2 Samuel 3:15
in 2 Samuel 3So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Paltiel the son of Laish.
KJV
And Ish–bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAnd Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband,.... Her second husband, to whom Saul had given her, 1Sa 25:44, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish; he is called Phalti in 1Sa 25:44.
This site's exposition
took her from her husband
on 2 Samuel 3:15-16
Ish-bosheth strips Michal from Phaltiel, the man Saul gave her to at 1 Samuel 25:44 while David was still in exile, and the narrator lets Phaltiel's grief stand without comment, following her weeping to Bahurim until Abner's one word ends it. Barnes reads David's legal right as intact since no divorce had passed between them, but the verse itself withholds any word from David or Michal about the reunion, an ordinary man's sorrow given more space in the text than the king's.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), and Abner conducted her to David, not doubting but that then he should be doubly welcome when he brought him a wife in one hand and a crown in the other. Her latter husband was loth to part with her, and followed her weeping (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
From [her] man. Yonasan translated "from the company of her husband."
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Following and crying. Over the good deed [about to be] leaving him because all those years he thrust a sword into the bed [separating] between him and her and he did not stumble [into sinful intimacy] with her.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | Ish- | H378 → | 22 times |
| בֹּ֔שֶׁת | boshet | bosheth | H378 → | 22 times |
| וַיִּקָּחֶ֖הָ | vaiyikacheha | and he took her | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מֵ֣עִֽם | meim | from with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | a husband | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מֵעִ֖ם | meim | from with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| פַּלְטִיאֵ֥ל | paltiel | Paltiel | H6409 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לָֽיִשׁ׃ | lush | Laish | H3919 → |
וַיִּשְׁלַח֙and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
אִ֣ישׁIsh-
ʾishH378 →22 times
בֹּ֔שֶׁתbosheth
boshetH378 →22 times
וַיִּקָּחֶ֖הָand he took her
vaiyikachehaH3947 →966 times
מֵ֣עִֽםfrom with
meimH5973 →1050 times
אִ֑ישׁa husband
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מֵעִ֖םfrom with
meimH5973 →1050 times
פַּלְטִיאֵ֥לPaltiel
paltielH6409 →
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
לָֽיִשׁ׃Laish
lushH3919 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 25:44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 18:27
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…
- 2 Samuel 3:14
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.”
- 1 Samuel 18:20
Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.
- Isaiah 10:30
Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
- 1 Samuel 18:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.