18:22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.” 18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately 1 to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”
18:24 When Saul’s servants reported what David had said, 18:25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his 2 enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)
18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed 3 to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired 4 18:27 when David, along with his men, went out 5 and struck down two hundred Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
18:28 When Saul realized 6 that the Lord was with David and that his 7 daughter Michal loved David, 8 18:29 Saul became even more afraid of him. 9 Saul continued to be at odds with David from then on. 10 18:30 11 Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.
1 tn Heb “in the ears of.”
2 tn Heb “the king’s.”
3 tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”
4 tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”
5 tn Heb “arose and went.”
6 tn Heb “saw and knew.”
7 tn Heb “Saul’s.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “of David.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
10 tc The final sentence of v. 29 is absent in most LXX
tn Heb “all the days.”
11 tc Verse 30 is absent in most LXX