Bible Strands
1 Samuel 18:6
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the moment immediately following David’s defeat of the Philistine, as the Israelite troops return and the women of every city emerge to welcome King Saul.
The words — בְּ/שׁ֤וּב (be/Shuv) = when/ returned and וַ/תֵּצֶ֨אנָה (va/te.Tze.nah) = and/ they came out. These verbs frame the public movement of the women toward the royal procession.
The thread — The celebration of military victory with tambourines and dancing recurs in Exodus 15:20 with Miriam, Judges 11:34 with Jephthah’s daughter, and Psalms 68:25 in a worship procession.
Why it lands — The text records a nationwide welcome for Saul that immediately precedes the women’s song contrasting Saul’s thousands with David’s tens of thousands. The narrative places the celebration of the king alongside a comparative acclaim that elevates David, forcing the reader to track the shifting locus of popular favor.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Exodus 15:20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
- Judges 11:34 And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
- Psalms 68:25 The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.
- Jeremiah 31:11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.