party at home again so that the Bible study could be resumed. Soon this young couple were attending congregational meetings and sharing in the Christian ministry. Twelve months after their first Bible study they were baptized. They have continued zealous ever since, even though a change in the husband’s employment required him to move to where there is no congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses.

● A Philippine Witness traveled a long distance to the city of Bohol, where there was a great need for preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. However, before long she became homesick. Hearing of this, her parents urged her to return—a mistaken kindness. But instead of yielding to their importunities she determined to stick to her ministerial assignment, with the result that in six months her labors resulted in seventeen new Christian witnesses, including the local chief of police together with his wife and daughter.

● In Venezuela a Witness conducted Bible studies with a young mother of three children for almost four years and then due to circumstances dropped it, especially as no progress was evident. Almost a year went by, then the Witness called because the mother’s subscription for The Watchtower had expired. She not only resubscribed but wanted more literature, and asked that her Bible study be resumed, confessing that she had let her unbelieving husband unduly influence her. Now she is making good progress, attending the congregational meetings and sharing in the Christian ministry.

Questions From Readers

● According to 2 Samuel 6:23, Michal, Saul’s daughter, died childless. Yet 2 Samuel 21:8 speaks of five sons she bore to Adriel the Meholathite. But according to 1 Samuel 18:19, Adriel had married Merab, Michal’s sister. How can these apparent discrepancies be harmonized?—L. B., United States.

David had eclipsed King Saul in battle; so much so that the women of Israel sang: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Because of this Saul became envious and sought to get David out of the way. This he thought to do by offering his daughter Michal, who was in love with David, to him in return for a dowry of one hundred foreskins of the Philistine warriors—Saul expecting David to be slain in the attempt. However, David and his men procured not only one hundred but two hundred foreskins: “And David came bringing their foreskins and giving them in full number to the king, to form a marriage alliance with the king. In turn Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.”—1 Sam. 18:7, 25-27.

Sometime later, after David had become king, he brought the ark of Jehovah’s covenant to Mount Zion, near his palace. In his great joy David danced enthusiastically, divested of his outer garments. His wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, seeing this, “began to despise him in her heart.” When David returned to his household, Michal sarcastically said: “How glorious the king of Israel made himself today when he uncovered himself today to the eyes of the slave girls of his servants, just as one of the empty-headed men uncovers himself outright!” This king’s daughter had no appreciation of the kind of zeal that David displayed for Jehovah’s worship. David not only rebuked her for this but penalized her by having no more relations with her: “So, as regards Michal, Saul’s daughter, she came to have no child down to the day of her death.”—2 Sam. 6:14-23.

This text, however, does seem to contradict what we read at 2 Samuel 21:8: “Consequently the king [David] took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.” These David gave to the Gibeonites in atonement for Saul’s having endeavored to annihilate the Gibeonites.—2 Sam. 21:1-10.

It appears that some scribes have endeavored to resolve the difficulty by substituting the name of Merab, her sister, for Michal. This is apparent from the way the Septuagint as well