulogiums they feel to be disparaging to themselves.
2. Then see what severe trials this friendship endured; and enduring, triumphed overse Sauls gloomy eye fixed on David, the javelin he hurled to pin him to the wall, the cry of his soldiers echoing from the rocks as they hunted the fugitive from cave to cave, and hill to hill, not more illustrating the words, Jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire, than the friendship of Jonathan did those which follow, Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. The reed that bends its head to a breath of wind, and the old grey rock which withstands the hurricane that strews the plain with trees and the foaming shore with wrecks, are not more unlike than Jonathan where his own interests, and the same Jonathan where Davids interests were concerned. Such was the depth and power of his affection for his friend. Here neither Sauls entreaties, nor anger, nor violence could move him. He would part with life to please his father, but not with his love for David.
3. If piety is shown by a regard to God and a Child-like submission to His sovereign will, by taking up our cross and denying ourselves daily that we may follow Christ, by saying, like Jesus Himself, as He book the bitter cup of our sorrows from His Fathers hand, Father, not My wilt, but Thine be done, what finer example of this grace than Jonathan? David is to supplant him; David is to enter on the honours and fortune he expected to enjoy; and out of the ruins of Sauls house, David is to build his own; yet Jonathan ceases not to regard him with unabated and the tenderest affection. Tender as a woman, and yet true as steel, overflowing with generous kindness, utterly devoid of selfishness, trusting as much as he wad trusted, with a heart that reflected Davids as face answereth to face in water, Jonathan was the paragon and perfect pattern of a friend.
4. To make some practical use of this matter, I remark--
(1). Everyone should seek and cultivate friendships. Man has no room in his heart to accommodate many friends; but, as God said in Eden, it is not good that man should be alone. Isolation breeds selfishness, moroseness; and these are apt to run into misanthropy. So necessary, however, is it for the happiness of man and the complete development of his nature, that kings, who are often required by policy to stand aloof on their cold, unenviable elevation from their highest nobles, have raised servants into favourites, and sought the pleasures of friendship in the confidence and company of menials. There is a touching story of a captive, cut off from human society and long immured in a lonely dungeon of the Bastille, whose heart, craving some object of friendship, found it in a spider be had tamed, and which his brutal jailer cruelly destroyed.
(2) In choosing friends, we should select such as promise, by the tone of their conversation, and by their moral and religious character, to prove friends indeed--such as we can trust in the hour of adversity, and would like to see by our dying bed. Acquaintances are one thing, but friends another.
(3) We should seek a friend in Jesus Christ--the best, truest, kindest, surest friend man ever had. Everliving, everloving, and everlasting. Like summer birds which come and go with the sun, like our shadow which deserts us when his face is clouded, like fair flowers that close their leaves as soon as rain begins to fall or cold winds to blow, earthly friends may desert us when we most need their sympathy and support--at the time, and in the circumstances, expressed in the well-known adage, A friend in need is a friend indeed. But such a friend is Jesus Christ. One of the old Fathers tells a parable, which, with a slight alteration, illustrates this subject; and, in view of an hour of death, and a day of judgment, may well recommend to our acceptance and confidence and peace and joy the friendship of the Friend of sinners. A man summoned to answer for his crimes, and called in question for his life, sought help of three friends he had. The first agreed to bear him company for a part of the way; the second would lend him some money for his journey; while the third undertook to go all the way with him, to appear in court, and plead his cause. So runs the story. In this man, the representative of a lost and guilty race, we see ourselves: and in the three friends whose help he sought, we see the flesh, or our fellow creatures, the world with its wealth, and Christ, the sinners Friend. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
David and Jonathan
Goliaths death day was the birthday of the beautiful, memorable friendship between David and Jonathan.
I. Theirs was the friendship of godly men. Enter into no friendship that is displeasing to Christ and that is incompatible with friendship with Him. And in reference to that closest of earthly attachments--which unites for good or ill two lives till death them do part, let young Christian people see to it that they walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.
II. Unselfish was the friendship between David and Jonathan. The favour of princes has too often been secured by the designing and depraved; men who pandered to vice, and made more tempting the primrose path to perdition. Unsought, unselfish, was Jonathans friendship to David. Here is a valid test for friendship. Is it unselfish? Free from rivalry? Able to rejoice at the growing prosperity of the other even while adversity is darkening round itself? Cheerfully willing to pass down from first to second that the other may pass up from second to first? How much of Jonathans spirit is in it? The friendship that claims congratulations but is slow to congratulate, that looks for sympathy, but is reluctant to sympathise, or falls away altogether from the friend in his dark and cloudy day--such may be the friendship of the world. But how unlike the virtue that ennobled Jonathan, the memory of which keeps his name green and beautiful from age to age.
III. Severely tested by adversity was the friendship between David and Jonathan. True friendship can stand the test of adversity. It can not only live in the sunshine but can also illumine our darkness. When sorrows come; when all things seem against us; when men speak evil of us falsely, then we need a friend. A brother is born for adversity; and such a friend as David called my brother Jonathan.
IV. Mutually valuable was the friendship between David and Jonathan. (G. T. Coster.)
David and Jonathan
After the death of Goliath all would seem to go well with David. The admired of all admirers, high in favour, beloved of Jonathan, and living with the king--whose state is so enviable as his? Yet let no one be sure of anything in this world, that is, of anything capable of vicissitude. Davids sufferings and persecutions are beginning now when, to the outward eye, all seems brilliant and prosperous. God, who saw the evil coming, gave him the animating support of dear friend. You will often see how a compensating element is blended with great calamity, and neutralises much of its virus.
