Chapter 18 of Shmuel A is the chapter in which two parallel processes begin: David's star is steadily rising, while Shaul's star is steadily fading. The prophet builds for us, layer upon layer, David's ascent from anonymity to center stage, and immediately afterward shows how a cloud suddenly covers the light of this success, until David turns from the foremost man in Shaul's household into the most hunted man in the entire kingdom. Let us follow the Malbim through the sequence of the verses.
וַיְהִי כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְדַבֵּר אֶל־שָׁאוּל וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד וַיֶּאֱהָבֵהוּ יְהוֹנָתָן כְּנַפְשׁוֹ׃ - And it came to pass, when he had finished speaking to Shaul, that the soul of Yonatan was bound to the soul of David, and Yonatan loved him as his own soul.
The very bonding of Yonatan's soul to David's soul already creates a problem for Shaul. Shaul sees in Yonatan the one who will continue his path, the one who is meant to inherit him in the kingship, and now not only does Yonatan not inherit him, but this very man who threatens the kingship is supported specifically by his own son. My son, instead of striving to be my successor, loves David. For now it has not yet been said that Shaul is hostile toward David, and only in the coming verses will we see what caused this, but the author of the book already begins to characterize for us the things that ultimately brought David to be so hated by Shaul.
And what is this love "as his own soul"? The Malbim explains that there are three kinds of love: love of the pleasant, love of the useful, and love of the good. Love of the pleasant is like loving a steak: why do you love it? Because it is pleasant to your palate. Useful? Perhaps it gives a bit of cholesterol, it is doubtful whether it is useful. Love of the useful is a person who loves a certain food and tells you: it is organic, it provides iron, it is good for the body. And love of the good is a love in which no personal interest is involved: I love the good because it is truly good, and not because I derive benefit from it. Yonatan loved David as his own soul, an intense love beyond which there is none, not from the aspect of the pleasant and not from the aspect of the useful, but solely from the aspect of David's goodness.
וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ שָׁאוּל בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְלֹא נְתָנוֹ לָשׁוּב בֵּית אָבִיו׃ - And Shaul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house.
Why did Shaul take him to himself? Because David is destined to be his son in law. Shaul had promised that whoever would strike down Goliath, the king would enrich him with great wealth and give him his daughter as a wife, and therefore he takes him into his house and does not let him return to his father's house.
וַיִּכְרֹת יְהוֹנָתָן וְדָוִד בְּרִית בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ אֹתוֹ כְּנַפְשׁוֹ׃ - And Yonatan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
This covenant is different from a covenant made in any other place. Avimelech makes a covenant with Avraham, and the content of the covenant is that we will not harm one another, a kind of cease fire. Here it is not a covenant of non interference, but a covenant of love and closeness: a covenant of protection, in which each of the two would be obligated toward his fellow to help, to benefit, to give and to bestow. This was the bond between them.
וַיִּתְפַּשֵּׁט יְהוֹנָתָן אֶת־הַמְּעִיל אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ לְדָוִד וּמַדָּיו וְעַד־חַרְבּוֹ וְעַד־קַשְׁתּוֹ וְעַד־חֲגֹרוֹ׃ - And Yonatan stripped off the robe that was upon him and gave it to David, along with his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his belt.
Yonatan is not content with making the covenant, but performs an act. What does the stripping off and giving of the garments hint at? I remove from myself all the garments of royalty that are supposed to be mine, and I give them to you: you are the one who continues the path. In effect he crowns him. Later we will see that Yonatan says this explicitly, "I know that you shall reign," and he nullifies himself before him completely. No person does such a thing unless there is here a true and sincere love. What sort of person comes and says: take, I give you that which is supposed to come to me? This is a sincere love without any calculations or other considerations. And over this, as we shall see, Shaul grew angry.
וַיֵּצֵא דָוִד בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁלָחֶנּוּ שָׁאוּל יַשְׂכִּיל וַיְשִׂמֵהוּ שָׁאוּל עַל אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּלְחָמָה וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי כׇל־הָעָם וְגַם בְּעֵינֵי עַבְדֵי שָׁאוּל׃ - And David went out wherever Shaul sent him, and he succeeded, and Shaul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of Shaul's servants.
