Topical Bible: Contempt: Michal

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Topical Encyclopedia

Michal, the daughter of King Saul and the first wife of David, is a biblical figure whose account is marked by moments of love, loyalty, and ultimately, contempt. Her life is chronicled in the books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, where her relationship with David and her actions provide insight into her character and the cultural dynamics of her time.

Marriage to David

Michal's initial affection for David is evident when she becomes his wife. In 1 Samuel 18:20, it is noted, "Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him." Saul, seeing an opportunity to ensnare David, offers Michal to him as a wife, hoping to use her as a snare against David. Despite Saul's ulterior motives, Michal's love for David appears genuine, and she even aids in his escape from Saul's murderous intentions. In 1 Samuel 19:12, Michal helps David flee by lowering him through a window, demonstrating her loyalty and courage.

Separation and Reunion

The political turmoil and Saul's pursuit of David lead to their separation. During this time, Saul gives Michal in marriage to another man, Palti son of Laish (1 Samuel 25:44). This act reflects the complex and often harsh realities of political alliances and personal relationships in ancient Israel.

After Saul's death and David's rise to power, David demands Michal's return as part of his consolidation of the kingdom. In 2 Samuel 3:14-16, David sends messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred Philistine foreskins." Michal is taken from her second husband, who follows her weeping, highlighting the personal cost of political maneuvers.

Contempt for David

The most notable instance of Michal's contempt occurs during David's reign as king. In 2 Samuel 6, as David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he dances before the Lord with great enthusiasm. Michal, observing from a window, despises him in her heart. In 2 Samuel 6:16, it is recorded, "As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart."

When David returns to bless his household, Michal confronts him with scorn, saying, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, uncovering himself in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" (2 Samuel 6:20). David responds by affirming his actions as worship before the Lord, emphasizing his devotion over royal dignity.

Legacy and Reflection

Michal's account is a complex tapestry of love, loyalty, and contempt. Her initial love for David and her brave actions to save him contrast sharply with her later disdain for his uninhibited worship. Her contempt for David's actions during the Ark's procession is often interpreted as a reflection of her own struggles with pride, dignity, and perhaps a lingering loyalty to her father's house.

Michal's life serves as a poignant reminder of the personal and spiritual conflicts that can arise within the dynamics of power, loyalty, and worship. Her account invites reflection on the nature of true devotion and the potential pitfalls of pride and contempt in the life of faith.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

2 Samuel 6:16
And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

The Conversion of Zaccheus
... besides contempt. Zaccheus, without doubt, went through both. Did not many, think
you, laugh at him as he ran along, and in the language of Michal, Saul's ...
/.../whitefield/selected sermons of george whitefield/the conversion of zaccheus.htm

The King --Continued.
... ceremonial need not be repeated here; nor the mocking gibes of Michal who had ... it
was of course liable"the superstitions, the narrowness, the contempt of all ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/the life of david/xi the kingcontinued.htm

The Heinous Sin of Drunkenness
... When David, in a holy ecstasy, was dancing before the ark, Michal, Saul's daughter ...
But you may say, If I leave my companions, I must expect contempt: for they ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/the heinous sin of drunkenness.htm

How the Philistines Made Another Expedition against the Hebrews ...
... they were in a rage about it, and, looking on this contempt as a ... three male children,
Jonathan, and Isui, and Melchishua; with Merab and Michal his daughters. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 6 how the philistines.htm

Letter xxiv (Circa AD 1126) to Oger, Regular Canon
... fear the miserable progeny is obstinacy, excessive sorrow, rancour, horror, contempt,
and desperation. ... It is a good folly, at which Michal is angry and God is ...
/.../some letters of saint bernard abbot of clairvaux/letter xxiv circa a d 1126.htm

Book 5 Footnotes
... against innocent David, but to expose him to the laughter and contempt of all ...
ch.8. sect.9; and when Saul's daughter, [but David's wife,] Michal, laughed at ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 5 footnotes.htm

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
... the latter word, which was regarded as that of the strange god, and would thus have
the sacrilegious meaning "Jahveh is Baal." The term of contempt, Ebed, was ...
/.../chapter iiithe hebrews and the.htm

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
... that made him he could not prosper; that brought him to contempt and the ... to Abner,
"Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the work of jesus christ.htm

Against Jovinianus.
... for the present distress." What is this distress which, in contempt of the ... that David
had numerous other wives, and afterwards received Michal, Saul's daughter ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/against jovinianus.htm