1 Samuel 19:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?" And Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’"

NIV: Saul said to Michal, "Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?" Michal told him, "He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’ "

NASB: So Saul said to Michal, 'Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?' And Michal said to Saul, 'He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?’?'

CSB: Saul asked Michal, "Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!" She answered him, "He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’"

NLT: Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?' Saul demanded of Michal. 'I had to,' Michal replied. 'He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.'

KJV: And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

NKJV: Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

In 1 Samuel 19:11–17, David says goodbye to his home in Gibeah. Part of Saul knows David isn't a threat to him, but the evil spirit that torments the king is stronger than logic. Saul has tried to kill David with a spear, his servants, and the Philistines. He tries again with "messengers" who are to watch over the house and bring David to Saul for execution. Michal helps David escape to Samuel in Ramah. When Saul comes after him, both the king and his servants start prophesying uncontrollably (1 Samuel 19:18–24).

In 1 Samuel 19, the war between Saul and David grows stronger. Saul orders his servants to kill David. Jonathan confronts him about this injustice, and the king swears not to put David to death. But when a harmful spirit from the Lord comes upon Saul, Saul tries to kill David with a spear. With Michal's help, David escapes Samuel in Ramah and the company of prophets. Three groups of Saul's servants and then Saul himself come to arrest David, but they're all overcome by God's Spirit and begin prophesying uncontrollably.

When David killed Goliath, Saul brought him in as an army commander. The more battles David won, the more the people loved him. Saul increasingly saw his warrior as a threat (1 Samuel 16:14—18:30). David finally understands he can't reconcile his relationship with the king. He flees with the help of Saul's daughter and son, who are David's wife and best friend (1 Samuel 19—20). Stil loyal to King Saul and Israel, David builds his own army. He will continue to fight Israel's enemies, and run from Saul, until Saul's death.

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.