1 Samuel 18:17
New International Version
Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the LORD.” For Saul said to himself, “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

New Living Translation
One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.”

English Standard Version
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

Berean Standard Bible
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

King James Bible
And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

New King James Version
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older 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, “Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

New American Standard Bible
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD’S battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

NASB 1995
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD’S battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

NASB 1977
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be a man of valor for me and fight Yahweh’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

Amplified Bible
Then Saul said to David, “Behold I will give you my older daughter Merab as a wife; only be brave for me and fight the LORD’S battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

Christian Standard Bible
Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife if you will be a warrior for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “My hand doesn’t need to be against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

American Standard Version
And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Shaul said to David: “Behold, my older daughter Nadab I shall give to you as a wife, however, be Commander of the army for me and fight the battles of LORD JEHOVAH.” And Shaul said: “My hand will not be against him, but it will be the hand of the Philistines”

Contemporary English Version
One day, Saul told David, "If you'll be brave and fight the LORD's battles for me, I'll let you marry my oldest daughter Merab." But Saul was really thinking, "I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man, and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within himself: Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of the Philistines be upon him.

English Revised Version
And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me. and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Finally, Saul said to David, "Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife if you prove yourself to be a warrior for me and fight the LORD's battles." (Saul thought, "I must not lay a hand on him. Let the Philistines do that.")

Good News Translation
Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife on condition that you serve me as a brave and loyal soldier, and fight the LORD's battles." (Saul was thinking that in this way the Philistines would kill David, and he would not have to do it himself.)

International Standard Version
Saul told David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I'll give her to you as a wife. Just be an excellent soldier for me and fight the LORD's battles." Now Saul told himself, "I won't harm him myself. Instead, I'll let the Philistines harm him."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Saul said to David: 'Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles.' For Saul said: 'Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.'

Literal Standard Version
And Saul says to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab—I give her to you for a wife; only, be for a son of valor to me, and fight the battles of YHWH”; and Saul said, “Do not let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.”

Majority Standard Bible
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

New American Bible
Saul said to David, “Look, I will give you my older daughter, Merob, in marriage if you become my warrior and fight the battles of the LORD.” Saul thought, “I will not lay a hand on him. Let the hand of the Philistines strike him.”

NET Bible
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 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!"

New Revised Standard Version
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.”

New Heart English Bible
Saul said to David, "Look, my elder daughter Merob, I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles." For Saul said, "Do not let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him."

Webster's Bible Translation
And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee for a wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

World English Bible
Saul said to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.”

Young's Literal Translation
And Saul saith unto David, 'Lo, my elder daughter Merab -- her I give to thee for a wife; only, be to me for a son of valour, and fight the battles of Jehovah;' and Saul said, 'Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David Marries Michal
17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?”…

Cross References
Numbers 21:14
Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: "Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,

1 Samuel 14:49
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. His two daughters were named Merab (his firstborn) and Michal (his younger daughter).

1 Samuel 17:25
Now the men of Israel had been saying, "Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father's house from taxation in Israel."

1 Samuel 17:36
Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God."

1 Samuel 17:47
And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give all of you into our hands."

1 Samuel 18:21
"I will give her to David," Saul thought, "so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second time now you can be my son-in-law."

1 Samuel 18:25
Saul replied, "Say to David, 'The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.'" But Saul intended to cause David's death at the hands of the Philistines.


Treasury of Scripture

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give you to wife: only be you valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.

her will I give

1 Samuel 17:25
And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

Psalm 12:2
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

Psalm 55:21
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

valiant [heb] a son of valour

1 Samuel 17:47
And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.

1 Samuel 25:28
I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

Numbers 32:20,27,29
And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, …

Let not mine

1 Samuel 18:21,25
And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain…

Deuteronomy 17:7
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

2 Samuel 11:15
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

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1 Samuel 18
1. Jonathan befriends David
5. Saul envies his praise
10. seeks to kill him in his fury
12. fears him for his good success
17. offers him his daughters for snare
23. David persuaded to be the king's son-in-law,
25. gives two hundred foreskins of the Philistines for Michal's dowry
28. Saul's hatred and David's glory increase














