1 Samuel 18:19

19 But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath.

1 Samuel 18:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 18:19

But it came to pass, at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter,
should have been given to David
Either when the giving of her to him was talked of, or when the time fixed for her marriage was come:

that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife:
Saul either having in reality never designed she should be given to David, only proposed it to please the people, or to affront David, and expose him to shame and confusion by the step he meant to take, or however he soon changed his mind; though Abarbinel's notion is, that the young lady had disposed of herself to this person without her father's knowledge, which seems not likely; the person she was given to was the son of Barzillai the Meholathite, ( 2 Samuel 21:8 ) ; and some have observed, as the curse of God on this match, that all her sons were delivered to the Gibeonites, and hanged up, as related in the same place; for though these sons are said to be brought up by Michal, they were bore by Merab to him.

1 Samuel 18:19 In-Context

17 And Saul said to David, Here is my oldest daughter Merab, whom I will give you for your wife: only be strong for me, fighting in the Lord's wars. For Saul said, Let it not be through me that his fate comes to him, but through the Philistines.

18 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?

19 But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath.

20 And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased.

21 And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time.