Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 69:1 (Spring 2007)
Article: Observations On The Relationship Between David And Jonathan And The Debate On Homosexuality
Author: Markus Zehnder

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WTJ 69:1 (Spring 2007) p. 127

Observations On The Relationship Between David And Jonathan And The Debate On Homosexuality

Markus Zehnder

Markus Zehnder is Professor of Biblical Studies at Ansgar School for Theology and Mission, Kristiansand, Norway, and Privatdozent for Old Testament at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

This article aims at clarifying the nature of the relationship between David and Jonathan, in response to new as well as older arguments that it involved a homosexual aspect. The main focus is on textual and linguistic observations, but historical, sociological, and psychological aspects are also addressed.1

WTJ 69:1 (Spring 2007) p. 128

I. Introduction

In recent years, several new publications have added to the debate on the nature of David and Jonathan’s relationship as presented in 1 and 2 Samuel. Arguments fall into three classifications, according to the results presented in the respective studies:

(1) Those interpreting the relationship between David and Jonathan as homosexual or at least homoerotic.2

(2) Those claiming a middle ground, on which the relationship is suggestive of homosexual or homoerotic overtones or allows such an interpretation. In this case, it is stated that the description of the relationship in 1 and 2 Samuel does not openly speak of a homosexual encounter, but that it is more probable than not that somehow the relationship shows a homoerotic touch or at least bears witness to “homosociability”3

WTJ 69:1 (Spring 2007) p. 129

(3) Those maintaining that the relationship between David and Jonathan as depicted in 1 and 2 Samuel is neither homosexual nor homoerotic, but an extraordinary example of friendship and loyalty.4

The main proponents of these three views use similar tools in reaching their conclusions: the canon of questions of the traditional historical-critical exegesis; linguistic and narratological analysis; and historical, sociological, and psychological evaluations of the cultural background of the story

There has emerged, in addition, a different approach, leading to a fourth group of interpreters: the adherents of a so-called queer reading, who take their own homosexual self-identification or experiences as the starting point of their reading and interpreting of biblical texts.5 Not surprisingly, they would almost entirely fall within the first group in t...

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