{"id":58485,"date":"2019-06-28T08:48:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T05:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58485"},"modified":"2023-01-22T16:02:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T14:02:59","slug":"david-and-jonathan-the-ultimate-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-and-jonathan-the-ultimate-love\/","title":{"rendered":"David And Jonathan: The Ultimate Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[834,450,891,381],"acf":{"old_id":"58485","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":57581,"related_cahpter":"252","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And a harbinger of Jonathan\u2019s ultimate fate","content":"

David and Jonathan are deeply in love. Except that David knows that Jonathan’s father, King Saul, is not happy about Jonathan’s relationship with David, who he sees as a threat to his reign.\u00a0 David sends Jonathan to the monthly meal at the palace to discern if Saul really wants to kill David, and heartbreak ensues. Saul calls Jonathan an \u201cembarrassment\u201d; the \u201cson of a perverse, rebellious woman\u201d (20:30). Jonathan bids a final farewell to David, save one more brief encounter they have in Chapter 23.<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as Jonathan loved David, perhaps the real tragedy is that David never fully reciprocated that love in Jonathan\u2019s lifetime. David\u2019s destiny to become King of Israel came first. David did not invite Jonathan to come along with him when he runs away from Saul, going on to have his own adventures in life, leaving Jonathan behind. Ironically, David\u2019s success comes at Jonathan\u2019s expense. Jonathan is heir apparent to the throne and David\u2019s royal ambitions directly threaten Jonathan\u2019s position, a fact which Saul warns Jonathan about (20:31). But Jonathan does not care, as Ethics of the Fathers Chapter 5 asserts: \u201cWhat is love that is dependent on nothing and will always endure? That is the love between David and Jonathan.\u201d Jonathan sacrifices everything for the sake of seeing David succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter is in many ways a harbinger of Jonathan\u2019s ultimate fate, as he sticks with his father and is soon killed in war. Jonathan\u2019s ultimate demise feels sealed by the end of Chapter 20, if not yet physically, at least emotionally. David goes on to be king but is traumatized by Jonathan\u2019s death, and it is quite telling that David subsequently struggles to have appropriate relationships with women.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many in the queer community this story is all too familiar. Boy meets boy. One of them is unable to fully actualize their relationship, courting various women and leaving behind his beloved for the sake of his career. The other, who perhaps had a brighter future laid out for him, is rejected by his father and sacrifices his beloved and ultimately his life for the sake of a love he knows will never be fully actualized.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Saul was wrong. It was never David that was a threat to Jonathan\u2019s future, it was Saul\u2019s inability to accept that his son had found favor in David\u2019s eyes (20:3) that caused this whole tragedy. This story did not have to end in tragedy. Society was not ready for David and Jonathan, arguably why their love is conceived of by the sages as the ultimate love. I pray that families and communities have learned the lessons of the consequences of Saul\u2019s rejection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Jonathan Lovingly Taketh His Leave of David by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, c 1856 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":58486,"id":58486,"title":"isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld","filename":"isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-and-jonathan-the-ultimate-love\/isam20-jonathan_lovingly_taketh_his_leave_of_david_by_julius_schnorr_von_carolsfeld\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam20-jonathan_lovingly_taketh_his_leave_of_david_by_julius_schnorr_von_carolsfeld","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58485,"date":"2019-06-28 05:48:24","modified":"2019-06-28 05:48:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":416,"height":348,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld-300x251.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","medium_large-width":416,"medium_large-height":348,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","large-width":416,"large-height":348,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","1536x1536-width":416,"1536x1536-height":348,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","2048x2048-width":416,"2048x2048-height":348,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","post_full_size-width":416,"post_full_size-height":348,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":348}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"David And Jonathan: The Ultimate Love","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"And a harbinger of Jonathan\u2019s ultimate fate","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":58486,"id":58486,"title":"isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld","filename":"isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-and-jonathan-the-ultimate-love\/isam20-jonathan_lovingly_taketh_his_leave_of_david_by_julius_schnorr_von_carolsfeld\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam20-jonathan_lovingly_taketh_his_leave_of_david_by_julius_schnorr_von_carolsfeld","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58485,"date":"2019-06-28 05:48:24","modified":"2019-06-28 05:48:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":416,"height":348,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld-300x251.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","medium_large-width":416,"medium_large-height":348,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","large-width":416,"large-height":348,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","1536x1536-width":416,"1536x1536-height":348,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","2048x2048-width":416,"2048x2048-height":348,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","post_full_size-width":416,"post_full_size-height":348,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam20-Jonathan_Lovingly_Taketh_His_Leave_of_David_by_Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld.jpg","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":348}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58485"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112030,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58485\/revisions\/112030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}