2 Samuel 1:23

23. Beloved and pleasant in their lives Jonathan was eminently so, and though Saul in his madness had even threatened his son’s life, (1 Samuel 20:33,) and sought for successive years to destroy David, yet David’s tender heart seems to forget all the injuries of the past, and celebrates only the virtues of his fallen enemy. Saul’s love for his son Jonathan was exceedingly strong, as may be seen from such passages as 1 Samuel 14:39; 1Sa 19:6 ; 1 Samuel 20:2; and while Jonathan’s love for David was wonderful, it was so much stronger for his father that he cast in his lot with the sinking fortunes of the latter, rather than with the growing greatness of his friend David.

Swifter than eagles Fleetness of foot was an admired qualification of a warrior. 2 Samuel 2:8. The mightiest hero of Greece was the “swift-footed Achilles.”