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I present the following passage as evidence of Michal's arrogant and spiteful nature:

2 Samuel 6:16-20, New American Standard Bible (NASB)

16Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17 So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
...
20But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!”

Would it be correct to say that King Saul knew his daughter, Michal, was an arrogant/spiteful woman, given that his stated purpose in marrying her off to David was so she would become a snare to him?

1 Samuel 18:20-21, New American Standard Bible (NASB)

20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him. 21Saul thought, “I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.”

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  • This is essentially a duplicate question and should be closed. See hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/38861/…
    – user25930
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 19:48
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    Possible duplicate of How would marrying Saul's daughter be a snare/stumbling block to David?
    – user25930
    Commented Jul 5, 2019 at 19:48
  • @macs-musings please note that unlike the other question, I want to take into account that Michal's arrogance & spiteful nature that was displayed in 2 Samuel 6:16-20 , which is Not brought up in the other question. Commented Jul 6, 2019 at 7:29
  • such an answer would be based on what we do not know rather than on what we know.
    – Dottard
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 8:59

1 Answer 1

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I would say Michal was getting vitriolic due to her unfortunate life.

Saul had no idea why Michal loved David. He was told Michal loved David (1 Samuel 18:20). Saul wanted David to get killed by the Philistine. He induced David to be his son-in-law. Daivd found himself not able to pay the price for the bride and humbly refused. So when he found Michal as his second chance, this time he asked the price for the bride was nothing but a hundred Philistine foreskins (1 Samuel 18:25). The Bible read "When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law" (1 Samuel 18:26 NIV).

The snare to David was not because Saul knew Michal's personality. Saul could use any woman as long as he could snare David to fight the Philistine, and got killed.

So why Michal loved David. It seems quite obvious that a woman would love a mighty warrior, whom she knew David would be one day a notable man in the kingdom. She probably knew very well, and she had that strong desire, that in a patriarchal society, her better life depended on the status of her husband. But she didn't know her father wanted to kill David. When she realised it, she had that determination to save her husband, clever and strategical ( 1 Samuel 19:11-17). She was latter remarried to Paltiel, as Saul was given.

Probably seventeen years later, when David became king of Judah and Israel, he asked Michal back. She was supposed to be the first wife of David, and she saved him. In her mind, David never came back for her, and now David had several wives, some concubines, and sons, and why would David wanted her now? She probably had a good husband Paltiel, who cried when Michal was taken, though Paltiel was nothing compared to David.

She no longer had the same desire to David as it was seventeen years ago. She was just one of his wives, she didn't give David a heir. Her mind was probably had a kind of bitterness that never went away. So when she saw David's dance, dancing not like a king that she recalled her father Saul, that kind of bitter words came out from her mouth.

Michal was last said in 2 Samuel 6:23

23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

Her story was sad. However, do not let unfortunate become a bitterness that occupied our mind. God will bless those who tears and trust in Him.

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  • Thanks. However, IMHO, I think Michal is an ice cold queen/arrogant/uncaring, and it does seem to hint/suggest it in (2 Samuel 3:12-16) which recounts the story of Paltiel the son of Laish crying when Michal left to rejoin David, but it does Not say that she had any remorse and/or sympathy for Paltiel ( hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/56562/19810 )re Commented Aug 5, 2022 at 15:17
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    @crazyTech - you are probably right that Michal had no remorse to left Paltiel. It was justified to her character. If I was right about her personality, she was looking to marry a strong man that secured her life. Paltiel was definitely not that kind of person, and she had no children with Paltiel. What did it tell? By the time she married David, she might still be a teenager. So I sympathize her miserable life. Her problem was, unliked David who had a difficult life too, put his faith in God. So yes, she was arrogant. If she put her tears to God, the ending story would be different. Commented Aug 5, 2022 at 18:48
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    @VincentWong - I sympathize with her too. She risked her life for David. We know nothing about her feelings toward Paltiel but the story shows that he definitely loved her. So it's only natural that she would feel victimized by the strong men in her life, and scorned to become just one of many women in David's harem. Commented Aug 14, 2022 at 18:11

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