A Daughter Offered as a Prize
King Saul has two daughters. Merab is the oldest.
When David kills Goliath, the expectation among the troops is that the king will give his oldest daughter to that man in marriage. We don’t know if the men merely assume the king will do this or if that was his pledge. Regardless, he doesn’t.
Later, however, Saul offers Merab as a wife for David if he’ll go to war to fight the king’s battles for him. But this is a ruse. Saul expects David to die in the military conflict, saving the king the trouble of killing David himself.
Saul never suspects David will return victorious, but when he does, the king reneges on his promise and marries off Merab to another man, Adriel.
Saul never intended for David to marry Merab. Instead, the king uses his daughter to entice David to do something life-threatening. In this we see a father who exploits his daughter as bait to try to bring about his enemy’s death.
Merab and Adriel have five sons. This is the last we hear about her. The story, however, is not over, for David has eyes for Merab’s younger sister, Michal.
When have we ever made a promise we had no intention of keeping?
When have we used someone else to accomplish our goals?
[Read about Merab in 1 Samuel 18:17–19. Discover more in 1 Samuel 17:25.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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