Notice how the text builds one layer upon another: Yonatan's soul is bound up with David, Shaul takes him into his house as a designated son in law, Yonatan makes a covenant with him, Yonatan gives him his garments, and now David is sent on Shaul's missions and succeeds in all of them. Shaul saw his success against the Philistines and said: this man is fit to be a commander of the army, and he appointed him over the men of war. It is quite possible that the generals did not like an outsider being brought into the system, but no one could argue about David's greatness and about the fact that he was the only one who had the strength and might to defeat Goliath. Following this, all the people esteem and love David, and Shaul's servants too love him and draw close to him. This is another layer in the building of David's standing toward the kingship: David emerges from anonymity to a situation in which everyone knows him, knows who he is, and sees that he has the power to be of benefit, the power to save Israel and to fight their battles.
וַיְהִי בְּבוֹאָם בְּשׁוּב דָּוִד מֵהַכּוֹת אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַתֵּצֶאנָה הַנָּשִׁים מִכׇּל־עָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָשִׁיר וְהַמְּחֹלוֹת לִקְרַאת שָׁאוּל הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּתֻפִּים בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְשָׁלִשִׁים׃ - And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from striking the Philistine, that the women came out from all the cities of Israel with singing and dancing to greet Shaul the king, with drums, with joy, and with musical instruments.
Here the Malbim writes: "From now on he will relate how the light of his success was suddenly covered by a cloud." Until now we have seen a meteoric rise, and from here on the prophet will show us how a dark cloud arrives that thwarts all the success, and not only thwarts it but turns David into a pursued man. And all this because of the song of the women.
First, whom did the women come out to greet? The text is explicit: "to greet Shaul the king." They came out to sing for Shaul, for one does not accord honor to a disciple in the place of the master. It never entered their minds at all to honor David when the master, King Shaul, was present here.
וַתַּעֲנֶינָה הַנָּשִׁים הַמְשַׂחֲקוֹת וַתֹּאמַרְןָ הִכָּה שָׁאוּל בַּאֲלָפָו וְדָוִד בְּרִבְבֹתָיו׃ - And the women who were making merry answered and said: Shaul has struck down his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.
And here a tremendous difficulty arises. If according honor to a disciple before his master is a disgrace, what shall we say of these words, which are not merely according of honor but an actual insult to the king: well done, Shaul struck down thousands, and along came David and struck down tens of thousands. What audacity, what insolence to say such a thing before the king.
The Malbim says: whoever thinks that the women came to praise David is entirely mistaken. Such a thing is impossible. Rather, exactly the opposite, they came to praise Shaul. Who is the greater hero, one who needs a large army or one who suffices with a small army? Certainly the one who suffices with a small army, for needing a large army testifies to weakness, that he requires many fighters. And this is what the women are saying: Shaul struck down with his thousands what David struck down with his tens of thousands. Shaul won the battle with thousands, while David needed tens of thousands in order to win.
And the meaning of the matter for our topic: in the battle that Yonatan fought against the Philistines we saw that Yonatan and his lad went up alone, without the army at all, and won the battle. This is "Shaul struck down with his thousands," for Shaul would suffice with a small force. By contrast, in David's victory, as we saw at the end of the previous chapter, when they pursued the Philistines and struck them, there were already tens of thousands there. It emerges that David needed tens of thousands in order to crush the Philistines, whereas what Shaul and his son did they did as individuals. It turns out that Shaul's greatness is greater than David's greatness.
The Malbim proves that it cannot be explained otherwise: first, it is explicitly written that they came out to greet Shaul the king and not to greet David. Second, it is not possible that a person would come and praise another person before the king, and all the more so that he would disgrace the king. Rather, Shaul did not understand this correctly, and in the language of the Malbim: "But Shaul took the words according to their plain sense, as if they said that those of Israel who were with David were more numerous than those with Shaul."
וַיִּחַר לְשָׁאוּל מְאֹד וַיֵּרַע בְּעֵינָיו הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַיֹּאמֶר נָתְנוּ לְדָוִד רְבָבוֹת וְלִי נָתְנוּ הָאֲלָפִים וְעוֹד לוֹ אַךְ הַמְּלוּכָה׃ - And Shaul became very angry, and this matter was displeasing in his eyes, and he said: They have given David tens of thousands, and to me they have given the thousands, and all that remains for him is the kingship.
