1. 1 Samuel 18:27 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why did Saul give his daughter Michal to David in marriage?

1 Samuel 18:27 (ESV)

27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.

Faced with proof of the Philistine deaths, Saul was forced to give Michal to David as his wife. Later, he would ignore their marriage and give Michal to a man called Palti (1 Samuel 25:44), though she would later be restored to David when he became king (2 Samuel 3:13; 2 Samuel 6:16–23).1