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
1David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan#18.1 Jonathan: Saul's eldest son (see chapter 14). became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself. 2From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.
3Jonathan liked David so much that they promised they would always be loyal friends. 4Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes,#18.4 military clothes: Or “armour”. his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.
5David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.
Saul tries to kill David
Saul becomes David's enemy
6David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were singing happy songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. 7They sang:#1 S 21.11; 29.5.
Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand enemies!
8This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.” 9Saul never again trusted David.
10The next day the LORD let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a mad man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand. 11Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.
12Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was helping David and was no longer helping him. 13Saul put David in charge of a thousand soldiers and sent him out to fight. 14The LORD helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles. 15This made Saul even more afraid of David. 16But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to#18.16 was loyal to: Or “loved”. David, because he led the army in battle.
17One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the LORD's battles for me, I'll let you marry my eldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”
18David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”
19But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.
20Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy, 21and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”
22-23Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”
“I'm not rich#18.22,23 not rich: It was the custom for a man to give the bride's father some silver or gold in order to marry his daughter, and it would take a large amount to marry the daughter of the king. or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.
24The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said. 25Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed a hundred Philistines!”#18.25 proof…Philistines: Hebrew “one hundred Philistine foreskins”. In ancient times soldiers would sometimes cut off body parts of their dead enemies to prove how many they had killed. 26The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.
King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out, 27David and his men left and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought back the proof and showed it to Saul, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. 28Saul knew that she loved David,#18.28 she…David: Hebrew; one ancient translation “all Israel was loyal to David”. and he also realized that the LORD was helping David. 29But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.
30The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012