VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Samuel 18:6-16

⁶ And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. ⁷ And the women answered [one another] as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. ⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [but] thousands: and [what] can he have more but the kingdom? ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. ¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and [there was] a javelin in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall [with it]. And David avoided out of his presence twice. ¹² And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD [was] with him. ¹⁵ Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

⁶ And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. ⁷ And the women answered [one another] as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. ⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [but] thousands: and [what] can he have more but the kingdom? ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. ¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and [there was] a javelin in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall [with it]. And David avoided out of his presence twice. ¹² And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD [was] with him. ¹⁵ Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

⁶ As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments. ⁷ And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” ⁸ And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David. ¹⁰ The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, ¹¹ and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. ¹² So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul sent David away and gave him command of a thousand men. David led the troops out to battle and back, ¹⁴ and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back.

WEB World English Bible

⁶ It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. ⁷ The women sang one to another as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands.” ⁸ Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?” ⁹ Saul eyed David from that day and forward. ¹⁰ It happened on the next day, that an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house. David played with his hand, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; ¹¹ and Saul threw the spear; for he said, “I will pin David even to the wall!” David escaped from his presence twice. ¹² Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

ASV American Standard Version

⁶ And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with instruments of music. ⁷ And the women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands. ⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. ¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand; ¹¹ and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall. And David avoided out of his presence twice. ¹² And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

⁶ And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, in David’s returning from smiting the Philistine, that the women come out from all the cities of Israel to sing—also the dancers—to meet Saul the king, with tabrets, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments; ⁷ and the women answer—those playing, and say, ‘Saul hath smitten among his thousands, And David among his myriads.’ ⁸ And it is displeasing to Saul exceedingly, and this thing is evil in his eyes, and he saith, ‘They have given to David myriads, and to me they have given the thousands, and more to him is only the kingdom;’ ⁹ and Saul is eyeing David from that day and thenceforth. ¹⁰ And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the spirit of sadness from God prospereth over Saul, and he prophesieth in the midst of the house, and David is playing with his hand, as day by day, and the javelin is in the hand of Saul, ¹¹ and Saul casteth the javelin, and saith, ‘I smite through David, even through the wall;’ and David turneth round out of his presence twice. ¹² And Saul is afraid of the presence of David, for Jehovah hath been with him, and from Saul He hath turned aside; ¹³ and Saul turneth him aside from him, and appointeth him to himself head of a thousand, and he goeth out and cometh in, before the people. ¹⁴ And David is in all his ways acting wisely, and Jehovah is with him, ¹⁵ and Saul seeth that he is acting very wisely, and is afraid of him, ¹⁶ and all Israel and Judah love David when he is going out and coming in before them.

Surrounding context — 1 Samuel 18

3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that [was] upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, [and] behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.

7 And the women answered [one another] as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [but] thousands: and [what] can he have more but the kingdom?

9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and [there was] a javelin in Saul’s hand.

11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall [with it]. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.

13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD [was] with him.

15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

17 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.

18 And David said unto 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?

19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

Read the whole chapter → · About 1 Samuel →

Topics connected to this verse

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on 1 Samuel 18:6-16

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →