1 Samuel 18:1 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 18:1
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
Jonathan
יְה֣וֹנָתָ֔ןye.Ho.na.Tan
H3083
Jehonathan · proper noun, a man's name
knit
נִקְשְׁרָ֖הnik.she.Rah
H7194
to tie · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
soul
בְּנֶ֣פֶשׁbe.Ne.fesh
H5315
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
David
דָּוִ֑דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
Jonathan
יְהוֹנָתָ֖ןye.ho.na.Tan
H3083
Jehonathan · proper noun, a man's name
loved
וַיֶּאֱהָבֵ֥הוּvai.ye.'e.ha.vov
H157
to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
soul
כְּנַפְשֽׁוֹke.naf.Sho
H5315
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
1 Samuel 20:17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved 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 thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women…
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknow…
Genesis 44:30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
Deuteronomy 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, ent…
1 Samuel 19:2 But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 18:1-5
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 preceden…
When he had made an end of speaking - These first five verses are omitted by the Septuagint. See the notes on the preceding chapter, 1 Samuel 17 (note).
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."
John Gill on 1 Samuel 18:1
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:
and Jonathan loved him as his own soul; not only according to the excellency of David's soul, and the greatness of it…
Jonathan was not knit to David as a whole, but his "soul," the higher parts, which are not cut off when the apparent and visible elements have been cut off from a person and which will not be coerced by any means, for they never move involuntarily. For the soul is free and not imprisoned in any way.… For in its primary sense, it is its nature to be wherever the mind is, and if it seems to you to be in a room, you are imagining it there in some secondary sense. So it is never prevented from being in whatever place it wishes to be; but rather, in actual fact, it can only be, and reasonably be thought to be, where the works proper to itself alone are found, and relative to that.
(1 Kings 18). And it happened as Saul completed speaking to David, etc. When the Savior, through the apostles, completed spreading the gifts of his incarnation by preaching in Judea, many indeed, having heard the word, believed. But the more perfect ones among these, overflowing with spiritual grace, which, as has often been said, is designated by the name Jonathan, were so bonded to him with such love that they did not hesitate to give their lives for him. Meanwhile, not a few others, especially those who rejoiced in earthly sovereignty whether by elevation or by desiring it, indeed received with lesser fervor of love but with the same acknowledgment of faith; believing and confessing with certainty in his sacrament. They by no means equated him with the merits of the fathers from whom he took flesh, however high they were, but followed the Apostle's sentiment where it says, Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is blessed forever over all things (Rom. 9)."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Constancy · .Jonathan — .Jonathan
David · .The love of Jonathan for — .The love of Jonathan for
Friendship · .David and Jonathan — .David and Jonathan
Jonathan · .Love of, for David — .Love of, for David
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 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.
