1 Samuel 18:17-21

English Standard Version

David Marries Michal

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is ^(A)my elder daughter Merab. ^(B)I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me ^(C)and fight the Lord's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, ^(D)but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸And David said to Saul, ^(E)“Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to ^(F)Adriel the ^(G)Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰Now ^(H)Saul's daughter Michal ^(I)loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^(J)be a snare for him ^(K)and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,^[a] ^(L)“You shall now be my son-in-law.”

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Footnotes

1 Samuel 18:21 Hebrew by two

1 Samuel 18:17-21

New International Version

¹⁷Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter^(A) Merab. I will give her to you in marriage;^(B) only serve me bravely and fight the battles^(C) of the Lord.” For Saul said to himself,^(D) “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

¹⁸But David said to Saul, “Who am I,^(E) and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?^(F)” ¹⁹So^[a] when the time came for Merab,^(G) Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.^(H)

²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal^(I) was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.^(J) ²¹“I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare^(K) to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”

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