Wherefore 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 tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.
David ... slew of the Philistines two hundred men. The number was doubled, partly to show his respect and attachment to the princess, and partly to oblige Saul to the fulfillment of his pledge. This passage and 2 Samuel 1:20 (cf. Genesis 34:1-31), where the Philistines are called "the uncircumcised," seems directly at variance with a well-known statement by Herodotus (b. 2:: cf. ch. 104: Diodorus, b. 1:, 28), of the fact that circumcision was practiced, not only by the Egyptians and Ethiopians, but by the Syrians of Palestine and the Phoenicians, But the two statements, though apparently conflicting, are capable of being adjusted. 'Subsequently to the time of Saul a great change took place in the population of the Philistine cities, and a considerable Egyptian element, practicing circumcision, had probably been introduced' (Blakesley's 'Notes;' also Wilkinson in Rawlinson's 'Herodotus,' 2:, p. 104).
Gave them in full tale to the king. Trophies of this sort, whether hands, heads, or other dismembered relics of slaughtered remains, were minutely enumerated and carefully recorded (Gliddon's 'Ancient Egypt,' p. 99; Layard).