The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Soul” it comes from the Hebrew Word “nephesh” which means “soul, life.”
A prince and a shepherd boy form an unlikely, deep friendship, while a jealous king begins plotting. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 1 Samuel 18.
After David’s victory, Jonathan’s “soul,” “nephesh” in Hebrew, becomes knit with David’s soul, and he loves him as his own soul, making a covenant with him and giving him his own robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt. Saul takes David into his service permanently, and David succeeds in everything Saul sends him to do, quickly rising in military rank and popularity.
When the women celebrate victory singing, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” Saul becomes furiously jealous, eyeing David suspiciously from that day forward. The very next day, an evil spirit troubles Saul again, and while David plays the harp as usual, Saul twice hurls his javelin at him, though David escapes both times, since the Lord is with David while having departed from Saul.
Fearing David because of his growing success, Saul removes him to a military command position, hoping he might fall in battle against the Philistines, but David continues succeeding, endearing himself further to the people. Saul offers David his daughter Michal in marriage, secretly hoping the required bride price, a hundred Philistine foreskins, will get David killed in the attempt, but David doubles the requirement instead, further increasing Saul’s fear and hatred toward him, since he now realizes clearly “that the LORD was with David.”
Jonathan’s willingness to give David his own royal robe and armor, essentially symbols of his position as heir to the throne, shows remarkable selflessness rather than jealousy toward the very man positioned to eventually replace him. His friendship with David stands in sharp, deliberate contrast to his father Saul’s escalating paranoia throughout this same chapter.
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