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Person · one of several with this name

Jonathan

Mentioned in 83 verses across 4 books, first in 2 Samuel 1:4. The verses below are the ones linked to this person (the Theographic dataset, with our sourced corrections).

In the Bible

All 17 verses in 2 Samuel, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.

2 Samuel

  • 2 Samuel 1:4

    “What was the outcome?” David asked. “Please tell me.” “The troops fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

  • 2 Samuel 1:5

    Then David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

  • 2 Samuel 1:12

    They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

  • 2 Samuel 1:17

    Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

  • 2 Samuel 1:22

    From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not retreat, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

  • 2 Samuel 1:23

    Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

  • 2 Samuel 1:25

    How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

  • 2 Samuel 1:26

    I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

  • 2 Samuel 4:4

    And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

  • 2 Samuel 9:1

    Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

  • 2 Samuel 9:3

    So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

  • 2 Samuel 9:6

    And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.

  • 2 Samuel 9:7

    “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

  • 2 Samuel 21:7

    Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

  • 2 Samuel 21:12

    he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.

  • 2 Samuel 21:13

    So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, along with the bones of those who had been hanged.

  • 2 Samuel 21:14

    And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.

Dictionary

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. The entry is for the name and can describe more than one person who bore it. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.

Read Easton’s entry

The eldest son of king Saul, and the bosom friend of David. He is first mentioned when he was about thirty years of age, some time after his father’s accession to the throne (1 Sam. 13:2). Like his father, he was a man of great strength and activity (2 Sam. 1:23), and excelled in archery and slinging (1 Chr. 12:2;2 Sam. 1:22). The affection that evidently subsisted between him and his father was interrupted by the growth of Saul’s insanity. At length, “in fierce anger,” he left his father’s presence and cast in his lot with the cause of David (1 Sam. 20:34). After an eventful career, interwoven to a great extent with that of David, he fell, along with his father and his two brothers, on the fatal field of Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:2, 8). He was first buried at Jabesh-gilead, but his remains were afterwards removed with those of his father to Zelah, in Benjamin (2 Sam. 21:12-14). His death was the occasion of David’s famous elegy of “the Song of the Bow” (2 Sam. 1:17-27). He left one son five years old, Merib-baal, or Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 4:4; comp. 1 Chr. 8:34).

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