1 Samuel 18:2
ESV
And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father 's house.
NIV
From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family.
NASB
And Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.
CSB
Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.
NLT
From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home.
KJV
And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house.
NKJV
Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore.
What does 1 Samuel 18:2 mean?
David's life is never the same after the Lord used him to kill Goliath. King Saul immediately recognizes that David would be a powerful addition to his military forces. Saul would want everyone to know that the champion who killed the Philistine giant was his to command. So, Saul drafts David into full-time service. Saul doesn't forbid David from visiting his own family. Yet under his authority as king, he requires—or at least convinces (1 Samuel 17:25)—David to live near Saul and to fight the Philistines as part of the army.David is familiar with Saul's court. After the Holy Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Samuel 16:13–14). God sent a harmful spirit to torment Saul. Only David's lyre-playing could ease Saul's battered mind (1 Samuel 16:14–23). From that time until David faced Goliath, David went back and forth between his father's sheep and Saul's court (1 Samuel 17:15).
As king, Saul has the right to assign whomever he wants to serve in the palace, the army, the king's fields, or wherever he needs them. Samuel had warned the people about this when they insisted on having a king. He pointed out that the king would take the best and brightest of their children for himself (1 Samuel 8:10–18). But Saul's demand may be disingenuous. Part of David's reward for killing Samson was that Saul would "make his father's house free in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:25). That means Jesse wouldn't have to pay taxes, and the family couldn't be forced to serve the king.