1. Put asunder by Sauls malignant envy, yet I suppose that the remembrance of that great surpassing love of Jonathans must have been a presence and a power to David. There is no influence on a feeling mind stronger than the sense of being loved; nothing more elevating, more securing to the inner life. We are dearer to ourselves when we are dear to someone else. Danger, of a very subtle and fatal kind, lurks in the feeling, No man careth for my soul. This is, indeed, the fruitful source of suicide. Youths are steadied when away from home by the confidence they have of a mighty love felt for them by their mothers. Is it not Jeremy Taylor who says, He who loves is happy, but he who is loved is safe! See how in the constitution of the family, in marriage, in children, in friendship, God has provided a shield for our weakness in the love borne to us. Jonathan saw himself magnified and improved in David, who was his better self. Read the fourteenth chapter to discern the valorous soul of Jonathan. Look at him, with one attendant likeminded with himself, climbing up upon his hands and upon his feet into the garrison of the Philistines. And they fell before Jonathan, and there was trembling in the host: and that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plough. Here was Davids adventurous spirit: Jonathan had seen Goliath for forty days defying Israel, and had not dared to meet him, but he saw David kill him. He loved that which went beyond his own spirit, yet was of the same heroic order. He saw in David a higher and greater Jonathan, the ideal of his own actual life, himself transfigured and perfected. What he had dreamt he might be, he beheld in David.
2. Now, let us turn to the father. Was Saul ever like his son? David, in his song, unites them in a very beautiful harmony: Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. And when we look at Sauls early history, there gleams on us a ray of his sons noble spirit. When the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents, it is added, but he held his peace. That faculty of self-control stands in terrible contrast with the utter loss of self-respect and self-government which he afterwards evinced. Moreover, the grief of Samuel at the Divine rejection of Saul (it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night) is a touching proof of the truth that Saul was lovely in the early part of his career. Here was a noble nature ruined; but we must confess that his was a situation of such extraordinary difficulty that, while he could have retained his uprightness had he remained in favour with God, yet when we think of his constitutional malady, and of the human and almost necessary vexation which the song of the women must have occasioned; when we think that the praise of higher prowess was bestowed on one who was known to be the aspirant to the throne, as we learn from Jonathans words to David, we cannot wonder that jealousy caused his ruin.
There is no habit so easily acquired, so hardly cast off, as jealousy or envy.
1. We may safely affirm that, if you prize communion with God as your greatest blessing, you will be a stranger to envy. It is the presence of God with us which shuts out the base passions, or keeps them from having dominion over us. And let this be a touchstone to us all. When we feel the rising of envious emotion, let us alarm ourselves, let us be sure we are going back; we are descending to a lower level of the Christian life; we are satisfied to pass the day without a hearty effort to realise Gods presence, and therefore has this evil come upon us. Cleave to the Lord, and all virtue, all goodness, all excellence in people whom you meet will be dear to you, because they are His gifts whom you prize higher than all gifts. Envy the gifts! How is that possible when the Giver is yours. Of the Giver of every good and perfect gift, you can say, He is my God.
2. This is the first great rule to show us how we may shun envy.
3. But, after this, get into the way of admiring worth, independence, and all moral excellence in whomsoever you see it. Love it in an enemy, and then you cannot have one. Sometimes we are slow to recognise high qualities in people who differ from us; but rid yourselves of this meanness, and delight yourselves in the discovery of nobleness, of generosity, of moral worth in books or men. Wordsworth says--
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky;
but what is Gods bow in the clouds for beauty compared to Gods gift of genius, of wisdom, of disinterestedness, of charity, when in our human life they arch heaven and earth with a glory that fadeth not away? The nobility of Jonathans character cannot easily be over-estimated. (B. Kent, M. A.)
Our social relationships
I. The intimate friendships of life.
1. Friendships spring up often, we can hardly explain why, but they are most real, most helpful, very precious, and frequently lasting. It is an unspeakably blessed thing to have a true friend in whose wisdom you can confide, in whose strength you can shelter your weakness, whose sympathy understands the ever-varying moods of your soul.
2. Advice as to how to obtain and to retain friendship could not be more forcibly given than in the words, A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. All expressions of confidence and affection are not to be on one side only; they must be mutual.
3. Our companionships bear testimony to our natures end our convictions. For friendship as I understand it does not consist in the perpetual interchange of compliments and sweet flatteries, but in the endeavour to increase the goodness and the happiness of each other, and sometimes this can be done only by gentle reproof and warning. It is a delicate task, and not unfrequently a most painful and hazardous one. Yet, as one truly says, the best of friends are they that deny themselves of pleasure for the sake of making me better; they that incur the risk of anger and dislocation of friendship for the sake of telling me a truth that nobody else dares to tell me, and that I die for the want of hearing; they that are more choice of my souls interior and essential good than they are of my satisfaction with the pride and the vanities of life, and seek to be physician of my soul, they are my best friends.
4. The other characteristics of friendships are expressions of love and faithfulness in adversity. Do not, expect to get all and give nothing--to have affection and confidence lavished upon you as though it were your right, and return none. Not so will you acquire and keep friendship.
II. Social acquaintances. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. (Rom_15:2.) Beyond those dear and gracious ties we form with souls with whom ours are knit we are compelled to enlarge the circle of our associations, and we make acquaintances in a variety of ways, who never become our friends. Either because we know little about them, or are unattracted by what we do know, our intercourse is limited to those few occasions when we meet in social life, our conversation to those superficial topics which may be called the useful but not valuable counters that serve instead of anything more real or worthy. How many of such acquaintances most people can boast. We are familiar with their names, with some facts of their history, and we encounter them at houses where we visit, or are on tolerable visiting terms with them, but they never show us their hearts, and we are equally reserved. That is not altogether unnatural or undesirable. We cannot, take the oaths of true friendship with everybody. The society in which we move is not to be lowered in its tone by our laxity in fashion or in speech. We are not to descend to the level of the standards which satisfy irreligious people, and sometimes are accepted by those who profess to be religious, but we must follow what is right even if it looks ideal. Those around us are gathering from our conduct what is true and pure and good. We mingle amongst various people, and our influence may be felt. What is wanted is a more intelligent conviction of the duties we owe to society, of its need of a constant purifying influence, and that we Christian men and women have a mission to raise its tone and elevate its life. It will be of little avail to stand sway in isolated carelessness, or in a spirit of indignant asceticism from the worlds life, raising an angry protest against its evil; we must resolutely carry the influence of our own principles into its life, and strive by all means in our power to transform and regenerate it. We are to be in the world,--as salt to save it from corruption, as light to guide, to beautify, to increase the true joy of it--yet we may not be of the world. (W. Braden.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain
CHAPTER X X V.
