Yonatan ben Shaul
d. c. 1010 BCE · Biblical era · Gibeah of Saul
⌛ See the world in their lifetime (1020 BCE) →
Yonatan, the first-named son of King Shaul (1 Samuel 14:49), was a commander in his father's army. The text credits him with the opening blow against the Philistines at Geba (13:3). He also led a daring raid on a Philistine outpost near Michmash: he and his arms-bearer climbed a cliff and set off a rout (14:1-14). He unknowingly broke his father's battlefield oath by tasting honey, and the troops refused to let Shaul put him to death (14:43-45). After David killed Goliath, Yonatan bound himself to David in friendship and gave him his own cloak and weapons (18:1-4). He warned David of Shaul's plans and defended him to his father, even when Shaul hurled a spear at him (19:1-2; 20:30-33). Later he visited David in hiding and told him he would be king (23:16-18). He died with his father on Mount Gilboa (31:2). David's lament mourns the two of them together (2 Samuel 1:17-27), and David later took care of Yonatan's son Mefiboshet (2 Samuel 9). The Mishnah holds up the love of David and Yonatan as the model of a love that 'does not depend on anything' (Avot 5:16).
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the map →
Gibeah of Saulגבעת שאול
What they did here
At the start of the Philistine war Yonatan held Gibeah of Binyamin with a thousand men (1 Samuel 13:2). His father's court, where he defended David, sat there (20:24-34).
About Gibeah of Saul
Gibeah was a town in the territory of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. According to the Book of Samuel, it was the home and capital of Saul, the first king of Israel. Its site is generally identified with Tell el-Ful, north of Jerusalem, though this is debated.
In Gibeah of Saul at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Yonatan ben Shaul’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Yonatan ben Shaul’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Jewish world
- Shimshon ben Manoach (Samson)· 1110 BCE–1070 BCE
- Eli HaKohen· 1108 BCE–1028 BCE
- Chana (mother of Shmuel)· b. 1100 BCE
- Shmuel ben Elkanah (Samuel the Prophet)· 1075 BCE–1012 BCE
- Gad HaChozeh (Gad the Seer)· b. 1050 BCE
- Natan the Prophet· 1040 BCE–930 BCE
- Avigail (Abigail, wife of David)· b. 1035 BCE
- Batsheva bat Eliam (Bathsheba)· b. 1010 BCE
Mesopotamian world
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.