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Bible Dictionaries
Jonathan
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Jonathan (jŏn'a-than), the gift of Jehovah. 1. A son of Gershom and a Levite, who impiously served as a priest, first to Micah, and then to the Danites in Laish or Dan. Judges 17:1-8. 2. A son of Saul, 1 Chronicles 8:33 distinguished for his lovely character. His brilliant exploit in Michmash, 1 Samuel 13:1-23; 1 Samuel 14:1-52, illustrates his pious faith, his bravery, see also 1 Samuel 13:3, when he was about 30 years old, and his favor with the people, who would not suffer him to be put to death for violating Saul's foolish vow. This valiant and generous prince, "strong like a lion and swift like an eagle," 2 Samuel 1:23, loved David as his own soul. 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 1 Samuel 19:2; 1 Samuel 20:1-42. When he knew that David was chosen of God for the throne, he nobly yielded his own claims, and while holding to his father he had a pure and disinterested friendship for David. 1 Samuel 23:16-18. He was slain with his father, in battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. The beauty and pathos of the elegy in which David laments his friend are unsurpassed in literature. 2 Samuel 1:1-27. David found and cared for the only son Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 9:1-13. There are 14 persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Jonathan'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/j/jonathan.html. 1893.