What are "the women who play"? The Malbim explains: they are the ones who speak playful words, ambiguous speech with two faces meant to arouse laughter and joy. They said these words intending them to be understood in two ways, but their true intent was to praise Shaul. Shaul, however, understood the other side, as if their intent was to belittle him and praise David. That is why he becomes very angry and says: all that he lacks is the kingship, and if they give him that, everything is over.
וַיְהִי שָׁאוּל עוֹיֵן אֶת־דָּוִד מֵהַיּוֹם הַהוּא וָהָלְאָה׃ - And Shaul eyed David from that day and onward.
"Oyen" carries two meanings: from the word "ayin" (eye), looking at him with an evil eye; and from the word "iyun" (scrutiny), examining and tracking all his ways and all his affairs, understanding that a threat to himself is arising here. And not only that, but he remembered the prophecy: "And He will give it to your fellow who is better than you." And now suddenly he sees before his eyes how this man rises and sprouts, climbs and develops, and he understands that he must stop him.
וַיְהִי מִמׇּחֳרָת וַתִּצְלַח רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים רָעָה אֶל־שָׁאוּל וַיִּתְנַבֵּא בְתוֹךְ־הַבַּיִת וְדָוִד מְנַגֵּן בְּיָדוֹ כְּיוֹם בְּיוֹם וְהַחֲנִית בְּיַד־שָׁאוּל׃ - And it was on the next day that an evil spirit of God rushed upon Shaul, and he raved within the house, while David was playing with his hand as day by day, and the spear was in Shaul's hand.
We saw that when the spirit of holiness that had accompanied Shaul was taken from him, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum an evil spirit entered. As great as the rise, so great is the fall: the moment the higher spirit is taken, an evil spirit automatically enters, for he knows what an immense level he had been on and suddenly feels an immense emptiness. This place is taken over by depression and melancholy, in the Malbim's words, by the difficult feeling and the sense of being persecuted, and as a result he pursues David.
One must know that Shaul's persecution stemmed from two things. The first was not rational at all, but something supernatural: an evil spirit that terrified him. For such a thing one cannot come to Shaul with a complaint. There are people who appear completely sane, everything about them is perfectly in order, an intelligent, educated person, even a scholar, but he suffers from a disorder that is not his fault: a hormone that the brain secretes and it gives him terrible fears. I remember a distant relative who lived with the feeling that his neighbor was persecuting him. The neighbor, poor man, did not know him at all and had no dealings with him, but he would say: he is looking at me, every time I go out he follows me, he did such and such to me. Schizophrenia, and interpretations. There are people who are not aware that this is a mental problem and try to convince the patient that the neighbor is not persecuting him, but this is completely pointless and there is no chance whatsoever. The solution is in medication, because this is not a psychological problem but a psychiatric one. The right medications are given, and everything disappears. The difficulty is convincing him to come for treatment, because he asks: tell me, did you make me crazy? And it is hard to tell him yes, since he really is a sane person, only that he has a certain disorder. By the way, illnesses like dementia and memory loss affect very marginally people who occupy themselves with Torah all day, for the more a person engages his mind the clearer he is, into old age and gray hair. But here it is not about that but about a disorder, and this too can often be a hereditary matter. Mental problems are hereditary problems, and therefore in matchmaking this matter is investigated very thoroughly.
The second source was actually rational. Shaul's fear was that the moment a king would arise during his lifetime, in order to seize the kingship he would kill him and all his family members. This fear was justified according to the accepted practice of their times. We will see later on that part of Yehonatan's covenant with David was an explicit request that he promise not to harm anyone in his family. It was very common for a new king to kill the family members of the previous king, who are potential rebels: my father was the king, why should I not be the next king? He would organize an opposition for himself, rise up and rebel. Therefore a king who rose to reign would eliminate the previous royal family, so that he would have quiet and there would be no revolution. Shaul did not truly know David, and did not know that with David such a thing was entirely impossible, but he had a real fear that there was a threat here to his family members. And what did Shaul feel? That he was being persecuted. And we have a rule: if one comes to kill you, rise early to kill him first. According to his perception, David had the status of a pursuer, and a pursuer must be killed. This was the rational part of his perception.
And you should understand that when the non rational thing is supported by a rational thing, this is the hardest thing of all. If that person who feels that someone is persecuting him finds support in facts on the ground, it is much harder. You try to convince him that these are just imaginations, and he presents you with a fact. You can argue that he is interpreting it incorrectly, but when there are facts on the ground it is very hard to get it out of his head. And this was part of the problem here.
And when speaking about Shaul one must be very careful and understand that this is not a man who had ulterior motives, and certainly not, Heaven forbid, a wicked man. It is said of him "Shaul was a year old when he became king," and Chazal say: like a one year old infant. The prophet testifies about him that there was none better than him in all of Israel. And Shmuel says to him "tomorrow you and your sons will be with me," meaning in my company. Can you imagine a person who would be in the company of Shmuel the prophet? So says Shmuel the prophet to Shaul: tomorrow you and your sons will be in my company. We have no way at all to estimate and grasp the greatness of Shaul's level.
And it is written that when David said about Shaul "the enemy will go down in battle and be smitten, or his day will come," meaning: it is not I who will harm him but Hashem who will harm him, or he will fall in battle, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: is this how you speak about My servant Shaul? Know that had you been Shaul and he been David, I would have destroyed a hundred Davids for the sake of Shaul.
The Arizal explains that we see how Shaul was held to an extremely exacting standard, whereas with David there was forbearance. David too stumbled in several failings, yet toward him there was forbearance. Chazal say: Shaul acted once and it cost him, David acted twice and it did not cost him. Shaul lost the kingship over a single act, while David did not lose the kingship over two acts. Is there then no justice, no fairness? Says the holy Ari: David's soul was only at the beginning of its emergence from the kelipot, whereas Shaul's soul was refined and purified. A person who returned in teshuvah just yesterday and still has matters that are imperfect is not comparable to a person who grew up in the homes of Torah giants and tzaddikim yet has a few falls. Certainly one is held to a different account than the other. David's soul was at the beginning of its emergence from the kelipot, so his intentional sins were reckoned as inadvertent ones, while by Shaul, whose soul was refined and elevated, inadvertent sins were reckoned as intentional ones. Therefore, even if we see here things that seemingly diminish Shaul's stature, let us not mistakenly think this is the level of politics familiar to us today. Not at all. These were giants of the world, and that is how we must grasp what is written about them as well.
וַיָּטֶל שָׁאוּל אֶת־הַחֲנִית וַיֹּאמֶר אַכֶּה בְדָוִד וּבַקִּיר וַיִּסֹּב דָּוִד מִפָּנָיו פַּעֲמָיִם׃ - And Shaul cast the spear, and he said, Let me strike David and the wall, but David turned aside from before him twice.
What is meant by "let me strike David and the wall"? What did the wall do wrong? Rather, at first he wanted to strike him as if unintentionally: like a person practicing and throwing his spear at the wall, seemingly aiming at the wall while David happened to be standing there. But David took notice, and the Malbim says that his turning was also unintentional. David was not looking at Shaul at all, he was looking at the harp on which he played, and when he needed to turn he suddenly turned without intent, and thus escaped.
וַיִּרָא שָׁאוּל מִלִּפְנֵי דָוִד כִּי־הָיָה יְהוָה עִמּוֹ וּמֵעִם שָׁאוּל סָר׃ - And Shaul was afraid of David, because Hashem was with him, and had departed from Shaul.
Understand that this very thing caused Shaul to fear even more. If David inadvertently moves and the spear does not strike him, it is a sign that there is protection over him from above. And this is sevenfold harder when Shaul sees that Hashem has departed from him, that the Shechinah has passed from him, "and given to your fellow who is better than you." Nevertheless he continued to pursue him, because this very thing intensified in him the feeling that there was danger here. Again the two planes: an evil spirit on one side, and the perception of a greater threat to his family on the other, that if David were to seize the kingship he would immediately kill them all.
וַיְסִרֵהוּ שָׁאוּל מֵעִמּוֹ וַיְשִׂמֵהוּ לוֹ שַׂר־אָלֶף וַיֵּצֵא וַיָּבֹא לִפְנֵי הָעָם׃ - And Shaul removed him from himself, and made him his captain over a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people.
Why did he make him one of the captains of thousands? A first reason: he said, why should I lay my hand upon him? Perhaps he will fall in battle and I will not need to raise my hand against him. A second reason: to bring him down from his greatness. As long as I elevate him he constitutes a threat, and if I lower him from his greatness the threat will diminish. But "he went out and came in before the people," and this did not help. Since he went out and came in before the people, they would do nothing without him. He was a commander of the army in practice though not in title: in terms of his position a captain over a thousand, and in the eyes of the people the commander of the army.
