Read 1 Samuel 18: 17-28
An image created by Artificial Intelligence of this attack on the Philistines. It captures the intensity of the situation. We can only surmise that this was a bitter conflict which is not described in any detail in the inspired text.
Read 1 Samuel 18: 17-29
When Goliath was making his twice-daily challenge to the Israelite army, Saul was keen to find someone to act as champion to take on this giant. So he offered three inducements -
1. great riches
2. marry Saul's daughter
3. family given freedom.
I wonder how Saul's daughters felt when they were being advertised as a bribe to persuade men to fight. I am sure they were not consulted about this - another example of women being treated as a commodity. When God killed Goliath using David's sling and skill gained as a shepherd, Saul offered David his eldest daughter, Merab as a wife for him. This never happened as Saul went back on his word. By this time Saul was insanely jealous of David, and he did not want to reward David. He had made a public promise that whoever was prepared to fight the giant would be rewarded with the king's daughter in marriage. After the great victory Saul made another similar promise to entice David to attack the Philistines. Saul made an additional stipulation before he agreed to this - I will give you my daughter as your wife, if and only if you are prepared to 'be valiant for me' and fight the Lord's battles. Saul was scheming already - why should I make myself unpopular by killing this young upstart, why not leave this to the Philistines to kill him in battle. By the way, David used the same tactic as Saul many years later in order to get a wife for himself. David was humble at this stage and he felt too inadequate to be the king's son-in-law. He said to Saul, "I come from an ordinary family - I don’t have distinguished relatives or ancestors. How can I marry the daughter of the king." David's humility is commendable and admirable. He did not need to worry because Saul changed his mind and gave Merab to someone else to marry. Saul's word could not be trusted.
However, Saul had another daughter named Michal who loved David. She let her father know that she would not mind marrying David. Saul was pleased with this idea and he told his servants to communicate this with young David. Saul is prepared to be economical with the truth - he wanted to overcome David's apparent reluctance to marry a daughter of the king. So Saul told his servants to lay it on thick - 'the king has delight in you' and 'all his servants love you.' Saul was choking back his jealousy of David as he said this to his servants. But David was still unwilling to proceed with this arranged marriage - he was still protesting that he was a poor man and that he had no reputation. His reputation had grown immensely, of course, since Goliath collapsed in a heap in the Valley of Elah. Saul's devious mind was working overtime. He thought of a cunning plan. He realised that David's problem was that he could not afford the dowry - or bride price. It was the custom to pay a gift to the parents when they handed over a wife. David was not wealthy enough to afford this payment known as a dowry. Saul suggested a solution. "Here is the dowry I am looking for - and it was pretty gruesome - 100 foreskins of the Philistines." Saul must have been chuckling to himself - this will finish him off. How will he be able to circumcise 100 Philistine men. All Israelite men were circumcised but this was a distinguishing feature of the Israelites. Philistines were uncircumcised and would not willingly agree to this. So he would need to kill an appropriate number of Philistine males in order to get his dowry. David is not put off by this devious suggestion - he hands over 200 foreskins. [I have attached an extract from David: Another Casebook by John Hercus.]
David hands over this disgusting dowry to Saul and so David finally gets his wife, Michal. A question (maybe two or three related questions) for us all to ponder as we read this - was this necessary? Was David following God's will in carrying out this assignment or is this a bloodthirsty streak in this young man?
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