Bible Commentaries

The bond of friendship which Jonathan formed with David was soevidently the main point, that in 1 Samuel 18:1 the writer commences with the loveof Jonathan to David, and then after that proceeds in 1 Samuel 18:2 to observe thatSaul took David to himself from that day forward; whereas it is veryevident that Saul told David, either at the time of his conversation withhim or immediately afterwards, that he was henceforth to remain with him,i.e., in his service. “The soul of Jonathan bound itself (lit. chained itself; cf. Genesis 44:30) to David's soul, and Jonathan loved him as his soul.” TheChethibh ויּאהבו with the suffix ו attached to the imperfect isvery rare, and hence the Keri ויּאהבהוּ (vid., Ewald, §249,b., and Olshausen, Gramm. p. 469). לשׁוּב, to return to hishouse, viz., to engage in his former occupation as shepherd.

Jonathan made a covenant (i.e., a covenant of friendship) and (i.e., with)David, because he loved him as his soul.

As a sign and pledge of his friendship, Jonathan gave David his clothes andhis armour. Meil, the upper coat or cloak. Maddim is probably the armourcoat (vid., 1 Samuel 17:39). This is implied in the word ועד, which isrepeated three times, and by which the different arms were attached moreclosely to מדּיו. For the act itself, compare the exchange ofarmour made by Glaucus and Diomedes (Hom. Il. vi. 230). This seems tohave been a common custom in very ancient times, as we meet with it alsoamong the early Celts (see Macpherson's Ossian).

And David went out, sc., to battle; whithersoever Saul sent him, he actedwisely and prosperously (ישׂכּיל, as in Joshua 1:8: see at Deuteronomy 29:8). Saul placed him above the men of war in consequence, made him oneof their commanders; and he pleased all the people, and the servants ofSaul also, i.e., the courtiers of the king, who are envious as a general rule.

Saul's jealousy towards David.

(Note: The section 1 Samuel 18:6-14 is supposed by Thenius and others tohave been taken by the compiler from a different source from theprevious one, and not to have been written by the same author: (1)because the same thing is mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:13, 1 Samuel 18:14, as in 1 Samuel 18:5, thoughin a somewhat altered form, and 1 Samuel 18:10, 1 Samuel 18:11 occur again in 1 Samuel 19:9-10, with a few different words, and in a more appropriateconnection; (2) because the contents of 1 Samuel 19:9, and the wordממּחרת in 1 Samuel 19:10, are most directly opposed to 1 Samuel 18:2 and 1 Samuel 18:5. On these grounds, no doubt, the lxx have not only omittedthe beginning of 1 Samuel 18:6 from their version, but also 1 Samuel 18:9-11. But thesupposed discrepancy between 1 Samuel 18:9 and 1 Samuel 18:10 and 1 Samuel 18:2 and 1 Samuel 18:5, - viz., thatSaul could not have kept David by his side from attachment to him,or have placed him over his men of war after several prosperousexpeditions, as is stated in 1 Samuel 18:2 and 1 Samuel 18:5, if he had looked upon himwith jealous eyes from the very first day, or if his jealousy had brokenout on the second day in the way described in 1 Samuel 18:10, 1 Samuel 18:11, - is foundedupon two erroneous assumptions; viz., (1) that the facts contained in1 Samuel 18:1-5 were contemporaneous with those in 1 Samuel 18:6-14; and (2) thateverything contained in these two sections is to be regarded as strictlychronological. But the fact recorded in 1 Samuel 18:2, namely, that Saul took David tohimself, and did not allow him to go back to his father's house anymore, occurred unquestionably some time earlier than thosementioned in 1 Samuel 18:6. with their consequences. Saul took David tohimself immediately after the defeat of Goliath, and before the warhad been brought to an end. But the celebration of the victory, inwhich the paean of the women excited jealousy in Saul's mind, did nottake place till the return of the people and of the king at the close ofthe war. How long the war lasted we do not know; but from the factthat the Israelites pursued the flying Philistines to Gath and Ekron,and then plundered the camp of the Philistines after that (1 Samuel 17:52-53), it certainly follows that some days, if not weeks, musthave elapsed between David's victory over Goliath and the celebrationof the triumph, after the expulsion of the Philistines from the land. Thus far the events described in the two sections are arranged in theirchronological order; but for all the rest the facts are arrangedantithetically, according to their peculiar character, whilst theconsequences, which reached further than the facts that gave rise tothem, and were to some extent contemporaneous, are appendedimmediately to the facts themselves. Thus David's going outwhithersoever Saul sent him (1 Samuel 18:5) may indeed have commencedduring the pursuit of the flying Philistines; but it reached far beyondthis war, and continued even while Saul was looking upon him withjealous eyes. 1 Samuel 18:5 contains a general remark, with which the historianbrings to a close one side of the relation between David and Saul,which grew out of David's victory. He then proceeds in 1 Samuel 18:6 to givethe other side, and rounds off this paragraph also (1 Samuel 18:14-16) with ageneral remark, the substance of which resembles, in the main, thesubstance of 1 Samuel 18:5. At the same time it implies some progress, inasmuch as the delight ofthe people at the acts performed by David (1 Samuel 18:5) grew into love toDavid itself. This same progress is also apparent in 1 Samuel 18:13 (“Saul madehim captain over a thousand”), as compared with 1 Samuel 18:5 (“Saul set himover the men of war”). Whether the elevation of David into acaptain over a thousand was a higher promotion than hisappointment over the men of war, or the latter expression is to betaken as simply a more general or indefinite term, denoting hispromotion to the rank of commander-in-chief, is a point which canhardly be determined with certainty.)

