1 Samuel 19:11-17

1 Samuel 19:11-17

[11] Saul  also sent  messengers  unto David's  house,  to watch  him, and to slay  him in the morning:  and Michal  David's  wife  told  him, saying,  If thou save  not thy life  to night,  to morrow  thou shalt be slain.  [12] So Michal  David  down  through a window:  and fled,  and escaped.  [13] And Michal  took  an image,  and laid  it in the bed,  and put  a pillow  of goats'  hair for his bolster,  and covered  it with a cloth.  [14] And when Saul  sent  messengers  to take  David,  she said,  He is sick.  [15] And Saul  sent  the messengers  again to see  David,  saying,  Bring him up  to me in the bed,  that I may slay  [16] And when the messengers  were come in,  behold, there was an image  in the bed,  with a pillow  of goats'  hair for his bolster.  [17] And Saul  said  unto Michal,  Why hast thou deceived me so,  and sent away  mine enemy,  that he is escaped?  And Michal  answered  Saul,  He said  unto me, Let me go;  why should I kill 

What does 1 Samuel 19:11-17 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

God"s preservation of His anointed servant David stands out in this section, as it does in the first one in this chapter ( 1 Samuel 19:1-7). In both cases it was one of Saul"s own children who came to David"s rescue. Jonathan protected David at the beginning of this section ( 1 Samuel 18:1-5), and Michal did so at its end ( 1 Samuel 19:11-17). These acts of devotion bracket the chiasm noted above.
Saul reactivated his mission of putting David to death, this time by using his men (cf. 1 Samuel 19:1). As Jonathan had done ( 1 Samuel 19:2), Michal told David what Saul was planning ( 1 Samuel 19:11). Then she aided his escape, first by helping him flee from a window, and then by fashioning a dummy in his bed and concocting a story that he was sick. The household idol (Heb. teraphim) was usually a small image three or four inches high that many people carried on their persons or set up in their homes as good luck charms. Archaeologists have found many such images in Palestine. Evidently Michal intended the presence of this image beside (Heb. "el) the bed to convince Saul"s servants that David was seriously ill. Some interpreters believe the teraphim image was quite large and was in the bed. [1]
"Michal"s ruse was probably effected by piling clothing, carpets, or the like on David"s bed and covering it with a garment, allowing only the goats" hair at the head to show." [2]
The account of Michal"s plan to provide David enough time to escape portrays her as a woman who had not committed herself completely to God. Was the household idol hers or David"s? The text does not say, but other references to Michal and David elsewhere lead me to conclude that it was hers. The possessor of the household idols was sometimes the heir of the family in the ancient Near East, so perhaps Michal kept this idol for inheritance purposes as well as for worship. Perhaps teraphim had some connection with childbearing (fertility; cf. Genesis 31:19, where barren Rachel kept teraphim). [3] It is noteworthy that Rachel and Michal both were the second daughters of their fathers, both deceived their fathers with teraphim, and both proved to be disappointments to their husbands.
Saul expected more loyalty from his daughter than he received. Jonathan had described David as Saul"s servant ( 1 Samuel 19:4), but Saul now called him his enemy ( 1 Samuel 19:17). Michal seems to have considered her lie justifiable (cf. 1 Samuel 19:11). Jonathan had not lied to Saul ( 1 Samuel 19:4-5). Both Jonathan and Michal"s words resulted in David"s safety temporarily, but Jonathan and Michal"s characters contrast in what they said to their father and king.
Saul"s daughter, as well as his Song of Solomon , was protecting David from death. God"s care for David resulted in the breaking of strong loyalties. In the ancient world, a daughter"s loyalty to her father normally remained strong even after marriage. God overcame what was natural to protect His anointed and faithful servant.