Bible Strands
1 Samuel 25:44
But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Saul’s political action regarding Michal immediately after noting David’s marriage to Ahinoam of Jezreel. This statement functions as a narrative aside clarifying Michal’s current marital status during David’s flight from Saul.
The words — נָתַן (na.Tan) translates literally as “he had given,” and אֵשֶׁת ('e.shet) means “wife of.” These terms anchor the verse’s core action: the formal transfer of a woman’s marital status.
The thread — The narrative of Michal’s transfer resurfaces in 1 Samuel 18:20 regarding her love for David, 1 Samuel 18:27 detailing David’s betrothal payment, and 2 Samuel 3:14 where David demands her return from Ish-bosheth. These passages track the shifting legal and political claims over her identity.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that political marriages were treated as transferable assets, forcing a clear distinction between betrothal, legal marriage, and royal seizure. It demands attention to how tribal power dynamics repeatedly override personal covenant relationships.
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
But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 18:27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.
- 2 Samuel 3:14 Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
- 1 Samuel 18:20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.
- Isaiah 10:30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!