‘My’ Jonathan

Abstract This chapter synthesises the findings of the book and argues affirmatively that it is possible to forge a cohesive portrayal of Jonathan that (1) includes all the extant biblical references to Jonathan and (2) is allowed within the constraints that the texts themselves postulate. This chapter presents the author’s personal, yet also biblical, retelling of Jonathan. Through an intertextual reading with the writings of Astrid Lindgren and Elie Wiesel, this chapter further explores Jonathan’s trauma of having to realise his father’s willingness to sacrifice him, as well as the additional trauma of being ‘redeemed’ by his father’s soldiers. It ultimately argues that these traumas offer the key to Jonathan’s character, as they transform him into a man willing and able to lay down his life for David. Further, when reading Jonathan through the lens of the New Testament, it is possible to see him as a Christ-like figure.