EasyEnglish Bible 2018
1 Samuel 18:17
17Saul said to David, ‘Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. But you must be a brave soldier and you must fight battles for the Lord.’ Saul thought to himself, ‘I will not have to kill David myself. The Philistines will do that.’
1 Samuel 18:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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 International Version (NIV)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!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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."
- New King James Version (NKJV)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.”
Context of 1 Samuel 18:17
15Saul saw that David was a great soldier. So he became more afraid of David. 16All the people in Israel and Judah loved David because he led the army in their battles. Saul said to David, ‘Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. But you must be a brave soldier and you must fight battles for the Lord.’ Saul thought to himself, ‘I will not have to kill David myself. The Philistines will do that.’ 18But David said to Saul, ‘I am not an important person. My family and my father's clan are not important either. I do not deserve to marry the king's daughter.’ 19When the time came for Merab to marry David, Saul told her to marry a different man. He gave her to Adriel from Meholah to be his wife.
Read all of 1 Samuel 181 Samuel 18:17 word by word
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר שָׁא֜וּל אֶל־דָּוִ֗ד הִנֵּה֩ בִתִּ֨י הַגְּדוֹלָ֤ה מֵרַב֙ אֹתָהּ֙ אֶתֶּן־לְךָ֣ לְאִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ךְ הֱיֵה־לִּ֣י לְבֶן־חַ֔יִל וְהִלָּחֵ֖ם מִלְחֲמ֣וֹת יְהוָ֑ה וְשָׁא֣וּל אָמַ֗ר אַל־תְּהִ֤י יָדִי֙ בּ֔וֹ וּתְהִי־ב֖וֹ יַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- to Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
- Behold my elderגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: oldH1419
- daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- Merabמֵרָבmêrâb · MerabH4764
- her will I giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: give(marriage)H5414
- thee to wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- only be thou valiantחַ֫יִלchayil · strengthH2428
- only be thou valiantבֵּןbên · son: warriorH1121
- for me, and fightלָחַםlâcham · to fightH3898
- the Lord’sיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- battlesמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
- Let not mine handיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
- of the Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיpelishtîy · PhilistineH6430
Cross-references for 1 Samuel 18:17
- 1 Samuel 17:25The Israelites said to each other, ‘Look at this man! He is so strong! He comes every day to insult us. King Saul will give great riches to any man who can kill Goliath. The king will give his daughter to that man, for him to marry her. His family will never again have to pay taxes to the king.’
- Psalms 12:2Everybody tells lies to one another. When they say nice things, they do it to deceive their friends.
- Psalms 55:21He speaks a message of peace, but he is really thinking about war. His words are easy to listen to, but they hurt like sharp knives.
- 1 Samuel 17:47The Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. Everyone here will soon know that! The Lord is the one who fights our battles. He will put you under our power.’
- 1 Samuel 25:28I am your servant. Please forgive me for any sin. I know that the Lord will always choose someone from your family to be Israel's king. The Lord will do that because you fight battles on his behalf. I pray that you will not do any evil thing in your whole life.
- Numbers 32:20Moses said to the men, ‘You must really do as you have said. You must take your weapons and go to fight for the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 18:21He thought, ‘I will let David marry her. I will use her as a trap that will catch him. I will give the Philistines a chance to kill him.’ So Saul said to David, ‘Now you have another chance to marry one of my daughters.’
- Deuteronomy 17:7The people who saw the wicked act must throw the first stones to kill the person. Then everyone else must also throw stones. In that way, you must remove evil acts from among you.
- 2 Samuel 11:15In the letter, David told Joab, ‘Put Uriah at the front of all our soldiers, where the battle is most dangerous. Then tell the other soldiers to move back away from him. Then he will be alone and the enemy's soldiers will kill him.’
- 2 Samuel 12:9But now you have not respected the Lord's command. You have done an evil thing. You caused Uriah the Hittite to die in a battle. You used the Ammonite soldiers to kill Uriah.
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 18:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Fight the Lord's battles - Mr. Calmet properly remarks that the wars of the Hebrews, while conducted by the express orders of God, were truly the wars of the Lord; but when the spirit of worldly ambition and domination became mingled with them, they were no longer the wars of the Lord, but wars of lust and profanity.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Saul had not hitherto fulfilled the promise of which David had heard (marginal reference); nor was it unnatural that Saul should delay to do so, until the shepherd‘s boy had risen to a higher rank.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-30Verses 12-30 For a long time David was kept in continual apprehension of falling by the hand of Saul, yet he persevered in meek and respectful behaviour towards his persecutor. How uncommon is such prudence and discretion, especially under insults and provocations! Let us inquire if we imitate this part of the exemplary character before us. Are we behaving wisely in all our ways? Is there no sinful omission, no rashness of spirit, nothing wrong in our…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17Saul promised his daughter to anyone who could kill Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25; see also Joshua 15:16; Judges 1:12). But he added more risks for David (see also 1 Samuel 18:21, 25).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife--Though bound to this already [1Sa 17:25], he had found it convenient to forget his former promise. He now holds it out as a new offer, which would tempt David to give additional proofs of his valor. But the fickle and perfidious monarch broke his pledge at the time when the marriage was on the eve of being celebrated, and bestowed Merab on another man (see on 2Sa 21:8)…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Samuel 18:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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