וַיְהִי דָוִד לְכׇל־דְּרָכָו מַשְׂכִּיל וַיהוָה עִמּוֹ׃ - And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and Hashem was with him.
Not only did he go out before the people, but everything he did was with wisdom and understanding, and by this it was evident that Hashem's providence accompanied him at every step. In everything Shaul sent him to do he succeeded, and this very thing caused Shaul to fear even more.
וַיַּרְא שָׁאוּל אֲשֶׁר־הוּא מַשְׂכִּיל מְאֹד וַיָּגׇר מִפָּנָיו׃ - And when Shaul saw that he behaved very wisely, he stood in dread of him.
What is the difference between "vayira" and "vayagar"? "Vayira" is fear, while "vayagar" is fear multiplied threefold and fourfold, a far greater fear. Dread is greater than fear. Shaul saw that he was very wise, meaning that I cannot harm him because of his wisdom, and moreover that Hashem is with him, something that was taken from me and passed to him. All these intensified his apprehension.
וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה אֹהֵב אֶת־דָּוִד כִּי־הוּא יוֹצֵא וָבָא לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
This is a further reason why he could not do anything to him: Israel and Yehuda love him, and if he were to plan to do something to him, the entire nation would side with David. This puts Shaul in a great bind: if the entire nation is with him and the army is in his hands, then should he decide tomorrow to stage a coup, everything is over. What does one need for a coup? An army, nothing more. Go and look at all the third world countries: whoever has the army is the one who rules and governs, and whoever has the army is the next king. Therefore Shaul's apprehension grew.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־דָּוִד הִנֵּה בִתִּי הַגְּדוֹלָה מֵרַב אֹתָהּ אֶתֶּן־לְךָ לְאִשָּׁה אַךְ הֱיֵה־לִי לְבֶן־חַיִל וְהִלָּחֵם מִלְחֲמוֹת יְהוָה וְשָׁאוּל אָמַר אַל־תְּהִי יָדִי בּוֹ וּתְהִי־בוֹ יַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּים׃ - And Shaul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merav, her will I give you as a wife; only be a valiant man for me and fight the battles of Hashem. For Shaul said, Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.
When he saw that by ordinary means he could not succeed, he said: I will set a snare for him. I will give him my daughter as a wife on condition that he fight my battles against the Philistines. But seemingly this is difficult: the daughter is coming to David in any case, since this was the condition in the battle with Goliath, so why suddenly impose new conditions for something he is already owed? The Malbim explains: I promised you my daughter, but I did not tell you which daughter. It is quite possible that I would give you the younger one, but then you would have to wait until the elder married, since it is not done in our place to give the younger before the firstborn. But I am prepared to act with you beyond the letter of the law and make a deal with you: I will give you the elder daughter, and that is why he stresses "Behold my elder daughter Merav." I do not owe you the elder one, but I am prepared to give her to you, on condition that you be a valiant man for me and fight the battles of Hashem, and then I will give you more than I am obligated to.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל מִי אָנֹכִי וּמִי חַיַּי מִשְׁפַּחַת אָבִי בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי־אֶהְיֶה חָתָן לַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - And David said to Shaul, Who am I, and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?
David says: I am the lowliest of men, and my life is neither important nor precious enough that I should merit to become the king's son in law. And especially from the standpoint of family, since David descended from Rut the Moabitess, and so he says: we are a poor and young family, a family of converts and not a distinguished family, and shall I be worthy to be son in law to the king?
The Malbim notes precisely: later on, when they tried to speak with him again, David said "and I am a poor and lightly esteemed man," meaning poor and despised, whereas here he does not mention poverty at all. Why? Is David poor? The king had proclaimed that whoever struck down Goliath, "the king would enrich him with great riches," and if so he is not poor but rich, and he cannot say "poor." Rather, it is written in Chazal that this money is held by Shaul in the manner of a loan: I have a loan and it is in Shaul's hands, but I am not poor. Later we will see that he indeed becomes poor, and how this comes about. But at this point he claims only that he is not worthy from the standpoint of his family, whereas in terms of wealth he has wealth, though in potential, in the manner of a loan from him to Shaul.