- Saul had no sooner attached the conqueror of Goliath to his court, than hebegan to be jealous of him. The occasion for his jealousy was thecelebration of victory at the close of the war with the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:6-7

“When they came,” i.e., when the warriors returned with Saulfrom the war, “when (as is added to explain what follows) David returnedfrom the slaughter,” i.e., from the war in which he had slain Goliath, thewomen came out of all the towns of Israel, “to singing and dancing,” i.e., tocelebrate the victory with singing and choral dancing (see the remarks onExodus 15:20), “to meet king Saul with tambourines, with joy, and withtriangles.” שׂמהה is used here to signify expressions of joy, afête, as in Judges 16:23, etc. The striking position in which the word stands,viz., between two musical instruments, shows that, the word is to beunderstood here as referring specially to songs of rejoicing, since accordingto 1 Samuel 18:7 their playing was accompanied with singing. The women who“sported” (משׂחקות), i.e., performed mimic dances, sang inalternate choruses (“answered,” as in Exodus 15:21), “Saul hath slain histhousands, and David his ten thousands.”

1 Samuel 18:8

Saul was enraged at this. The words displeased him, so that hesaid, “They have given David ten thousands, and to me thousands, andthere is only the kingdom more for him” (i.e., left for him to obtain). “Inthis foreboding utterance of Saul there was involved not only a conjecturewhich the result confirmed, but a deep inward truth: if the king of Israelstood powerless before the subjugators of his kingdom at so decisive aperiod as this, and a shepherd boy came and decided the victory, this wasan additional mark of his rejection” (O. v. Gerlach).

1 Samuel 18:9

From that day forward Saul was looking askance at David. עון, a denom. verb, from עין, an eye, looking askance,is used for עוין (Keri).

1 Samuel 18:10-11

The next day the evil spirit fell upon Saul (“the evil spirit ofGod;” see at 1 Samuel 16:14), so that he raved in his house, and threw hisjavelin at David, who played before him “as day by day,” but did not hithim, because David turned away before him twice. התנבּא does notmean to prophesy in this instance, but “to rave.” This use of the word isfounded upon the ecstatic utterances, in which the supernatural influenceof the Spirit of God manifested itself in the prophets (see at 1 Samuel 10:5). ויּטל, from טוּל, he hurled the javelin, and said (tohimself), “I will pierce David and the wall.” With such force did he hurl hisspear; but David turned away from him, i.e., eluded it, twice. His doing soa second time presupposes that Saul hurled the javelin twice; that is tosay, he probably swung it twice without letting it go out of his hand, - asupposition which is raised into certainty by the fact that it is not statedhere that the javelin entered the wall, as in 1 Samuel 19:10. But even with thisview יטל is not to be changed into יטּל, as Thenius proposes,since the verb נטל cannot be proved to have ever the meaning toswing. Saul seems to have held the javelin in his hand as a sceptre,according to ancient custom.

1 Samuel 18:12-13

“And Saul was afraid of David, because the Spirit of Jehovahwas with him, and had departed from Saul;” he “removed him thereforefrom him,” i.e., from his immediate presence, by appointing him chiefcaptain over thousand. In this fear of David on the part of Saul, the truereason for his hostile behaviour is pointed out with deep psychologicaltruth. The fear arose from the consciousness that the Lord had departedfrom him, - a consciousness which forced itself involuntarily upon him, anddrove him to make the attempt, in a fit of madness, to put David to death. The fact that David did not leave Saul immediately after this attempt uponhis life, may be explained not merely on the supposition that he lookedupon this attack as being simply an outburst of momentary madness,which would pass away, but still more from his firm believing confidence,which kept him from forsaking the post in which the Lord had placed himwithout any act of his own, until he saw that Saul was plotting to take hislife, not merely in these fits of insanity, but also at other times, in calmdeliberation (vid., 1 Samuel 19:1.).

1 Samuel 18:14-16

As chief commander over thousand, he went out and inbefore the people, i.e., he carried out military enterprises, and that sowisely and prosperously, that the blessing of the Lord rested upon all hedid. But these successes on David's part increased Saul's fear of him,whereas all Israel and Judah came to love him as their leader. David'ssuccess in all that he took in hand compelled Saul to promote him; and hisstanding with the people increased with his promotion. But as the Spiritof God had departed from Saul, this only filled him more and more withdread of David as his rival. As the hand of the Lord was visibly displayedin David's success, so, on the other hand, Saul's rejection by God wasmanifested in his increasing fear of David.

Craftiness of Saul in the betrothal of his daughters to David. - 1 Samuel 18:17. AsSaul had promised to give his daughter for a wife to the conqueror ofGoliath (1 Samuel 17:25), he felt obliged, by the growing love and attachmentof the people to David, to fulfil this promise, and told him that he wasready to do so, with the hope of finding in this some means of destroyingDavid. He therefore offered him his elder daughter Merab with words thatsounded friendly and kind: “Only be a brave man to me, and wage the warsof the Lord.” He called the wars with the Philistines “wars of Jehovah,”i.e., wars for the maintenance and defence of the kingdom of God, toconceal his own cunning design, and make David feel all the more sure thatthe king's heart was only set upon the welfare of the kingdom of God. Whoever waged the wars of the Lord might also hope for the help of theLord. But Saul had intentions of a very different kind. He thought (“said,”sc., to himself), “My hand shall not be upon him, but let the hand of thePhilistines be upon him;” i.e., I will not put him to death; the Philistinesmay do that. When Saul's reason had returned, he shrank from layinghands upon David again, as he had done before in a fit of madness. Hetherefore hoped to destroy him through the medium of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:18

But David replied with true humility, without suspecting thecraftiness of Saul: “Who am I, and what is my condition in life, my father'sfamily in Israel, that I should become son-in-law to the king?” חיּי מי is a difficult expression, and has been translated indifferent ways, as the meaning which suggests itself first (viz., “what ismy life”) is neither reconcilable with the מי (the interrogativepersonal pronoun), nor suitable to the context. Gesenius (Thes. p. 471)and Böttcher give the meaning “people” for חיּים, and Ewald(Gramm. §179, b.) the meaning “family.” But neither of these meanings canbe established. חיּים seems evidently to signify the condition inlife, the relation in which a person stands to others, and מי is tobe explained on the ground that David referred to the persons who formedthe class to which he belonged. “My father's family” includes all hisrelations. David's meaning was, that neither on personal grounds, nor onaccount of his social standing, nor because of his lineage, could he make theslightest pretension to the honour of becoming the son-in-law of the king.

1 Samuel 18:19

But Saul did not keep his promise. When the time arrived for itsfulfilment, he gave his daughter to Adriel the Meholathite, a man of whomnothing further is known.

(Note: 1 Samuel 18:17-19 are omitted from the Septuagint version; but theyare so, no doubt, only because Saul's first promise was without resultso far as David was concerned.)

1 Samuel 18:20-21

Michal is married to David. - The pretext under which Saulbroke his promise is not given, but it appears to have been, at any rate inpart, that Merab had no love to David. This may be inferred from 1 Samuel 18:17; 1 Samuel 18:18, compared with 1 Samuel 18:20. Michal, the younger daughter of Saul, lovedDavid. When Saul was told this, the thing was quite right in his eyes. Hesaid, “I will give her to him, that she may become a snare to him, and thehand of the Philistines may come upon him” (sc., if he tries to get the pricewhich I shall require a dowry; cf. 1 Samuel 18:25). He therefore said to David, “In asecond way (בּשׁתּים, as in Job 33:14) shalt thou become myson-in-law.” Saul said this casually to David; but he made no reply,because he had found out the fickleness of Saul, and therefore put nofurther trust in his words.

1 Samuel 18:22

Saul therefore employed his courtiers to persuade David toaccept his offer. In this way we may reconcile in a very simple manner theapparent discrepancy, that Saul is said to have offered his daughter toDavid himself, and yet he commissioned his servants to talk to Davidprivately of the king's willingness to give him his daughter. The omissionof 1 Samuel 18:21 in the Septuagint is to be explained partly from the fact thatבּשׁתּים points back to 1 Samuel 18:17-19, which are wanting in thisversion, and partly also in all probability from the idea entertained by thetranslators that the statement itself is at variance with 1 Samuel 18:22. Thecourtiers were to talk to David בּלּט, “in private,” i.e., as thoughthey were doing it behind the king's back.

1 Samuel 18:23

David replied to the courtiers, “Does it seem to you a little thingto become son-in-law to the king, seeing that I am a poor and humbleman?” “Poor,” i.e., utterly unable to offer anything like a suitable dowry tothe king. This reply was given by David in perfect sincerity, since hecould not possibly suppose that the king would give him his daughterwithout a considerable marriage portion.

1 Samuel 18:24-25

When this answer was reported to the king, he sent wordthrough his courtiers what the price was for which he would give him hisdaughter. He required no dowry (see at Genesis 34:12), but only a hundredforeskins of the Philistines, i.e., the slaughter of a hundred Philistines, andthe proof that this had been done, to avenge himself upon the enemies ofthe king; whereas, as the writer observes, Saul supposed that he shouldthus cause David to fall, i.e., bring about his death by the hand of thePhilistines.

1 Samuel 18:26-27

But David was satisfied with Saul's demand, since he had nosuspicion of his craftiness, and loved Michal. Even before the days werefull, i.e., before the time appointed for the delivery of the dowry and forthe marriage had arrived, he rose up with his men, smote two hundredPhilistines, and brought their foreskins, which were placed in their fullnumber before the king; whereupon Saul was obliged to give him Michalhis daughter to wife. The words “and the days were not full” (1 Samuel 18:26) forma circumstantial clause, which is to be connected with the followingsentence, “David arose,” etc. David delivered twice the price demanded. “They made them full to the king,” i.e., they placed them in their fullnumber before him.

1 Samuel 18:28-29

The knowledge of the fact that David had carried out all hisenterprises with success had already filled the melancholy king with fear. But when the failure of this new plan for devoting David to certain deathhad forced the conviction upon him that Jehovah was with David, and thathe was miraculously protected by Him; and when, in addition to this,there was the love of his daughter Michal to David; his fear of David grewinto a lifelong enmity. Thus his evil spirit urged him ever forward togreater and greater hardness of heart.

1 Samuel 18:30

The occasion for the practical manifestation of this enmity wasthe success of David in all his engagements with the Philistines. As oftenas the princes of the Philistines went out (sc., to war with Israel), Davidacted more wisely and prosperously than all the servants of Saul, so thathis name was held in great honour. With this general remark the way isprepared for the further history of Saul's conduct towards David.