Michal was an Israelite princess, the younger daughter of King Saul, and the first wife of King David.
Biography
Michal was the daughter of King Saul and the younger sister of Jonathan, Merab, and many others. Michal loved David from a young age, but David did not return her affection. King Saul, hoping to have David killed, invited David to take Michal as his wife if he would bring him a bride price of 100 Philistine foreskins; David slew 200 Philistines in battle and brought back their foreskins as a double bride price, and he married Michal. Michal and Jonathan alike protected David - their shared love - from their father's attempts to kill him. When David went in to exile to flee Saul's assassination attempts, Saul gave Michal as a wife to Palti, son of Laish. In 1055 BC, following Saul's death, David, as King of Judah, requested that Michal's brother Ish-bosheth, King of Israel, return Michal to him as a gesture of unity between the two kingdoms. However, Michal's criticism of David for dancing in an undignified manner on the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem led to the prophet Samuel cursing her with a barren womb until the day she died.