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Tuesday, July 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

1 Samuel 18:18

David answered, "Who am I and what is my family that I should become the king's son-in-law?"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   David;   Humility;   Jealousy;   Malice;   Merab;   Prudence;   Thompson Chain Reference - Humble;   Humility;   Humility-Pride;   Leaders;   Religious;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - David;   Saul;   Holman Bible Dictionary - David;   Merab;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - David;   Samuel, Books of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”
Hebrew Names Version
David said to Sha'ul, Who am I, and what is my life, [or] my father's family in Yisra'el, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
King James Version
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?
Lexham English Bible
But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my relatives, the clan of my father in Israel, that I should be a son-in-law to the king?"
English Standard Version
And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"
New Century Version
But David answered Saul, saying, "Who am I? My family is not important enough for me to become the king's son-in-law."
New English Translation
David said to Saul, "Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father in Israel that I should become the king's son-in-law?"
Amplified Bible
David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?"
New American Standard Bible
But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who is my family, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Dauid answered Saul, What am I? and what is my life, or the family of my father in Israel, that I should be sonne in law to the King?
Legacy Standard Bible
But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?"
Contemporary English Version
David answered, "How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family."
Complete Jewish Bible
David's response to Sha'ul was, "Who am I, that I should become the king's son-in-law? I don't have any kind of a life, and my father's family has no rank in Isra'el."
Darby Translation
And 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?
Easy-to-Read Version
But David said, "I am not an important man from an important family. I can't marry the king's daughter."
George Lamsa Translation
And David said to Saul, Who am I? And what have I done, or what is my life or my fathers family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
Literal Translation
And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, and the family of my father in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles Dauid answered Saul: Who am I? & what is my life & the kynred of my father in Israel, that I shulde mary the kinges doughter?
American Standard Version
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?
Bible in Basic English
And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father's family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Dauid aunswered Saul: What am I? and what is my lyfe or the kynred of my father in Israel, that I should be sonne in lawe to the king?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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?'
King James Version (1611)
And Dauid said vnto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my fathers family in Israel, that I should be sonne in law to the king?
English Revised Version
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?
Berean Standard Bible
And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli Dauid seide to Saul, Who am Y, ether what is my lijf, ether the meynee of my fadir in Israel, that Y be maad the `sone in lawe of the kyng?
Young's Literal Translation
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?'
Update Bible Version
And 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?
Webster's Bible Translation
And 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?
World English Bible
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?
New King James Version
So 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?"
New Living Translation
"Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king's son-in-law?" David exclaimed. "My father's family is nothing!"
New Life Bible
David said to Saul, "Who am I? What is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?"
New Revised Standard
David said to Saul, "Who am I and who are my kinsfolk, my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And David said unto Saul - Who am, I, or who are my kinsfolk, the family of my father, in Israel, - that I should become son-in-law, to the king?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law of the king?
Revised Standard Version
And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my kinsfolk, my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"
THE MESSAGE
David, embarrassed, answered, "Do you really mean that? I'm from a family of nobodies! I can't be son-in-law to the king."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?"

Contextual Overview

12 Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but had abandoned him. 13 So Saul sent him away and put him in command of a thousand men. David led his men in battle 14 and was successful in all he did, because the Lord was with him. 15 Saul noticed David's success and became even more afraid of him. 16 But everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he was such a successful leader. 17 Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife on condition that you serve me as a brave and loyal soldier, and fight the Lord 's battles." (Saul was thinking that in this way the Philistines would kill David, and he would not have to do it himself.) 18 David answered, "Who am I and what is my family that I should become the king's son-in-law?" 19 But when the time came for Merab to be given to David, she was given instead to a man named Adriel from Meholah. 20 Saul's daughter Michal, however, fell in love with David, and when Saul heard of this, he was pleased. 21 He said to himself, "I'll give Michal to David; I will use her to trap him, and he will be killed by the Philistines." So for the second time Saul said to David, "You will be my son-in-law."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Who am I: 1 Samuel 18:23, 1 Samuel 9:21, Exodus 3:11, Ruth 2:10, 2 Samuel 7:18, Proverbs 15:33, Proverbs 18:12, Jeremiah 1:6

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 4:15 - the daughter Psalms 12:8 - when Proverbs 25:6 - in the presence

Cross-References

Genesis 18:2
he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground,
Genesis 18:3
he said, "Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you.
Genesis 18:17
And the Lord said to himself, "I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do.
Genesis 18:18
His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations.
Genesis 18:25
Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."
Genesis 18:26
The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake."
Genesis 26:4
I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.
Psalms 72:17
May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king.
Galatians 3:8
The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people."
Galatians 3:14
Christ did this in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And David said unto Saul,.... Surprised at the offer Saul made him, yet not refusing it, but expressing himself with great modesty and humility:

who [am] I? as to his person, parentage, and employment, mean and despicable, at least in his own eyes, a type of the lowly Jesus, Matthew 11:29;

and what [is] my life? keeping sheep, for from thence was he taken and advanced; though some think his meaning is, that to hazard his life, as Saul proposed, was not equivalent to such an honour he meant to confer upon him, and that he was ready to do it at all times:

[or] my father's family in Israel; though in an honourable tribe, and was an honourable family, yet it seems not to be very great, at least was not in David's esteem worthy of such high advancement, as that one of it should be so nearly related to the king; Ben Gersom thinks David has reference to the original of his family, Ruth the Moabitess:

that I should be son in law to the king? as he would be by marrying his daughter.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What is my life - i. e., condition, or means of living (Proverbs 27:27 margin).


 
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