We all know about that time David stole Bathsheeba from her husband Uriah and had Uriah killed so that he wouldn’t find out about the unexpected pregnancy. This incident is largely seen as a small blip on the otherwise clear radar of the “man after God’s own heart.” Interpreting this story this way is problematic for many reasons, but here’s just one: This isn’t the only time David stole another man’s wife.
Consider Paltiel and Michal.
Originally, Michal is David’s wife. Saul promises her hand in marriage to David in exchange for a dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins. Saul hopes that David will be killed in his attempts (since he sees David as a threat to his power), but, as slaying Philistines is his greatest skill, David circumcises twice as many Philistines as required. So, he marries Michal and becomes the king’s son-in-law.
Scripture notes a couple of times that Michal loved David. Truly, this is a wonderful thing. This is more than a political alliance – the king’s daughter falls in love with this obscure man and great warrior, and he earns her hand through a feat of strength and courage. It’s a Disney movie waiting to happen.
The problem is, Saul remains envious of David and afraid that he’ll usurp the throne for himself. Michal catches wind of one of Saul’s (many) murder attempts, and warns David about it. She helps him escape through the city wall and buys him some time by placing a decoy in the bed.
After this incident, Saul gives Michal to another man – Paltiel of Gallim. We never find out how Michal feels about this. Meanwhile, David marries six more women (one of whom was recently widowed).
Over time, Saul continues to chase and try to kill David. David continues to flee from Saul while remaining loyal to him. Eventually, Saul dies and David becomes king of Judah. Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth becomes king of Northern Israel, and a war between the houses of Saul and David breaks out. Abner, a high-up official in the house of Saul, decides that he wants to betray this loyalty (He is found out for having slept with Saul’s concubine. David isn’t the only one interfering with others’ relationships). Abner offers to help David conquer all of Israel, and David agrees, on an interesting condition:
“I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me.” (2 Samuel 3:13)
It is possible, I suppose, that David misses his first wife and wants her back. But, given the current situation, I suspect this is a political move meant to help him secure power over the northern tribes of Israel. It’s also possible that he feels (understandably) wronged by Saul in having given his wife away. In his demand to have Michal returned to him, David reminds everyone that he paid for her with hundreds of Philistine foreskins.
We are told that then, “Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, ‘Go back home!’ So he went back.” (2 Samuel 3:15-16)
Once again, we don’t know how Michal initially feels about this arrangement. We do, however, see Paltiel’s emotion on full display. He follows along behind his wife, weeping for her, until he is forced to leave. Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Paltiel. It’s possible that he was an angry man and abusive husband (like Nabal, David’s wife Abigail’s first husband). On the other hand, maybe he was a kind and loving man who loved Michal as his one and only rather than as one amongst many.
Whatever the case, the image of him desperately following his wife, crying after her, makes my heart hurt.
Later, after Michal has been returned to David’s family, we are shown how she feels about him. While at first she loved him very much, now, watching him praise the LORD through singing and dancing, she despises him in her heart. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today,” she says, “going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” (2 Samuel 6:20) Perhaps Michal is upset that her father is no longer king. Perhaps she’s jealous of David’s many other wives and the slave girls he’s flaunting in front of. Perhaps she’s angry that she’s been taken away from her life and she misses Paltiel.
Scripture then closes her story with this detail: “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” (2 Samuel 6:23) While it’s possible that she was unable to conceive, I suspect that she and David never slept together. That, given their complicated history, they came to hate each other. Rather than demonstrate their love for each other in passionate displays of courage as they once did (circumcising hundreds of Philistines and lying to the king’s soldiers to help the other escape), now they just tolerate each other.
And that’s the story of how David tore apart Paltiel and Michal, leaving one with grief and the other with anger.
1 Samuel 18, 19, 25; 2 Samuel 3, 6
Neglected Word 