He said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”
Parallel Translations
-
He said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”
-
And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my face.
-
And he said: 'Well; I will make a league with thee; but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.'
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 3:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 43:3 Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’
- Genesis 44:23 You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’
- Genesis 44:26 We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’
- 1 Samuel 18:20-28 Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, “You shall today be my son-in-law a second time.” Saul commanded his servants, “Talk with David secretly, and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore be the king’s son-in-law.’ ” Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man, and little known?” The servants of Saul told him, saying, “David spoke like this.” Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought he would make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David; and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him.
- 1 Samuel 19:11-17 Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head. Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”
- 2 Samuel 3:20-23 So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. David made Abner and the men who were with him a feast. Abner said to David, “I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires.” David sent Abner away; and he went in peace. Behold, David’s servants and Joab came from a raid, and brought in a great plunder with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the army who was with him had come, they told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.”
- 1 Chronicles 15:29 As the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came to David’s city, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 3:13 And he said, Well; I will make…
2Sa 3:13 And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my face.
Ver. 13. Except thou first bring Michal.] David’s first love, and rightful wife; though wrongfully she had been detained from him, against her will haply, by the authority and importunity of her father. God seemeth to say the same to us concerning our hearts, so long held from him by the devil.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will make a league with thee, to wit,…
I will make a league with thee, to wit, upon thy terms; which, all circumstances considered, seems to be lawful, to prevent the great effusion of Israelitish blood, which otherwise would certainly have been split. And although the principle of this action of Abner’s was base and wicked, yet the action itself was lawful and commendable, and no more than his duty to God and David obliged him to; and therefore David might well persuade and induce him to it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he said, well, I will make a league…
And he said, well, I will make a league with thee,.... He accepted of the offer, he was ready and willing to enter into a covenant of friendship with him, and forgive all past offences:
but one thing I require of thee; as the condition of this covenant:
Read full note →
that is, thou shall not see my face; be admitted into my presence, or have any mark of my favour and respect:
except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face; he insisted on it that Michal, Saul's daughter, and his wife, should be brought along with him, and presented to him; this was the preliminary to the league and covenant; if this was not complied with, the proposal would not be attended to. This shows the great affection David retained for his first wife, though he had had six since, see Sa2 3:2, and though she had lived with another man, Sa1 25:44; as also his great regard to the honour of Saul's family, that one of them might share with him in the grandeur of the kingdom; though this also might be a piece of policy in him, to gain the friends of Saul's family to him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Except thou first bring Michal] David had…
Verse 13. Except thou first bring Michal] David had already six wives at Hebron; and none of them could have such pretensions to legitimacy as Michal, who had been taken away from him and married to Phaltiel. However distressing it was to take her from a husband who loved her most tenderly, (see 2Sa 3:16), yet prudence and policy required that he should strengthen his own interest in the kingdom as much as possible; and that he should not leave a princess in the possession of a man who might, in her right, have made pretensions to the throne. Besides, she was his own lawful wife, and he had a right to demand her when he pleased.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Sa 3:13. And he said, Well; I will make…
2Sa 3:13. And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee — David agreed to enter into a treaty with him, but upon condition that he procured the restitution of Michal his wife. Hereby David both showed the sincerity of his conjugal affection to his first and most rightful wife, from whom neither her nor his marrying another had alienated it, and also testified his respect to the house of Saul. “David did right in making this stipulation; for, whatever may be said of his other wives, he had certainly a claim to this, as she was his first wife, and a king’s daughter. And there was something of true generosity in this, both to her and to Saul, in that he received her after she had been another man’s, remembering how once she loved him, and knowing, probably, that she was, without her consent, separated from him; and to show that he did not carry his resentment of Saul’s cruel and unjust persecutions of him to any of his family; whereas many princes, for much less provocation of a wife’s father, would have turned off their consorts, in revenge of them, and even put them to death for having been married to another.” — Chandler.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain David’s motive in requiring the restitution of Michal was…
David’s motive in requiring the restitution of Michal was partly his affection for her, and his memory of her love for him; partly the wish to wipe out the affront put upon him in taking away his wife, by obtaining her return; and partly, also, a politic consideration of the effect on Saul’s partisans of a daughter of Saul being David’s queen.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Thee. Could David thus authorize treachery? It is answered,…
Thee. Could David thus authorize treachery? It is answered, that Abner knew that the throne belonged to him, and he was already responsible for all the evils of the civil war. David does not approve of his conduct, but only makes use of him to obtain his right. --- Michol. He might justly think that the people would have less repugnance to acknowledge him for their sovereign, when they saw that he had married the daughter of Saul. she had never been repudiated by him. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. First bring Michal — She was his own…
13. First bring Michal — She was his own proper wife, and he had a right to demand her. With her restored to him he would stand before the nation as the son in law of Saul. “No doubt it was of great importance to David, on every account, to maintain this matrimonial connexion with the house of Saul as long as possible, in order to preserve the sort of claim to the succession which his alliance gave him; but an additional motive, which urged him to demand her restoration, was the prudential desire of possessing in her a pledge against possible treachery on Abner’s side.” — Ewald.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. except thou first bring] As the text stands…
13. except thou first bring] As the text stands it can only be rendered except on condition of thy bringing. But it looks like a combination of two readings, except thou bring (so the LXX.) and before thou bring (Vulg.).
David’s reasons for demanding the restoration of Michal were probably (a) genuine affection for the wife of his youth who had saved his life (1Sa_18:20; 1Sa_19:11 ff.); (b) a desire to efface the slight put upon him by the deprivation; (c) a wish to conciliate the good will of the northern tribes by an alliance with Saul’s family.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Except thou first bring Michal.—David consents to negotiate…
(13) Except thou first bring Michal.—David consents to negotiate with Abner only on condition of the previous restoration of his lawful wife. Besides the justice of this demand (Michal having been wrongfully taken from him by Saul), and besides all question of affection towards one who had loved him and saved his life (1Sa_18:20; 1Sa_19:11-17), there were political reasons of importance for the demand. The demand itself showed to all Israel that he bore no malice against the house of Saul, and the restoration would again constitute him Saul’s son-in-law, and thus further his claims to the throne; while it also showed publicly that he was in a condition to enforce his rights as against the house of Saul.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Except thou first bring Michal. Besides David"s affection for…
Except thou first bring Michal. Besides David"s affection for Michal, there were political reasons for demanding her restoration. Saul"s despotic act in giving her in marriage to another man (1Sa_25:44) had been a public disavowal of David as the son-in-law of the royal house, and equivalent to a proclamation of outlawry. David"s rights were all declared null by such an act. But now Ishbosheth must with equal publicity reverse his father"s deed, and restore to David his lost position. It must have been a most painful humiliation to him to be driven thus to cancel his father"s decree, and declare thereby to all Israel that he was unable to refuse hie assent to whatever his rival demanded. And for this reason David sent his messengers directly to Ishbosheth, because the importance of Michal"s surrender to him lay in its being a public act of the state. For Michal, in. (2Sa_21:8, we ought to read Merab (see note there)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:13 Saul had given his daughter Michal to David…
3:13 Saul had given his daughter Michal to David as his wife (1 Sam 18:20-27). However, when Michal saved David’s life from her father (1 Sam 19:11-17), Saul terminated the marriage and gave Michal to another man, Palti (1 Sam 25:44). For David to get her back now would further cement his claim to Saul’s kingdom (cp. 1 Kgs 2:13-25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.