SAULS JEALOUS-DAVID'S MARRIAGE.
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1Sa_18:1-30.
THE conqueror of Goliath had been promised, as his reward, the eldest daughter of the king in marriage. The fulfillment of that promise, if not utterly neglected, was at least delayed; but if David lost the hand of the king's daughter, he gained, what could not have been promised - the heart of the king's son. It was little wonder that ''the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." Besides all else about David that was attractive to Jonathan as it was attractive to everyone, there was that strongest of all bonds, the bond of a common, all-prevailing faith, faith in the covenant God of Israel, that had now shown itself in David in overwhelming strength, as it had shown itself in Jonathan some time before at Michmash.
To Jonathan David must indeed have appeared a man after his own heart. The childlike simplicity of the trust he had reposed in God showed what a profound hold his faith had of him, how entirely it ruled his life. What depths of congeniality the two young men must have discovered in one another; in what wonderful agreement they must have found themselves respecting the duty and destiny of the Hebrew people! That Jonathan should have been so fascinated at that particular moment shows what a pure heart he must have had. If we judge aright, David's faith had surpassed Jonathan's; David had dared where Jonathan had shrunk; and David's higher faith had obtained the distinction that might naturally have been expected to fall to Jonathan. Yet no shadow of jealousy darkens Jonathan's brow. Never were hands more cordially grasped; never were congratulations more warmly uttered. Is there anything so beautiful as a beautiful heart? After well-nigh three thousand years, we are still thrilled by the noble character of Jonathan, and well were it for every young man that he shared in some degree his high nobility. Self-seekers and self-pleasers, look at him - and be ashamed.
The friendship between David and Jonathan will fall to be adverted to afterwards; meanwhile we follow the course of events as they are detailed in this chapter.
One thing that strikes us very forcibly in this part of David's history is the rapidity with which pain and peril followed the splendid achievement which had raised him so high. The malignant jealousy of Saul towards him appears to have sprung up almost immediately after the slaughter of Goliath. ''When David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands; and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward." This statement seems (like so many other statements in Scripture narratives) to be a condensed one, embracing things that happened at different times; it appears to denote that as soon as David returned from killing Goliath his name began to be introduced by the women into their songs; and when he returned from the expeditions to which Saul appointed him when he set him over the men of war, and in which he was wonderfully successful, then the women introduced the comparison, which so irritated Saul, between Saul's thousands and David's ten thousands. The truth is, that David's experience, while Saul continued to be his persecutor, was a striking commentary on the vanity of human life, - on the singularly tantalizing way in which the most splendid prizes are often snatched from men's hands as soon as they have secured them, and when they might reasonably have expected to enjoy their fruits. The case of a conqueror killed in the very moment of victory - of a Wolfe falling on the Plains of Quebec, just as his victory made Britain mistress of Canada; of a Nelson expiring on the deck of his ship, just as the enemy's fleet was helplessly defeated, - these are touching enough instances of the deceitfulness of fortune in the highest moments of expected enjoyment. But there is something more touching still in the early history of David. Raised to an eminence which he never courted or dreamt of, just because he had such trust in God and such regard for his country; manifesting in his new position all that modesty and all that dutifulness which had marked him while his name was still un- known; taking his life in his hand and plunging into toils and risks innumerable just because he desired to be of service to Saul and his country, - surely, if any man deserved a comfortable home and a tranquil mind David was that man. That David should have become the worst treated and most persecuted man of his day; that for years and years he should have been maligned and hunted down, with but a step between him and death; that the very services that ought to have brought him honour should have plunged him into disgrace, and the noble qualities that ought to have made him the king's most trusty counselor should have made him a fugitive and an outlaw from his presence, - all that is very strange. It would have been a great trial to any man; it was a peculiar trial to a Hebrew. For under the Hebrew economy the principle of temporal rewards and punishments had a prominence beyond the common. Why was this principle reversed in the case of David? Why was one who had been so exemplary doomed to such humiliation and trial, - doomed to a mode of life which seemed more suitable for a miscreant than for the man after God's own heart?
The answer to this question cannot be mistaken now. But that answer was not found so readily in David's time. David's early years bore a close resemblance to that period of the career of Job when the hand of God was heavy upon him, and thick darkness encompassed one on whose tabernacle the candle of the Lord had previously shone very brightly. It pleased God, in infinite love, to make David pass through a long period of hard discipline and salutary training for the office to which he was to be raised. The instances were innumerable in the East of young men of promising character being ruined through sudden elevation to supreme unchallenged power. The case of Saul himself was a sad instance of this doleful effect. It pleased God to take steps to prevent it from happening in the case of the distinguished Athenian, was young, Socrates tried hard to withhold him from public life, and to convince him that he needed a long course of inward discipline before he could engage safely and usefully in the conduct of public affairs. But Alcibiades had no patience for this; he took his own way, became his own master, but with the result that he lost at once true loftiness of aim and all the sincerity of an upright soul. We do not need, however, to illustrate from mere human history the benefits that arise from a man bearing the yoke in his youth. Even our blessed Lord, David's antitype, ''though He was a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." And how often has the lesson been repeated! What story is more constantly repeated than, on the one hand, that of the young man succeeding to a fortune in early life, learning every wretched habit of indolence and self-indulgence, becoming the slave of his lusts, and after a miserable life sinking into a dishonoured grave? And on the other, how often do we find, in the biography of the men who have been an honour to their race, that their early life was spent amid struggles and acts of self-denial that seem hardly credible, but out of which came their resolute character and grand conquering power? O adversity, thy features are hard, thy fingers are of iron, thy look is stern and repulsive; but underneath thy hard crust there lies a true heart, full of love and full of hope; if only we had grace to believe this, in times when we are bound with affliction and iron; if only we had faith to look forward a very little, when, like the patriarch Job, we shall find that, after all, He who frames our lot is ''very pitiful and of tender mercy"!
