Merab

Merab is the elder daughter of King Saul. She enters the narrative briefly during the Saul–David conflict: pledged to David, then withheld and given to another man.

Saul's Elder Daughter

The household register names her among Saul's children: "Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal" (1Sa 14:49).

Promised to David, Given to Adriel

After David's rise as a warrior, Saul offers Merab to him as a wife — but the offer is a snare. Saul hopes to send David against the Philistines and have him fall there: "Look, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as wife: only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh's battles. For Saul said, Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him" (1Sa 18:17). David demurs, citing his low station: "Who am I, and what is my life, [or] my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?" (1Sa 18:18). When the time for the marriage comes, Saul reverses course: "But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife" (1Sa 18:19).