Jonathan

The oldest son of King Saul. He was David’s best friend and was a skilled and courageous soldier. When Saul saw that David was popular among the people, he hated him so much he plotted to kill him. Jonathan tried to show his father that he had no reason to kill David. But Saul refused to listen to Jonathan and even tried to kill him! Jonathan warned David of Saul’s plan to kill him, and this helped David escape.

Jonathan knew that David would become the next king of Israel even though, as Saul’s oldest son, he should have been the next king. The love of David and Jonathan for each other was so deep that jealousy never hurt their friendship. At the end, Jonathan and King Saul were both killed in the same battle with the Philistines. Later King David wrote a song in Jonathan’s honor.