In the case of David, God's purpose manifestly was to exercise and strengthen such qualities as trust in God, prayerfulness, self-command, serenity of temper, consideration for others, and the hope of a happy issue out of all his troubles. His trials were indeed both numerous and various. The cup of honour dashed from his lips when he had just begun to taste it; promises the most solemn deliberately violated, and rewards of perilous service coolly withheld from him; faithful services turned into occasions of cruel persecution; enforced separation from beloved friends; laceration of feelings from Saul's cruel and bloody treatment of some who had befriended him; calumnious charges persisted in after convincing and generous refutation; ungrateful treatment from those he had benefited, like Nabal; treachery from those he had delivered, like the men of Keilah; perfidy on the part of some he had trusted, like Cush; assassination threatened by some of his own followers, as at Ziklag, - these and many other trials were the hard and bitter discipline which David had to undergo in the wilderness.
And not only was David thus prepared for the great work of his future life, but as a type of the Messiah he foreshadowed the deep humiliation through which He was to pass on His way to His throne. He gave the Old Testament Church a glimpse of the manner in which ''it became Him, by whom are all things and for whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering."
The growth of the malignant passion of jealousy in Saul is portrayed in the history in a way painfully graphic. First, it is simply a feeling that steals occasionally into his bosom. It needs some outward occasion to excite it. Its first great effort to establish itself was when Saul heard the Hebrew women ascribing to David ten times as great a slaughter as they ascribed to Saul. We cannot but be struck with the ruggedness of the women's compliment. To honour David as more ready to incur risk and sacrifice for his country, even in encounters involving terrible bloodshed, would have been worthy of women, and worthy of good women; but to make the standard of compliment the number of lives destroyed, the amount of bloodshed, indicated surely a coarseness of feeling, characteristic of a somewhat barbarous age. But the compliment was quite significant to Saul, who saw in it a proof of the preference entertained for David, and began to look on him as his rival in the kingdom. The next step in the history of Saul's jealousy is its forming itself into an evil habit that needed no outward occasion to excite it, but kept itself alive and active by the vitality it had acquired. ''And Saul eyed David from that day and forward" (1Sa_18:9). If Saul had been a good man, he would have been horrified at the appearance of this evil passion in his heart; he would have said, "Get thee behind me, Satan;" he would have striven to the utmost to strangle it in the womb. Oh! what untold mountains of guilt would this not have saved him in after life! And what mountains of guilt, darkening their whole life, would the policy of resistance and stamping out, when an evil lust or passion betrays its presence in their heart, save to every young man and young woman who find for the first time evidence of its vitality! But instead of stamping it out, Saul nourished it; instead of extinguishing the spark, he heaped fuel on the flame. And his lust, having been allowed to conceive, was not long of bringing forth. Under a fit of his malady, even as David was playing to him with his harp, he launched a javelin at him, no doubt in some degree an act of insanity, but yet betraying a very horrible spirit. Then, perhaps afraid of himself, he removes David from his presence, and sends him out to battle as a captain of a thousand. But David only gives fresh proofs of his wisdom and his trustworthiness, and establishes his hold more and more on the affections of the people. The very fact of his wisdom, the evidence which his steady, wise, and faithful conduct affords of God's presence with him, creates a new restlessness in Saul, who, with a kind of devilish feeling, hates him the more because "the Lord is with him, and is departed from Saul."
The next stage in the career of jealousy is to ally itself with cunning, under the pretence of great generosity. "Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said. Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him." But cunning and treachery are close connections, and when this promise ought to have been fulfilled, Merab was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife. There remained his younger daughter Michal, who was personally attached to David. "And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." The question of dowry was a difficult one to David; but on that point the king bade his servants set his mind at rest. "The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. And Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines."
Alas! the history of Saul's malignant passion is by no means exhausted even by these sad illustrations of its rise and progress. It swells and grows, like a horrid tumour, becoming uglier and uglier continually. And the notices are very significant and instructive which we find as to the spiritual condition of Saul, in connection with the development of his passion. We are told that the Lord was departed from him. When Saul was reproved by Samuel for his transgression, he showed no signs of real repentance, he continued consciously in a state of enmity with God, and took no steps to get the quarrel healed. He preferred the kind of life in which he might please himself, though he offended God, to the kind of life in which he would have pleased God, while he denied himself. And Saul had to bear the awful penalty of his choice. Living apart from God, all the evil that was in his nature came boldly out, asserting itself without let or hindrance, and going to the terrible length of the most murderous and at the same time the meanest projects. Don't let anyone imagine that religion has no connection with morality! Sham religion, as we have already seen, may exist side by side with the greatest wickedness; but that religion, the beginning of which is the true fear of God, a genuine reverential regard for God, a true sense of His claims on us, alike as our Creator and our Redeemer, - that religion lays its hand firmly on our moral nature, and scares and scatters the devices of the evil that still remains in the heart. Let us take warning at the picture presented to us in this chapter of the terrible results, even in the ordinary affairs of life, of the evil heart of unbelief that departs from the living God. The other side of the case, the effect of a true relation to God in purifying and guiding the life, is seen in the case of David. God being with him in all that he does, he is not only kept from retaliating on Saul, not only kept from all devices for getting rid of one who was so unjust and unkind to himself, but he is remarkably obedient, remarkably faithful, and by God's grace remarkably successful in the work given him to do. It is indeed a beautiful period of David's life - the most blameless and beautiful of any. The object of unmerited hatred, the victim of atrocious plots, the helpless object of a despot's mad and ungoverned fury, yet cherishing no trace of bitter feeling, dreaming of no violent project of relief, but going out and in with perfect loyalty, and straining every nerve to prove himself a laborious, faithful, and useful servant of the master who loathed him.
