King David (1985)

Jack Klaff: Jonathan

Photos 

Quotes 

• Jonathan : ...Is Israel governed by a king, Father, or by the whims of a senile old prophet?

  Saul : You cannot have the one without the other.

  Jonathan : And who's to say that Samuel is not a false prophet?

  Saul : If Samuel is a false prophet, I'm a false king. It was Samuel who annointed me, even as he has rejected me.

  Jonathan : The people still look to you as their king, Father. They have not rejected you.

  Saul : ...What was his name? The man who wrestled with me until daybreak.

  Abner : What man, My Lord?

  Jonathan : It was only a dream, Father.

  Saul : Well, if it was a dream, send in my musician; let me dream on.

• Saul : ...Hear how Jonathan warbles in praise of the cuckoo bird, David, who has fed from my table and now lies with my daughter... David has robbed me of my God, my people, even my children. What else can he take but my crown...? So long as David lives, neither I nor Jonathan nor the throne shall be safe... Samuel anointed him in my place! David! The boy I trusted and loved as my own son.

  Jonathan : Then be glad of it! Give thanks that the future of Israel belongs to a man worthy of your love.

  [Saul throws a javelin, just missing him] 

• David : Come with me to the sanctuary at Nob. We have a covenant of friendship between us.

  Jonathan : I also have a covenant of honor between my father and myself. I would lay down my life for you willingly, but I cannot break faith with my father *or* with you. You have the love of One far greater than I

  [the Lord of Hosts] 

  Jonathan : to care for you. My father has no one.

• Jonathan : [shortly before Saul's last stand at Mount Gilboa]  David is not among the enemy, Father. It's not your honor that's at stake. It's the lives of our men.

  Saul : I will ride out against the Philistines. If I ride alone, so be it.

  Nathan : [rallying the Israelite troops while preparing to offer a sacrifice]  Rouse yourselves in anger! Lay nations at our feet! Whet your flashing swords! Make your arrows drunk with blood!

  Saul : [cutting in]  My Lord, *I* am your sacrifice.

  Nathan : This day, you will surely die.

  Saul : Then my prayer will be answered at last.

  Nathan : The Lord scorns your prayers. He has utterly rejected you.

  Saul : And Samuel, too. And Abraham and Isaac and Jacob! Even David will be forsaken at the end, for in death, we are all cut off from God's care. What purpose, then, in serving Him? He wrestles with man for the nighttime of his life, but at daybreak, He is gone.

  [calling out] 

  Saul : Who marches with the king and his sons?