Hebrew word · H4324
מִיכַל
mikhal
Michal
A personal name (probably a shortened form of Mikha'el, “Who is like God?”), plus “his wife.”
Appears 18 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A woman of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.14.49;
daughter of: Saul (H7586G) and Ahinoam (H0293); married to David (H1732) and Palti (H6406H);
sister of: Jonathan (H3083H), Abinadab (H0041H), Malchi-shua (H4444) and Merab (H4764);
half-brother of: Ish-bosheth (H0378), Armoni (H0764) and Mephibosheth (H4648H)
§ Michal = "who is like God"
daughter of king Saul, sister of Jonathan, wife of king David, and mother of five; given to David as wife for the bride price of 100 Philistine foreskins; while still married to David, her father gave her in marriage to another, Phaltiel; at the death of Saul, David forced her to return
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Samuel 19:11
- Range of meaning
A personal name (probably a shortened form of Mikha'el, “Who is like God?”), plus “his wife.”
- Against the English
All versions render it plainly. The point lies in which label the narrator chooses, and that comes through in English only if the reader notices it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Saul gave Michal to David hoping she would be “a snare” to him (18:21). She is “Saul’s daughter” in 18:20, 27–28; 25:44; 2 Samuel 6:16, 20, 23. Here, at the moment of rescue, she is “his wife.”
From the study of 1 Samuel 25:44
- Range of meaning
A personal name, usually explained as a shortened form of Mikha'el, 'Who is like God?' (so HALOT, tentatively).
- Against the English
Not a translation issue. English versions transliterate it as 'Michal'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Michal is the only woman in the Hebrew Bible who is said to 'love' a man (1 Sam 18:20, 28). She helps David escape through a window and deceives Saul's men with the household idol in the bed (19:11–17). She is taken back by David (2 Sam 3:13–16), despises him when he dances before the ark (2 Sam 6:16–23), and is said to have had no child to the day of her death.
Similar words
Where it appears
1 Samuel · 10
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1 Samuel 14:49 מִיכַֽל׃ [was] Michal
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. His two daughters were named Merab (his firstborn) and Michal (his younger daughter).
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1 Samuel 18:20 מִיכַ֥ל Michal
Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.
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1 Samuel 18:27 מִיכַ֥ל Michal
David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.
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1 Samuel 18:28 וּמִיכַ֥ל and Michal
When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,
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1 Samuel 19:11 מִיכַ֤ל Michal
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!”
Here: Saul’s younger daughter. She is the only woman in the Hebrew Bible who is said to love a man (18:20, 28).
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1 Samuel 19:12 מִיכַ֛ל Michal
So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
Here: Saul's younger daughter and David's wife (18:20, 27). Named first, right after the verb, so the sentence opens with what she does. The name probably means 'Who is like [God]?', a shortened form like Micah or Michael, though this is not certain.
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1 Samuel 19:13 מִיכַ֜ל Michal
Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.
Here: Saul's younger daughter and David's wife (18:20–27). She is the one acting in this scene, and she is acting against her own father.
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1 Samuel 19:17 מִיכַ֗ל מִיכַל֙ Michal
And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”
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1 Samuel 25:44 מִיכַ֥ל Michal
But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Here: Saul's younger daughter. She had loved David (18:20), was married to him for a bride-price of Philistine foreskins (18:25–27), and saved his life (19:11–17). Here she is named, but she is acted upon.
2 Samuel · 7
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2 Samuel 3:13 מִיכַ֣ל Michal
“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.”
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2 Samuel 3:14 מִיכַ֔ל Michal
Then 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.”
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2 Samuel 6:16 וּמִיכַ֨ל and Michal
As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
Here: Saul's younger daughter and David's first wife. The name probably means 'Who is like [God]?'
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2 Samuel 6:20 מִיכַ֤ל Michal
When David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”
Here: David's first wife, Saul's younger daughter. She once loved David and saved his life (1 Sam 18:20; 19:11–17).
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2 Samuel 6:21 מִיכַל֒ Michal
But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD,
Here: Saul's daughter and David's first wife. The narrator keeps calling her 'daughter of Saul' (vv. 16, 20, 23), and David's words reach for that same identity.
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2 Samuel 6:23 וּלְמִיכַל֙ and to Michal
And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
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2 Samuel 21:8 מִיכַ֣ל Michal
But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
1 Chronicles · 1
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1 Chronicles 15:29 וּמִיכַ֨ל and Michal
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.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.