(17) Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife.--This was but the fulfilment of a much earlier promise. The king had said he would give his daughter in marriage to the hero who should slay the Philistine giant champion. For one cause or other he had declined, or at least postponed, the carrying out of his pledge; and the dark thought crossed his mind, Could he not endanger the hated life, while seeming to wish to keep the old promise? He speaks of the Philistine war as the Lord's battles. This was a feeling which inspired every patriotic Israelite. "He was," when fighting with the idolatrous nations, "warring for the Lord"--so David felt when he spoke of the Philistine giant as having defied the ranks of the living God, and alluded to the battle as the Lord's (1Samuel 17:26; 1Samuel 17:47). The same idea is expressed in the title of that most ancient collection of songs which has not been preserved to us--"Book of the Wars of the Lord" (Numbers 21:14).

Verses 17, 18. - Behold my elder daughter Merab. Saul had promised that he would give his daughter in marriage to whosoever should slay the giant (1 Samuel 17:25); and not only was there in this the honour of a close alliance with the royal house, but, as it was usual to give large presents to the father in return for the daughter's hand, the gift had also a substantial value. After long delay Saul now refers to this promise, not so much with the intention of fulfilling it, as of leading David on to enterprises which might cost him his life. The marriage may have been deferred at first on account of David's youth; the subject is now revived, but with evil intentions. My eider daughter is literally "my daughter, the great one," while Michal is "the little one," a way of speaking used only where there are but two daughters. Be thou valiant, etc. This exhortation would be natural under the circumstances; but Saul hoped that David, in order to secure so great a prize, would be encouraged to undertake rash adventures. For Saul said. I.e. in himself; his purpose was to urge David to perpetual fighting, that so in some rash undertaking he might be slam. Thus Saul s malice grows, and though not prepared as yet to put David to death himself, he would have felt relief if he had died by the fortune of war. David answers modestly and discreetly that he is not worthy of so great an honour. We are not to suppose that he discerned Saul's treachery, which only came-to light afterwards. What is my life, - i.e. my condition, - or my father's family? The or is not in the Hebrew, and the meaning is, What is my condition, even my father's family? etc. David's condition or rank in life was settled by the rank which his father held.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Saul
שָׁא֜וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to David,
דָּוִ֗ד (dā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

“Here
הִנֵּה֩ (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

is my oldest
הַגְּדוֹלָ֤ה (hag·gə·ḏō·w·lāh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

daughter
בִתִּ֨י (ḇit·tî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 1323: A daughter

Merab.
מֵרַב֙ (mê·raḇ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4764: Merab

I will give her
אֶתֶּן־ (’et·ten-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

to you
לְךָ֣ (lə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

in marriage.
לְאִשָּׁ֔ה (lə·’iš·šāh)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

Only
אַ֚ךְ (’aḵ)
Adverb
Strong's 389: A particle of affirmation, surely

be
הֱיֵה־ (hĕ·yêh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

valiant
חַ֔יִל (ḥa·yil)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2428: A force, an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength

for me
לִּ֣י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

and fight
וְהִלָּחֵ֖ם (wə·hil·lā·ḥêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 3898: To feed on, to consume, to battle

the LORD's
יְהוָ֑ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

battles.”
מִלְחֲמ֣וֹת (mil·ḥă·mō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4421: A battle, war

But Saul
וְשָׁא֣וּל (wə·šā·’ūl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

was thinking,
אָמַ֗ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“I need not raise
תְּהִ֤י (tə·hî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

my hand
יָדִי֙ (yā·ḏî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

against him;
בּ֔וֹ (bōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

let the hand
יַד־ (yaḏ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3027: A hand

of the Philistines
פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃ (pə·liš·tîm)
Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 6430: Philistines -- inhabitants of Philistia

be
וּתְהִי־ (ū·ṯə·hî-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Jussive - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

against him.”
ב֖וֹ (ḇōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: 1 Samuel 18:17 Saul said to David Behold my elder (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
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