But that Saul's aim was to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines — the narrator's explicit statement of Saul's intent removes all ambiguity: the marriage is designed as a death sentence, a commission that Saul calculates will result in David's death in battle. The *ve'hitzil lo*, to make him fall, suggests that Saul imagines Goliath's death was anomalous, that repeated engagement with the Philistines will eventually prove fatal.

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