1 Samuel 18
1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that, the soul of Jonathan, was knit with, the soul of David, so that Jonathan loved him, as his own soul.
After David finished talking with Saul, [he met Saul’s son, Jonathan.] Jonathan [immediately] liked David; in fact, he began to love/like him as much as he loved/liked himself.
2 And Saul took him, that day, —and suffered him not to return unto the house of his father.
From that day, Saul kept David with him, and did not let him return home.
3 And Jonathan and David solemnised a covenant, —because he loved him as his own soul.
Because Jonathan loved David so much, he made a solemn agreement with David. [They promised each other that they would always be loyal friends].
4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe which was upon him, and gave it to David, —and his equipments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
Jonathan took off his own outer robe and gave it to David. He also gave David his soldier’s tunic, his sword, his bow [and arrows], and his belt.
5 And David went forth—whithersoever Saul sent him, he behaved himself prudently, so Saul set him over the men of war, —and he became a favourite in the eyes of all the people, yea even in the eyes of the servants of Saul.
[David went wherever Saul sent him. And] whatever Saul told him to do, David did it very successfully. As a result, Saul appointed David to be a commander in the army. All the officers and other men in the army (approved of/were very pleased with) that.
6 But so it was, when they came in on the return of David from the smiting of the Philistine, that the women went forth out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet Saul the king, —with timbrels, with rejoicing, and with instruments of three strings.
But, when the men in the army were returning home after David had killed Goliath, the women came out from many [HYP] towns in Israel to meet/greet King Saul. They were singing and dancing very joyfully, playing tambourines and lyres.
7 And the women that made merry responded to each other in song, and said, —Saul, hath smitten, his thousands, but, David, his, tens of thousands.
As they danced, they sang this song to each other: “Saul has killed 1,000 [enemy soldiers], But David has killed 10,000 [of them].”
8 Then was Saul exceeding angry, and this saying was offensive in his eyes, and he said, —They have ascribed, to David, ten thousands, but, to me, have they ascribed thousands, —What, more, then, can he have but, the kingdom?
[When] Saul [heard them singing that, he] did not like it. He became very angry. He said [to himself], “They are saying that David [killed] 10,000 men, but that I [have killed] only 1,000. Soon they will want to make him their king!” [RHQ]
9 And Saul was eyeing David from that day forward.
From that time, Saul watched David very closely because he was suspicious [that David would try to become king].
10 And, when it came to pass, on the morrow, that a superhuman spirit of sadness came suddenly upon Saul, and he was moved to raving in the midst of the house, —and, David, began playing with his hand, as he had done day by day, that a spear being in Saul’s hand,
The next day, an evil spirit sent by God suddenly took control of Saul. He began to act like a madman, inside his house. David was playing the lyre for him, as he did every day. Saul was holding a spear in his hand,
11 Saul hurled the spear, and said to himself—I will smite David, even to the wall! But David moved round from before him, twice.
and he hurled it [at David], saying to himself, “I will fasten David to the wall with the spear!” He did that two times, but David jumped aside [both times].
12 And Saul feared because of David, —for Yahweh was with him, whereas, from Saul, he had departed.
Because [it became evident that] Yahweh had abandoned Saul but [that] he was helping David, Saul was afraid of David.
13 So Saul removed him from him, and appointed him to be for him the captain of a thousand, —and he went out and came in before the people.
So he appointed David as a commander of 1,000 soldiers and sent David away from him, [hoping that David would be killed in a battle]. But when David led his soldiers [in their battles],
14 And it came to pass that David, in all his ways, acted prudently, —and, Yahweh, was with him.
he always had great success, because Yahweh was helping him.
15 And, when Saul saw that, he, was acting very prudently, he was afraid of him.
When Saul heard that David [and his soldiers were] very successful, he became more afraid of David.
16 But, all Israel and Judah, were in love with David, —for he was going out and coming in before them.
But all the people of Israel and of Judah loved David, because he led the soldiers very successfully [in the battles].
17 So then Saul said unto David—Lo! my elder daughter Merab, her, will I give thee to wife, only, approve thyself unto me as a son of valour and fight the battles of Yahweh. Saul, however, had said to himself—Let not, my own hand, be upon him, but let, the hand of the Philistines, be upon him.
