I Samuel 18:21 · Bible study
1 Samuel 18:21 Commentary: Saul’s Snare and God’s Providence
Hebrew · 7 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Saul plots to use Michal as a trap to destroy David.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Saul offers Michal to David as a trap, hoping David will die fighting the Philistines.
- Key words: “Snare” (H4170 moqesh), a bait or lure; “hand of the Philistines”, Saul’s indirect way of killing David.
- Main debate: Whether “in the one of the twain” (KJV) means “a second time” (most modern translations) or “in both daughters” (ancient Jewish reading).
- Theological theme: God’s sovereignty over human evil, the snare meant to destroy David becomes the means of his marriage and later protection.
- Best use: A sobering study on the danger of hidden sin and a reassurance that God outmaneuvers every plot against His people.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall today be my son-in-law.”
KJV King James Version 1769
And 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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And 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 a second time.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and Saul saith, `I give her to him, and she is to him for a snare, and the hand of the Philistines is on him;' and Saul saith unto David, `By the second--thou dost become my son-in-law to-day.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law a second time.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a stumblingblock to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two things thou shalt be my son in law this day.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y Saúl dijo: Yo se la daré, para que le sea por lazo, y para que la mano de los Filisteos sea contra él. Dijo pues Saúl á David: Con la otra serás mi yerno hoy.
E Saul disse: Eu a darei a ele, para que lhe seja por armadilha, e para que a mão dos filisteus seja contra ele. Disse, pois, Saul a Davi: Com a outra serás meu genro hoje.
Il se disait: Je la lui donnerai, afin qu’ elle soit un piège pour lui, et qu’ il tombe sous la main des Philistins. Et Saül dit à David pour la seconde fois: Tu vas aujourd’ hui devenir mon gendre.
ich will sie ihm geben, daß sie ihm zum Fall gerate und der Philister Hände über ihn kommen. Und sprach zu David: Du sollst heute mit der andern mein Eidam werden.
En Saul zeide: Ik zal haar hem geven, dat zij hem tot een valstrik zij, en dat de hand der Filistijnen tegen hem zij. Daarom zeide Saul tot David: Met de andere zult gij heden mijn schoonzoon worden.
E Saul disse: “Gliela darò, perché sia per lui un’insidia ed egli cada sotto la mano de’ Filistei”. Saul dunque disse a Davide: “Oggi, per la seconda volta, tu puoi diventar mio genero”.
I rzekł Saul: Dam mu ją, żeby mu była sidłem, a żeby była na nim ręka Filistynów. Przetoż rzekł Saul do Dawida: Po drugie będziesz zięciem moim dzisiaj.
Саул думал: отдам ее за него, и она будет ему сетью, и рука Филистимлян будет на нем. И сказал Саул Давиду: чрез другую ты породнишься ныне со мною.
掃羅 心裡說：「我將這女兒給 大衛，作 他的 網羅， 好藉非利士人 的手 害他。」所以掃羅 對 大衛 說：「你今日 可以第二次 作我的 女婿。」
And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Samuel 18:21
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Saul’s offer of his daughter Michal is a calculated trap. Adam Clarke notes that Saul had already set the condition: David must kill one hundred Philistines. Saul hoped David would perish in the attempt, making Michal “a snare to him.” The Cambridge Bible adds that Michal was “bait to lure David into some venturesome raid upon the Philistines in which he might lose his life.” Matthew Henry places the scheme in the context of Saul’s fear: “Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.” Gill observes that Saul spoke these words “within himself,” not openly, the king concealed his murderous intent even from his court. All see the irony: the snare that was meant to destroy David instead becomes the means of his rescue, when Michal later helps him escape (1 Samuel 19:11-12). The verse reveals a man so blind to God’s purposes that he uses his own daughter as a weapon against the Lord’s anointed.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Michal as literal trap: The plain reading of the text, supported by Clarke, Cambridge and Matthew Henry: Saul plans Michal’s marriage to provoke a fatal attack on Philistines.
- Saul’s speech as internal monologue: Gill argues that Saul said this ‘within himself,’ not aloud, highlighting his deceit even toward his court.
- 'In the one of the twain' as textual variant: Barnes and Cambridge interpret as 'a second time' referring to Merab’s betrothal; a minority reading (ancient Jewish) takes it as both daughters.
