Palti (or Paltiel), son of Laish, who was from Gallim, was the second husband of

Michal Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, ...

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

's daughter. Where other versions read "Palti" (1 Samuel 25:44) and "Paltiel" (2 Samuel 3:5), the KJV has Phalti and Phaltiel, respectively. Michal was originally

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

's wife, but Saul gave her to Palti after she helped David escape from Saul. Later, after David was anointed, but before he succeeded Saul as

King of Judah The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David ...

, David demanded of

Ish-bosheth Ish-bosheth ( he, , translit=ʼĪš-bōšeṯ, "man of shame"), also called Eshbaal (, ; alternatively spelled Ishbaal, "fire of Baal") was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second monarch of the Kingdom of Israel who succeeded his father, Saul ...

, Saul's son (and Michal's brother), that Michal be returned to David as his wife, as a condition of an alliance between them. This Ish-bosheth granted, sending

Abner In the Hebrew Bible, Abner ( he, אַבְנֵר ) was the cousin of King Saul and the commander-in-chief of his army. His name also appears as "Abiner son of Ner", where the longer form Abiner means "my father is Ner". Biblical narrative ...

, a military leader, to bring Michal to David. The biblical account says that Palti "followed her weeping as far as

Bahurim Bahurim (etymology uncertainMcKenzie, John, ''Dictionary of the Bible'', Simon & Schuster, 1995, p77) was a village mentioned in the Hebrew Bible east of Jerusalem, on the road to the Jordan valley, close to the Mount of Olives. Biblical referenc ...

. But

said to him 'Go Back!'. And he turned back.". According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, Palti never consummated his marriage with Michal, but kept a sword between them while in bed to separate them. The Talmud explains his weeping as sorrow over the loss of a good deed, and not as weeping for the loss of Michal herself:

Is it not written (II Samuel 3.16), ''He went weeping?'' —This was for losing the good deed f self-restraint Hence e followed herto he town calledBahurim (literally, ''youths''), implying that they both had remained like unmarried youths and not tasted the pleasure of marital relations.

British Reform

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

Jonathan Magonet Jonathan David Magonet (born 2 August 1942) is a British rabbi theologian, Vice-President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and a biblical scholar. He is highly active in Christian-Jewish dialogue, and in dialogue between Jews and ...

has described the episode as 'one of those remarkable subversive moments' when we are forced to confront the dark side of a heroic character (David), to ask what really matters, and what price might be too high to pay for something. Palti loses his wife, 'but for one brief moment he helps turn our perception of the world inside out'. An interesting account of Paltiel is found in the novel ''The Secret Book of Kings'', by Yochi Brandes.

References

11th-century BCE Hebrew people {{Hebrew-Bible-stub