Why were foreskins considered to be a worthy gift?
Why did King Saul ask for foreskins?
1 Samuel 18:27
ESV - 27 David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.
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Asked September 05 2015
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Samuel Bourassa
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
I would say that King Saul asked for foreskins because the only way that David would be able to get foreskins would be to kill uncircumcised males (which the Philistines would have been), and the foreskins would be indisputable proof that the Philistines were dead, since David would not have been able to cut off their foreskins while the Philistines were still alive. Requiring David to be in sufficient proximity to the Philistines to remove their foreskins would increase the chance that David would be killed by the Philistines while fighting with them, which was the actual objective of Saul imposing this requirement on David, since Saul was jealous of David's increasing popularity, and wanted David killed, but did not want the people to blame him for David's death.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Good question, Samuel. The context of this is the third attempt on David's life by King Saul because he, the king, was jealous of David (1 Samuel 18:17-30): Twice Saul offers one of his daughters in marriage to David if he proves himself by fighting the Philistines. Instead of being killed, David kills 200 Philistines and gains Michal as his bride. H. Wilmington Someone on reddit.com said, "Makes sense to me. You know they didn't come from fellow Israelites, easier to carry than heads, and it's something the Philistines are most definitely not gonna be giving away without a fight!"
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