2 Samuel 3:13
New International Version
“Good,” said David. “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.”

New Living Translation
“All right,” David replied, “but I will not negotiate with you unless you bring back my wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”

English Standard Version
And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

King James Bible
And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

New King James Version
And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

New American Standard Bible
And he said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, only I require one thing of you, namely, that you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

NASB 1995
He said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

NASB 1977
And he said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And he said, “Good! I will cut a covenant with you, but I ask one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

Amplified Bible
David said, “Good! I will make a covenant (treaty) with you, but I require one thing of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

Christian Standard Bible
David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: You will not see my face unless you first bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal here when you come to see me.”

American Standard Version
And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee; but one thing I require of thee: that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David said: “Excellent! I covenant with you a covenant, however, one matter I ask of you. You shall not see my face unless you will bring Melkel, daughter of Shaul, with you”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And David said, With a good will I will make with thee a covenant: only I demand one condition of thee, saying, Thou shalt not see my face, unless thou bring Melchol the daughter of Saul, when thou comest to see my face.

Contemporary English Version
David sent this message back: "Good! I'll make an agreement with you. But before I will even talk with you about it, you must get Saul's daughter Michal back for me."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said: Very well: I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, saying: Thou shalt not see my face before thou bring Michol the daughter of Saul: and so thou shalt come, and see me.

English Revised Version
And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Good!" David answered. "I'll make an agreement with you. But there's one condition: You can't come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come."

Good News Translation
"Good!" David answered. "I will make an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring Saul's daughter Michal to me when you come to see me."

International Standard Version
David replied, "Sounds good to me! I'll cut a deal with you under one condition: you're not to show yourself in my presence unless you bring Saul's daughter with you when you come to see me."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he said: 'Well; I will make a league with thee; but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.'

Literal Standard Version
And [David] says, “Good—I make a covenant with you; only, one thing I am asking of you, that is, you do not see my face, except [that] you first bring in Michal daughter of Saul in your coming in to see my face.”

Majority Standard Bible
“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

New American Bible
He replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you. You must not appear before me unless you bring back Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to present yourself to me.”

NET Bible
So David said, "Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul's daughter Michal when you come to visit me."

New Revised Standard Version
He said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall never appear in my presence unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

New Heart English Bible
He said, "Good. I will make a covenant with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you shall not see my face unless you bring along Mikal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face."

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou shalt first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

World English Bible
David said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

Young's Literal Translation
And he saith, 'Good -- I make with thee a covenant; only, one thing I am asking of thee, that is, Thou dost not see my face, except thou dost first bring in Michal, daughter of Saul in thy coming into see my face.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Abner Joins David
12Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.” 13“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.” 14Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”…

Cross References
Genesis 43:3
But Judah replied, "The man solemnly warned us, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'

1 Samuel 18:20
Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

1 Samuel 19:11
Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David's wife Michal warned him, "If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!"

2 Samuel 3:12
Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, "To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you."

1 Chronicles 15:29
As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.


Treasury of Scripture

And he said, Well; I will make a league with you: but one thing I require of you, that is, You shall not see my face, except you first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.

that is [heb] saying

Genesis 43:3
And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

Genesis 44:23,26
And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more…

except

Michal

2 Samuel 3:20-23
So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast…

1 Samuel 18:20-28
And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him…

1 Samuel 19:11-17
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…

Jump to Previous
Agreement Condition Covenant Daughter David Demand Except Face First Good League Michal Namely Presence Require Saul Saul's Unless
Jump to Next
Agreement Condition Covenant Daughter David Demand Except Face First Good League Michal Namely Presence Require Saul Saul's Unless
2 Samuel 3
1. During the war David becomes stronger
2. Six sons are born to him in Hebron
6. Abner, displeased with Ishbosheth
7. revolts to David
13. David requires as a condition to bring him his wife Michal
17. Abner confers with the Israelites, feasted by David, and dismissed
22. Joab returning from battle, is displeased with the king, and kills Abner
28. David curses Joab
31. and mourns for Abner














(13) Except thou first bring Michal.--David consents to negotiate with Abner only on condition of the previous restoration of his lawful wife. Besides the justice of this demand (Michal having been wrongfully taken from him by Saul), and besides all question of affection towards one who had loved him and saved his life (1Samuel 18:20; 1Samuel 19:11-17), there were political reasons of importance for the demand. The demand itself showed to all Israel that he bore no malice against the house of Saul, and the restoration would again constitute him Saul's son-in-law, and thus further his claims to the throne; while it also showed publicly that he was in a condition to enforce his rights as against the house of Saul.

Verse 13. - Except thou first bring Michal. Besides David's affection for Michal, there were political reasons for demanding her restoration. Saul's despotic act in giving her in marriage to another man (1 Samuel 25:44) had been a public disavowal of David as the son-in-law of the royal house, and equivalent to a proclamation of outlawry. David's rights were all declared null by such an act. But now Ishbosheth must with equal publicity reverse his father's deed, and restore to David his lost position. It must have been a most painful humiliation to him to be driven thus to cancel his father's decree, and declare thereby to all Israel that he was unable to refuse hie assent to whatever his rival demanded. And for this reason David sent his messengers directly to Ishbosheth, because the importance of Michal's surrender to him lay in its being a public act of the state. For Michal, in 2 Samuel 21:8, we ought to read Merab (see note there).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Good,”
ט֔וֹב (ṭō·wḇ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

replied David,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“I
אֲנִ֕י (’ă·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

will make
אֶכְרֹ֥ת (’eḵ·rōṯ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

a covenant
בְּרִ֑ית (bə·rîṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1285: A covenant

with you.
אִתְּךָ֖ (’it·tə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

But
אַ֣ךְ (’aḵ)
Adverb
Strong's 389: A particle of affirmation, surely

there is one
אֶחָ֡ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

thing
דָּבָ֣ר (dā·ḇār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

I
אָנֹכִי֩ (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

require
שֹׁאֵ֨ל (šō·’êl)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand

of you:
מֵאִתְּךָ֤ (mê·’it·tə·ḵā)
Preposition-m | second person masculine singular
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

Do not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

appear
תִרְאֶ֣ה (ṯir·’eh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

before me
פָּנַ֔י (pā·nay)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6440: The face

unless
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you bring
הֱבִיאֲךָ֗ (hĕ·ḇî·’ă·ḵā)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

Saul’s
שָׁא֔וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

daughter
בַּת־ (baṯ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

Michal
מִיכַ֣ל (mî·ḵal)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4324: Michal -- wife of David

when you come
בְּבֹאֲךָ֖ (bə·ḇō·’ă·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to see me.”
לִרְא֥וֹת (lir·’ō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7200: To see


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OT History: 2 Samuel 3:13 He said Well (2Sa iiSam 2 Sam ii sam)
2 Samuel 3:12
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