radeship as this which existed between two boys of long ago, the
story of whose intimacy has come down to us from Bible times as a most
wonderful example of what a friendship can be.

Those boys were David, the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, and Jonathan, the
son of Saul, King of Israel, and when you hear two persons spoken of as
"a David and a Jonathan" you may know that they are the closest kind of
friends.

To appreciate thoroughly the friendship between David and Jonathan, and
what it meant to both of them, let us go back a little into the history
of the time in which the boys lived, and look at the circumstances
which led up to their friendship, for that is very important to a clear
understanding of the story of David and Jonathan.

At that time the kingdom of Israel was in a deplorable condition, for
the Philistines, a war-like tribe who lived in a small territory on the
coast, had over-run and conquered most of Israel, and Samuel who was
the aged guide and advisor of the Israelites, as well as the last of
the judges and the first of the prophets of Israel, saw that the only
hope for his people lay in having a higher moral standard and a central
government. To bring this about, Samuel established the schools of the
prophets in Ramah and other cities, where men could be trained to teach
their nation how to live wiser, purer lives--and Samuel also anointed
Saul as King of Israel, and for a while Saul ruled wisely and well.
Then he disobeyed the command of God, and began to care for conquest in
war only when it brought him glory or the spoils of battles, and Samuel
seeing this, was much troubled, and finally went to Saul and told him
that he must repent and do differently or he would no longer be worthy
to be the King of Israel, that God demanded more honest service than he
was giving. Saul was considerably troubled at this plain speaking of
Samuel and promised to do better in future, but when Samuel left him,
it was with a heavy heart, for he felt sure that there would be need of
a new king--that Saul would not keep his promises.

And so Samuel at once began to look for a man whom he could anoint as
the future King, although no one knew of this purpose but himself, and
the voice of God within him inspired him to go to Bethlehem and seek
among the sons of Jesse for the King he wished to find. So Samuel went
to Bethlehem, but in order that the real purpose of his visit might not
be discovered, he took with him beside t