Were David and Jonathan gay lovers? Is there an
Ancient Near East homosexual love story that unfolds in 1 and 2 Samuel? In a
word: No. This explanation will be rather lengthy but simple to understand. It
is another example of poor hermeneutics that are further exacerbated by a
failure to be able to read/interpret the original Hebrew and theological
principles.
“Now it came about when he had finished speaking to
Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan
loved him as himself. Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his
father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him
as himself. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it
to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt…” 1
Samuel 18:1-4
Pro-homosexual advocates are quick to cite the
relationship between David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18:1-4 (secondarily 1
Samuel 20:16-17) as probably being a homosexual relationship (Helminiak
123-125, White et al-Kindle location 104). This is because of the statement in
1 Samuel 18:1 that says the “soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,
and Jonathan loved him as himself”, verse 3’s statement that “Jonathan loved
him as himself” and verse 4’s, “Jonathan stripped himself…” The wordage that
Jonathan stripped himself is often attributed to the fact he was undressing for
a sexual act. Jonathan didn’t strip naked here. What happens in this verse is a
physical act with symbolic implications.
In reality, for Jonathan the heir apparent to the
throne to strip of his robe, sword, etc. (royal regalia) and give it to David
was an acknowledgement by a King’s son (Saul) that David was indeed the divine
elect of God (Youngblood 707). In other words…in the time of David, which was
approx. 1000 B.C., for a person of position and power to relinquish their
weapon, armor and royal robe was to essentially divest themselves of power and
hand it to the person they hand these items to. It was the same as handing
someone your royal scepter. In this case it is David. Jonathan knew David was
truly God’s chosen, not his father - nor him. By doing these things he was
essentially throwing his potential crown he would gain from his father at
David’s feet acknowledging David as true king-God's king (Gagnon 150-Homosexual
Practice, Merrill 449, Youngblood 707).
Admiration Not Adoration
Admiration Not Adoration
What we see in this passage is a respect
or admiration for David by Jonathan,
not a homosexual adoration. This is
not imagery of a homosexual tryst. It is the passing of a mantle or rightful
transfer of political power. Because we are dealing with David who is God’s
chosen there is a covenantal aspect to this also (Youngblood 707). How
Jonathan's obedience to God and acknowledgement of David as true king can be interpreted
as homosexual encounter is unfathomable. This is especially true when the
dominate pattern of the Bible that this passage resides in clearly condemns immoral sexual behavior that
includes homosexuality or same-sex intercourse. To assume one of God’s chosen
or a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) is homosexual is to
smear and defame God’s character / name and it betrays a complete lack of
understanding of Scriptural principles.
The homosexual inference is further
compounded with 2 Samuel 1:26’s lament from David over Jonathan’s death when
David says, “I grieve for you, Jonathan
my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that
of women. It
is assumed that the word love here is sexual and above that of women. A gender
comparison does not assume a love that is sexual in nature, as this is a fallacy
of composition (Jenni et al 48-49). This is a reference again to David and
Jonathan’s deep covenant relationship mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:3, 20:8. It is a
love of covenant/political loyalty and friendship (Youngblood 816).
David and Jonathan really loved one
another, this much is clear. The question is: Does the relationship as
described in Scripture warrant seeing them as homosexuals? The Bible makes it
abundantly clear that the love between David and Jonathan was deep (real deep). The word
love in Hebrew in this and other passages like 1 Samuel is “וַיֶּאֱהָבֵ֥הוּ/aheb” which
means to have affection for, sexual or otherwise (Jenni 47). In the
political/covenant context of David (God’s true king) and Jonathan (Saul’s heir
apparent), this would not make sense (Youngblood 707, 725). What is sad is that
this assertion is incongruous to the preponderant pattern of Scripture (Analogy of Scripture) and is
totally counter-intuitive in terms of the biblical condemnation of sexual
immorality.
When doing hermeneutics and words
studies whether they are Hebrew or Greek, the context of the passage and context of
Scripture at large need to be taken into consideration. This is not being done
with this passage if people believe this relationship speaks of homosexuality.
One needs only look at Genesis 22:2 to see the exact same word (love) being
used between two other males in the Old Testament…and they are clearly not
homosexual (Jenni 48). It is God speaking to Abraham about his son whom he
loved in the same manner David loved Jonathan: It was Isaac. We also see it in Leviticus 19:18 when we read that God said,
"…you shall love/ahab/ בְּאַהֲבָת֥וֹ your neighbor as yourself” (Jenni
50). If this is homosexual love, this means God is telling the Israelites to
love everyone in a homosexual manner. This is wrong to the point of absurdity.
Again, this understanding totally
violates the premise of God’s natural order and God’s premise for sexual
relationships or any normal heterosexual relationships for that matter because we are called to love all our neighbors. We even see the same word
in the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4 where believers are called to, “love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”
(Jenni 53). God is not calling us to love Him in a homosexual manner. This was it an
intense pure covenant love, not homosexual lust. The places where homosexual intercourse are referred
to in the Old Testament it is referred to as יָדַע or yada / “to
know” as in Genesis 19:5 with Lot in Sodom and Judges 19:22 with the Levite and
His Concubine (Block 537). This also seems to show that it isn’t even love
related to covenant or loyalty (ἀγάπη / φιλέω) that is being addressed in
the strictest sense where יָדַע / yada is being used
in these respective passages. It is in reality just a sexual act of lust (ερος).
In 1 Samuel 20:41 we also see, “After the boy had gone, David got up from
the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with
his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David
wept the most.”
When viewed from a presupposition that assumes
homosexuality, it is easy to see how these passages can be misinterpreted. The
homosexual view of this is that it is a “homosexual kiss.” Again we revisit
context, this time in a cultural manner. Men in the time of David greeting other men
Ancient Middle Eastern (AME) culture is much the same as it is now. This should
be especially evident as all the other actions involved in this passage are in
a formal greeting (the acts of bowing). It was and is a common cultural
greeting for men in that day to greet one another by bowing/bending and with a
kiss. Furthermore, it did not occur until two and a half chapters after
Jonathan gave David his clothes (1 Samuel 18 thru 1 Samuel 20). This hardly
happens in a single romantic evening rendezvous regardless of what people want
to read into the text.
The truth is there is no suggestion in
the Bible that David and Jonathan were homosexual. This is misinterpretation of
the Hebrew or Septuagint Greek based on the context and speculative
revisionism. In the larger context of Scripture and David’s life in general, the
issue for David does not appear to be an issue of homosexuality; it appears to
be an overabundance of heterosexuality. David, like his son Solomon was a
heterosexual polygamist based on the evidences of Scripture (DeYoung 290). David indeed had a problem with sexual
immorality but it had to do with quantities, not types.
It seems that this love between Jonathan
and David is a covenant love that finds God in the center as witness to it
and ironically as the binding agent too (Youngblood 707). Homosexual
presuppositions are clearly being read into
the text. John Boswell who speaks from a pro-homosexual viewpoint seems to affirm this sentiment about the stories of David and
Jonathan and Ruth and Naomi by only stating that they have erotic overtones but
he never insists that they are homosexual (Boswell-Kindle location 2878). It doesn't seem that he was bold or foolish enough to bridge that interpretive chasm and jeopardize his academic credibility.
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