One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my oldest daughter, Merab, to be your wife. I will do that if you serve me bravely by fighting battles for Yahweh [against the Philistines]”. He said that because he thought, “I will not try to get rid of David by myself. I will allow the Philistines to do that.”
18 And David said unto Saul—Who am, I, or who are my kinsfolk, the family of my father, in Israel, —that I should become son-in-law, to the king?
But David said to Saul, “I am not [RHQ] a very important person, and my family is not very important, and my clan is not a very important Israeli clan. So I do not deserve to become your son-in-law.” [RHQ]
19 But it came to pass, within the time for giving Merab daughter of Saul to David, that, she, was given to Adriel the Meholathite, to wife.
So, when it was time for Merab to be given to David to become his wife, instead, Saul gave her to a man named Adriel, from Meholah [town].
20 Then did Michal, Saul’s daughter, love David, —and it was told Saul, and the thing was right in his eyes.
But Saul’s other daughter, Michal, fell in love with David. When they told Saul about that, he was pleased.
21 And Saul said to himself—I will give her unto him, that she may prove to him a snare, and that, the hand of the Philistines, may be upon him. So then Saul said unto David, A second time, mayest thou become my son-in-law to-day.
He thought, “I will let Michal marry him, in order that she may trap him, and the Philistines will be able to kill him.” So he said to David, [“You can marry Michal],” and by saying that, he indicated for the second time that David would become his son-in-law.
22 And Saul commanded his servants—Speak ye unto David quietly saying, Lo! the king delighteth in thee, and, all his servants, love thee, —now, therefore, become thou son-in-law to the king.
Saul told his servants, “Talk to David privately, and say to him, ‘Listen, the king is pleased with you, and all of us his servants love you. So now [we think that] you should [marry Michal and] become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 And the servants of Saul spake, in the ears of David, these words. And David said—Seemeth it a light thing, in your eyes, to become son-in-law to the king, seeing that, I, am a poor man and lightly esteemed?
So they told that to David. But David said, “It would be a great honor [RHQ] to become the king’s son-in-law. But [I do not think that I should do that, because] I am only a poor and insignificant man.”
24 So the servants of Saul told him, saying, —According to these words, spake David,
When the servants told Saul what David had said,
25 Then said Saul—Thus, shall ye say unto David—The king hath no delight in purchase-price, but rather in a hundred foreskins of Philistines, by avenging himself on the enemies of the king. But, Saul, thought to let David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
Saul replied, “Go and say to David, ‘[In order for] the king [to allow you to marry Michal, he] wants [you to kill] 100 Philistines [and cut off] their foreskins [and bring the foreskins to him to prove that you have killed them]. In that way he will get revenge on his enemies.’” But what Saul wanted was that the Philistines would kill David [while David was trying to kill them].
26 So, when his servants told David these words, the thing was right in the eyes of David, to become son-in-law unto the king, —and the days had not expired.
When the servants told that to David, he was very pleased that he could become the king’s son-in-law [by doing that. The king had said how many days he would allow for David to do that]. But before that time ended,
27 Wherefore David arose, and went—he and his men, and smote among the Philistines two hundred men, and David brought in their foreskins, and gave them in full tale unto the king, that he might become son-in-law unto the king, and Saul gave him Michal his daughter, to wife.
David and his men went and killed, [not 100, but] 200 Philistines! He brought their foreskins to Saul, and counted them [while Saul was watching], in order to prove that he had [done what the king required so that he could become Saul’s son-in-law. So then Saul was obligated] to allow David to marry his daughter Michal.
28 And Saul saw and knew that, Yahweh, was with David, and that, all Israel, loved him.
But when Saul realized that Yahweh was helping David, and that his daughter loved David,
29 So then Saul went on to fear because of David, yet more, —and it came to pass that Saul was hostile to David, all the days.
he became more afraid of David. So, as long as Saul lived, he was David’s enemy.
30 And, when the princes of the Philistines came forth, so it was, that, as often as they came forth, David was more circumspect than any of the servants of Saul, so that his name was, precious exceedingly.
The Philistine armies repeatedly came to fight the Israelis, but every time they fought, David and his soldiers were more successful than any of Saul’s other army commanders. As a result, David became very famous.
