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VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Samuel 18:17

KJVBSBWEBASVYLT
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.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

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.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

WEB World English Bible

Saul said to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.”

ASV American Standard Version

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 Jehovah’s battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

And Saul saith unto David, ‘Lo, my elder daughter Merab—her I give to thee for a wife; only, be to me for a son of valour, and fight the battles of Jehovah;’ and Saul said, ‘Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.’

Surrounding context — 1 Samuel 18

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.

20 And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

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Cross-references

1 Samuel 25:28I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days.1 Samuel 18:25And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.1 Samuel 17:25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, [that] the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.1 Samuel 18:21And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in [the one of] the twain.1 Samuel 17:47And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle [is] the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.2 Samuel 12:9Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.Psalm 55:21[The words] of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war [was] in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet [were] they drawn swords.Numbers 32:20And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war,Numbers 21:14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,Deuteronomy 17:7The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.2 Samuel 11:15And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.Psalm 12:2They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: [with] flattering lips [and] with a double heart do they speak.Numbers 32:27But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith.Numbers 32:29And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: