How could Michal have been married to Paltiel if she was the wife of David?

Saul is to blame for the messy relationship. He had given Michal to Paltiel and had organized that they would be married (1 Samuel 25:44). It was not proper for Michal to be married to someone else while she was married to David; her relationship was thus adulterous and so the stipulations in Deuteronomy 24:1–4 do not apply.¹ Indeed, Ish-bosheth’s agreement to David’s demands shows that they were legitimate.²