House of David Season 2 Episode 7: Recap, Review, & Analysis
- Kevin Keating
- 5 days ago
- 16 min read
Episode 7 of House of David Season 2 delivers two long-awaited moments: the marriage between David and Mychal (1 Samuel 18:27) and Saul’s attempt to kill David (1 Samuel 19:9-10). Along the way, we also get a lot of palace intrigue, including the death of a named character. Below I'll offer an in-depth recap of the plot (SPOILER WARNING), my opinion of the episode, and an analysis of its key themes. You can also find a video discussion of House of David Season 2 Episode 7 here on YouTube.
More House of David Resources
Watch House of David Season 2 with a Wonder Project Subscription 7-Day Free Trial (affiliate link)
House of David Season 2 Episode 1: Review, Recap, & Analysis
House of David Season 2 Episode 2: Review, Recap, & Analysis
House of David Season 2 Episode 3: Recap, Review, & Analysis
House of David Season 2 Episode 4: Recap, Review, & Analysis
House of David Season 2 Episode 5: Recap, Review, & Analysis
House of David Season 2 Episode 6: Recap, Review, & Analysis
House of David Season 1 Episode 1 Bible Study & Discussion Guide
House of David Season 1 Episode 2 Bible Study & Discussion Guide
What Happened in House of David Season 2 Episode 7 (A Royal Wedding)?
Adriel, Eshbaal, & David in House of David Season 2 Episode 7
Episode 7 opens on messengers traveling throughout the land of Israel, delivering news of David and Mychal’s wedding, as we hear a voice-over reading excerpts from Deuteronomy 28, Numbers 12:6, and Jeremiah 33:10. When the news reaches Adriel, he happily notes to Jordan that the marriage signals a new dawn in Israel.
Back in Gibeah, Eshbaal is awakened from nightmares of his torture at the hands of his pagan captors by the sound of shouting and alarms. The cloaked men (responsible for his abduction, the murder of Dinah’s father, and attempted assassination of Jonathan) are setting fire to the King’s Silos. In the aftermath, we learn that the silos were just filled with the winter stock of grain – their destruction could cause starvation in Gibeah. Saul doesn’t want to beg the tribes for more food but Eshbaal offers an alternative proposal. Claiming he befriended an advisor of the King of Edom during his reckless youth, he suggests that they try to renew their fragile alliance. Saul hesitates, knowing that the King of Edom is a vindictive, bitter man, to whom he hasn’t spoken in decades, but ultimately he gives Eshbaal approval to reach out to his friend.
Just before the wedding, Eshbaal enters Saul’s chambers, looking for his father, and exchanges a brief but lascivious glance with Kazia (a nod to their flirtation in Season 1 Episode 1). When Saul arrives, Eshbaal shares that the King of Edom is willing to move past old grievances and pursue an alliance by providing them with grain.
During the wedding, Kazia and Eshbaal continue exchanging glances. Just before the procession, Dinah returns and reveals to Eshbaal that she has news they need to discuss
afterward.
After the ceremony, Adriel approaches David to remind him of his part in clearing the path for him, but David insists that God alone is the one who cleared his path. Reminding Adriel of what Eliab was forced to do and of what would happen if Saul found out Adriel lied, David refuses to acknowledge that he owes Adriel anything.
Offended, Adriel approaches Eshbaal and notes how the union of David and Mychal is another obstacle keeping him from the throne. At first, Eshbaal feigns indifference, but Adriel can tell that he is driven by ambition and insists he only needs someone to clear the obstacles in his path to the throne. Taking him aside, Adriel reveals the truth about David’s identity.
Later that night, Dinah takes Eshbaal aside and tells him about the meeting she witnessed between Doeg and the One-Eyed Man and the message she intercepted that proves that the attack on the silos wasn’t done by the Philistines. Eshbaal urges her to leave the matter with him. When it becomes clear that she won’t just let it go, he sadly tells her that he never expected to fall in love with her like this – just before he pushes her off of the wall, killing her. But the two aren’t as alone as Eshbaal thought. Seeing Mirab, Eshbaal rushes over and silences her, insisting that he has an explanation.
Taking Mirab back to his quarters, Eshbaal finally reveals to her what happened while he was captured. His old life ended and gave way to a new purpose, which he is committed to seeing through. When Mirab accuses Eshbaal of being behind the attack on the silos, the shattering of their family, and the banishment of their mother, he doesn’t deny it but instead insists that his actions were necessary to end their father’s corrupt and rotting kingdom and build something new and better. Playing on their past bond, he urges her not to tell anyone what happened and remain by his side.
When Dinah’s body is found by a guard, Eshbaal feigns shock and grief, while Jonathan questions why someone would kill her. On cue, Mirab shows up and claims that Dinah had secretly been dealing with grief over the death of her father and had spoken to her of ending her life, while hiding it from everyone else. Again, Eshbaal feigns shock and grief, having successfully covered up the murder.