וַיְהִי בְּעֵת תֵּת אֶת־מֵרַב בַּת־שָׁאוּל לְדָוִד וְהִיא נִתְּנָה לְעַדְרִיאֵל הַמְּחֹלָתִי לְאִשָּׁה׃ - But it came to pass at the time when Merav Shaul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholatite as a wife.
Here the plans go awry. Shaul intends to give Merav to David, and she was given to Adriel. Note that it does not say "and he gave her to Adriel" but "she was given," as if of her own accord. Chazal say: Merav was not a minor, but had already passed the age of twelve and a half and was considered an adult, and thus she could betroth herself and did not need her father to betroth her. Therefore she went and betrothed herself to Adriel the Meholatite, and did not wait for Shaul her father to decide whom she would marry.
Was Merav betrothed to David? On this there is a dispute. Some say that David did indeed betroth her, and with what? With money that her father owed him, that is, he betrothed her with a loan. For in order to marry the daughter of Shaul he had to give Shaul money, and he said: the money of mine that is in your hands, I give it to you as betrothal money. But the Sages say that one who betroths with a loan, she is not betrothed, and according to this these were a mistaken betrothal and he was not married to Merav. And if he was not married to Merav, it is well understood how he later married Michal, for he did not marry two sisters. And Merav herself he married later only after the death of Michal, but during their lifetimes he was not married to both of them.
In contrast, the Gemara brings another view, that Rabbi Yehuda says these were a complete betrothal, because he betrothed her with the benefit of forgiving a loan, and one who betroths with the benefit of forgiving a loan, she is betrothed. And if so, her going to Adriel was a transgression, for she went to him as a married woman. And how did David marry her sister Michal? According to this view he married Michal only after the death of Merav, and it emerges that Merav died a short time afterward.
And either way, says the Malbim, David forgave Shaul the wealth he had promised him, and Merav he did not give him. It emerges that he came out clean of both: the loan he forgave, and the woman he did not receive, for she was given to Adriel the Meholathite.
וַתֶּאֱהַב מִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל אֶת־דָּוִד וַיַּגִּדוּ לְשָׁאוּל וַיִּשַׁר הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינָיו׃ - And Michal, the daughter of Shaul, loved David, and they told Shaul, and the matter was pleasing in his eyes.
Shaul thought: I did not succeed in controlling him through Merav, I will do it through Michal. They told him that his daughter Michal loved David, and the matter was pleasing in his eyes.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶתְּנֶנָּה לּוֹ וּתְהִי־לוֹ לְמוֹקֵשׁ וּתְהִי־בוֹ יַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־דָּוִד בִּשְׁתַּיִם תִּתְחַתֵּן בִּי הַיּוֹם׃ - And Shaul said: I will give her to him, and she will be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him, and Shaul said to David: through one of two you will become my son in law today.
That is: on my own part I was ready to give you Merav, but what can I do, since she went and married on her own. As far as I am concerned I was still willing, but since I have no way to give her to you, I will give you the second daughter. "Through two" means through one of the two: through one of the two you will become my son in law today. We did not succeed with Merav, take Michal. And the goal, in the words of the verse, "and she will be a snare to him": that David would give of himself for this and thereby be harmed.
וַיְצַו שָׁאוּל אֶת־עֲבָדָו דַּבְּרוּ אֶל־דָּוִד בַּלָּט לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה חָפֵץ בְּךָ הַמֶּלֶךְ וְכׇל־עֲבָדָיו אֲהֵבוּךָ וְעַתָּה הִתְחַתֵּן בַּמֶּלֶךְ׃ - And Shaul commanded his servants: speak to David secretly, saying: behold, the king desires you, and all his servants love you, and now become the king's son in law.
Shaul activates the secret advisors: go speak with him quietly, tell him that the king wants to make him his son in law, and tell him what an enormous privilege it is for him to marry the king's daughter. Pressure him.
וַיְדַבְּרוּ עַבְדֵי שָׁאוּל בְּאׇזְנֵי דָוִד אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד הַנְקַלָּה בְעֵינֵיכֶם הִתְחַתֵּן בַּמֶּלֶךְ וְאָנֹכִי אִישׁ־רָשׁ וְנִקְלֶה׃ - And the servants of Shaul spoke these words in the ears of David, and David said: is it a light thing in your eyes to become the king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?
