Michal Michal was King Saul’s younger daughter (1 Sam 14:49) and David’s first wife (18:17-27). She played a significant role in the transition from Saul’s reign to David’s. In the ancient Near East, marriages of leading families were often politically motivated. Saul baited David into a dangerous situation by promising him his older daughter, Merab, if he would fight the Philistines. As a powerful warrior, David was an emerging leader in Saul’s kingdom. The king should have been happy to have such an ally, but he soon grew jealous of David’s accomplishments and suspicious of his ambitions. Saul hoped that David would die in the attempt, but the deal fell through. Later, Saul learned that his younger daughter, Michal, loved David (18:20), which gave the king another opportunity to bait David into fighting the Philistines. This time David agreed. When David returned victorious, Saul could not avoid giving David his daughter in marriage. This marriage alliance helped David when he was seeking to establish his credentials with the northern tribes (2 Sam 3:13-16). Michal loved David early in their relationship and even deceived her father to help David escape from a plot to ki...

The Amalekites The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau (Gen 36:12; 1 Chr 1:36). They were nomadic herdsmen; their territory in the Negev ranged from south of Beersheba to the southeast as far as Elath and Ezion-geber. They undoubtedly raided westward into the coastal plain, eastward into the Arabah wastelands, and possibly into Arabia. The Amalekites were staunch enemies of Israel. Israel’s first encounter with the warriors of Amalek came at Rephidim near Sinai when they attacked Israel (Exod 17:8-16). In this encounter, the Amalekites were defeated by Joshua and the Israelite army. The Amalekites later rebuffed Israel’s disobedient attempt to enter the Promised Land (Num 14:39-45). As a result of their enmity, Moses instructed Israel to destroy them (Deut 25:17-19), but the Amalekites continued to inhabit the Negev (see Judg 3:12-14; 6:33; 1 Sam 14:47-48; 15:1-35). Those who survived remained Israel’s enemies (27:8; 30:1-20; 2 Sam 8:11-12; Ps 83:1-8). This remnant was finally destroyed during the reign of Hezekiah (1 Chr 4:42-43). In the book of Esther, Haman (a descendant of King Agag) embodied their animosity to the bitter end (Esth 3; see 1 Sam 1...

Jonathan Jonathan, the oldest son of King Saul, was in line to be the next king. Yet when God rejected Saul and chose David, Jonathan welcomed and supported David’s rise to power (1 Sam 18:1-4; 19:1-7). Jonathan was a magnificent military leader. He led his father’s army to victory over the Philistine garrison at Geba (13:3-4). In another daring move, Jonathan and his armor bearer attacked a Philistine outpost by themselves; the ensuing confusion threw the Philistine army into disarray, allowing the main Israelite army to attack and win the day (14:1-23; see also David’s eulogy of Jonathan, 2 Sam 1:22). Saul had unwisely taken an oath that no one should eat until victory had been won. Jonathan did not know of the vow and ate some honey. When he learned of Saul’s vow, Jonathan criticized it harshly, and Saul would have executed Jonathan after the battle he had helped to win if the people had not intervened. When Jonathan and David met, they quickly became friends (1 Sam 18:1-4). Jonathan expressed his deep love for David by giving him his robe, tunic, sword, bow, and belt, which may have represented Jonathan’s belief that David should be the next ruler. When Saul tried to h...