1 Samuel 18:25

Not any dowry. David’s interest had been aroused in so tactful a way as to arouse no suspicion. In fact, the idea greatly appealed to him. He could thus at once avenge Israel against her longstanding enemy and win the hand of a young woman who may have seemed more suitable to him than even her older sister, but who perhaps might not be married before the first-born (see Gen. 29:26). Inasmuch as marriage arrangements were made by the parents, David sensed nothing wrong in Saul’s intentions.

An hundred foreskins. Egyptian reliefs depict piles of these, cut from fallen foes, brought to the king, and counted before him as evidence of victory. Saul’s proposal was thus in accord with contemporary pagan custom.