1 Samuel 18:27 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 18:27
Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
went
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
men
וַאֲנָשָׁ֗יוva.'a.na.Shav
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
slew
וַיַּ֣ךְvai.Yakh
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Philistines
בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים֮ba.pe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
hundred
מָאתַ֣יִםma.Ta.yim
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine dual absolute
men
אִישׁ֒'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
David
דָוִד֙da.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
brought
וַיָּבֵ֤אvai.ya.Ve'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
foreskins
עָרְלֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם'a.re.Lo.tei.Hem
H6190
the prepuce · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
tale
וַיְמַלְא֣וּםvay.mal.'Um
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
king
לַמֶּ֔לֶךְla.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
king’s
בַּמֶּ֑לֶךְba.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
law
לְהִתְחַתֵּ֖ןle.hit.cha.Ten
H2859
to give (a daughter) away in marriage · preposition + verb, hithpael infinitive construct
Saul
שָׁא֛וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
gave
וַיִּתֶּןvai.yi.ten-
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Michal
מִיכַ֥לmi.Khal
H4324
Mikal · proper noun, a woman's name
daughter
בִּתּ֖וֹbi.To
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wife
לְאִשָּֽׁהle.'i.Shah
H802
a woman · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Samuel 3:14 And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul’s son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of t…
Judges 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change o…
1 Samuel 18:13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 18:12–end
Saul had now, in effect, proclaimed war with David. He began in open hostility when he threw the javelin at him. Now we are here told how his enmity proceeded, and how David received the attacks of it.
I. See how Saul expressed his malice against David. 1. He was afraid of him, Sa1 18:12. Perhaps he pretended to be afraid that David would do himself mischief, to force his way to the crown. Those that design ill against others are commonly willing to have it thought that others design ill against them. But David's withdrawal (Sa1 18:11) was a plain evidence that he was far from such a thought. However, he really stood in awe of him, as Herod feared John, Mar 6:20. Saul was sensible that he ha…
David . . . slew of the Philistines two hundred men--The number was doubled, partly to show his respect and attachment to the princess, and partly to oblige Saul to the fulfilment of his pledge.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 18:27
Slew - two hundred men - The Septuagint has only one hundred men. Saul covenanted with David for a hundred; and David himself says, Sa2 3:14, that he espoused Michal for a hundred: hence it is likely that one hundred is the true reading.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 18:27
Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men,.... This he did himself, for the verb is singular, and which were an hundred more than required; this he did to show his regard to the orders of Saul, and his obedience to him, and to testify the sincerity of his afflictions to his daughter, for whose sake he risked his life in this expedition, as well as to express his zeal for God, and his country, against their avowed enemies; the Greek version has only one hundred men, see 2 Samuel 3:14,
and David brought their foreskins; along with him to Saul's court, having taken them off when slain. Josephus says (z) he cut off their heads, and brought them…
Saul therefore gave his daughter Michal to him as a wife, etc. The unbelieving people could not prevent those predestined to life from believing. For they saw and understood that the Lord was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself; the love of the believers grew as much as the fear in the faithless. Some apply the foreskins taken from the struck Philistines by David to the condition of the present age, since the grace of Christ is at work among the Gentiles; however, the marriages of Michal, delayed for some time but eventually celebrated, refer to those who will believe at the end of the world, from the Jews: when the fullness of the Gentiles shall enter, so all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI).
And after a few days, David arose and departed, etc. A few days after the Jewish leaders decided to hand over Christ to be slain by the Gentiles, the Lord himself arose with the apostles who were with him to work the salvation of the world, shining so much with virtues and the grace of doctrine that, despite the efforts of the impious, he called not a few of the Gentiles to the grace of faith, as we have previously taught. For David struck down the Philistines, just as the Lord broke the proud impurity of paganism by word or by the example of humility and chastity. He brought their foreskins and counted them for the king so that he might be his son-in-law; with the people of the Jews, he showed the dead members of sin converted to God, so that in this way he might also receive those who would follow the conversion of the Gentiles. Not in vain did David bring two hundred foreskins to Saul, who had asked for one hundred; because, to the Jews presumptuously thinking that the Lord could not impose even the profession of carnal chastity on the Gentiles, he himself cleansed them from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. The number one hundred indeed always pertains to the indication of great perfection, which initiated in itself before the triumph of the Passion, was fulfilled even in the confirmation of his sacraments through the apostles after the clarification of his Assumption.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Tale — (1.) Heb. tokhen, “a task,” as weighed and measured out = tally, i.e., the number told off; the full number (Ex. 5:18; see 1 Sam. 18:27; 1 Chr. 9:28). In Ezek. 45:11 rendered “measure.” (2.) Heb.…
Circumcision · Sometimes performed on slain enemies — Sometimes performed on slain enemies
David · .Saul’s jealousy of — .Saul’s jealousy of
Jealousy · .Saul, of David — .Saul, of David
Marriage · A dowry given to the woman’s parents before — A dowry given to the woman’s parents before
Philistines · David kills two-hundred men — David kills two-hundred men
Prudence · .David, in his conduct toward Saul — .David, in his conduct toward Saul
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 18:17–end
Craftiness of Saul in the betrothal of his daughters to David. - Sa1 18:17. As Saul had promised to give his daughter for a wife to the conqueror of Goliath (Sa1 17:25), he felt obliged, by the growing love and attachment of the people to David, to fulfil this promise, and told him that he was ready to do so, with the hope of finding in this some means of destroying David. He therefore offered him his elder daughter Merab with words that sounded friendly and kind: "Only be a brave man to me, and wage the wars of the Lord." He called the wars with the Philistines "wars of Jehovah," i.e., wars for the maintenance and defence of the kingdom of God, to conceal his own cunning design, and make Da…