1 Samuel 18:20-28

18:20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it ¹  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.” ² 

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 ³  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 ⁴  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 ⁵  to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired ⁶  18:27 when David, along with his men, went out ⁷  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 ⁸  that the Lord was with David and that his ⁹  daughter Michal loved David, ¹⁰ 

[18:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the matter.”

[18:21]  ² tc The final sentence of v. 21 is absent in most LXX mss.

[18:23]  ³ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “the king’s.”

[18:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”

[18:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”

[18:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[18:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “saw and knew.”

[18:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “Saul’s.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[18:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.