17:57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 17:58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.” 1
18:1 When David 2 had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. 3 Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. 4 18:2 Saul retained David 5 on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”
4 tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”
sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.
5 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.