JONATHAN (Heb. "Yah [weh] gives"). Of the many Jewish bearers of this name, three are well known: (1) the grandson of Moses, who was priest at Dan (Judg. xviii. 30). The reading Manasseh (see R.V. mg.; obtained by inserting _n_ above the consonantal text in the Hebrew) is apparently intended to suggest that he was the son of that idolatrous king. (2) The eldest son of Saul, who, together with his father, freed Israel from the crushing oppression of the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. seq.). Both are lauded in an elegy quoted from the Book of Jashar (2 Sam. i.) for their warm mutual love, their heroism, and their labours on behalf of the people. Jonathan's name is most familiar for the firm friendship which subsisted between him and David (1 Sam. xviii. 1-4; xix. 1-7; xx., xxii. 8; xxiii. 16-18), and when he fell at the battle of Gilboa and left behind him a young child (1 Sam. xxxi.; 2 Sam. iv. 4), David took charge of the youth and gave him a place at his court (2 Sam. ix.). See further DAVID, SAUL. (3) The Maccabee (see JEWS; MACCABEES). JONCIÈRES, VICTORIN (1839-1903), French composer, was born in Paris on the 12th of April 1839. He first devoted his attention to painting, but afterwards took up the serious study of music. He entered the Paris Conservatoire, but did not remain there long, because he had espoused too warmly the cause of Wagner against his professor. He composed the following operas: _Sardanapale_ (1867), _Le Dernier jour de Pompéi_ (1869), _Dimitri_ (1876), _La Reine Berthe_ (1878), _Le Chevalier Jean_ (1885), _Lancelot_ (1900). He also wrote incidental music to _Hamlet_, a symphony, and other works. Joncières' admiration for Wagner asserted itself rather in a musical than a dramatic sense. The influence of the German master's earlier style can be traced in his operas. Joncières, however, adhered to the recognized forms of the French opera and did not model his works according to the later developments of the Wagnerian "music drama." He may indeed be said to have been at least as much influenced by Gounod as by Wagner. From 1871 he was musical critic for _La Liberté_. He died on the 26th of October 1903.