Reflecting on 1 Samuel 18 1-4 & other texts

This week we’re studying a number of somewhat isolated verses plucked from the longer story that tells us of the legendarily close relationship of David and Jonathan, the relationship that has given the English language the phrase “a David and Jonathan friendship.” Namely, 1 Samuel 18:1-4 [the very beginning]; 1 Samuel 20:16-17, 32-34, and 42 [from the chapter-long account of David and Jonathan’s parting, as David flees from Saul]; 2 Samuel 1:26-27 [a couple of verses from David’s epic lament of Saul and Jonathan’s death in battle with the Philistines]; 2 Samuel 21:7 [in which David spares Jonathan’s crippled son the fate of all Saul’s remaining grandchildren who might potentially lay claim to the throne of the Israelite monarchy].

We are missing a whole lot of context, so our first question probably must be: so, what IS the context for all this? And our next question might be: which context are we talking about? The narrative one, in which these verses fit somehow into a coherent story? The original historical one, in which whatever is going on is part of something that actually happened? The later historical one, in which whatever story is being told here is being told by someone looking backwards, with some perspective shaped by even later events, trying to make sense of everything? [How well we can reconstruct those historical contexts might be something of a question, too …] The theological context, shaped by the history of reception? [Again, which one? The one we read in the New Testament, like in the gospels? The one we ourselves are part of? And just which one is that, would we say? For instance, how much would we ourselves say the project of liberation theology or of feminism provides a context for our reading of these texts?]

Then, perhaps, we will want to think about David and Jonathan’s relationship as an instance of the various relational contexts in which the characters find themselves: family, people, covenant, etc. To whom are these friends loyal, and to whom ought they be loyal? And why, do we think? And when? And with what consequences? And what might we learn from the way their story unfolds?

Some notes on the first text are here; some notes on the collection of texts are here; and here are a couple of other questions we might want to think about, or to discuss in class.

Since we are studying these texts in the context of the topic of “the testimony of faithful witnesses,” where do we see “faithful witness” in the story of David and Jonathan? Who is faithful to whom, and how? To what or to whom do the characters witness? How is this a lesson for us?

The prophet Samuel describes David as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). We are told that the Spirit of the Lord is “mightily upon David” from the day of his anointing by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:13). YHWH directly makes David the benchmark for the behavior of the subsequent kings of Israel and Judah. (See, e.g., 1 Kings 11:33, 1 Kings 14:8, 2 Kings 20:5-7) and is presented by the Deuteronomist in at least one place as the gold standard for kingly behavior (see 2 Kings 22:1-2).

How does this treatment by the text affect our understanding of David’s character? How does it influence our understanding of David’s friendship with Jonathan? Why?

David is generally thought of as the ancestor of “the Messiah,” and when Jesus is called Son of David in the gospels (e.g., Matthew 1:1) we understand it to be a messianic reference.

How does this influence our understanding of David’s character? Our understanding of the meaning of David’s friendship with Jonathan?

Image: “Spannende Lektüre,” Walther Firle, 1929, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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