Could King David have been bisexual instead of gay?

by Nick
(Montreal, Canada)

I believe it is entirely possible that King David and Crown Prince Jonathan were bisexual instead of gay. Both men married women and both fathered children in their marriages.

Whether they were gay or bisexual, the Bible is fairly explicit that they were a partnered same sex couple. They are said to love each other, their love is described with the same Hebrew words used to describe the love of opposite sex married people and King Saul believed they were having a sexual relationship which he described with a Hebrew vulgarism in 1 Samuel 20:30.

In a eulogy before his troops after Jonathan's untimely death in battle, David himself describes the intensity and endurance of his fifteen year long loving partnership with Jonathan.

"I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women." 2 Samuel 1:26, ESV

Those who insist that David and Jonathan were not gay or bisexual keep telling us David could not possibly have meant what he said about his relationship with Jonathan.

Three thousand years after the events, we cannot prove it to everyone's satisfaction. Yet David's words are remarkably clear. Those who believe Jonathan and David were nothing more than close friends must convince themselves that David's words don't really mean what they say.

I believe God inserted the David and Jonathan story in the Bible to teach us that He affirms and blesses gay couples and same sex bisexual couples as well as opposite sex couples. No other human love story in scripture is told with such intensity, such detail or at such length.

Jonathan and David Links

Why didn't David kill King Saul
when he had the opportunity?

Are you misquoting scripture
about David and Jonathan?

Why is the Bible not explicit
about David and Jonathan?

If David and Jonathan were gay
why were they not put to death?

Did David have wives before or after
his partnership with Jonathan?

How could David have a romantic sexual
partnership with Jonathan when it is
written that he had wives and children
and even committed adultery with Bathsheba?

What does the Bible really say
about David and Jonathan?

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Nick's Original Question:

"I would love to believe King David was gay or bisexual (most probably), but he did have adulterous sex with Bathsheba and had concubines of around 600 (?) women. Why would you not believe he was bisexual?"