The question of David's marriage is a somewhat difficult one, appearing to involve some contradictions. First of all we read that a daughter of Saul, along with great riches, had been promised to the man who should kill Goliath. But after David kills him, there is no word of this promise being fulfilled, and even afterwards, when the idea of his being the king's son-in-law is brought forward, there is no hint that he ought to have been so before. Are we to understand that it was an unauthorized rumour that was told to David (1Sa_17:25-27) when it was said that the victor was to get these rewards? Was it that the people recalled what had been said by Caleb about Kirjath-sepher, a town in that very neighbourhood, and inferred that surely Saul would give his daughter to the conqueror, as Caleb had given his? This is perhaps the most reasonable explanation, because when David came into Saul's presence nothing of the kind was said to him by the king; and also because, if Saul had really promised it, there was no reason at the time why he should not have kept his promise; nay, the impulsive nature of the king, and the great love of Jonathan toward David, and the love with which David inspired women, would rather have led Saul to be forward in fulfilling it, and in constituting a connection which would then have been pleasant to all. If it be said that this would have been a natural thing for Saul to do, even had there been no promise, the answer is that David was such a stripling, and even in his father's household occupied so humble a place, as to make it reasonable that he should wait, and gain a higher position, before any such thing should be thought of. Accordingly, when David became older, and acquired distinction as a warrior, his being the king's son-in-law had become quite feasible. First, Saul proposes to give him his elder daughter Merab. The murderous desire dictates the proposal, for Saul already desires David's death, though he has not courage himself to strike the blow. But when the time came, for some reason that we do not know of Merab was given to Adriel the Meholathite. David's action at an after period showed that he regarded this as a cruel wrong (2Sa_3:13). Saul, however, still desired to have that hold on David which his being his son-in-law would have involved, and now proposed that Michal his younger daughter should be his wife. The proposal was accepted, but David could bring no dowry for his wife. The only dowry the king sought was a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And the hundred foreskins David paid down in full tale.
What a distressing view these transactions give us of the malignity of Saul's heart! When parents have sacrificed the true happiness of their daughters by pressing on them a marriage of splendid misery, the motive, however selfish and heartless, has not usually been malignant. The marriage which Saul urged between David and Michal was indeed a marriage of affection, but as far as he was concerned his sin in desiring it, as affording facilities for getting rid of him, was on that account all the greater. For nothing shows a wickeder heart than being willing to involve another, and especially one's own child, in a lifelong sorrow in order to gratify some feeling of one's own. Saul was not merely trifling with the heart and happiness of his child, but he was deliberately sacrificing both to his vile passion. The longer he lives, Saul becomes blacker and blacker. For such are they from whom the Spirit of the Lord has departed.
We may well contrast David and Saul at this period of their lives; but what a strange thing it is that further on in life David should have taken this leaf from Saul's book, and acted in this very spirit towards Uriah the Hittite? Not that Uriah was, or was to be, son-in-law to the king; alas! there was an element of blackness in the case of David which did not exist in that of Saul; but it was in the very spirit now manifested by Saul towards himself that David availed himself of Uriah's bravery, of Uriah's faithfulness, of Uriah's chivalrous readiness to undertake the most perilous expeditions - availed himself of these to compass his death. What do we learn from this? The same seeds of evil were in David's heart as in Saul's. But at the earlier period of David's life he walked humbly with God, and God's Spirit poured out on him not only restrained the evil seed, but created a pure, holy, devoted life, as if there were nothing in David but good. Afterwards, grieving the Holy Spirit, David was left for a time to himself, and then the very evil that had been so offensive in Saul came creeping forth drew itself up and claimed that it should prevail. It was a blessed thing for David that he was not beyond being arrested by God's voice, and humbled by His reproof. He saw whither he had been going; he saw the emptiness and wickedness of his heart; he saw that his salvation depended on God in infinite mercy forgiving his sin and restoring His Spirit, and for these blessings he pled and wrestled as Jacob had wrestled with the angel at Peniel. So we may well see that for anyone to trust in his heart is to play the fool; our only trust must be in Him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a root and withered, and men take them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.''
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain 1Sa_18:1. “The soul of Jonathan was knit,” literally, “chained…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
1Sa_18:1. “The soul of Jonathan was knit,” literally, “chained itself.” (Kiel). “In almost all languages friendship is considered as a union of souls bound together by the band of love.” (Clericus). “Loved him as his own soul.” “To the conception of firmness is here added the idea of innerness of friendship, the complete identification of essence of two souls.” (Erdmann).
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1Sa_18:2. “Would let him go no more home.” See last comments on 1Sa_17:54 of the preceding chapter.
1Sa_18:3. “Made a covenant.” “Such covenants of brotherhood are frequent in the East. They are ratified by certain ceremonies, and in presence of witnesses, that the persons covenanting will be sworn brothers for life.” (Jamieson).
1Sa_18:4. “Stripped himself of the robe,” etc. “The mention of several weapons, which together make a complete war outfit, suggests that Jonathan wished to honour David as the military hero.… His clothing David with his own war-dress sets aside the barrier which his rank and position would raise between them in the first instance on the common ground of the theocratic chivalry, as whose representatives they had come to love one another.” (Erdmann). “The gift of one’s own garment, especially by a prince to a subject, is in the East still the highest mark of honour.” (Philippson). See Est_6:8.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_18:1-4
DAVID AND JONATHAN
I. The possession of analogous moral qualities will breed mutual love. There are material substances which have a singular affinity for each other because there are elements in each which are mutually attractive. The steel filings in the midst of a mass of other material will find their way to the magnet if it is placed anywhere near to them, and cleave to it with persistent force. And there are many bodies which possess elements which give them so strong an affinity the one for the other, that when the chemist places them together they lose their separate identity and the hitherto distinct substances become but one. So human characteristics and qualities—especially human excellences—form a basis of mutual affinity between those who are like-minded. A bold and courageous man is attracted to another who shows that he is also bold and courageous, and a man of strong emotions feels a drawing to another of an emotional nature. Jonathan and David evidently possessed some kindred excellences of character. If the shepherd boy had shown his courageous faith by meeting the giant single handed, the prince had displayed the same trustful boldness when he scaled the rock and entered the Philistine garrison, and they were evidently both possessed by an ardent concern for the welfare of their people, and by that humility of heart which is an accompaniment of all true greatness. When, therefore, the youthful son of Jesse stood before Saul, and both by his bearing and his word revealed what motives had prompted his action, the presence of kindred qualities in the breast of Jonathan sent his soul out to David, and that friendship was formed which will be renowned so long as the world shall last.
