And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?
Parallel translations
- WEB Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
- BSB And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”
- NKJV Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”
- NASB So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?’ ”
- NLT “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. “I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Saul rebukes Michal for deceiving him, and she protects herself by claiming David threatened her life.
Overview
Confronted by her father, Michal shields herself with a false claim that David coerced her. Her words, true or not, deflect Saul's anger from herself. The episode shows the fracturing of Saul's house and the tangled loyalties his sin has produced, while David remains safely beyond his reach.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Sam 2:22And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
- Exod 1:17–19But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
- 2 Sam 17:20And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
- 1 Sam 22:17And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 21:20And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
- 1 Sam 28:12And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
- Gal 4:16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
- 1 Sam 19:14And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 19:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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