As David is brought to Saul’s chamber, Eshbaal follows at a distance, eager to ensure that his potential rival is eliminated.
Saul, Jonathan, & Abner in House of David Season 2 Episode 7
In the aftermath of the attack of the King’s Silos, Jonathan confronts his father about the banishment of Ahinoam and his attempt to send David into a trap, but Saul refuses to acknowledge Jonathan’s accusation, insisting that David had to prove he was worthy of the family. Jonathan, for his part, questions whether the House of Saul is worthy of David.
Later, as Saul is approving various works throughout the kingdom, he can sense that Abner is troubled. Reassuring Saul that he believes in him wholeheartedly, Abner expresses concern over his decision to cast away Ahinoam in favor of a concubine, urging him to remember who he was and not gain the world and lose himself (Matthew 16:26).
Meanwhile, Sara finds Jonathan training and reveals that she’s pregnant. Jonathan is thrilled at the prospect of teaching his son (or daughter) to ride, while living peacefully in a quiet village, but Sara questions whether his dream is really possible. Although Jonathan is confident that there is a peaceful path to David taking over, the two agree to keep the secret for now.
Jonathan and Sara attend the wedding, looking on David and Mychal with joy and pride. After the wedding, they are present when Dinah’s body is found, but Jonathan’s initial suspicion is assuaged when Mirab falsely claims that her friend was contemplating suicide.
Mychal, Mirab, & Dinah in House of David Season 2 Episode 7
Mychal finds Mirab, cleaning up the mess Saul made while dragging Ahinoam out of the palace and tries to empathize, wondering what’s happening to the family. But Mirab refuses to engage, questioning whether they even are a family, before leaving.
As the marriage draws nears, Mychal and David are brought to the Pool of Mei Tahara (the Waters of Purity), where they are ritually immersed three times, as they bless God for sanctifying them and sing a song based on Hosea 2:19-20. After the ritual, David finds Mychal (still drying) and expresses sorrow for what happened to her mother. David dreams of building their own family and their own future, laying aside the lies, betrayal, bloodshed, and ambition of their parents, but Mychal simply insists on having all of him (an ominous foreshadowing 1 Samuel 25:42-43).
Unable to stand being around the wedding preparations, Mirab joins Dinah on a hunt in the countryside, where Dinah reveals that she genuinely has come to be intrigued by Eshbaal, even if she doesn’t quite love him. Hearing a sound, Dinah spies Doeg with the Eye-Patch Man who killed her father back in Episode 3. Sending Mirab back to the palace, Dinah intercepts a messenger pigeon that Doeg sends off and hurries back to the palace.
Back in Gibeah, Mychal is second-guessing her jewelry for the wedding, a task that the modest Sara is ill-equipped to help with. Fortunately, Mirab arrives just in time to replace a clunky necklace for something more elegant and to give Mychal the ring that Ahinoam gave her as a sign of her presence. In the absence of Ahinoam, Mirab promises to be there for Mychal. Together, they finish preparations.
During the wedding, Mychal’s arrival is fittingly beautiful and full of joy. Approaching Saul, David asks for Mychal while professing loyalty to the kingdom and to God and Saul blesses the union. David vows that she will be his wife forever (an ominous foreshadowing of 1 Samuel 25:44 and 2 Samuel 6:20-23).
That night, Mirab witnesses Eshbaal murdering Dinah on the palace wall. Despite her horror, she’s unwilling to cast aside her favorite brother and reluctantly agrees to cover up the murder by claiming that Dinah had been contemplating suicide.
Meanwhile, David and Mychal are then brought by procession to their new home. Sometime later, as they lie in bed, Abner knocks on the door to summon David to Saul. Taking his lyre, David follows Abner, who deflects questions about why Saul is summoning him. As David enters Saul’s chamber, the door is shut ominously behind him, and David finds himself facing a fully armed Saul. Furious, Saul accuses David of betraying him, despite David’s claims of loyalty. Finally, Saul asks David point blank if Samuel chose him. Denying this, David replies that God chose him, prompting Saul to attack.
Jesse & Eliab in House of David Season 2 Episode 7
When Jesse arrives in Gibeah for the wedding, Saul thanks him for offering David, but Jesse makes it pointedly clear that it was David’s decision and not his will. Suspicious, Saul questions whether Jesse knew Samuel, but Jesse insists that he did not know him personally, though he revered him. When Jesse offers Saul a ring as a mohar (bride price), Saul insists that he should be the one offering a gift, but Jesse refuses to be indebted to the throne. Sensing tension building, Eliab ushers his father away to the celebration.
