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butchers’ work,” we say. Yes, but those were days when men knew no better, and with Jonathan and his countrymen it was a matter of self-preservation.
But the greatest charm in Jonathan was not his courage nor his skill as a soldier, splendid as these were, but his matchless loyalty as a friend.
The time soon came when King Saul grew jealous of the youthful David, and not only drove him from his presence, but hunted him for his life. The rare gifts of David as a soldier, a leader, and a man had drawn to him the hearts of all the people, and the nation demanded him as its king. But if he was to be king, then Jonathan was shut out from the throne. No matter, said Jonathan, “thou *shalt* be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee” (1 Samuel, xxiii. 17).
And so we come to the story of the meeting at Ziph, and of that wonderful friendship which explains it. It is the first instance of such a friendship between young men, romantic, unchanging, and tenderly