As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul,(A) singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. As they celebrated, the women sang:

Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.(B)

Saul was furious and resented this song.[a] “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?”(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 18:8 Lit furious; this saying was evil in his eyes

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