Here's a post that will rattle your cage! Jonathan's Love for David Becomes clearly homoerotic as seen in some literal translations of the Hebrew.
"And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." (1Sam 18:1 ASV)
In a Hebrew-English Interlinear OT that gives the gender indicators, the underlined phrase reads:
"and soul-of Jonathan she-was -tied in soul-of David"
Notice that the gender "she" is associated with "was-tied" in the Interlinear referring to Jonathan.
The KJV word "knit" is qashar in the Hebrew and most of the time no gender indicator is given, but notice:
"Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;" (Gen 44:30 ASV) qashar here is "bound up" and in the Interlinear reads:
"and soul-of him being-tied in soul-of-him"
The feminine "she" is used with qashar in two other verses in the OT:
"And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first." (Gen 38:28 ASV)
The literal Hebrew: "and she-is-tying on hand-of him"
"And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window." (Josh 2:21 ASV) *Referring to Rahab, the female
The literal Hebrew: "and she-is-tying tape-of"
Those are the only three occurrences of qashar being modified by "she" in the entire OT. Jonathan, and then two women, the mid-wife and Rahab.
There are several verses where qashar is modied by "he", male gender, such as in 1 Kgs 15:27; 16:9,16,20; 2 Kgs 9:14; 10:9; 15:10, 15, 25, 30; Job 41:4 and Amos 7:19 where the Interlinear shows this.
The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament, by John R. Kohlenberger, III by Zondervan also shows these gender indicators as well as the online Interlinear I quoted.
So, why is Jonathan's soul called "she" and the other two occurrences where the feminine gender are, theyre all females indeed? There are the multiple uses of the male gender with qashar. When taken together with the following, it seems clear that there was a homoerotic element to Jonathan's love for David:
"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: Thy love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women." (2Sam 1:26 ASV) *Not love of wife or wives; nor love of father, brother or mother, but the obvious reference to gender, sexual love.
It is revealing when you read where Jerome, when he translated the Bible into Latin, added a sentence to the verse that is non-existent in the Hebrew or the Septuagint. The Douay-Rheims is an English translation of that Latin and it reads:
"I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee." (2Sam 1:26 DRC)
The underlined sentence is a total fraud, obviously inserted to detract from the meaning of the phrase "love of women".
I've yet to read, after searching, an explanation for this matter of gender applied to Jonathan.
"And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." (1Sam 18:1 ASV)
In a Hebrew-English Interlinear OT that gives the gender indicators, the underlined phrase reads:
"and soul-of Jonathan she-was -tied in soul-of David"
Notice that the gender "she" is associated with "was-tied" in the Interlinear referring to Jonathan.
The KJV word "knit" is qashar in the Hebrew and most of the time no gender indicator is given, but notice:
"Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;" (Gen 44:30 ASV) qashar here is "bound up" and in the Interlinear reads:
"and soul-of him being-tied in soul-of-him"
The feminine "she" is used with qashar in two other verses in the OT:
"And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first." (Gen 38:28 ASV)
The literal Hebrew: "and she-is-tying on hand-of him"
"And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window." (Josh 2:21 ASV) *Referring to Rahab, the female
The literal Hebrew: "and she-is-tying tape-of"
Those are the only three occurrences of qashar being modified by "she" in the entire OT. Jonathan, and then two women, the mid-wife and Rahab.
There are several verses where qashar is modied by "he", male gender, such as in 1 Kgs 15:27; 16:9,16,20; 2 Kgs 9:14; 10:9; 15:10, 15, 25, 30; Job 41:4 and Amos 7:19 where the Interlinear shows this.
The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament, by John R. Kohlenberger, III by Zondervan also shows these gender indicators as well as the online Interlinear I quoted.
So, why is Jonathan's soul called "she" and the other two occurrences where the feminine gender are, theyre all females indeed? There are the multiple uses of the male gender with qashar. When taken together with the following, it seems clear that there was a homoerotic element to Jonathan's love for David:
"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: Thy love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women." (2Sam 1:26 ASV) *Not love of wife or wives; nor love of father, brother or mother, but the obvious reference to gender, sexual love.
It is revealing when you read where Jerome, when he translated the Bible into Latin, added a sentence to the verse that is non-existent in the Hebrew or the Septuagint. The Douay-Rheims is an English translation of that Latin and it reads:
"I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee." (2Sam 1:26 DRC)
The underlined sentence is a total fraud, obviously inserted to detract from the meaning of the phrase "love of women".
I've yet to read, after searching, an explanation for this matter of gender applied to Jonathan.
