Was King David Gay?

"I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful Than the love of women." - 2 Samuel 1:26 (NASB)

Was King David gay? Some seem to think so. The Jesus Metropolitan Community Church has developed an ad campaign attempting to prove that this is indeed the case. Their argument from Scripture is simple. King David, in 2 Samuel 1:26, clearly states that Johnathan's love to him was more pleasant than women. We should treat "love" as referring to sexual love. He does compare Johnathan's love to the love he has received from women. Therefore, it must refer to sexual intimacy. King David was a homosexual.

This church attempts to demonstrate this on the basis of the following arguments:

1. Johnathan was in love with David. (1 Sam 18:1-4)

This argument is that Johnathan loved David as he would have loved any other woman. He was drawn to David. He had seen David's heroism and he was attracted to this man. He was knit together through attraction. Therefore, he was sexually attracted to David. We do not see this type of love toward other men in our own society. This type of "brotherly love toward one another", it is argued, cannot refer to anything other than the sexual attraction of two men toward one another.

2. Saul disapproved of Johnathan's love for David. (1 Sam 20:30)

In this verse, Saul speaks out toward Johnathan, his son, about how David will someday take over the throne. Thus, Johnathan has no future as the king of Israel. Yet, Johnathan seems not to care. Why? Because he was attracted to him. His sexual attraction was such that it overshadowed the fact that he was going to lose his place in history. This love for David, it is argued, was seen by Saul and disapproved. Thus, it was as common an experience for homosexual men then as it is today.

3. David made it clear that he too loved Johnathan. (1 Sam 20:41-42)

Although he was unable to continue in his relationship to Johnathan, David made it clear that he loved Johnathan. These two verses demonstrate that David was so attracted to Johnathan that he was willing to make a covenant between the two men in order to take care of Johnathan's family no matter what happened. Therefore, David expressed the fact that he too was in love with Johnathan.

4. The love David experienced by Johnathan was greater than that of women. (2 Sam 1:23; 26-27)

Here, in the final verses of a song written by David to commemorate the life of his beloved Johnathan, David writes about how the love he experienced with Johnathan was greater than that of women. Therefore, it is argued, that the sexual intimacy that David experienced with Johnathan was greater than what he had experienced with men.

These three arguments are the basis for this church's assessment of David and Johnathan's love for one another. It was not merely a love for another man but a sexual attraction to one another that was an indication of their homosexuality.

However, let's make some observations about David himself. First of all, David was regarded as a man after God's own heart (1 Sam 13:14). Second, God had stated in no uncertain terms that a man ought not lie with another man (Lev 18:22). It is an abomination. Therefore, the first statement cannot be true if David was in fact homosexual. Obedience to God is a sign of our love toward Him. Disobedience certainly is not.

Yet, let's examine each of these arguments. What we will discover is that context is very important. Examining Scripture and reading into it what we want to see is always dangerous. These four arguments are a result of the perversion that can result.

Response to #1: Johnathan was in love with David.

The basis for this argument is that the love Johnathan had for David was sexual in nature. The word for love here is expressing the simple idea that Johnathan loved David as much as he loved himself. Thus, it was a self-less love. There is no sexual connotation here. You have to read into the text a meaning that is simply not there. These two souls were knit together. This describes their kindred spirits. They each thought so highly of one another that they were "brothers". Though not related in blood, they nonetheless had a connection to one another. Each of us has felt this about our closest friend or friends. This love for another of the same sex is not physical in nature.

Response to #2: Saul disapproved of Johnathan's love.

It is true that these verses show us that Saul was disapproving of Johnathan's attitude toward David but it had nothing to do with an attraction toward him. In fact, the very verse referred to expresses this thought gives the explanation for it. It clearly states that Johnathan's refusal to fight David is a denial of his claim to the kingdom. Saul is saying to Johnathan, "Son, by your actions, you are denying your birth right and what has been given to you. You are dishonoring me and your mother!" Read verses 30 and 31. Yet, Johnathan didn’t care. It was not because of a sexual attraction but an attempt to protect him, as clearly demonstrated in verses 28 and 29. Context clearly speaks to Johnathan's protection of David, not his sexual attraction toward him.

Response to #3: David made it clear that he too loved Johnathan.

David kissed Johnathan and wept together. Yet, why did he do this? Was it because he realized the two "star-crossed lovers could never be together"? Was this an ancient version of Romeo and Juliet? Hardly. David had just been told that Saul would continue to kill him. Johnathan was upset that his father was apart of such an evil plan. Johnathan understood that God was giving the kingdom over to David. Johnathan, like David, loved God. His relationship to God superseded any desire for personal glorification. There is not a hint here of anything more than mutual affection for one another. Anything more is perversion. Thus, such an argument is a perverted attempt to read into the text something that is clearly not here.

Response to #4: The love David experienced by Johnathan was greater than that of women.

Can men experience love toward one another that is not sexual? I would sure hope so. A father can love his son and a son can love his brother without needing for something more to be implied. Friends can have a love for one another that is unique and different from the love of a spouse. This is especially true for people whom were there in their darkest of days. Men who fought together in war have a special bond to one another. It is unique but it is not sexual. This is the lament that David expresses in this song. He had had a special relationship to Johnathan. He knew it. Johnathan could not be easily replaced. He had several wives and no doubt loved them very much. Yet, Johnathan was special. His friendship was one that David cherished. The expression that the love he had was "greater than that of women" is simply an exaggerated expression intended to describe the depth of such appreciation. If I said that my love for my wife was as "deep as the ocean", is it? What if I said that I would "climb the highest mountain and swim across any ocean just to see her". Is that literally true? The point is that this is an hyperbole. Its an overstatement meant to make a point. It is not an expression of sexual love toward another. Rather, it is a comparison to sexual love that is used to express something that is hard to say in words.

Each of these arguments are easily refuted in context. What true Christians need to know is how to read and study their Bibles correctly. We need to learn how to correctly interpret passages and pull out the author's intended meaning. We need to exegete the passage correctly.

Was King David gay? No, he was not. Those who want to claim he was are looking for proof of an already immoral lifestyle. It has been said that "a man's morality dictates his theology". This is certainly the case here.

Don't be fooled by misinterpretations of Scripture. God will not contradict Himself.

He has not and will not ever approve of homosexuality.