What is clear: All readers agree that Saul intends evil through this marriage offer and that God ultimately protects David from the plan.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Saul’s intention in offering Michal | All traditions agree Saul intends to use Michal to lure David into a deadly conflict with the Philistines. | Some interpreters (e.g., Gill) emphasize that Saul spoke the plot within himself, not aloud; others see the words as spoken to his court but with a double meaning. |
| Meaning of 'in the one of the twain' (KJV) / 'a second time' | The phrase indicates that Saul is making a second marriage offer after Merab was given to Adriel. | Barnes and most modern translations treat it as 'the second time.' Some rabbinic sources (cited by Gill) read 'in the twain' as both daughters, suggesting David would marry both Merab (later) and Michal. |
| Was Michal complicit in the snare? | Michal loved David (v.20), and her love is not portrayed negatively in this verse. | Some Christian traditions emphasize that Michal’s later lie to protect David (1 Sam 19:11-17) shows she was not a willing snare; others note that her love was exploited by Saul. |
| Does the snare ultimately succeed? | David survives and marries Michal, so the immediate snare fails. | Catholic and Protestant readers alike see God’s providence overriding Saul’s plan. Some Pentecostal readings highlight the spiritual warfare dimension: the snare is a demonic plot that God subverts. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Marriage in ancient Israel was a family alliance sealed with a mohar (bride-price) paid to the father. Saul’s first offer of his elder daughter Merab fell through when Merab was given to another man (I Samuel 18:19). Now Saul offers Michal, but with a hidden condition: David must prove himself in battle against the Philistines. The dowry of a hundred Philistine foreskins (v.25) is a grotesquely inflated mohar meant to guarantee David’s death.
Saul’s phrase “the hand of the Philistines may be against him” echoes his earlier thought in v.17. The Philistines were Israel’s perennial enemy, and a single warrior’s raid against them was suicidal. Saul’s hope is that David will be killed in the fighting, leaving the king guiltless of direct murder. The word “snare” (H4170 moqesh) is a hunter’s term for a trap or lure, the same word used of Pharaoh’s servants in Exodus 10:7: “How long will this man be a snare to us?” By using his daughter as bait, Saul treats David like a dangerous animal to be caught and destroyed.
The textual note “a second time” (or “in the one of the twain,” as KJV reads) reflects a broken betrothal: the first marriage to Merab was voided, so Saul now calls David his son-in-law “a second time” by offering the younger daughter. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible agree this is the plain meaning. The phrase underscores Saul’s duplicity, he wants David to think the king is honoring him, when in fact he is setting a death trap.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentarial sources note two textual issues. First, the phrase translated by KJV as “in the one of the twain” is rendered “a second time” by ASV, YLT and most modern versions. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible take “a second time” as the correct sense, referring back to the broken betrothal to Merab. Second, the Septuagint (Codex B) omits the clause “Wherefore Saul said to David a second time…”, though it adds the textual note “Now the hand of the Philistines was against Saul.” Neither variant changes the central meaning of the verse. No other significant variants are reported by the sources consulted.
Reception History
Early Christian writers saw in Saul a type of the devil who uses family ties as traps, a theme taken up by Augustine in his sermons on the Psalms. The Geneva Bible (1599) added marginal notes warning readers against hypocrisy like Saul’s. Matthew Henry (1710) used the verse to illustrate how “the way of sin is downhill”, once Saul set his heart against David, he descended into ever more devious schemes. In Jewish tradition, the midrash emphasizes Michal’s loyalty to David, reading her love as a sign that God had already departed from Saul and was with David. Modern evangelical study Bibles often place the verse in the thematic category of “divine protection,” noting that the Hebrew word for snare (moqesh) appears frequently in wisdom literature describing the fate of the wicked (e.g., Psalm 7:15-16).
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Snare of Human Schemes. Saul’s plan sounds generous, a king offering his daughter to a hero. But behind the words lurks murder. Like Saul, we can disguise evil intentions in religious or noble language (“fight the Lord’s battles”). The text invites us to examine our own motives when we propose something that seems good but may be a trap for another.
