Passage

1 Samuel 18.16

Book: 1 Samuel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

14. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him. 15. And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him.

16. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18. And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? (1 Samuel 18:14-18, ASV)

WEB

14. David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him. 15. When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him.

16. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

Saul said to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.” 18. David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” (1 Samuel 18:14-18, WEB)

KJV

14. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. ^{behaved: or, prospered} 15. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

16. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. ^{valiant: Heb. a son of valour} 18. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? (1 Samuel 18:14-18, KJV)

YLT

14. And David is in all his ways acting wisely, and Jehovah [is] with him, 15. and Saul seeth that he is acting very wisely, and is afraid of him,

16. and all Israel and Judah love David when he is going out and coming in before them.

And Saul saith unto David, 'Lo, my elder daughter Merab, her I give to thee for a wife; only, be to me for a son of valour, and fight the battles of Jehovah;' and Saul said, 'Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.' 18. And David saith unto Saul, 'Who [am] I? and what my life, the family of my father in Israel, that I am son-in-law to the king?' (1 Samuel 18:14-18, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

David and Jonathan Relationship Objection Defeater

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.