2 Samuel 6:20

MICHAL CONFRONTS DAVID; THEIR ESTRANGEMENT

"And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today before the eyes of his servant's maids, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself? And David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord - and I will make merry before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes, but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor." And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child till the day of her death."

It is significant that David did not deny Michal's charge against him, referring to his conduct as "contemptible," and promising to be even more so in the future, his only justification of it being simply that he did it "before the Lord."

Some have suggested that Michal's going forth to meet David and her reproach of him in the presence of others constituted a major insult of the king. However, that might very well have been the only opportunity that Michal had to speak with her husband. It should be remembered that she dwelt in the king's harem and would never have any kind of personal contact with him unless he sent one of his eunuch's to summons her and bring her to his bedroom. There is no evidence whatever that she ever had any other opportunity to speak with David except this one.

"And Michal, Saul's daughter, had no child to the day of her death" (2 Samuel 6:23). This may not mean that Michal died childless, but merely that she had no child after her return to David. Her five sons are mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:10. The RSV identifies them as sons of "Merab," Saul's oldest daughter, but certain old manuscripts, the Hebrew text, and the Greek (LXX) identify them as the sons of Michal, as indicated in the footnote of the RSV. Josephus declares that, "She bare five children."[26] Porter stated that the natural way of understanding 2 Samuel 6:23 is that, "Michal's barrenness was for the rest of her life due to her estrangement from David, and not that she was stricken by Jehovah with barrenness."[27] H. P. Smith also supported that same understanding of the passage.[28] A comparison of various versions will show that a great deal of uncertainty clouds many passages in these historical books. However, that uncertainty does not pertain to anything of vital importance to Christians.