- The Hand of Providence. Saul intends the Philistines to destroy David; God intends David to defeat them and gain a wife. The same circumstances that Saul meant for evil, God uses to advance David’s rise. This verse is a quiet promise that no plot against God’s servant can succeed.
- The Blindness of Rejection. Saul knows “the Lord is with David” (1 Sam 18:12, 28). Yet he keeps trying to kill him. Spiritual blindness is not ignorance of God but persistent opposition to His visible work. Saul becomes a warning: rejecting God’s anointed leads to self-destruction.
Five-point outline
- Saul’s hidden motive (v.21a): “that she may be a snare”
- The method: using the Philistines as unwitting executioners
- The mask: Saul’s public speech of honor (v.21b)
- The irony: Michal’s love for David subverts the plan
- The outcome: God’s purposes prevail despite human evil
Illustration hooks
- The rigged contest. A manager assigns a team member an impossible project, hoping they will fail and be fired. When the employee succeeds, the manager is exposed. Saul’s gambit fails the same way.
- The trap that backfires. A hunter sets a snare for a rabbit, but the rabbit escapes and the hunter gets caught in his own rope. Saul’s hatred eventually destroys his own house (1 Sam 31).
- Playing both sides. A person says kind words in public while plotting harm in private. When the truth comes out, trust is shattered. Saul models this double life.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Why does God allow people to scheme against His servants?”
- “How can I tell if someone’s praise is genuine or manipulative?”
- “Does this mean God protects Christians from every danger today?”
Leading a Discussion
Read 1 Samuel 18:17-21 together. Saul offers his daughter to David, but the narrator lets us hear the king’s true thoughts. In small groups, explore what this reveals about Saul’s heart and how God works through even twisted human motives.
Discussion questions
- What does verse 21 tell us about Saul’s character that we did not see earlier in the chapter?
- The Hebrew word for “snare” (moqesh) is used in Exodus 10:7 and Psalm 38:12. How does that imagery shape your understanding of Saul’s plan?
- Gill says Saul spoke these words “within himself”, not out loud. Why is it significant that we, the readers, know what Saul thinks while David does not?
- How does Saul’s earlier statement in verse 17 (“Let not my hand be on him, but the hand of the Philistines”) connect to verse 21?
- Compare Saul’s action with the description of the wicked in Psalm 7:14-16. In what ways does Saul “travail with iniquity” and “bring out falsehood”?
- Saul calls David his son-in-law “a second time” after Merab was given to another. What does that say about how Saul treats family relationships as tools?
- Think of a time someone’s kind words hid harmful intent. How does this story encourage you to trust God’s protection rather than paranoia?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 10:7 | Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” |
| I Samuel 18:17 | 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.” |
| I Samuel 18:26 | When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, |
| I Samuel 19:11 | Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” |
| I Samuel 19:12 | So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. |
| Psalms 7:14 | Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood. |
| Psalms 7:16 | The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head. |
| Psalms 38:12 | They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that Saul had already decided on the condition for giving Michal to David: the deaths of one hundred Philistines. Saul calculated that David, out of love for Michal, would attempt this and perish, making Michal herself the snare that trapped him.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that some interpreters prefer to read "the second time" for the phrase "the one of the twain," connecting it to a prior broken contract when Merab was given to Adriel instead of to David.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that Saul used Michal as bait, hoping David would attempt a dangerous raid against the Philistines and be killed. The Septuagint omits Saul's promise of a second marriage to David but adds that the Philistines were already hostile toward him.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note exposes Saul's cunning: he offers his daughter not in goodwill but as a deliberate trap, hoping marriage will lead to David's death at the hands of the Philistines. Saul's words mask a murderous scheme, using his daughter as bait.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that Saul's promise of his daughter was a scheme he kept hidden in his own mind, hoping she would become a trap for David. The irony, he observes, is that she later became the means of David's escape rather than his ruin.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange draws attention to the Hebrew word for "knit," which pictures souls bound together like a chain. For him, Jonathan's gift of his robe and weapons is not merely practical; it is a symbolic act that removes the barrier of rank and honors David as an equal hero under God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights the tragic irony in Saul's schemes: every attempt to destroy David only pushed him higher. Saul's ploys, using daughters as traps and setting impossible tasks, backfired because God's presence with David turned each snare into a step toward honor and the people's love.