Even the otherwise dour Eliab and Jesse are filled with joy at the union of David and Mychal. Even so, Jesse is ready to go almost as soon as the ceremony is complete. Although he is proud of David, he never would have imagined the path that he is taking and is still grappling with it. Charging David to consider how he will be different from Saul, Jesse urges him to put God above all and not to let the palace corrupt him. After David embraces him and Ava one last time, they depart.
After being threatened by Adriel, David finds Eliab and tries to talk to him about his part in murdering the family in Judah, but he refuses, insisting that there is nothing to talk about and urging David to enjoy his wedding.
Review of House of David Season 2 Episode 7 (A Royal Wedding)
Episode 7 is another strong episode, doing what House of David does best:
Production Value, Costumes, Cinematography, etc.: House of David continues to maintain the quality of a mainstream historical/fantasy epic. Pretty much everything looks top notch.
A Joyful Wedding: The show has done a great job of building tension and anticipation for David and Mychal’s union over the past two seasons, so it’s satisfying to see the union handled well. I’m glad that Mirab and Mychal are able to reconcile before and that we see Mirab and even Eliab enjoying the moment.
Foreshadowing & Dramatic Irony: Episode 7 is chock full of moments that subtly anticipate what lies ahead in the biblical story and leave informed viewers with a sense of ease and dread. I love how that sense of impending doom contrasts with the otherwise joyful tone of the marriage and the hopeful dreams of our two main couples. David, Mychal, Jonathan, and Sara are so hopeful about what they may be able to build in the place of Saul’s corrupt kingdom. But we know their dreams will never reach true fruition.
Eshbaal: Any careful viewer should know by now that Eshbaal has been a manipulative bad actor from the start, but the show has done a great job of making it plausible for why Saul and most of the other members of the court would miss that. Mirab, on the other hand, witnesses indisputable evidence of her brother’s malice. But the show has positioned her such that her general resentment toward the rest of her family and her emotional reliance on Eshbaal makes it plausible that she could be manipulated into helping him. I also appreciate that Eshbaal isn’t portrayed as cartoonishly evil. I believe that he really does regret having to murder Dinah but that he’s convinced himself that he’s acting for the greater good. Pure cynicism is difficult to maintain.
Adriel: David’s rejection of Adriel is a really interesting moment. It marks out how committed David is to his integrity. We’ve seen how the beginning of Saul’s downfall came from his efforts to appease men like Adriel, and so it’s a good way for the show to help distinguish David from Saul. At the same time, David displays a kind of political naivety, not even considering what could come of his harsh rejection of one of his few allies. It’ll be interesting to watch as David becomes less politically-naive, but also less pure in his integrity. I also love how we see Adriel tries to present himself as a path-clearer for David and then, after David rejects this narrative, he presents himself to Eshbaal using the same language, even though he now sees David as an obstacle to be cleared rather than the one whose path he is clearing.
Jesse: I love Jesse’s role in the episode. His reference to being present for the anointing of Saul is a reminder that he’s seen the current king get corrupted over time. It’s no wonder why he’s so concerned about the path his son is taking and why his words of caution to David are so prescient. At the same time, he clearly loves his son and holds out some hope that he will do better. In a way, I feel like Jesse now embodies the theological perspective of the Book of Samuel, which is open to the possibility of a godly king but is also quite clear eyed about the reality of what actually happens to sinful men when they take the throne.
These may seem like minors issues, but I did want to register a few criticisms of Episode 7:
Timeline Issues: House of David often plays fast and loose with time. Trips that take half an episode for one character seem to take five minutes for another. That usually doesn’t bother me. But I was a little put off by the chronology of Episode 6 and Episode 7. On the one hand, characters act like the events of Episode 6 just happened. David expresses sympathy to Mychal for what happened to her mother. Jonathan talks to Saul about Ahinoam as if it were their first conversation. On the other hand, Sara, who married Jonathan last episode, already knows that she’s conceived. And it’s not just that she has a vague feeling – she insists that she is certain because of her knowledge as a healer and woman. The natural implication is that she’s missed her period, which suggests they’ve been together for longer than one night. I just think the show could have done more to smooth over these apparent discrepancies in the timeline.
Abner: At the start of the episode, Abner functions as a voice of conscience trying to push against Saul’s worst instincts. But by the end of the episode, Abner is participating in Saul’s ambition on David. It feels we’re missing a scene or two where Abner undergoes a shift and ultimately decides to stick by his friend. I wouldn’t be surprised if the scene existed at some point in a script or even got shot because it feels like there’s something missing in Abner’s storyline.
Saul's Spirit: The Bible explicitly mentions the harassing spirit coming upon Saul before he attacks David. I don't quite understand why the show didn't have the spirit return, even in a small way.
Other than these two small points, I thought Episode 7 did a great job of paying off the romantic build up while also setting up the final break between Saul and David that will continue into Episode 8.
