1 Samuel 18:1

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Now after David's talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיְהִ֗י כְּכַלֹּתוֹ֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל וְנֶ֙פֶשׁ֙ יְה֣וֹנָתָ֔ן נִקְשְׁרָ֖ה בְּנֶ֣פֶשׁ דָּוִ֑ד *ויאהבו **וַיֶּאֱהָבֵ֥הוּ יְהוֹנָתָ֖ן כְּנַפְשֽׁוֹ׃

Transliteration

And wa-yəhî when kə-kallôtô to dabbēr to Šāʾûl, and nepeš Yəhônātān niqšərâ in nepeš Dāwid; and wa-yeʾĕhābēhû Yəhônātān as nepeš his own.

Grammar Details

• *wa-yəhî*: conjunction + imperfect, 3ms - and it happened/came to pass
• *kə-kallôtô*: preposition + infinitive construct + 3ms suffix - when he finished/completed
• *dabbēr*: piel infinitive construct - to speak
• *Šāʾûl*: proper noun - Saul
• *nepeš*: feminine singular noun - soul/self/life
• *Yəhônātān*: proper noun - Jonathan
• *niqšərâ*: niphal perfect, 3fs - was bound/knit together
• *Dāwid*: proper noun - David
• *wa-yeʾĕhābēhû*: conjunction + qal imperfect, 3ms + 3ms suffix - and he loved him
• *kə-napšô*: preposition + noun + 3ms suffix - as his own soul/self

Word Meanings

• *nepeš*: soul/life/self/person/being
• *niqšərâ*: was bound/knit together/tied/connected
• *ʾāhēb*: love/affection/devotion

Referenced Verses

• 2 Sam 1:26 : 26 I am full of grief for you, my brother Jonathan: very dear have you been to me: your love for me was a wonder, greater than the love of women.
• Gen 44:30 : 30 If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,
• 1 Sam 20:17 : 17 And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.
• 1 Sam 19:2 : 2 And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place:
• Deut 13:6 : 6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;
• Judg 20:11 : 11 So all the men of Israel were banded together against the town, united like one man.
• 1 Sam 14:1-9 : 1 Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father. 2 And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him; 3 And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, who had the ephod. And the people had no idea that Jonathan had gone. 4 Now between the narrow roads over the mountains by which Jonathan was making his way to the Philistines' forces, there was a sharp overhanging rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: one was named Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 The one rock went up on the north in front of Michmash and the other on the south in front of Geba. 6 And Jonathan said to his young servant who had his arms, Come, let us go over to the armies of these men who have no circumcision: it may be that the Lord will give us help, for there is no limit to his power; the Lord is able to give salvation by a great army or by a small band. 7 And his servant said to him, Do whatever is in your mind: see, I am with you in every impulse of your heart. 8 Then Jonathan said, Now we will go over to these men and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, Keep quiet where you are till we come to you; then we will keep our places and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, Come up to us; then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands: and this will be the sign to us. 11 And they let the Philistine force see the two of them: and the Philistines said, Look! the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have taken cover. 12 And the armed men of the force gave Jonathan and his servant their answer, saying, Come up here to us, and we will let you see something. Then Jonathan said to his servant, Come up after me: for the Lord has given them up into the hands of Israel. 13 And Jonathan went up, gripping with his hands and his feet, his servant going up after him; and the Philistines gave way before Jonathan when he made an attack on them, and his servant put them to death after him. 14 And at their first attack, Jonathan and his servant put to the sword about twenty men, all inside the space of half an acre of land.
• 1 Sam 14:45 : 45 And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death.
• 1 Sam 18:3 : 3 Then Jonathan and David made an agreement together, because of Jonathan's love for David.
• 1 Chr 12:17 : 17 And David went out to them, and said to them, If you have come in peace to give me help, my heart will be united with yours; but if you have come to give me up to those who would take my life, though my hands are clean from wrongdoing, then may the God of our fathers see it and give you punishment.
• Ps 86:11 : 11 Make your way clear to me, O Lord; I will go on my way in your faith: let my heart be glad in the fear of your name.
• Prov 18:24 : 24 There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.
• Col 2:2 : 2 So that their hearts may be comforted, and that being joined together in love, they may come to the full wealth of the certain knowledge of the secret of God, even Christ,