Jonathan

Jonathan is the name of several men in the Old Testament, but the figure who carries the weight of the narrative is the eldest son of Saul: warrior at Michmash, friend and covenant partner of David, and one of the casualties of the Philistine victory on Mount Gilboa. More than a dozen Jonathans are cataloged by name, and the umbrella's entries reach back to a Levite who served Micah's shrine and forward to a son of Abiathar who carried news for David and a nephew of David who killed a giant. The center of gravity, however, is Saul's son.

The Levite of Bethlehem

Before the monarchy, a young Levite from Beth-lehem-judah is met as he sojourns in the hill country (Jud 17:7). The Danite migration absorbs him and his sanctuary: "And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land" (Jud 18:30). He is listed as the first Jonathan in scriptural order, a figure whose hereditary office propagates an irregular shrine well into Israel's later history.

Saul's Heir at Michmash

Jonathan stands first in the list of Saul's sons: "Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal" (1Sa 14:49). The narrative places him in a fortified Israel hemmed in by Philistine pressure, and it is Jonathan, not Saul, who breaks the deadlock. With only his armorbearer for company, he proposes a raid on the enemy outpost: "Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he didn't tell his father" (1Sa 14:1).

The theological frame is supplied by Jonathan himself: "And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few" (1Sa 14:6). The armorbearer commits to whatever course Jonathan chooses: "Do all that is in your heart: turn yourself, look, I am with you according to your heart" (1Sa 14:7). Jonathan then proposes a sign-test, addressing his armorbearer in the plural: "Then said Jonathan, Look, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, Tarry until we come to you⁺; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this will be the sign to us" (1Sa 14:8-10).

The garrison responds with the second formula. The Philistines mock the appearing pair as Hebrews emerging from holes (1Sa 14:11), then summon them up: "And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you⁺ something. And Jonathan said to his armorbearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel" (1Sa 14:12). The ascent is on all fours up the rocky face: "And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew them after him" (1Sa 14:13). The opening kill seeds the panic that will spread through the Philistine camp.

The Honey and the Oath

Saul's rashly imposed battlefield oath threatens his own son. Jonathan, absent when the oath was sworn, dips the end of his rod in a honeycomb: "But Jonathan didn't hear when his father charged the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened" (1Sa 14:27). When the lot exposes him, he answers his father plainly: "Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and, look, I must die" (1Sa 14:43). The army intervenes for him; the death sentence is set aside.

The Covenant with David

The bond with David is forged in a single moment after the Goliath episode: "And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (1Sa 18:1). Jonathan immediately divests himself of the trappings of his royal station and transfers them to David: "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his belt" (1Sa 18:4). The gift is concrete and total — the heir's wardrobe and weaponry pass to the rival.

When Saul moves against David, Jonathan repeatedly intervenes. He warns David before the morning attempt: "And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to slay you: now therefore, I pray you, take heed to yourself in the morning, and remain in a secret place, and hide yourself" (1Sa 19:2). Later, when David seeks counsel about whether Saul still intends his death, Jonathan offers an open commission: "Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you" (1Sa 20:4). At Horesh, the two seal a covenant before Yahweh: "And they both made a covenant before Yahweh: and David remained in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house" (1Sa 23:18). The covenant binds Jonathan to David's house and David's house to Jonathan's after him.

Death at Gilboa

Jonathan dies with his father and his brothers in the Philistine pursuit: "And the Philistines stuck [closely] on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul" (1Sa 31:2). The men of Jabesh-gilead recover the bodies (1Sa 31:11), repaying Saul's earlier rescue of their city. Word reaches David in Ziklag, and his lament becomes the formal record of the loss: "And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son" (2Sa 1:17). The lament joins father and son in life and death: "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" (2Sa 1:23). The personal apostrophe to Jonathan is set apart: "I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant you have been to me: Your love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women" (2Sa 1:26).

Jonathan the Son of Abiathar

A second Jonathan attaches to David's reign through the priestly house. When David flees Absalom, the king positions the priests' sons as couriers: "The king said also to Zadok the priest, Do you see? Return into the city in peace, and your⁺ two sons with you⁺, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar" (2Sa 15:27). The pair waits in cover at En-rogel and relays Hushai's intelligence under the eye of a slave-girl: "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting by En-rogel; and a female slave used to go and tell them; and they went and told King David: so they might not be seen coming into the city" (2Sa 17:17). Years later this same Jonathan brings the breaking news of Solomon's anointing into Adonijah's failed coronation feast: "While he yet spoke, look, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a worthy man, and bring good news" (1Ki 1:42). Adonijah misreads the messenger; Jonathan's report ends the rival enthronement.

Jonathan the Nephew of David

A third Jonathan fights in the Philistine giant-wars as one of David's kinsmen. The Samuel notice and the Chronicles parallel preserve the same exploit: "And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, slew him" (2Sa 21:21); "And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him" (1Ch 20:7). He is cataloged as a separate Jonathan from Saul's son and from Abiathar's son.

Other Jonathans

Further men by the name are counted in the topical tradition, including a son of Jada, a secretary of David's cabinet, a father of Ebed, a son of Asahel, a Johanan-doublet in Nehemiah's high-priestly succession, two priests in Nehemiah's lists, a scribe in whose house Jeremiah was confined, and a son of Kareah in the post-fall Mizpah company. The umbrella does not gather verses for those figures, and so the article does not multiply them out; the list above stands as the umbrella's outer edge.