Most people know the story of David and Jonathan from 1 and 2nd Samuel in the Old Testament. Their friendship is arguably the most famous in recorded history, with the possible exception of the story of Gilgamesh.

Jonathan was the son of King Saul, a Prince and the heir apparent to the throne of Israel. He was a already a successful leader of men. If he was not a scholar or a musician himself, then he probably had a fine appreciation of those things - as the Prince, he would have had the best of everything available to him. He had a bright future ahead of him. One day in his father's tent on a Philistine battlefield he met David, youngest son of Jesse of the tribe of Benjamin. A shepherd boy. The slayer of the Philistine giant Goliath.

We know from scripture and legend that David was "a man after God's own heart"; intelligent, musicial, probably a scholar, a good warrior, a leader of men. He was also God's chosen successor to the throne of Israel. Where did that leave Jonathan? We can't know his thoughts , since, unlike David, he was no writer, but after he met David  we are told in I Samuel 18:1-3...
 

                  ...the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

                  ...Then Jonathan and David made a covenant between them because he (Jonathan) loved him (David) as his own soul.

Jonathan stripped himself of his royal robe, his tunic, his sword, his belt, his bow. What was his was David's because David was a part of himself, after one short meeting. Nothing is said of what David gave to Jonathan. we aren't even told that David loved Jonathan at this point. Friendship? Probably, at least the beginnings of friendship. The point is...the friendship, as recorded, is a bit one sided. We know what Jonathan felt for David. We know what Jonathan did for David.

What did David do or feel for Jonathan? He made a covenant with him - not once but twice. The first covenant was to be as brothers (I Samuel 18: 1-3).

The second covenant was again instigated by Jonathan. Saul was hunting David in order to kill him. Jonathan went to David at Horeb in the Desert of Ziph. He helped David find strength in God, then promised him Saul would not kill him. He promised David he would indeed be the next King of Israel. He promised to be David's second. We have no record of any promises made to Jonathan by David.

Whatever Jonathan received from his friendship with David, he evidently thought it was enough. I'm sure the relationship puzzled many people. I'm sure it puzzled King Saul. Scripture records that the love between him and his eldest son was strong - although that might also have been from Jonathan's side. Scripture tells us they were undivided in death. That is quite a balancing act - the strong love of a son for his father, the loyalty of a Crown Prince to his king and the unstinting love and loyalty of a friend to the brother of his soul.

In the end, Jonathan lost his life, dying, along with two of his brothers, in battle with the Philistines . Shortly after his death Saul fell on his sword on the battlefield to avoid a lingering death at the hands of his enemies.

Jonathan never became King, never became David's second. Did he feel his life was wasted?

David became the second, and greatest, King of Israel.

Did David grieve for Jonathan?  

When David wrote his lament (II Samuel 1:19-27), it was for "...Saul and his son Jonathan".  Not for his friend Jonathan, or his brother Jonathan. Saul's sonJonathan. Only further down in the lament does he say...

No one has ever questioned that the friendship went both ways. Given the circumstances, and who they were, the road their friendship took to maturity had to be rocky.

They must have had lots of practise being apart. They would have had to make the most of the time they had.It must have been lonely for David being left behind, losing the other half of his soul.

Sometimes I wonder what David thought when he realized how Jonathan felt about him, and he realized what Jonathan would willingly give up for him. I think he was used to being the youngest and smallest, the last considered, the least important. I think he was probably blown away by Jonathan. I imagine he made Jonathan prove himself over and over again. After all, Jonathan's father, after his initial overtures of friendship and advancement, tried very hard for for a long time to kill him. Why wouldn't Jonathan want to, too?

I don't think there was any question in Jonathan's mind where his first loyalty and love lay. I think they came to him instantaneously and completely. Did he realize all of the ramifications of this friendship? Maybe not. Did he accept them as they became apparent? I don't think he had any other choice. The friendship - the love, the loyalty - chose him, not the other way around, and he had to deal with it the best he could. Did he have any regrets? If he did, they were probably that his father was at odds with his best friend, that his sister Michal was at odds with her husband. Whatever his regrets were, they were not about David. Did he regret the lost opportunity to follow his father on the throne of Israel? If it had been anyone else but David, he might have. David was in a category by himself.

David was a part of him.

If Jonathan had lived to be David's second, would David's life have been different? Probably. Johnathan seemed to want the best for his friend. Remember how he helped David find the strength of God in the Desert of Ziph? If he was the other half of David's soul, then David lived a significant portion of his life with only half a soul. What could David not have accomplished if Jonathan had been by his side? We'll never know.

When you think about it, their story was only half told.

What would have happened if they had been "Undivided"?