#David x Jonathan

[an-hypnos-dri]

something about eyes and souls

[m4el-1t0]

From Gilgamesh and Enkidu to Achilles and Patroclus and then David and Jonathan the most prevalent thing in human history we have been warned about are homoerotic codependent friendships and yet you keep talking to the guy you met at 19

[dilutedh2so4]

What do we think of this? Explanations below 😭

Jezebel x Ahab - The Phoenician princess Jezebel was married to king Ahab of Israel as part of a political alliance. She was key in the attempt to replace the Israelite state religion with her own, killing a few people along the way. She also got Ahab the vineyard he wanted (..through some murderous means..) when his own negotiations failed. Definitely the top in that relationship ;)

Jesus x Judas - something something, must you betray me with a kiss, something something, do what you are here to do, something something, he went and hanged himself

Eve x Lilith - Now, in the Bible, Lilith is only actually mentioned in Isaiah (as an evil spirit), then expanded upon in later tradition (to explain the two Creation accounts in Genesis). In this later tradition, she was said to be Adam's first wife who wouldn't submit to him, so God made another from his rib: Eve. I don't think they ever met, but I have seen some fanart, so here they are

Ruth x Naomi - MY OTP. Canon, because I said so. Tragic, because basically all their male relatives die and then Ruth has to marry Boaz for security. Ruth 1:16-17 my beloved 💔

Jacob x Leah - Put this here as a joke about the fact that Jacob always preferred her sister Rachel over Leah herself, and was tricked into marrying her by Laban.

Mary x Joseph - Two thirds of the Holy Family: the ever-compassionate Mother of God (in Christianity) and the step-dad who Stepped Up. See Matthew 1 & 2, Luke 1 & 2, or the (apocryphal) Protoevangelium of James for more

Devorah x Jael - Doesn't make sense as they never actually meet, but when you have two gaslight-gatekeep-girlbosses in the same chapter, they gotta be together. Don't usually recommend reading Judges (for your own mental health), but maybe look into Judges 4 just for them ;)

David x Jonathan - Where to begin? With how Jonathan's soul was said to be bound with David's, and how he loved him as himself? (1 Sam. 18:1-5) Jonathan risking his life to help David escape King Saul's wrath? (1 Sam. 19 and 20) The pair weeping and kissing before they part? (1 Sam. 20:41) David, in his mourning for [spoilers] Jonathan's death, calling his love more wonderful than that of women? (2 Sam. 1)

Absalom x Mephibosheth - David's son and Jonathan's son, whom David adopted. The two fans are @anniflamma and @sir-davey

Daniel x Darius - King Darius the Mede and the eunuch from Judah he falls for at first sight. Or something. Idk, ask anniflamma

Judith x unnamed maid - It does make sense, I swear. Probably unpopular because it's in the Deuterocanon, and also you have to be really looking for it -- but it is there, I promise!!!

St Paul - Just see 1 Corinthians 7

Don't take this too seriously lol, it's all in good fun :))

Feel free to add what you would have done differently / your own propaganda!

[anniflamma]

"No man may kill the Lord's anointed and live."

[davonati]

I’m rereading parts of David the King (1946) by Gladys Schmitt and absolutely dying at her depiction of David and Jonathan.

Jonathan took his hand then and raised it to his cheek. For the space of many heartbeats they remained so, seeing in the darkness the earnest shining of each other’s eyes. Then the ancient admonition, the old, unalterable law came between them. Aching and baffled, they drew apart.

For a while there was only the ache, the hush, the dark, and a few warm drops still falling. Sorrowfully, with chastened hearts, they turned to speech; in words at least they might come together. Little by little, they were comforted, knowing what vast domains of remembrance there were to wander in together.

Honestly, kudos to Schmitt writing all the way back in *1946* for daring to say “yeah these guys definitely wanted to have sex”, even if ultimately they don’t consummate the relationship (which most likely would have gotten her book banned with the obscenity laws at the time).

This also feels so real. Imagine how many queer people throughout history have felt like this, wishing they could fully express their love for each other, but knowing the consequences of doing so could be dire. It’s just, ugh, Gladys! You slay me like Uriah!

[prettyboyblog]

the tier of top gay books

1. the bible

2. war and peace

anything else

[mgert-m]

omg wait guys i have this david x jonathan fanart i made a few months ago that i never posted

….

here it is

its kinda bad but i wanted to show my drawing of the bible gays

[piratecore-art]

Reading the Bible (Samuel one and two) but for Gay Reasons ✨

[maimoncat]

Don't reblog. Take a screenshot and upload it, but tag it with all your OTPs

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Thinking about nephesh being translated "soul" but meaning "being". Thinking about nephesh referring to someone's physical being. Thinking about the lover calling her beloved "The one my nephesh loves." Thinking about Jonathan loving David as his own nephesh. Thinking about Jonathan's nephesh being knit to the nephesh of David.

Now what the heck could that mean???

[tsyvia48]

Aziraphale and Crawly/Crowley in the Bible:

a post-season 2 insight into I Samuel

After killing Goliath but before he became king, David was in love with King Saul’s son Jonathan. Well, to be more precise, the Bible tells us Jonathan loved David.