II. Love based upon affinity of soul is strong and will bear a great strain. Jonathan loved David “as his own soul.” Self-love is strong and deep and is a Divinely commanded love. We are but obeying an instinct implanted within us by God when we manifest a due regard to our own personal welfare—in fact it is inconceivable that any being should be a stranger to such a feeling. Our Lord Himself tells us that our own spiritual well-being is to be the first object of our care when He asks, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mat_16:27), and it is natural and right that our lower and secondary interests should be dear to us also. But there is a love which sets all these latter below the interests and the welfare of another, and such a love was that which David bore to Jonathan. It affords an example of the intensity to which love often grows when it is founded upon similarity of moral tastes and aspirations. It is then often equal to any test which can be brought to bear upon it, and forms a tie stronger than mere blood relation, making a man willing to forego all his earthly advantages for the good of his friend. The brook which is but a few inches deep will soon dry up under the rays of the summer’s sun, or freeze when visited by the frosts of winter, but the deep broad river rolls on without being affected by either. So there are superficial friendships which vanish altogether when circumstances change, but the love born of kinship of soul outlives all the heats of prosperity and the frosts of adversity. Such was the love which Jonathan bore to David—a love which was as deep and abiding when his friend was an outlaw and a fugitive as when he was the favourite of the court, and a love which took no account of the fact that David was destined to occupy the place which Jonathan had once hoped to fill, and the duties of which he was fully competent to discharge. Although he never sat upon a throne, Jonathan’s conduct to his rival gives full proof of his kingly nature.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_18:1-4. Jonathan, the man of generous soul.
1. Generous in admiring. (a) Not jealous, though his own military fame is eclipsed, (b) Fully appreciating the merit of a new and obscure man. (c) Admiring not only a brilliant exploit, but modest, grateful, and devout words.
2. Generous in proposing friendship where he might so naturally have indulged jealousy (as his father did).
3. Generous in giving what was not only valuable and suitable to his friend’s present wants, but honourable as being associated with himself. Generosity, shown in mutual appreciation and mutual benefits, is the basis of sweet and lasting friendships, and in general is one of the noblest traits of human character.—Trans. of Lange’s Commentary.
This was not a worldly friendship in which one, in loving another, in reality loves only himself and his own personal interests, but one of a higher nature, which formed the uniting bond. They loved each other truly in God, to whose service they had devoted themselves in the hours of holy consecration, … and friendship which thus grows up and blossoms, rooting itself in a similarity of sanctified dispositions, takes a first place among our earthly blessings and possessions. There that communion of heart so unites together that one man becomes to another like a living canal, through which the inner life pours forth to him a stream of enriching and never-failing fulness of refreshing consolations and enjoyments.… A Cleophas and his companion on the way to Emmaus; a Peter and the disciple who lay on Jesus’ bosom; a Paul and his Timothy—how lovely are these double stars of sacred history pouring forth their rays upon us from heaven.… Whoever is the object of such affectionate friendship, let him esteem it as a treasure of high and precious worth. Whoever, on the contrary, complains that he enjoys no such friendship, let him seek the cause of this, not in others, but in himself; since to him, without doubt, there are a-wanting, if not every endeavour after that which is noble, yet at least the heart-attracting virtues of humility, of purity, and love.—Krummacher.
There are, I fear, few such friendships between those who are nearly equals in eminence in the same profession. The proverb says, that “two of a trade never agree,” and it takes high-toned principle to rejoice in the rise, to an equal position with ourselves, of one who is in the same calling with us. Provided there be sufficient distance between us, either in excellence, or success, the difficulty is not felt on either side. The young statesman, just entering on public life, has neither jealousy nor envy of the veteran leader who has by genius and perseverance made his way to the front rank of politicians, and the leader, in his turn, feels it easy to be cordial and encouraging to the young aspirant. But let the one see the other as nearly as possible on a level with himself, even in his own chosen department of excellence, and feel that he must probably soon consent to be second to him, and the case is altered. Then, almost in spite of themselves, jealousies and envyings will spring up between them; they will look askance at each other, and though they may not break out into open foes, there will be what I may call a sort of armed watchfulness between them, and a very little matter will set them in direct antagonism. The nearer individuals come into competition with each other, the greater is their tendency to be spiteful toward each other. It is easy to be a patron, and, stooping down from a lofty height, to take by the hand some struggling beginner; it is easy, too, to be an admiring pupil of one who is acknowledged to be a great way above us; but it is a much harder, and therefore a much nobler thing, to be the warm appreciative friend of one who is in the same calling with ourselves, and who is bidding fair to outshine and surpass us. But it was just this hard and noble thing that Jonathan did, when he took to his heart the youthful David.—Dr. W. M. Taylor.
Similitude of dispositions and estates ties the fastest knots of affection. A wise soul hath piercing eyes, and hath quickly discerned the likeness of itself in another; as we do no sooner look into the glass of water, but face answers to face, and, where it sees a perfect resemblance of itself, cannot choose but love it with the same affection that it reflects upon itself.
No man saw David that day, which had so much cause to disaffect him; none in Israel should be a loser by David’s success, but Jonathan. Saul was sure enough settled for his time: only his successor should forego all that which David should gain; so as none but David stands in Jonathan’s light; and yet all this cannot abate one jot or dram of his love. Where God uniteth hearts, carnal respects are too weak to dissever them, since that, which breaks off affection, must needs be stronger than that which conjoineth it.—Bishop Hall.
