David and Jonathan had the most remarkable friendship. It was so unique that many people have misunderstood it and made wrong interpretations about it.
This article hopes to correct some wrong views about David and Jonathan's friendship with each other, so that we could learn well from it.
Here are some things we need to know about their friendship.
1) They weren't gay
First and foremost, David and Jonathan did not have a homosexual relationship. It's sad to hear some people say that they had that wrong kind of relationship, because it's not true.
1 Samuel 18:1-3 tells us,
"Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul."
Based on these verses, it's clear that their relationship isn't a romantic type. If it were, the Bible would've condemned it the way it did the people of Sodom. But it wasn't.
We only read there that "Jonathan loved [David] as his own soul." Consider what Jesus said,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (see Mark 12:31)
This kind of love that Jonathan had for David was brotherly. 1 Samuel 18:4 tells us that he gave David what was his, signifying his love for David as his love for his own soul:
"And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt."
There's nothing homosexual there, just good old brotherly love.
2) God established their friendship
David's friendship with Jonathan didn't happen by chance. It happened because God set it up.
We know that God raised David to defeat Goliath. We know that David met Jonathan after this. And we also know that later on, Jonathan would be instrumental in keeping David safe from Saul's hands - thus ensuring that he'd live to be King.
God's hand was in their friendship. They know that: they made a covenant before the Lord (1 Samuel 23:18).
David did not befriend Jonathan in order to steal the throne. Jonathan did not befriend David simply because the latter won against Goliath. God set their friendship up.
3) David should've prioritized his marriage more than Jonathan
While David had a loyal and remarkable friendship with Jonathan, the same cannot be said of his wives.
David should've learned to prioritize his marriage relationship. Instead of marrying but one woman and prioritizing his relationship with her, however, he had multiple wives,
David and Jonathan might have had a wonderful friendship, but it would've been better if David gave more priority to His marriage.
