Is david gay
Written by Dr. Dillon Burroughs | Dec 5, 2018 5:00:00 AM
Was David Gay?
Some own argued King David engaged in a same-sex connection with Jonathan due to some of the words used to describe his friendship with him in the Bible. Is this an accurate interpretation? Let’s begin with a watch at some of the key biblical passages used in this controversy. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 states: After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. Aspects noted about David and Jonathan’s relationship included love, living close to one another, sharing a covenant, and the giving of gifts. These were all aspects of committed friendship common in Jewish culture. Any attempt to interpret this passage as a sexual relationship are forced beyond the normal understanding of the chat. The second passage often used in this debate is found in 2 Samuel 1:26. After studyDavid Gay
David Gay was born in 1940 and came to faith at sixteen years old. A year later, he began to preach. He was for 25 years a Mathematics teacher and a Reformed Baptist teaching elder for 20 years.
David began his Christian life as an Arminian baptist but eventually came to a Reformed understanding of the faith. While at university, and for a short moment after, he became a part of the Unseal Brethren. In 1977, he and his wife and three others formed a Reformed Baptist church, of which he became an elder. Through his studies in Hebrews and Galatians, as well as extensive research and stimulating conversation, he began to get a new covenant position. He is now engaged in an itinerant preaching and writing ministry (davidhjgay.com).
He and his late wife have three children, all of whom are believers. One of his children is a Reformed Baptist pastor in Norfolk.
He is the author of the children’s book, Voyage to Freedom.
I preached on 1 Samuel 18 this past Sunday, and I received this question:
In today’s society, in corporate life, government, advertising and even some churches there is a propel to accept homosexuality as a person being correct to themselves and how they were made, which is not what the Bible teaches. Unfortunately, I’ve had individuals point me to 1 Samuel 18:1-3 and the relationship between David & Jonathan as an example of such a relationship. Would you please explain what the scriptures mean when it says that they were “knit together” and it speaks of Jonathan’s cherish for David and why this is definitely not an example of the Bible condoning a same-sex attracted relationship.
This is a excellent question.
The Jonathan and David relationship has been used as a pro-homosexual argument for a long time. While the word used for “love” (Hebrew: אהב ahav) can be used to indicate romantic love (as in Gen 24:67), it is also used of other relationships: parent and youngster (Gen 25:28 where it has a connotation of preference), a slave for a master (Ex 21:5), love for God (Ex 20:6), the love God’s people are called to have for each other (Lev 19:18), the affection God has for His people (Deu
Were David and Jonathan gay?
David had multiple wives and concubines (2 Sam. 5:13) and a lust for naked women like Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Jonathan was also married to a lady (2 Sam. 9). This doesn’t fit with the narrative that David and Jonathan were attracted to each other. When considered closely, these passages act not teach that David and Jonathan were sexually attracted to each other.
Like a Rorschach test reveals our inner thoughts rather than objective reality, a sexualized reading of this text says more about the interpreter than the text itself. It’s depressed that interpreters cannot acknowledge what genuine love looks like between two friends, but rather, seek to understand love through the lens of a hyper-sexualized reading of Scripture.
“The mind of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David” (1 Sam. 18:1). This Hebrew expression is “never once used in the Old Testament for a sexual or lovey-dovey relationship.” In fact, this Hebrew expression (nep̱eš niqšerāh benep̱eš) is very nearby to the phrase used in Genesis 44:30 (nep̱eš qešûrāh bene .