I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
Parallel translations
- WEB I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
- BSB I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
- NKJV I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.
- NASB “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been a close friend to me. Your love for me was more wonderful Than the love of women.
- NLT How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David grieves for Jonathan, whose covenant love surpassed even the love of women. This expresses the depth of their faithful friendship.
Overview
David and Jonathan had bound themselves in a covenant of loyal love, and Jonathan repeatedly protected David at great personal cost. The comparison to the love of women describes the surpassing faithfulness and self-giving of this God-honoring friendship, not anything improper. Their bond pictures the steadfast, sacrificial love God calls His people to share, fulfilled supremely in Christ's love for His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Sam 20:17And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
- 1 Sam 18:1–4And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
- 1 Sam 20:41And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
- 1 Sam 23:16And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
- 1 Sam 19:2But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 1:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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