A good friend is a treasure. One study found that ten percent of women and fifteen percent of men say they do not have even one friend. Over the past 30 years, the percentage of women with more than ten friends has dropped from 28 percent to 11 percent. For men, the decline has been from 40 percent to 15 percent.

Against this backdrop, the biblical friendship of David and Jonathan speaks to us powerfully. Friendship between two such different people should never have happened. As rivals for the throne of Israel, they should have been enemies. Instead, by God’s grace they “became one in spirit” (v. 1). In Hebrew, this verse literally says, “The soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

In 1 Samuel 18, David and Jonathan made a formal covenant of friendship (v. 3). It was partially signified by articles of clothing: Jonathan gave David his robe, tunic, sword, bow, and belt. This was a symbolic way of saying “all I have is yours” or “there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” That was a committed friendship! They reaffirmed their promises later under even more unfavorable circumstances (see 1 Sam. 20:14–17, 42).

Although Jonathan’s father, Saul, was “very angry” by David’s success (v. 8), presumably Jonathan was pleased by David’s military success and his popularity. We read that “from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David” (v. 9). After “an evil spirit” came upon Saul (v. 10), God used this friendship to save David’s life (1 Sam. 19–20). Jonathan not only rescued his friend from his father’s threats but also “helped him find strength in God” (1 Sam. 23:16). When Jonathan later died in battle against the Philistines, David used poetry to express his deep grief (see 2 Samuel 1).

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