And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”
Saul feared David because he sensed that God had left him and was with David instead. Note this well: those truly great and to be reverenced have God with them. David's wise behavior only deepened Saul's fear, for wisdom commands respect where threats and hectoring earn only the contempt of the discerning. Saul foolishly removed him from court, thinking to weaken him, but gave David instead a chance to win the people's love.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Samuel 18:12-30
But it came to pass, at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David,.... Either when the giving of her to him was talked of, or when the time fixed for her marriage was come: that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife: Saul either having in reality never designed she should be given to David, only proposed it...
1Sa 18:18 But David replied with true humility, without suspecting the craftiness of Saul: “Who am I, and what is my condition in life, my father’s family in Israel, that I should become son-in-law to the king?” חיּי מי is a difficult expression, and has been translated in different ways, as the meaning which suggests itself first (viz., “what is my life”) is neither reconcilable...