David And Jonathan: Camaraderie Or Homosexuality Essay, Research Paper

Love is truly the emotion that the masses claim to feel; yet few seem to know. Jean-Jacques Rousseau claims “To love and be loved will be the greatest event in our lives.” This may in fact be true, but uniquely, love is also perhaps the most greatly examined and scrutinized of all emotions in today’s society. It does seem appropriate then, that we do attempt to dissect the relationships of the Old Testament in effort to appease this desire that we inherently possess to examine love, define it, seek it ourselves, despise others that have it when we do not, and convince ourselves that we are better off without it. In the first book of Samuel, the love between Jonathan and David is not homosexual, but merely deeply plutonic in nature.

It is not difficult to understand the pretense behind the notion that perhaps David and Jonathan were more than friends. The book of Samuel 1 certainly emphasizes the strong interest that they shared for each other. “But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David”(19.1). Passages such as this imply perhaps a more intimate relationship than can be directly derived from the text. Adding to this argument is the knowledge that homosexuality and pederasty were well-known elements of the Greek and Roman societies. In some instances, Greek and Roman gods indulged themselves with young boys. It is not difficult to then make inferences about all ancient societies. However, the use of such evidence for argument is purely anachronistic; either in the comparison to other ancient societies or examination in terms of the assumptions made by today’s standards. One cannot juxtapose Greek or Roman morality alongside that of the Hebrews, for reasons beyond that of anachronism. One point is an extreme difference in the laws of the peoples: Hebrew laws expressly forbid any form of sexual act that did not promote conception. For further argument, it can be noted that the Romans and Hebrews would later seriously clash because of their opposing belief systems, so comparison is truly absurd.

It also seems that the tendency to derive more from the text than is written is in part due to the inability of today’s society to recognize close male relationships without over-questioning the sexuality of those involved. Perspective is a crucial aspect of observation and in a society in which “loving a man” and “homosexual” are often used synonymously, it is difficult at times to recognize a strong platonic love between men.

When we do look at the relationship between Jonathan and David for what it is, as opposed to what we “suspect” it might be, we can see the extent of their loyalty and devotion for one another consistently in Samuel 1. “When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul”(18.1). This suggests a deeper relationship between the two: One that transcends sexuality. This friendship became so dear that Jonathan openly defied his father to protect it. Saul, Jonathan’s father, after failing to obey the orders of Yahweh was angered by as an “evil spirit of the lord”(19.9) fell upon him. Ultimately this evil was the jealousy that Saul held for David as he became the hero of the people. Saul believed killing David was the solution, even though he had committed no real crime. When Jonathan realized his father’s plans, he made the fundamental decision to assist David rather than allow his father to kill him. Jonathan warned David of the events to come: “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.”(19.2-4) Saul tries to end David’s life on several occasions following this event, but each time David manages to escape. Jonathan makes a covenant on the house of David to show his love and respect. “Never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.’ Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying ’May the Lord seek out the enemies of David”(20.15-16). The covenant became the lasting lamentation of their friendship and this signified the devotion that they shared for one another. They sealed the covenant their love, a testament to its strength. “Jonathan made David sear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life”(20.17). Once again, we can see how they felt so deeply for each other that their love transcended sexuality and was greater than any lust or erotic intent.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines homosexuality as “Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex”, but our society has practically redefined this to engross any male who has only male friends, dresses exceptionally well, has a slight lisp or likes to cook and do interior design work. With this stereotyping, society constantly looks to place relationships in terms of sexuality, because ultimately it is much simpler than actually studying the relationship. In actuality, every relationship is more complex than the stereotype, no matter the extent that it may “appear” to fit the mold.