1 Samuel 18:17-19
New English Translation
17 [a] Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior[b] for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father[c] in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 18:17 tc Much of the ms evidence for the LXX lacks vv. 17-19.
- 1 Samuel 18:17 tn Heb “son of valor.”
- 1 Samuel 18:18 tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.
1 Samuel 18:17-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
David Marries Michal
17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I will not raise a hand against him; let the Philistines deal with him.”(A) 18 David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my kinsfolk, my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”(B) 19 But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.(C)
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