It happened, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
Jonathan’s selfless action reflects his submission to Samuel’s oracle that Saul would not have a continuing dynasty (1 Samuel 13:13-14). Rather than trying to perpetuate Saul’s dynasty, as Abner later tried to do (2 Samuel 2:8-9), godly Jonathan turned over the symbols of the crown prince to David.