1 Samuel 14:49

Members of Saul’s Family

14:49 The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. ¹  He had two daughters; the older one was named Merab and the younger Michal.

1 Samuel 18:20-28

18:20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it ²  pleased him. 18:21 Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.” ³ 

18:22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.” 18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ⁴  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

18:24 When Saul’s servants reported what David had said, 18:25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his ⁵  enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed ⁶  to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired ⁷  18:27 when David, along with his men, went out ⁸  and struck down two hundred Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

18:28 When Saul realized ⁹  that the Lord was with David and that his ¹⁰  daughter Michal loved David, ¹¹ 

[14:49]  ¹ sn The list differs from others. In 1 Sam 31:2 (= 1 Chr 10:2), Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua are listed as Saul’s sons, while 1 Chr 8:33 and 9:39 list Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

[18:20]  ² tn Heb “the matter.”

[18:21]  ³ tc The final sentence of v. 21 is absent in most LXX mss.

[18:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “the king’s.”

[18:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”

[18:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”

[18:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[18:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “saw and knew.”

[18:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Saul’s.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[18:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.