Key Themes of House of David Season 2 Episode 7 (A Royal Wedding)
Episode 7 of House of David Season 2 has a couple key themes that I found very interesting:
One Life Ends; A New Life Begins
Throughout Episode 7, we see or hear about one life ending in order to make another life possible:
Jonathan envisions how his old life in the palace will soon end and be replaced by a new, simpler life in Sara’s village. The coming of this new life is concretely symbolized by the conception of Mephibosheth. But careful viewers will recall that the end of Jonathan’s old life is also going to become quite concrete through his death on the battlefield, prophetically foreseen by Saul in Episode 3 of Season 1 and by the Witch of Endor in Episode 5 of Season 2.
When Abner confronts Saul about his recent behavior, he urges him to remember the man he once was. This implies that Saul’s old self/life has ended and has given birth to a new life. This transition is tied to the banishment of his old wife in order to establish his new concubine.
David and Mychal’s immersion in the ritual Mikveh foreshadows the practice of baptism, in which the old self dies with Christ and the new self is made alive with Christ (Romans 6:4-11).
After killing an animal, as Dinah drains its blood, she thanks God for how the sacrifice of its life is able to bring new life.
Jesse describes the marriage of David and Mychal as the loss of another son, comparable to the death of Nathanael. His old expectations for David’s life have to die for David’s new life as a prince to be possible.
Marriage is, of course, the end of the old way of life for Mychal and David and the beginning of a new life together.
Eshbaal ends Dinah’s life in order to keep his new life plans alive.
Later, he tells Mirab that his old life ended while in captivity so that a new life of purpose could emerge.
Mirab claims that Dinah was unable to overcome the death of her old life, symbolized by her father. But this is, in reality, the complete opposite of the truth. Dinah was actually quite happy to end her old life under her abusive father and to begin a new life of independence in the royal palace.
This theme has several valences. In some cases, we’re invited to view the end of the old life and the beginning of a new life as almost entirely positive. Jonathan’s decision to turn his back on the life of the palace, with all its focus on power and status, in favor of a new life of simplicity is an unalloyed good, because it involves a degree of self-sacrifice. In other cases, the exchange of old life for new is more ambivalent. We’re certainly primed to look favorably on David’s new life with Mychal, but Jesse’s words remind us that their new life together will be a loss for him. In still other cases, the exchange of old life for new is clearly evil. To get the new life he wants, Eshbaal violently takes the life of his wife. It’s an act of murder, not self-sacrifice. In a sense, Eshbaal’s old life was also taken away violently. His weakness ended as a result of external torture, not internal repentance or insight. Perhaps that’s why his new self is so willing to take life in pursuit of its ends.
Hopeless Dreams of Building Something New
Throughout Episode 7, we see several characters contemplate or dream of building a new kingdom, family, or alliance:
When Adriel hears of David’s impending marriage to Mychal, he describes it as a new dawn for Israel.
Eshbaal sees the loss of the grain silos as an opportunity to build a new alliance with the Kingdom of Edom.
Jonathan’s dream of a new life with Sara is predicated on establishing a new kingdom with David at its head.
David tells Mychal that together they don’t have to be like her parents but can instead build a new family that is not characterized by lies, betrayal, bloodshed, and ambition.
Jesse challenges David to consider how he will be different from Saul and warns him against letting the palace corrupt him.
When Adriel approaches David, he sees himself as the one who cleared the path for his kingdom. David’s decision to reject this framing of things signals his determination to build his kingdom by trusting in God and not fearing men as Saul did. Adriel then turns to Eshbaal and offers to clear obstacles for his kingdom instead.
Eshbaal explains to Mirab that he dreams of building something new and better than the weak and corrupt kingdom of their father.
Between what the show itself has foreshadowed and what most people already know of the biblical source material, it should be clear to most viewers that these dreams of building something new and better will not reach proper fruition. Israel will end up at war with Edom. Jonathan will die before David takes the throne. Mychal will not have David all to herself and their future family will not be free of lies, betrayal, bloodshed, and ambition. David will be different from Saul in so far as he refuses to chase after other Powers, but he will still fall into many of the same abuses that Jesse is warning against. And Eshbaal will not build a new and better kingdom.
Episode 7 isn’t condemning the dreams and ambitions of all of these characters. If anything, we’re rooting for characters like David and Jonathan to bring their dreams to fruit. But Episode 7 does strike a note of caution – perhaps even pessimism. It’s easy to dream of building a better world. But those dreams soon collide with two intractable problems. The first is the power and deceitfulness of the sin in others. The second is the power and deceitfulness of the sin in ourselves. As David’s son eventually realizes, “All is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecclesiastes 1:14b-15, ESV).
Stay tuned for more content on House of David Season 2. Also be sure to check out my blog review, recap, and analysis of Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, and Episode 6 as well my discussion of House of David Season 2 Episode 7 on YouTube.
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