In merciful adaptation to the infirmities of his human spirit, God opened to David this stream in the desert, and allowed him to refresh himself with its pleasant water; but to show him, at the same time, that such supplies could not be permanently relied on, and that his great dependence must be placed, not on the fellowship of mortal man, but of the ever-living and ever-loving God, Jonathan and he were doomed, after the briefest period of companionship, to a life-long separation, and the friendship which had promised to be a perpetual solace to his trials, only aggravated their severity when Providence deprived him of its comforts … In another view, David’s intercourse with Jonathan served an important purpose in his training. The very sight he had of Saul’s outrageous wickedness might have nursed a self-righteous feeling—might have encouraged the thought so natural to man, that as Saul was rejected by God for his wickedness, so David was chosen for his goodness. The remembrance of Jonathan’s singular virtues and graces was fitted to rebuke this thought; for, if regard to human goodness had decided God’s course in the matter, why should Jonathan not have been chosen? From the self-righteous ground on which he might have been tempted to stand, David would thus be thrown back on the providence of God, and in deepest humility constrained to acknowledge that it was by God’s grace only that he was made to differ from others.—Blaikie.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain 1Sa 18:7-8
1Sa 18:7-8
This incident teaches three things respecting good and bad men.
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I. The wicked are often jealous of a good man’s popularity. Saul’s behaviour to David reveals the progress of jealousy in four stages, (1) There is anger. (2) There is envy. (3) There is madness. (4) There is murder. Jealousy is a foolish, a wicked and a dangerous passion.
II. The wicked are often terrified by a good man’s security. Saul’s fear led to the adoption of the most desperate means to ruin David. (1) Saul resolves to dismiss David. (2) Saul endeavours to provoke David. (3) Saul determines to kill David.
III. The wicked are often defeated by a good man’s valour. In David’s conduct in his encounter with the Philistines, there are three things to be noted. (1) David fulfils the king’s stipulation. (2) David thwarts the king’s purpose. (3) David wins the king’s daughter. God can make the impediments that are thrown in the way of His children aids to their progress.
Parker, City Temple, vol. i. p. 79.
References: 1Sa 18:9.—Parker, vol, vi., p. 351. 1Sa 18:12-30.—Ibid., vol. vii., p. 1. 1Sa 18:17.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 250; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 111. 1Sa 18:30.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 331. 1Sa 19:2.—S. Cox, Expositions, 1st series, p. 416. 1Sam 19—W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 52.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Love of Jonathan for David
The Love of Jonathan for David
1Sa_18:6-30 of this chapter seem to be connected with 1Sa_16:14-23 and not to be taken from the same document as 1Sa_17:1 to 1Sa_18:5. LXX omits a large part of this section and only retains 1Sa_18:6-8; 1 Samuel 12; 1 Samuel 13-16, 20-21; 1 Samuel 22-26; 1 Samuel 27-29 a. In this case the LXX text gives an easy and straight forward account, and many suppose that it is the original. But the character of the LXX omissions in 1 Samuel 17 renders this a little doubtful.
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6. Cp. Exo_15:20; Jdg_11:34; Psa_68:11 (RV).
7. Played] lit. 'sported.' The word is used of festive sports and especially of festal dancing: cp. 1Ch_15:29.
8. But the kingdom] The knowledge of his deposition rankled in Saul's mind.
10. Prophesied] The words 'prophet' and 'prophesy' are applied in OT. to the servants of the gods of Canaan as well as to the servants of Jehovah: cp. 1Ki_18:19. The behaviour of these Canaanite prophets must have greatly resembled the possession of Saul (1Ki_18:28). The word 'prophesy' includes such wild outbreaks of frenzy as well as the calm utterances of Isaiah. In the case of Saul this frenzy was regarded as produced by an evil spirit from God.
16. Went out and came in] i.e. lived in an open public manner in contrast to Saul's seclusion which was the natural result of his melancholy.
17. Every battle fought by Israel was an act of religious worship to Jehovah: cp. 1Sa_25:28.
18. What is my life] RM 'Who are my kinsfolk?' The word denotes a division of the tribe larger than a 'father's family.'
21. In the one of the twain] RV 'a second time.' It is an example of regal and rather caustic wit. The first time was when Merab was offered (1Sa_18:19).
23. A poor man] This would suggest that David's lack of patrimony had been made an excuse for not giving Merab to him: but see intro. note to the chapter This v. is plainly inconsistent with 1Sa_18:19-21.
25. Dowry] In ancient times some payment was made to the father by the intending bridegroom (Gen_34:12; Exo_22:16), a relic of still earlier days, when a wife was either bought from her parents or captured from foes. But service might be rendered instead of payment in money (Gen_29:20).
26. And the days were not expired] This appears to refer to the time, not previously mentioned, within which the exploit was to be performed.
28. Michal Saul's daughter] LXX 'all Israel.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 3. Jonathan and David--Saul’s jealousy
3. Jonathan and David--Saul’s jealousy
CHAPTER 18
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1. Jonathan’s love for David (1Sa 18:1-4)
2. The beginning of Saul’s jealousy (1Sa 18:5-16)
3. David’s marriage (1Sa 18:17-30)
A beautiful scene opens this chapter. Jonathan, the man of faith, loves David. He was about 40 years old and David about 17. Jonathan made a covenant with David and loved him as his own soul. He showed also his great devotion by giving to David, his robe, his garments, his sword, his bow and his girdle. Thus he stripped himself of all for David’s sake. Such devotion and love should we manifest towards Him, who is greater than David. No doubt Jonathan’s devotion was kindled by the deed young David had done in slaying Goliath. And when we think of what our Lord has done for us the devotion to Him increases.
