1 Samuel 18:17-30

David the King's Son-in-law. 1 Samuel 18:17-30

17 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.
18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?

19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.
20 And Michal Saul's daughter loved David. and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.
21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain.

22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law,

23 And Saul's servants spake these words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.
25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law: and the days were not expired.
27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.
28 And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him.

29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually.
30 Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

10.

Who was Merab? 1 Samuel 18:17

Merab was Saul's oldest daughter by Ahinoam, Saul's wife (1 Samuel 14:50). Saul's men understood that whoever killed Goliath would become the king's son-in-law. Since Merab was his older daughter and as yet unmarried, he promised to give her to David as his wife. He asked additional service on David's part as he entered into this covenant. He charged him to be valiant for Saul and to fight the Lord's battles. Saul was not at all anxious for David to continue his valiant service, but he was hoping that if David went into battle against the Philistines, the Philistines might kill him. Saul would thereby be freed from the threat to his throne. David was humbled by this promised honor. He did not count himself worthy of being the king's son-in-law. He did not count his life to be of much effect and evidently fought the Philistines without regard for his own safety.

11.

Why was Saul's promise not kept? 1 Samuel 18:19

Saul showed himself to be a very wicked king. He not only set David in positions where his life would be endangered and threatened his life on a number of occasions, but he failed to keep his word to David. A character study of Saul would reveal that he was jealous, fearful and dishonorable. He became a complexity of evil motives and deeds. When it was time that he should be married to Merab, Saul betrayed him and gave Merab to be the wife of Adriel, a Meholathite.

12.

Who was Michal? 1 Samuel 18:20

Michal was Saul's younger daughter. Her mother was also Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz (1 Samuel 14:50). Michal loved David, and this information was brought to Saul. He saw in Michal's association with David an opportunity to lay a snare for David. He proposed that David would be his son-in-law by marrying Michal, but he demanded a dowry of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. The servants of Saul were sent to find out David's reaction to such a proposal. Davil felt that he was being mocked by the king and said, seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law (1 Samuel 18:23). He evidently believed that Saul was toying with him, and he did not think it was a laughing matter. In other words, David took the proposal seriously and was willing to do whatever was honorable to be given the hand of Michal in marriage.

13.

Why did Saul demand the foreskins of David? 1 Samuel 18:25

Jacob worked for seven years in order to receive the hand of Rachel in marriage (Genesis 29:28). Saul demanded a very unusual dowry from David in the form of 100 foreskins of the Philistines. Hardly any personal advantage came to Saul by demanding such a dowry. He was evidently trying to place David in such a dangerous situation that David could not escape. If David went out to kill one hundred Philistines and one of them killed him, then Saul would have removed this constant source of aggravation. Once again David showed himself willing to give more than could be expected of him. He not only killed a hundred Philistines, but doubled the number. He killed two hundred men and brought their foreskins to Saul.

14.

What is the meaning of the phrase, in full tale? 1 Samuel 18:27

There was no lack of any in the total of two hundred foreskins. The number was not one hundred ninety-nine, It was a full two hundred, just twice as many as Saul had demanded. This phrase is an old English phrase from which we sometimes get the expression, all told. We may make reference to there being two hundred people, all told, at some kind of meeting. This expression has persisted in our language from the old English way of saying that a number was fully counted.

15.

Why did the princes of the Philistines go forth? 1 Samuel 18:30

The princes of the Philistines probably went out to avenge the killing of two hundred of their men by David as he satisfied the beastly whim of king Saul. They went forth to battle against the Israelites as they probably did on a number of occasions. David behaved himself wisely as ever. His behavior was better than that of any of the other servants of Saul so that his reputation grew better and better. His reputation even spread into Philistia, and all the Israelites came to depend upon him greatly, The Philistines feared him as a mighty man of war, and the Israelites looked to him as a champion of their cause.