JONATHAN
995
JONATHAN
spear was to his father: "the bow of Jonathan turned not back" (2 Sam. i, '22). It was always about him (1 Sam. xviii, 4; xx, 35). It is through his relation with David that he is chiefly known to us, probably as re- lated by his descendants at David's court. But there is a backgroimd, not so clearly givefi, of his relation with his father. From the time that he first appears he is Saul's constant companion. lie was always present at his father's meals. As Abner and David seem to have occupied the places afterwards called the captaincies of " the host" and " of the guard," so he seems to have been (as Hushai afterwards) "the friend" (comp. 1 Sam. xx, 25; 2 Sam. xv,o7). The whole story implies, without expressing, the deep attachment of the father and son. Jonathan can only go on his dangerous expedition (1 Sam. xiv, 1) by concealing it from Saul. Saul's vow is confirmed, and its tragic effect deepened, by his feeling for his son, " though it be Jonathan my son" (ibid, xiv, 39). "Tell me what thou hast done" (ibid, xiv, 43). Jonathan cannot bear to believe his father's enmity to David : " My father will do nothing, great or small, but that he will show it to me : and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so" (1 Sam. xx, 2). To him, if to any one, the wild frenzy of the king was amenable — "Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jona- than" (1 Sam. xix, 6). Their mutual affection was in- deed interrupted by the growth of Saul's insanity. Twice the father would have sacrificed the son: once in con- sequence of his vow (1 Sara, xiv) ; the second time, more deliberately, on the discover}^ of David's flight; and on this last occasion, a momentary glimpse is given of some darker historj'. Were the phrases " son of a perverse re- bellious woman" — " shame on thy mother's nakedness" (1 Sam,xx,30,31),mere frantic invectives? orwas there something in the story of Ahinoam or Rizpah which we do not know ? " In fierce anger" Jonathan left the roy- al presence (ib. 34). But he cast his lot with his father's decline, not with his friend's rise, and " in death they were not divided" (2 Sam. i, 23 ; 1 Sam. xxiii, 16).
1. The first main part of his career is connected with the war with the Philistines, commonly called, from its locality, " the war of Michmash" (1 Sam. xiii, 21, Sept.), as the last years of the Peloponnesian War were called, for a similar reason, " the war of Dccelea." In the pre- vious war with the Ammonites (1 Sam. xi, 4-15) there is no mention of him ; and his abrupt appearance, without explanation, in xiii, 2, may seem to imply that some part of the narrative has been lost. B.C. 1073. He is already of great importance in the state. Of the 3000 men of whom Saul's standing army was formed (xiii, 2 ; xxiv, 2; xxvi, 1, 2), 1000 were under the command of Jona- than at Gibeah. The Philistines were still in the gen- eral command of the country; an officer Avas stationed at Geba, either the same as Jonathan's position or close to it. In a sudden act of youthful daring, as when Tell rose against Gessler, or as in sacred history Closes rose against the Egyptian, .Jonathan slow this officer (Auth. Vers. " garrison," Sept. tuv ^aaijS, 1 Sam. xiii, 3, 4. See Ewald, ii, 47G), and thus gave the signal for a general revolt, Saul took advantage of it, and the whole pop- ulation rose. But it was a premature attempt. The Philistines poured in from the plain, and the tyranny be- came more deeply rooted than ever. See Sacl. Saul and Jonathan (with their immediate attendants) alone had arms, amidst the general weakness and disarming of the people (1 Sam. xiii, 22), They were encamped at Gibeah, with a small body of 600 men, and as they looked down from that height on the misfortunes of their countrj^, and of their native tribe especially, they wept aloud (Sept. ticXaiov, 1 Sam. xiii, IG).
From this oppression, as Jonathan by his former act had been the first to provoke it, so now he was the first to deliver his people. On the former occasion Saul had been equally with himself involved in the responsibility of the deed. Saul " blew the trumpet ;" Saul had " smit- ten the officer of the Philistines" (xiii, 3, 4). But now it would seem that Jonathan was resolved to undertake