1 Samuel 18
The full text of 1 Samuel 18 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 When David finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan's soul became bound to David's soul, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
2 Saul took David that day and would not let him return to his father's house.
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.
4 Jonathan stripped off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his armor, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5 David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him. Saul set him over the men of war, and it was pleasing in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of Saul's servants.
6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments.
7 The women sang as they danced and said:
"Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands."
8 Saul was very angry, and this saying was evil in his eyes. He said, "They have given David ten thousands, but to me they have given thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?"
9 Saul eyed David from that day forward.
10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David was playing the lyre as he did day by day. A spear was in Saul's hand.
11 Saul hurled the spear, thinking, "I will pin David to the wall." But David evaded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.
13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. David went out and came in before the people.
14 David was successful in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.
15 When Saul saw that he was very successful, he stood in dread of him.
16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
17 Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab—I will give her to you as a wife. Only be a valiant warrior for me and fight the LORD's battles." For Saul thought, "My hand shall not be against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him."
18 David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family—my father's clan in Israel—that I should become the king's son-in-law?"
19 But when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
20 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the matter was pleasing in his eyes.
21 Saul thought, "I will give her to him so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David a second time, "You shall now become my son-in-law."
22 Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David privately and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with you and all his servants love you. Now then, become the king's son-in-law.'"
23 Saul's servants spoke these words in David's ears, and David said, "Does it seem to you a trivial thing to become the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?"
24 Saul's servants reported to him, saying, "David spoke words like these."
25 Saul said, "Say this to David: 'The king desires no bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take vengeance on the king's enemies.'" For Saul intended to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26 When his servants told David these words, it was pleasing in David's eyes to become the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired,
27 David rose and went, he and his men, and struck down two hundred Philistines. David brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king in order to become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
28 Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him.
29 Saul was still more afraid of David, and Saul became David's enemy continually.
30 The Philistine commanders came out to battle, and as often as they came out, David had more success than all of Saul's servants, so that his name was highly esteemed.
Translation notes (19)
- 1 Samuel 18:1a The Hebrew word niqsh'rah means "was bound" or "knit together."
- 1 Samuel 18:1b The Septuagint lacks verses 1-5 of the standard Hebrew text; these verses are absent from the shorter version of the Septuagint for chapters 17-18.
- 1 Samuel 18:3a This can also be translated as "cut a covenant," which is the standard Hebrew idiom karath berith.
- 1 Samuel 18:4a The transfer of royal garments and weapons showed recognition of David's future role.
- 1 Samuel 18:6a The Hebrew word shalishim has an uncertain meaning; it might refer to triangles, three-stringed instruments, or a type of rattle.
- 1 Samuel 18:9a The Hebrew word 'oyen, which comes from 'ayin (meaning "eye"), describes watching with suspicion or hostility.
- 1 Samuel 18:10a The Hebrew phrase ruach 'elohim ra'ah means "a bad or harmful spirit of God."
- 1 Samuel 18:10b The Hebrew word yithnabeh means "prophesied" or "raved." This verb form can refer to ecstatic speech, whether it is divinely inspired or frenzied.
- 1 Samuel 18:10c The shorter version of the Septuagint lacks verses 10-11.
- 1 Samuel 18:11a The Hebrew word 'akkeh means "I will strike." In this context, the idiom implies pinning someone to the wall.
- 1 Samuel 18:13a The Hebrew phrase "went out and came in" is a military idiom meaning to lead campaigns.
- 1 Samuel 18:17a The shorter recension of the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, does not include verses 17-19.
- 1 Samuel 18:18a The Hebrew phrase chayyay mishpachath 'avi literally means "my life, the clan of my father."
- 1 Samuel 18:21a The Hebrew word moqesh means "snare" or "trap."
- 1 Samuel 18:21b The phrase "A second time" refers either to the offer of Merab in verse 17 or to a repeated offer of Michal.
- 1 Samuel 18:25a The Hebrew word mohar refers to the marriage payment made by the groom to the bride's family.
- 1 Samuel 18:26a This verse is grammatically incomplete and continues into verse 27.
- 1 Samuel 18:27a The standard Hebrew text reads "two hundred," but the Septuagint and 4QSam-a read "one hundred," which harmonizes with verse 25.
- 1 Samuel 18:29a The shorter recension of the Septuagint does not include the second half of this verse.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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