Jonathan (son of Saul)

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Hug between David and Jonathan in a 14th century illustration.

Jonathan (also: Jonathan ) was in the Old Testament the eldest son of King Saul and David's brother-in-law and best friend .

etymology

The Hebrew name Jonatan is written in the MT either יְהֹונָתָן jəhônātān or (more rarely) יֹונָתָן jônātān . In both cases it is a question of sentence names, the meaning of which is the same apart from the different theophoric element. The subject (יְהֹו jəhô or יֹו jô ) is YHWH , the predicate belongs to the root נתן ntn "to give". The name therefore means "YHWH gave".

Biblical narration

In several places there is talk of Jonathan having "[...] made a covenant with David [...]" ( 1 Sam 20.8  EU ) ( 1 Sam 23.18  EU ). It is reported about Jonathan that he "[loved] David as his own life" ( 1 Sam 20.17  EU ). He plays an important role in the story of the conflict between David and Saul.

Saul, himself melancholy and in his own opinion unsuccessful and unloved, has to see that both his son Jonathan and his daughter Michal love David above all else. When Saul's jealousy of David rises in the face of his military successes to his will to annihilate, Jonathan reveals his father's plans to murder and protects him in this way. When David has to flee, they both kiss and cry ( 1 Sam 20.41  EU ).

Jonatan's son was Merib-Baal ( 2 Sam 21.7  EU ).

Jonathan falls with his father Saul in a battle against the Philistines on the Gilboa Mountains . At the news of this, David starts a lament for the dead: Woe to me for you, my brother Jonathan. You were very dear to me. Your love for me was more wonderful than the love of women ( 2 Sam 1.26  EU ). The bodies of Saul and his three sons were nailed to the walls of Bet-Shean by the Philistines ( 1 Sam 31.10  EU ). Later the bodies were brought to Jabesch by the residents of Jabesch-Gilead and burned there; ( 1 Sam 31.11  EU ) the remains were then buried under the tamarisk of Jabesch ( 1 Sam 31.13  EU ). Later David had the remains, together with other executed people from Saul's family, buried in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the grave of Saul's father Kisch ( 2 Sam 17.14  EU ).

The biblical narratives about Jonathan can be found in 1 Samuel 13-14; 18.1-4; 19.1-7; 20; 31 and 2 Samuel 1: 17-21.

literature

Web links

Individual references (biblical quotations)

  1. ↑ After David's conversation with Saul, Jonathan took David in his heart. And Jonathan loved David as he loved his own life. (1Sam 18, 1)
  2. ↑ As Saul saw more and more clearly that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, he feared David even more. So Saul became an enemy of David forever. (1Sam 18, 28f)
  3. ↑ The women played and shouted with joy: Saul killed a thousand, but David killed ten thousand. Saul became very angry about this. He disliked the song and said: Give ten thousand to David, but give me only a thousand. Now all that is missing is royal dignity. (1Sam 18, 7f)