Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 18:28
And Saul saw and knew that the LORD [was] with David, and [that] Michal Saul’s daughter loved him.
28. that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him ] The reading of the Sept. certainly suits the context better: “that all Israel loved him.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And Saul saw and knew that the Lord [was] with David,…. This he perceived by the favour he gave him among men, by overruling all the steps Saul took to do him hurt, for his good, and in giving him success in all that he engaged in; the Targum is,
“that the Word of the Lord was for the help of David:”
and [that] Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; and therefore could entertain no hope of making use of her as an instrument of his ruin, but, on the contrary, would, out of her great affection to her husband, betray the designs of her father against him, and do all she could to preserve him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(28) Saul saw . . . that the Lord was with David.The success of the last savage enterprise, and the return of David with his ghastly spoils, filled the unhappy king with dismay. His daughters love, too, for the rising soldier contributed to his trouble. Saul felt that all that David undertook prosperedthat surely another and a higher Power was helping him. So his fear grew, we read in 1Sa. 18:29, and the paroxysms of jealous hatred deepened into a lifelong enmity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
David Continues To Prosper ( 1Sa 18:28-30 ).
Saul continued to recognise that YHWH was with David, and was thus all the more afraid of him because he saw in him a potential threat to his throne, and especially to his descendants’ likelihood of inheriting it (1Sa 20:31). The result was that he continually looked on David with enmity. In contrast, however, his daughter loved David, and meanwhile David continued to prosper and behave sanguinely, and was so successful that he outdid all Saul’s other servants, and became a name in the land as a successful commander against the Philistines.
1Sa 18:28
‘ And Saul saw and knew that YHWH was with David, and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him.’
Aware of his own rejection by YHWH, and that an unknown successor had already been selected by YHWH, it galled him to see that YHWH was clearly with David. It must have raised the question in him as to whether David might be the successor that YHWH had in mind. Meanwhile Michal continued to love David, as did Jonathan (1Sa 18:1-4). (These swift contrasts are typical of the writer). Not all Saul’s family were against him.
1Sa 18:29
‘ And Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul was David’s enemy continually.’
And it was because of these fears that Saul was more and more afraid of David, and that he was continually David’s enemy. He was obsessed with the thought that David was after his throne. We can note the growth of Saul’s hostility through the chapter as he commenced by taking David into his court and ended by being his continual enemy:
“And Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father’s house” (1Sa 18:2).
“And Saul was very angry and this saying displeased him (that he had slain his thousand but that David had slain his ten thousands) — and he eyed David from that day forward” (1Sa 18:8-9).
“And Saul was afraid of David because YHWH was with him and had departed from Saul” (1Sa 18:12).
“And when Saul saw that he behaved himself wisely he stood in awe of him” (1Sa 18:15).
“And Saul saw and knew that YHWH was with him — and was yet more afraid of David, and Saul was David’s enemy continually” (1Sa 18:29).
So as David continually and successfully held the Philistines at bay, and became more and more popular, Saul’s jealousy and enmity grew greater and greater.
1Sa 18:30
‘ Then the princes of the Philistines went forth, and it came about that, as often as they went forth, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was much set by.’
Meanwhile the Philistine aristocracy continued their assaults on Israel, but each time that they did so they discovered that David and his men were always a match for them because of David’s astuteness, far more so than Saul’s other commanders. And the consequence was that, young though he was, David’s reputation grew and grew, resulting in his gaining great prestige. His name was found on everyone’s lips, from the smallest to the greatest.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Sa 18:28 And Saul saw and knew that the LORD [was] with David, and [that] Michal Saul’s daughter loved him.
Ver. 28. And Saul saw and knew. ] The greater was his sin in persecuting David, whom he knew God favoured; and that without remorse unto the death. Was not this the unpardonable sin?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Michal Saul’s daughter. Septuagint reads “all Israel”, accounting for his greater fear (1Sa 18:29).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1Sa 24:20, 1Sa 26:25, Gen 30:27, Gen 37:8-11, Gen 39:3, Rev 3:9
Reciprocal: Gen 39:2 – the Lord Deu 28:10 – and they shall 1Sa 18:20 – loved David 1Ch 15:29 – Michal 1Ch 17:8 – I have been 2Ch 15:9 – they saw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 18:28-29. Saul knew that the Lord was with David He was convinced of it, by the success which he constantly had in all his undertakings. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David Having thus advanced him; and seeing no hope of bringing his designs to pass against him. And Saul became Davids enemy continually He was every day more resolved to destroy him. Such strange blindness did his anger and hatred, and such like passions, bring upon him, that he set himself against him, who he saw and knew, had God for his friend! In what a lost condition must Sauls mind have now been!