Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
Parallel Translations
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Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
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Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
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Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 18:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 20:8-17 Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?” Jonathan said, “Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn’t I tell you that?” Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” Jonathan said to David, “Come! Let’s go out into the field.” They both went out into the field. Jonathan said to David, “By Yahweh, the God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good toward David, won’t I then send to you, and disclose it to you? Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don’t disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace. May Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father. You shall not only show me the loving kindness of Yahweh while I still live, that I not die; but you shall also not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the surface of the earth.” So Jonathan made a covenant with David’s house, saying, “Yahweh will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.” 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 20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have both sworn in Yahweh’s name, saying, ‘Yahweh is between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” He arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.
- 2 Samuel 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of Yahweh’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
- 2 Samuel 9:1-3 David said, “Is there yet any who is left of Saul’s house, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” There was of Saul’s house a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “I am your servant.” The king said, “Is there not yet any of Saul’s house, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan still has a son, who is lame in his feet.”
- 1 Samuel 23:18 They both made a covenant before Yahweh. Then David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his house.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant,…
1Sa 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
Ver. 3. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant.] Heb., Cut a covenant; for the covenanters first sware, and then cut a beast in two, passing between the parts thereof, and wishing so to be cut in pieces if ever they falsified. {Jer 34:18}
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 A covenant, i.e. an agreement of sincere and perpetual…
A covenant, i.e. an agreement of sincere and perpetual friendship between them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then Jonathan and David made a covenant,.... A covenant…
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant,.... A covenant of friendship; entered into a solemn agreement to keep up and maintain a cordial respect to each other, and to support each other's interest both in life and after death, whoever was the survivor; and in consequence of this David had a friend at court, when Saul fell out with him, and who pleaded his cause, and discovered his father's plots, and was the means of preserving David's life:
because he loved him as his own soul; so that this covenant was not founded in mere words, but in sincere and cordial affection, and was lasting and inviolable.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 18:3. Jonathan and David made a covenant —…
1Sa 18:3. Jonathan and David made a covenant — Solemnly entered into an agreement of perpetual friendship. Because he loved him, &c. — Or rather, as Le Clerc renders it, so that each loved the other as his own soul. For it cannot be supposed but that David loved Jonathan as well as Jonathan loved him. Their covenant seems to have implied an engagement for mutual assistance and defence, even until death, and kindness to the posterity of each other after either of them was dead. This was wisely ordered by the providence of God, who, by this means, preserved David in that sharp persecution which shortly after rose against him at court.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain For he, Jonathan. (Haydock) --- Soul. "Friends have one…
For he, Jonathan. (Haydock) --- Soul. "Friends have one soul." (Arist.[Aristotle?] Mor. ix. 8.)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Then Jonathan and David made a covenant--Such covenants of…
Then Jonathan and David 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, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Made a covenant.—The son of the first Hebrew…
(3) Made a covenant.—The son of the first Hebrew king recognised in David a kindred spirit. They were one in their God, in their faith, in their devotion to the Divine will. Jonathan recognised in the young shepherd, who unarmed went out alone to meet the mighty Philistine warrior, the same spirit of sublime faith in the Invisible King which had inspired him in days far back to go forth alone with his armour-bearer to attack and capture the Philistine stronghold, when he spoke those memorable words which enable us to understand the character of Jonathan: “It may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” (1Sa_14:6).
The great friendship, which has been the admiration of succeeding generations, began with the strong faith in the Eternal common to the two friends. Throughout its duration the link which united them was an intense desire to do the will of Him who, as true Hebrew patriots, they felt loved Israel; and when the friends parted for the last time in the wilderness of Ziph, we are told how the elder (Jonathan) strengthened the younger (David’s) “hand in God” (1Sa_23:16).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Jonathan loved him as his own soul
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. See how you translated this in 1 Samuel 18:1. AT: "Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself" or "Jonathan loved David as he loved his own life" (See: Synecdoche)
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translationWords
covenant
robe
armor
sword
bow and arrow
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 18:3-4 Out of his love for David and recognition…
18:3-4 Out of his love for David and recognition that God had chosen David to be Israel’s next king (see 20:13-17, 30-31; 23:17), Jonathan made a solemn pact of friendship with David. By giving David items that symbolized his official status as the king’s son and crown prince, Jonathan symbolically gave David his right of succession to the throne.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.