They could not be together because Jonathan’s father believed David wanted the throne. Saul had a divine jealousy and tried, repeatedly, to kill David. When the king’s son and the future king separated for David’s safety, the prophetic writer tells us “They kissed each other and wept together; David wept the longer.”

When I read this sentence with my post-GO-season-2 brain during the normal cycle of readings a few weeks ago, I knew Crowley (technically Crawly) was there commiserating with David post-breakup, even as Aziraphale comforted Jonathan that keeping his beloved safe was worth the personal sacrifice.

It broke my heart. And misery loves company, so I wrote what I was imagining. I offer it to you now so you can share the heartbreak (and the humor! I Samuel is bizarre and funny. This piece quotes from and builds on I Samuel, chapters 17 - 20). I intend to add an epilogue to share how their stories end (the text tells us they see one another once more before Jonathan’s death), but this is the core of the heartbreak and insight.

[dilutedh2so4]

What if I told you that this Bible you’ve grown up with is full of gays

[anniflamma]

"Prayers? You?" David asked, breathlessly as he kissed and embraced the very reason he'd found strength to survive his recent ordeal. "Have you found the Lord in my absence?"

"I think he was here all along."

[davonati]

I was thinking a lot about 1 Samuel 20:30 today (I was sort of already thinking about it, and then I listened to Shame from Beloved King and it got very in my head)

Saul flew into a rage against Jonathan. “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!” he shouted. “I know that you side with the son of Jesse—to your shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness!

I have believed for a long time that this verse indicates that Saul knows (or at least thinks) that Jonathan and David have a sexual relationship and is condemning Jonathan for it. (For the record, not because it’s a homosexual relationship, but because Jonathan is siding with the enemy. In fact nothing in the David-Jonathan narrative ever suggests that they would be condemned being two men in a romantic and/or sexual relationship.)

“But Vee, why do you think that? Saul doesn’t mention anything about sex here.”

Well, in the Hebrew Bible, nakedness basically means sex. Sometimes it can be taken more literally (as in Genesis 9:22-23, where it might mean rape or might mean simple embarrassment over being seen nakedness) but most of the time it means sex, especially illicit sex. This is most well-known from Leviticus 18, where one is commanded not to “uncover the nakedness” of one’s family members. This chapter also includes several examples of “[Person A]’s nakedness” being used as a stand-in for sex with a relative of Person A, rather than Person A themselves. For example: “Do not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father.” This indicates not that sex with your father’s wife is literally sex with your father, but that this is a sexual act that will bring shame upon your father, mainly because the wife’s sexuality is under the father’s protection.

I posit, then, that when Saul mentions “the shame of your mother’s nakedness” he is referring to a sexual act that Jonathan has done which will bring shame upon his mother, that somehow relates to his relationship with David. Why does having sex with David bring shame upon his mother? Well, honestly, I think Saul is kind of projecting and means it brings shame upon Saul himself (or both parents together).

I also think that Saul referring to David as the “son of Jesse” is interesting here — perhaps because David’s sexuality is still under his father’s protection? Well, admittedly David is already married here, but assuming that a man’s sexuality can’t be under his wife’s protection his father would still be his authority. And you know, it would also be Jonathan having sex with his sister’s husband — this isn’t explicitly mentioned in Leviticus, but “uncovering the nakedness” of your brother’s wife is prohibited, so I think you could extrapolate brother’s wife -> sister’s husband, it is the nakedness of your sister -> your sister’s nakedness is the nakedness of your mother. Or something like that!

Now, there is a much more common interpretation of this verse that I want to present. This says that “[Jonathan’s] mother’s nakedness” is a reference to Jonathan’s birth, or specifically Jonathan’s conception. Basically, Saul is cursing that Jonathan was ever born (or along those lines). Combined with the first half of the verse — “son of a perverse, rebellious woman” — you can see this as Saul basically calling Jonathan “son of a bitch”.

I think this interpretation holds a lot of water, though not necessarily more than my interpretation. However, when I was looking more into this interpretation I found a really interesting midrash in the Tz’enah Ur’enah (old Yiddish Bible+commentary, kind of, you should just look into it) that seeks to expand on why Saul is insulting Jonathan’s mother (his wife!!) and how he’s comparing the two of them. The gist of the midrash is more or less that Achinoam (Jonathan’s mother) asked Saul out, rather than waiting for Saul to approach her as was proper. The midrash therefore says that Jonathan is too much like his mother: “[Achinoam] was brazen at the dance and you [Jonathan] are also brazen to me [Saul]”. Ok… I can see what they were going for, but why compare Achinoam’s immodest sexuality to Jonathan’s supposed political opposition?

And here, I posit again: Achinoam’s wrongdoing in this midrash is not simply being “brazen”, but going against sexual norms. “Approaching” someone who she shouldn’t approach, or in a way she shouldn’t have approached him. And now Saul is comparing Achinoam’s actions there to his mother’s? His perverse, (sexually) rebellious mother?? In a roundabout way, we come back to Saul accusing Jonathan of illicit sexual acts, somehow involving David…

Ergo, either way you spin it, Saul accuses Jonathan of having sex with David. And Jonathan doesn’t refute it!