David returns from the battle bearing the head of the giant Goliath - as a reward, King Saul promises him the hand of his horrified daughter Merab. But when David receives more popular acclaim than the King, Saul is consumed by jealousy. His daughter Michal advises David to soothe the incensed monarch with the calming strains of a harp. But Saul's rage is merely exacerbated, and he finally casts a spear at David. When he misses, Saul orders his son Jonathan to slay David... When setting this Old Testament material to music in 1738, George Frideric Handel worked together for the first time with the librettist Charles Jennens, who later on, for example, put together the text for the Messiah. The work was premiered on 16 January 1739 in the King's Theatre at the Haymarket in London.