1 Samuel 18:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But at the time when Merab, Saul 's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

NIV: So when the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.

NASB: So it came about at the time that Merab, Saul’s daughter, was to be given to David, that she was given instead to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

CSB: When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

NLT: So when the time came for Saul to give his daughter Merab in marriage to David, he gave her instead to Adriel, a man from Meholah.

KJV: But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

NKJV: But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

King Saul had intended to use his older daughter Merab to keep David in Saul's service fighting the Philistines. Saul hoped that, eventually, David would die in battle. When David's humility wouldn't allow him to marry into the royal family, Saul found another use for her. He gives her to a man named Adriel from the town of Mehola.

Merab and Adriel, whose name may mean "God is my help," will eventually have five sons. All will be executed when David turns them over the Gibeonites. This will be done to atone for Saul's sin of unjustly killing so many Gibeonite people, rather than honoring an agreement with them (2 Samuel 21:1–9).

Some translations use the word "but," which makes it seem as if Saul broke a promise to give Merab to David. But others use the word "so," implying that because David refused, Saul marries her to another. Either way, Saul's treatment of his daughters is harsh and political. He tries to use Merab to arrange David's death. When that doesn't work, he cynically uses his younger daughter, Michal, who genuinely loves David (1 Samuel 18:20–27). David still survives. Saul threatens David to the point that Michal must create a diversion so David can flee (1 Samuel 19:11–17). While David is on the run, Saul gives Michal to another man (1 Samuel 25:44).

First Samuel 18:17–30 reveals the depths of King Saul's hatred toward David. When David killed Goliath, Saul thought he had a champion (1 Samuel 17). The moment they return from battle, however, the people's affections transfer to David, and the king grows furious. Saul's direct attempts to kill David fail (1 Samuel 18:6–16), so he uses his daughters to lure David into a fatal battle with the Philistines. Again, Saul's plan fails, and the king realizes God's protection over David is too great. Soon, Saul will watch as even his children favor David (1 Samuel 19).

Saul's son Jonathan becomes David's best friend. David succeeds in every military mission Saul sends him on. The people praise David as being even mightier than Saul. The king is furious and terrified that David will take his throne. After Saul's direct attempts to kill David fail, the king sends David to battle the Philistines using marriage to his daughter as bait. David not only survives, but he continues to prove himself to be a mightier warrior and leader than Saul. Saul knows the Lord is with David and not with him and cements himself as David's permanent enemy.

First Samuel 18 begins the story of how the changed work of the Holy Spirit on both Saul and David (1 Samuel 16:13–14) leads to the king's destruction and David's rise. David faithfully serves both Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–23) and Saul's kingdom (1 Samuel 17—18). But David wins the hearts of Saul's people and his children. Saul can't handle the competition (1 Samuel 19—20). Finally, David flees the royal court and raises his own army. He spends years fighting Israel's enemies from afar, patiently waiting until Saul dies in battle and the shepherd boy can take his rightful crown (1 Samuel 21—31).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.