When he had made an end of speaking - These first five verses are omitted by the Septuagint. See the notes on the preceding chapter, 1 Samuel 17 (note).

Jonathan loved him as his own soul - The most intimate friendship subsisted between them; and they loved each other with pure hearts fervently. No love was lost between them; each was worthy of the other. They had a friendship which could not be affected with changes or chances, and which exemplified all that the ancients have said on the subject; Την φιλιαν ισοτητα ειναι, και μιαν ψυχην, τον φιλον ἑτερον αυτον; "Friendship produces an entire sameness; it is one soul in two bodies: a friend is another self."

the soul of Jonathan The modesty, piety, and courage of David were so congenial to the character of the amiable Jonathan, they attracted his most cordial esteem and affection; so that the most intimate friend- ship subsisted between them from that time, and they loved each other with pure hearts fervently. Their friendship could not be affected by the common vicissitudes of life; and it exemplifies by fact what the ancients have written on the subject; (), `Friendship is an entire sameness, and one soul: a friend is another self.'

1 Samuel 14:1-14,45 Now it came to pass on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armor, Come...

Genesis 44:30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;

Judges 20:11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.

1 Chronicles 12:17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If you be come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit to you...

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD; I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear your name.

Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding...

loved him

2 Samuel 18:3 But the people answered, You shall not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die...

2 Samuel 19:2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people...

2 Samuel 20:17 And when he was come near to her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him...

Deuteronomy 13:6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend...

2 Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant have you been to me: your love to me was wonderful...

Proverbs 18:24 A man that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

The Exile.
David's first years at the court of Saul in Gibeah do not appear to have produced any psalms which still survive. "The sweetest songs are those Which tell of saddest thought." It was natural, then, that a period full of novelty and of prosperous activity, very unlike the quiet days at Bethlehem, should rather accumulate materials for future use than be fruitful in actual production. The old life shut to behind him for ever, like some enchanted door in a hill-side, and an unexplored land lay beckoning …
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David