Is it a light thing in your eyes to become the king's son in law? Only one who has blue blood in his veins, only an important and great person, can marry into the king's family, and we are not a distinguished family but simple people. And not only that, but in order to marry into the king's family one must increase the bride price, and I am poor and lightly esteemed: both poor and not distinguished. I had money, but where is it? It passed to Shaul in the betrothal of Merav, for he betrothed her with the benefit of forgiving the loan, and she on her own decided to go to Adriel. So money too I do not have.
וַיַּגִּדוּ עַבְדֵי שָׁאוּל לוֹ לֵאמֹר כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה דִּבֶּר דָּוִד׃ - And Shaul's servants told him, saying: Such were the words that David spoke.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל כֹּה־תֹאמְרוּ לְדָוִד אֵין־חֵפֶץ לַמֶּלֶךְ בְּמֹהַר כִּי בְּמֵאָה עׇרְלוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים לְהִנָּקֵם בְּאֹיְבֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וְשָׁאוּל חָשַׁב לְהַפִּיל אֶת־דָּוִד בְּיַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּים׃ - And Shaul said: Thus shall you say to David, the king desires no dowry, only a hundred foreskins of the Pelishtim, to take vengeance on the king's enemies. And Shaul intended to make David fall by the hand of the Pelishtim.
Tell him that I do not want money; I know his financial situation is difficult. I ask of him only a hundred foreskins of the Pelishtim. Yet on the surface we need to understand: you already tried this method, for you appointed him as an army commander so that he would go out to fight and fall by the hand of the Pelishtim. Why do you think you will succeed better now?
The Malbim explains: when a war is conducted fairly, it proceeds in a reasonable manner. But when it is carried out in an unfair way, it provokes enormous anger in the other side, and he vents his fury against his opponent, because acts are done that amount to war crimes, contrary to the rules of the game. Even in their times there were rules, more elastic perhaps, but they existed.
Now you will understand what Shaul did. If you fight against gentiles and in the course of battle kill them, that is war, you kill and we kill, and it does not arouse any special resentment and hatred. But he says to him: go and seize a hundred men who dwell securely, who are not warriors and are not going out now to fight you, and cut off their foreskins, which is a way of disgrace and humiliation. And through this, Shaul thinks, you will arouse their fury, and they will hang David's picture as big as the Azrieli building: wanted, who did this thing to us? And they will take care to find him. Whom did the Pelishtim find? Shimshon. This is exactly what happened with Shimshon: Shimshon would go in the way of an enemy and take vengeance, not in the way of war, as he did to them with the foxes, and they marked him and searched for him until they reached him, until they gouged out his eyes by means of Delilah. Let them do the work, why should I overexert myself? All I need is to do something that will arouse genuine hatred.
The Ben Ish Chai asks: why specifically a hundred foreskins of the Pelishtim? Why not a hundred ears of the Pelishtim or fingers of the Pelishtim? The answer: if he had asked for ears, he could have killed fifty men and brought a hundred ears, and if fingers, he could have killed ten men and brought a hundred fingers, since each person has several fingers. But with foreskins there is no way except to kill a hundred men. And the Ben Ish Chai asks further: if so, let him tell him a hundred noses of the Pelishtim, since each person has one nose? And the answer according to the plain sense: because then he could bring him the noses of women, and where is the skill in that? You went and killed a hundred women and brought me a nose. I want to see you killing a hundred men. Therefore specifically foreskins of the Pelishtim, in which there is nothing but valor.
And if you ask how David heeded such a thing: remember that only today are there concepts of a manifestly unlawful order, that a soldier must exercise great judgment and check whether what the commander orders him is lawful or not. But in their times, if the king says so, one does not think twice. Only if the matter contradicts the Torah is it forbidden to obey the word of the king, and as long as it does not contradict the Torah, one obeys.
וַיַּגִּדוּ עֲבָדָיו לְדָוִד אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיִּשַׁר הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי דָוִד לְהִתְחַתֵּן בַּמֶּלֶךְ וְלֹא מָלְאוּ הַיָּמִים׃ - And his servants told David these words, and the matter was proper in David's eyes to become the king's son in law, and the days were not yet complete.
"And the days were not yet complete," meaning the time he was given had not yet been fulfilled. And the Malbim is precise in the language of the verse: it does not say that the matter was proper in David's eyes simply, but rather "and the matter was proper in David's eyes to become the king's son in law." The very bringing of the foreskins was not proper in his eyes, for it is not a fair act, but becoming the king's son in law was proper in his eyes. That is, from the standpoint of the act the matter was not proper in his eyes, and from the standpoint of the goal it was proper in his eyes.
