Jonathan & David: Were they Close in Age?

A Biblical Look at Their Ages

The Scriptures say that Saul Reigned 40 years.

Act 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

Saul Reigned one year, and then in his second year he went to war with the Philistines. Jonathan was a commander over 1,000 men.

1Sa 13:1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,1Sa 13:2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 1Sa 13:3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.

Jonathan had to be at least 20 years old to command in the army per the law.

Num 1:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Num 1:2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; Num 1:3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Jonathan died with his father at the end of Saul’s reign.

2Sa 1:4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

Therefore, Jonathan was at least 20 years old in the second year of Saul’s reign. Saul reigned for another 38 years, he’d previously reigned for two of the forty years.

2Sa 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Conclusion -- Jonathan was at least 58 years old when he died and David ascended to the throne at 30 years of age.

This Biblical truth was overwhelming to me when I first saw it. I assumed like most students of the Word that David and Jonathan were youths of similar age that grew close through their common adversity. However, Jonathan was a man old enough to be David's father, and he was the waiting prince to the throne. Yet Jonathan submitted himself to the future king of Israel because he believed God's way was best.

Jonathan, a true study in Biblical humility.

Proverbs 18:24 'A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.'