Step Two

Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. 1 Samuel 18:17-19 NASB

So it came about – Ah, the lowly vayhi. “As it happened.” We encountered this odd little word when the women sang David’s praises. Now the next “accidental” event occurs, an event that will alter David’s life and set the stage for continuing tragedy. King Saul promises his oldest daughter to David, after David goes to battle with the Philistines. Saul, still projecting identity threat, doesn’t want to appear as if he desires David’s demise, so he arranges for David to be shipped off to war in hopes that the enemies of Israel will eliminate his nemesis. Here is the ultimate ploy of the yetzer ha’ra. Offer a prize of consequence (marriage into the royal family) but with a condition that proffers defeat, and thus eliminates the threat without direct embarrassment. Just get someone else to do the dirty work for you. Set it up for failure. Look regal and wait for the façade of mourning. There is a lesson here that generates a second act much later when the king, David, arranges for the elimination of an embarrassing threat in much the same way.

But, of course, God is with David and he does not fall to the Philistines. Rabbinic commentary on the next step in this history notices that no reason is given for Saul’s alteration of the deal. When the wedding day arrives, Merab, Saul’s oldest daughter, is given to Adriel. Surprise, surprise! It takes little imagination to suppose that Saul never intended David to marry the oldest. Saul expected David to die. If that is the case, we can certainly conclude that Saul always intended the marriage of his oldest to cement a royal alliance with the Meholathites. David just didn’t cooperate.

The text tells us that David did marry one of Saul’s daughters, Michal, but not because Saul arranged it. “Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him.  Saul thought, ‘I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him’” (1 Samuel 18:20-21). The arrangement is predicated on the hope that it will lead to David’s death. Palace intrigue rules. Significantly, when David is king and a famine punishes Israel for three years, he discovers the cause is Saul’s actions toward the Gibeonites. As atonement, David offers all of the sons of Adriel and Merab to be hanged by the Gibeonites. One must wonder why David so quickly conceded to the Gibeonite request.

We are less interested in Saul’s scheme than we are in the pattern among royalty that David learns. Psychological warfare plays just as big a part as the physical results in this game of thrones. David gets a good taste of betrayal, hidden agendas and, eventually, revenge . He also learns something else. Women are more or less disposable. As we shall see, this last lesson creates enormous carnage. What begins once again with an accidental occurrence ends in the manipulations of men. Perhaps we need to take a step back and realize that “so it came about” is a constant factor in our lives. What we do with these accidents sometimes has generational consequences.

Topical Index: vayhi, accident, Merab, Michal, Gibeonites, 1 Samuel 18:17-19