David and Jonathan were, according to the Hebrew Bible's Books of Samuel, heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel, who formed a covenant, taking a mutual oath.

Jonathan was the son of Saul, king of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and David was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah, and Jonathan's presumed rival for the crown. David became king. The covenant the two men had formed eventually led to David, after Jonathan's death, graciously seating Jonathan's son Mephibosheth at his own royal table instead of eradicating the former king Saul's line.

The biblical text does not explicitly depict the nature of the relationship between David and Jonathan. The traditional and mainstream religious interpretation of the relationship has been one of platonic love and an example of homosociality. Some scholars and writers—late Middle Ages and onwards—have emphasized what they see as elements of homoeroticism in the story.

The relationship between David and Jonathan is mainly covered in the First Book of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible. The episodes belong to David's ascent to power, commonly regarded as one of the sources of the Deuteronomistic history and its later additions.

David, the youngest son of Jesse, kills Goliath at the Valley of Elah where the Philistine army was in a standoff with the army of King Saul, Jonathan's father. David's victory begins a rout of the Philistines who are driven back to Gath and the gates of Ekron. Abner brings David to Saul while David is still holding Goliath's severed head. Jonathan, the eldest son of Saul, has also been fighting the Philistines. Jonathan takes an immediate liking to David, and the two form a covenant:

Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war.

David proved a successful commander, and as his popularity increased, so did Saul's jealousy. In the hope that the Philistines might kill David, Saul gives David his daughter Michal in marriage, provided that David slay a hundred Philistines and bring their foreskins to him; David returns with two-fold the requirement. After the wedding, the disappointed Saul sends assassins to the newlyweds' quarters, but David escapes with the help of Michal. Despite several short-term reconciliations, David remains an exile and an outlaw.

As Saul continues to pursue David, David and Jonathan renew their covenant, after which they do not meet again. Jonathan is slain on Mount Gilboa along with his brothers Abinadab and Malchi-shua, and Saul commits suicide. David learns of Saul and Jonathan's death and chants a lament, which in part says: