Bound By His Promise Saul Seeks To Fulfil It By Giving One Of His Daughter's To David To Be His Wife (1 Samuel 18:17-27).
Saul had publicly promised that to the victor over Goliath he would give him one of his daughters to be his wife (1 Samuel 17:25), and it was thus not a promise that he could avoid facing up to. But of course David was still young, which may help to explain the course of events which follow. He may not have wanted to be saddled with a wife who was not of his choosing. On the other hand you did not tell the king that. Thus there appears to have been some prevarication taking place, which was not necessarily all Saul's fault.
‘ And Saul said to David, “See, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you for a wife, only be you valiant for me, and fight YHWH's battles.” For Saul said, “Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.'
Saul now approached David about the promise that he had made to give his daughter as wife to the man who slew Goliath, and accordingly offered him his eldest daughter as his wife, in return for his loyalty and true service, both towards him and towards YHWH. Outwardly he was fulfilling his promise. But we learn that underneath Saul was still hoping that David would be slain by the Philistines. He would become a special target once he was the king's son-in-law.
‘ And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” '
David replies with a show of humility which what follows points to as containing some truth in it. He really does appear to have felt that he was not worthy to be connected with the royal family, and indeed could not afford it. (It was now many years since Saul himself had been' ‘ordinary', and it had been before David's time). On the other hand this expression of humility by David could have been a polite acceptance, for it was quite normal to accept such offers with such an act of humility, but if that was so, it is then difficult to understand why the marriage did not go through, or why he accepted Michal later on different terms. In context, therefore, it is more probable that David was simply here politely indicating that he would prefer not to accept the offer. This could have been for a number of reasons:
1). Because he genuinely did not feel that he was worthy of the offer (compare 1 Samuel 18:22).
2). Because he genuinely thought that he could not afford to pay the necessary dowry. This would help to explain Saul's later offer (compare 1 Samuel 18:25).
3). Because he knew that Merab looked down on him as a mere commoner. This would help to explain why Saul was so pleased when he found out that Michal loved David. She would therefore not be seen by David as looking down on him.
What David said would certainly have been said in such a way that both parties knew what the situation was. There was a way of doing these things which would have been familiar at the time. Thus Saul would have immediately recognised that David was not happy at the thought of marrying Merab. Of course had he insisted David would have had no option but to accept, but what happened subsequently does suggest that Saul took the hint and recognised that David did not want to marry Merab, whether through humility, size of dowry or some other reason, and did not want to press it.
‘ And it came about that, at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife.'
Thus at the time when she would have been expected to marry David, Merab was married to someone else. That was probably in order to prevent her from being shamed by the situation. Everyone would have been anticipating her marriage to the hero of Israel, and her marriage to Adriel would make it clear to all that that was not what had been intended, and that she had already previously been committed. It would leave Saul to be able to fulfil his promise in another way. As the eldest daughter Merab inevitably had to be married before another daughter could be offered to David (compare Genesis 29:26). It is not really likely that Saul deliberately snubbed David. That would have brought Saul into disrepute.
‘ And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.'
Then news that his other daughter, Michal, loved David was brought to Saul, and Saul was delighted, for he saw in this the opportunity to fulfil his promise and at the same time to entrap David. (We must remember that he was not thinking normally). Marriage to Michal might be more acceptable to David because for one thing the younger daughter would not be expected to receive so great a dowry as the elder. For another her love for David would also mean that Michal would not be seen as disdaining marriage to him as a commoner. The mention of this does suggest that that may have been one problem between David and Merab
‘ 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.” Which is the reason why Saul said to David, “You shall this day be my son-in-law” a second time.'
But Saul's reasoning was not straightforward. Indeed it was treacherous. His plan was that by giving his daughter to David and binding him to him in service, he could then send him out on the most dangerous assignments, as his son-in-law, while the Philistines would also especially be eager to kill him because of whom he now was. It would thus put him in great danger. This then was why he said to David a second time, ‘You shall this day be my son-in-law.' The only problem now was how to persuade David to accept the offered privilege.
‘ And Saul commanded his servants, saying, “Speak with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you, now therefore be the king's son-in-law.”'
With this in mind Saul privately told his servants to have a quiet word in David's ear and tell him that the king delighted in him, and that all Saul's servants loved him, and that he should therefore be willing to become Saul's son-in-law, because everyone important was in agreement about it.
‘ And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?”
But David continued to point out that he was only a poor man and not one who held high position or was greatly esteemed. He genuinely did not see becoming Saul's son-in-law as a real possibility. He had too high a regard for Saul, and he also did not feel that he could afford the dowry that would be required, or live up to what would then be expected of him.
‘ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “In this way spoke David.” '
Saul's servants then informed Saul of what David had said, which set Saul to thinking the problem over.
‘ And Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, The king does not want any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies.” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.'
Then Saul had an inspiration. He told them to tell David that the only dowry that he would require would be a hundred foreskins of (dead) Philistines so that the king might be avenged of his enemies. He did this in the hope that David might be killed by the Philistines as he sought to obtain them.
We may cringe a little at the idea of warriors taking the foreskins of their enemy, but some kind of physical proof had to be brought back in order to demonstrate that the one hundred who had been killed were Philistines. As Philistines were the only uncircumcised people around this would be proof that the hundred who had been killed really were Philistines. Saul may also have been associating the foreskins with what would result from their presentation to him. They represented the future productivity of David's house as contrasted with the fact that no more Philistine warriors would be produced by these Philistines, and may even have been seen as contributing towards that end. They would thus be seen as a very suitable ‘wedding gift' in those raunchier days.
‘ And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not expired, and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.'
Once he recognised that all barriers to being the king's son-in-law could be solved David was well pleased and decided that it was a very worthwhile idea. And as the period in which he had had to make his decision about Michal had not expired he arose and took his men and killed two hundred Philistine warriors, and brought their foreskins to Saul and thereby presented him with double the dowry which was required for becoming the king's son-in-law. (Thereby indicating his high esteem for Saul). And Saul then, in accordance with what he had promised, gave his daughter Michal to David to be his wife.
All now appeared rosy on the outside, and David had by this leaped from being a commander of a military unit to being the king's son-in-law, thereby gaining at least a foothold on the path to the throne, although that was certainly not Saul's intention.