1 Samuel 18:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, "Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands."

NIV: As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

NASB: The women sang as they played, and said, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.'

CSB: As they danced, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.

NLT: This was their song: 'Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!'

KJV: And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

NKJV: So the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”

The women of Israel are celebrating David's defeat of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:50) and the Israelite army's victory over the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:52–53). The closeness of these verses suggests that this moment came immediately following David's killing of Goliath and the battle that followed. However, it may have happened later, or more than once, after David added other victories over the Philistines to his record (1 Samuel 18:5).

The original language here could be translated to say that the "merry-making women" sang. The phrase may mean these were professional celebrators hired to sing and dance and bring up the energy of an official celebration. They used a common form of singing, sometimes called an antiphon or "call and response," where the singers address each other in the song.

It's understandable that one line of their song caught Saul's attention. The women are saying nothing negative about Saul. He is proclaimed for his victory over "thousands" in battle. But David is credited with "ten thousands." Both are nonliteral terms, much as a modern person might speak of a hot day being "a million degrees." The song is meant to honor both, but it especially calls out David's deeds.

Whatever the women's intent, the line triggers a change in Saul's attitude. He may have been forced to remember Samuel's words: that Saul's son will not follow him as king (1 Samuel 15:26–29). It seems the people think better of David than they do of Saul. David has officially become a threat to Saul's rule, at least in Saul's own mind (1 Samuel 18:8–9).

First Samuel 18:6–16 reveals the hastening story of King Saul's demise and David's rise. When the army returns from battle, David's victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17) is celebrated more than the king's win over the Philistine army. The harmful spirit returns to Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–23). His jealousy of David turns to violence. Before long, Saul will use his own daughters as bait in traps to destroy his greatest warrior (1 Samuel 18:17–30).

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.