1 Samuel 18
18
Saul Fears David
1#2Sa 1:26; Ge 44:30; Dt 13:6When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, so that Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2#1Sa 17:15And Saul took him that day and would not permit him to return home to his father’s house. 3#1Sa 20:8–17; 20:42Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. 4#Ge 41:42So Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, even his garments, his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5#1Sa 18:14–15; 18:30David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he was successful. So Saul set him over the men of war, and it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of the servants of Saul.
6#Ex 15:20; Jdg 11:34When they came home, as David was returning from slaying the Philistine, the women came out from all cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. 7#1Sa 21:11; Ex 15:21; 1Sa 29:5The dancing women sang and said,
“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”
8#1Sa 15:28Saul became very angry, and this saying was displeasing to him. Therefore he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what remains for him to have but the kingdom?” 9So Saul was suspicious of David from that day and forward.
10#1Sa 19:9; 16:23It came to pass the following day, that an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, so that he raved in the midst of the house. And David was playing the lyre, as at other times. Now there was a spear in Saul’s hand. 11#1Sa 20:33; Isa 54:17And Saul threw the spear. For he said, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David avoided him two times.
12#1Sa 18:15; 18:29Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13#2Sa 5:2Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and placed him as his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14#Ge 39:2–3; 39:23David was successful in all his ways and the Lord was with him. 15When Saul saw that he was very successful, he was afraid of him. 16#1Sa 18:5Now all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
David Marries Michal
17#1Sa 17:25; 18:25Saul said to David, “Behold my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as your wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul said, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18#1Sa 18:23; 2Sa 7:18But David said to 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#Jdg 7:22; 2Sa 21:8So when it was time that Merab, daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.
20#1Sa 18:28Now Michal, daughter of Saul, loved David and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21#1Sa 18:17; Ex 10:7Saul said, “I will give her to him that she may be a snare to him, and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “For a second time, you may be my son-in-law today.”
22Saul commanded his servants, saying, “Speak to David in secret saying, ‘Listen, the king delights in you and all his servants love you. Now therefore become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”
23So the servants of Saul spoke these words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?”
24And the servants of Saul reported to him saying, “According to these words, David spoke.” 25#Ge 34:12; 1Sa 14:24Saul said, “Thus will you say to David, ‘The king does not desire 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.
26When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; 27#2Sa 3:14therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins and they gave them in full to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife.
28When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, his daughter, loved him, 29Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul became the enemy of David continually.
30#1Sa 18:5; 2Sa 11:1Then the commanders of the Philistines went out to make war. And when they went out David was more successful than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly honored.
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1 Samuel 18: MEV
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Military Bible Association
1 Samuel 18
18
David and Jonathan Become Friends
1-2Saul decided to take David with him. He would not let David go back home to his father. After David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan developed a strong friendship with David.#18:1-2 Jonathan … with David Literally, “Jonathan’s soul was tied to David’s soul.” 3Jonathan loved David as much as himself, so they made a special agreement. 4Jonathan took off the coat he was wearing and gave it to David. In fact, Jonathan gave David his whole uniform—including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.
Saul Notices David’s Success
5David went to fight wherever Saul sent him. He was very successful, so Saul put him in charge of the soldiers. This pleased everyone, even Saul’s officers. 6David would go out to fight against the Philistines. On the way home, after the battles, women in every town in Israel would come out to meet him. They sang and danced for joy as they played their tambourines and lyres. They did this right in front of Saul! 7The women sang,
“Saul has killed his thousands,
but David has killed tens of thousands.”
8This song upset Saul and he became very angry. Saul thought, “The women give David credit for killing tens of thousands of the enemy, and they give me credit for only thousands. A little more of this and they will give him the kingdom itself!#18:8 A little more … itself This is not in one of the oldest and best copies of the ancient Greek version.” 9So from that time on, Saul watched David very closely.
Saul Is Afraid of David
10The next day, an evil spirit from God took control of Saul and he went wild#18:10 Saul … wild Or “Saul prophesied.” The Hebrew word means that the person lost control of what they said and did. Usually this meant God was using them to give a special message to other people. in his house. David played the harp to calm him as he usually did, 11but Saul had a spear in his hand. He thought, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” Saul threw the spear twice, but David jumped out of the way both times.
12The Lord had left Saul and was now with David, so Saul was afraid of David. 13Saul sent David away and made him a commander over 1000 soldiers. This put David out among the men even more as they went into battle and returned. 14The Lord was with David, so he was successful in everything. 15Saul saw how successful David was and became even more afraid of him. 16But all the people in Israel and Judah loved David because he was out among them and led them into battle.
Saul Wants His Daughter to Marry David
17One day Saul said to David, “Here is my oldest daughter, Merab. I will let you marry her. Then you will be like a son to me and you will be a real soldier.#18:17 real soldier That is, a member of the warrior class. They were free from certain duties of ordinary citizens. Then you will go and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul was really thinking, “Now I won’t have to kill David. I will let the Philistines kill him for me.”
18But David said, “I am not an important man from an important family. I can’t marry the king’s daughter.”
19So when the time came for David to marry Saul’s daughter, Saul let her marry Adriel from Meholah.
20People told Saul that his daughter Michal loved David. This made Saul happy. 21He thought, “I will use Michal to trap David. I will let Michal marry David, and then I will let the Philistines kill him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can marry my daughter today.”
22Saul commanded his officers to speak to David in private. He told them to say, “Look, the king likes you. His officers like you. You should marry his daughter.”
23Saul’s officers said these things to David, but David answered, “Do you think it is easy to become the king’s son-in-law? I am just a poor, ordinary man.”
24Saul’s officers told Saul what David said. 25Saul told them, “Say this to David, ‘David, the king doesn’t want you to pay money for his daughter.#18:25 money for his daughter In Bible times a man usually had to give money to a woman’s father before he could marry her. He wants to get even with his enemy, so the price for marrying his daughter is 100 Philistine foreskins.’” That was Saul’s secret plan. He thought the Philistines would kill David.
26Saul’s officers told this to David. David was happy that he had a chance to become the king’s son-in-law, so immediately 27he and his men went out to fight the Philistines. They killed 200#18:27 200 The ancient Greek version has “100.” Philistines. David took these Philistine foreskins and gave them to Saul. He did this because he wanted to become the king’s son-in-law.
Saul let David marry his daughter Michal. 28He saw that the Lord was with David and he also saw that his daughter, Michal, loved David. 29So Saul became even more afraid of David and was against him all that time.
30The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but David defeated them every time. He became famous as Saul’s best officer.
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