וַיָּקׇם דָּוִד וַיֵּלֶךְ הוּא וַאֲנָשָׁיו וַיַּךְ בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים מָאתַיִם אִישׁ וַיָּבֵא דָוִד אֶת־עׇרְלֹתֵיהֶם וַיְמַלְאוּם לַמֶּלֶךְ לְהִתְחַתֵּן בַּמֶּלֶךְ וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ שָׁאוּל אֶת־מִיכַל בִּתּוֹ לְאִשָּׁה׃ - And David arose and went, he and his men, and struck down two hundred men of the Pelishtim, and David brought their foreskins and they gave them in full to the king, to become the king's son in law. And Shaul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
Plainly I understand that David wanted to show him valor: you ask for a hundred, I will fulfill the king's desire and beyond it. David did not think there was a goal here to make him fall, but rather saw in this the fulfillment of the king's desire, and wanted to show double loyalty, that he fulfills the king's desire above and beyond what he commanded him.
וַיַּרְא שָׁאוּל וַיֵּדַע כִּי יְהוָה עִם־דָּוִד וּמִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל אֲהֵבַתְהוּ׃ - And Shaul saw and knew that Hashem was with David, and that Michal, Shaul's daughter, loved him.
Shaul sees that whatever he does does not succeed. And why does the verse repeat once again that Michal loved him, when it has already been stated? Because this is part of his realization that all his plans are going awry. I thought to make him fall by the hand of the Philistines, and not only did he not fall, but he brought me two hundred foreskins. I thought to marry him to my daughter so that I would have someone inside David's household, that I would know his movements and it would be easier for me to eliminate him, and it turns out that Michal loves him. I thought she would be with me and serve as a helper against him, and it turns out she became a helper against me, and she will not reveal to me his moves nor assist me.
And more than this: what happens to a person who marries the king? He becomes automatically bound to the monarchy. The king's son or the king's son in law are the ones who seize the throne. I thought to kill him, and what did I do? I brought him even closer to inheriting the kingship. Now he already has standing, the king's son in law, and if he comes and reigns it will be a reasonable thing.
וַיֹּאסֶף שָׁאוּל לֵרֹא מִפְּנֵי דָוִד עוֹד וַיְהִי שָׁאוּל אֹיֵב אֶת־דָּוִד כׇּל־הַיָּמִים׃ - And Shaul feared David all the more, and Shaul became David's enemy all the days.
Shaul continues to fear David, and what until now had been enmity at intervals became from here on enmity all the days.
וַיֵּצְאוּ שָׂרֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיְהִי מִדֵּי צֵאתָם שָׂכַל דָּוִד מִכֹּל עַבְדֵי שָׁאוּל וַיִּיקַר שְׁמוֹ מְאֹד׃ - And the princes of the Philistines went forth, and it came to pass, whenever they went forth, that David acted more wisely than all the servants of Shaul, and his name was very precious.
And just as Shaul feared, so it was: the princes of the Philistines go out to seek the one who did this thing to them. But whenever they went out to strike Israel and to take vengeance on David, David did not go to hide. Rather, "David acted more wisely than all the servants of Shaul," he acted more wisely than all Shaul's servants. And instead of the plan bringing about David's downfall, the exact opposite happened: "his name was very precious," David's name became even more renowned, and this completely thwarted all of Shaul's plans.
Chapter 18 describes the two intersecting lines: David's meteoric rise, from Yehonatan's love and the making of the covenant and the giving of his garments, through his appointment over the men of war and the love of all the people, until all Israel and Yehudah love him. And on the other side, Shaul's fall: the women's song whose true intent was to praise him yet which he understood as a disgrace, an evil spirit that entered into the vacuum created in his soul, and a genuine, rational fear for the life of his family. From here on, every scheme of Shaul, the spear, the demotion to captain of a thousand, Merav, Michal, and the hundred Philistine foreskins, is revealed to aid David rather than harm him, until he becomes the king's son in law and his name is very precious. And above all, we learned to be careful with the honor of these figures: Shaul, of whom it was said that he was like a one year old child, and to whom Shmuel promised "you and your sons will be with me," and David, in whom the emergence of his soul from the impure shells had begun. These are giants of the world, and this is how one must approach everything written about them.