And David the anointed is the obedient servant and conducts himself wisely. The days of suffering and exile are now rapidly approaching. The song of the women, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” angers the rejected King. Again the demon possesses him because he gave way to his temper. He nourished the feeling of hatred against David. “He eyed David from that day forward.” When the evil spirit came upon him he prophesied. This has been hard to understand to some. Several translators have translated “raved”; but that cannot be done, for the word prophesy is the same as in chapter 5:5. Prophesying means to speak by inspiration; it does not always mean the prediction of future events. Now there is besides a divine inspiration, also a satanic inspiration. Certain cults which claim restoration of certain gifts claim inspiration, which has often been traced to the influence of demons. Saul uttered words which were the result of the indwelling evil spirit. Then he attempted twice to kill David with the javelin. This was no doubt an attempt from the side of Satan to do away with him from whose loins the promised seed, the Redeemer, was to come. The Lord shielded David and Saul was afraid of him, because the Lord was with him.
And now David has also gained the love of all Israel and Judah. Saul then offers to make David his son-in-law. Underneath it all was the mad King’s plotting to get rid of David and have the Philistines kill him. How blinded Saul had become! The Lord’s anointed was in the Lord’s own hands and his life was precious in His sight. It has its precious lessons for us likewise.
Merab is promised to him to become his wife, but Achiel receives her instead. (See 2Sa 21:8 and read “Merab” instead of “Michal.”) Then he received Michal, who loved David. We shall meet her again later when she was restored to the King by Abner and later mocked the King of Israel. And Saul, after his scheme failed, became David’s enemy continually.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Saul’s Regard Changes to Hatred
Saul’s Regard Changes to Hatred
v. 1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, when David had given the king the information which he desired concerning his family, that the soul of Jonathan, the heroic son of Saul, was knit with the soul of David, chained to his in a firm and inseparable union, bound by the band of love; and Jonathan loved him as his own soul, with a total absence of selfishness, in an ideal friendship.
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v. 2. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house; he was now permanently in the king’s service, and could no more, as he formerly did, 1Sa 17:15, return home from time to time to assist in the work and to perform his shepherd’s duties.
v. 3. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, a formal sealing of their mutual love and friendship, because he loved him as his own soul; they promised each other perpetual friendship.
v. 4. And Jonathan, as a testimony and token of his love and friendship, stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. Thus the barrier of rank and position was completely set aside; for Jonathan’s object was not only to have David appear at court in proper dress, but also to honor David as a military hero, the conqueror of the terrible Philistine, who should therefore appear in a dress befitting his station.
v. 5. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, on any campaign for which the king thought his military ability fitted him, and behaved himself wisely, being both prudent and prosperous; and Saul set him over the men of war, made him commander of a body of soldiers, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, regarded very highly, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants, the officials at Saul’s court, who might have been jealous of his success.
v. 6. And it came to pass, as they came, when the army returned from the pursuit of the Philistines to celebrate the victory, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, to celebrate the victory in the proper manner, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, castanets, with joy, with joyful outcry, and with instruments of music, with triangles.
v. 7. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. They not only performed choral dances, but also alternate dances intended to interpret the battle and the victory, while, at the same time, they raised their voices in antiphonal singing, their song showing the high regard in which David was held on account of his heroic deed.
v. 8. And Saul was very wroth, his jealousy immediately flared up, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed but thousands; and what can he have more but the kingdom? All that was missing in David’s case was the royal dignity and position, this being a presentiment which may almost have amounted to a suspicion, since Samuel had distinctly stated that the royal power would pass into another family.
v. 9. And Saul eyed David from that day and forward, he looked upon him with envious suspicion.
v. 10. And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God, 1Sa 16:13-16, came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house, he raged and raved in madness; and David played with his hand, performed on the harp, as at other times; and there was a javelin, a small spear used as a scepter, in Saul’s hand.
v. 11. And Saul cast the javelin, made a lunge at him; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it, pass it through David into the wall. And David avoided out of his presence twice, he dodged the attack, but remained at his post in the attempt to soothe the king, to drive away his madness.
v. 12. And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, as all the evidence plainly showed, and was departed from Saul; the king felt more and more that he had been forsaken and rejected by the Lord in favor of David.
v. 13. Therefore Saul removed him from him, from his position at court, where he was sheltered, and made him his captain over a thousand, probably promoted him to a higher position in the army; and he went out and came in before the people, in various military campaigns.
v. 14. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, he used good judgment in all his undertakings and was correspondingly successful; and the Lord was with him, crowning his work with blessing.
v. 15. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him, every new incident showing the trend of affairs added new fuel to the fire of his jealousy and anger, as well as to his fear.
v. 16. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them; their regard for him increased as they noted that he went about his business quietly and effectively, and that all his military undertakings were successful. All believers are bound to expect hatred on the part of the godless world, especially since the infidels cannot help but note that God is on the side of His children. But in the measure that they show their hatred in works of enmity God holds His protecting hand over those that trust in Him.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul…
the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David
Very close friendship is spoken of as if it were binding together the souls of two people. This can be stated in active form. AT: "Jonathan felt a strong affection towards David" or "Jonathan committed himself to David" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
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Jonathan loved him as his own soul
Here "loved" refers to the love between friends, not romantic love. The word "soul" represents the person or the person's life. AT: "Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself" or "Jonathan loved David as he loved his own life" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Saul (OT)
soul
Jonathan
David
love
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:1 David and Jonathan had much in common: both…
18:1 David and Jonathan had much in common: both were young and capable, were military heroes, had a robust faith in God, and had a claim to the throne of Israel. It is a testimony to Jonathan’s true character that he recognized and supported God’s choice of David to be the next king of Israel (see 18:3-4; 20:12-17). • Jonathan loved David: See 20:17; 2 Sam 1:26. Others in this chapter are also said to love David: all Israel and Judah (1 Sam 18:16), Saul’s daughter Michal (18:20), and Saul’s servants (18:22). Some modern interpreters see a homosexual relationship between David and Jonathan, but the text implies nothing other than a deep and loyal friendship.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.