1 Samuel 18:17

SAUL HOPED TO SEE THAT DAVID WAS KILLED IN BATTLE

"Then Saul said to David, "Here is my elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles." For Saul thought, "Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him." And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my kinsfolk, my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king"? But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife."

"Let the hand of the Philistines be upon him" (1 Samuel 18:17). So, it is clear enough. Saul's promotion of David in the army and the assignment of military campaigns to him was done, so Saul hoped, that it might result in David's being killed in battle.

We do not know why Saul failed to honor his promise of giving David his daughter Merab. It might have been because David (as he did later in regard to the dowry for Michal) indicated that he was unable to provide a suitable dowry. Certainly, there must have been some good reason for Saul's not honoring a promise that was known to the whole kingdom, namely, that the victor over Goliath would receive the king's daughter in marriage. It was not actually "a dowry," but the present which the bridegroom was supposed to give to the bride's father.

At any rate, Merab was given to Adriel instead of to David. The Bible records the tragic story of the unhappy death of the sons of Merab and Adriel in 2 Samuel 21:8.

Saul's scheme which he supposed might get David killed by the Philistines did not work out. Instead, David's many successful military missions led to his increasing popularity with all the people. Also, David in those excursions against the enemy learned many valuable lessons that better equipped him for the long struggle against Saul and his later duties as king.

David, unable to provide a proper gift to Saul for Merab, would have another opportunity to become the king's son-in-law; and the cunning and crafty Saul must have thought, "This time, I'll get him killed for sure." It came about when Saul learned that his daughter Michal had fallen in love with David.