Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 21:8
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
8. the five sons of Michal whom she brought up for Adriel ] The Heb. text can only mean whom she bare to Adriel. But it was Merab, not Michal, who was married to Adriel (1Sa 18:19). Consequently we must either read Merab for Michal, or take the explanation given in the Targum and adopted by the E. V.: “the five sons of Merab, (whom Michal the daughter of Saul brought up), whom she bare to Adriel.”
the Meholathite ] Of Abel-Meholah, a town in the Jordan valley near Beth-shan, famous as the birth-place of Elisha (1Ki 19:16).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rizpah – See the marginal reference. A foreign origin was possibly the cause of the selection of Rizpahs sons as victims.
Sons of Michal – An obvious error for Merab (1Sa 18:19 note).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Five sons of Michal – whom she brought up] Michal, Saul’s daughter, was never married to Adriel, but to David, and afterwards to Phaltiel; though it is here said she bore yaledah, not brought up, as we falsely translate it: but we learn from 1Sa 18:19, that Merab, one of Saul’s daughters, was married to Adriel.
Two of Dr. Kennicott’s MSS. have Merab, not Michal; the Syriac and Arabic have Nadab; the Chaldee has properly Merab; but it renders the passage thus: – And the five sons of Merab which Michal the daughter of Saul brought up, which she brought forth to Adriel the son of Barzillai. This cuts the knot.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rizpah; Sauls concubine, 2Sa 21:11; 2Sa 3:7.
The five sons of Michal, or, of Michals sister, to wit, Merab; for Michal had no children, 2Sa 6:23, nor was she married to this Adriel, but to Phalti, or Phaltiel, the son of Laish, 1Sa 25:44; 2Sa 3:15; and Merab her sister was married to this very Adriel the Meholathite, 1Sa 18:19. And it must be remembered, that the Hebrew language is very short, and full of ellipses or defects of words, which yet may be easily understood from the sense. Particularly relative words are oft lacking, and to be supplied; as Goliath is put for Goliaths brother, here, 2Sa 21:19, and uncle for uncles son, Jer 32:7,12. Or, the sons of Merab are called the sons of Michal, to wit, by adoption; or, the near kindred and next heirs of Michal, and brought up by her; for upon that and such-like accounts the title of son is oft given in Scripture, as Gen 48:5; Exo 2:10; Deu 25:5,6; Rth 1:11,12; 4:17.
Quest. But why then are not these called the sons of Merab?
Answ. Because they were better known by their relation to Michal, who was Davids wife, and, it may be, alive at this time, and having no children of her own, took these, and bred them up as her own; when Merab was now a more obscure person, and possibly dead many years before this.
Whom she brought up; for so this Hebrew verb, which primarily and properly signifies to bear, is sometimes used, as Gen 1:23; Rth 4:17, because the education of children is a kind of bearing of them, as requiring frequently no less care and pains than the bearing doth; whence it is that nurses are reputed as mothers, and sometimes go under that name both in sacred and profane writers. See Rth 4:16,17; and compare Gen 16:2; 30:3; Num 11:12; Gal 4:19.
The Meholathite; of Abel-meholah in the tribe of Benjamin, Jdg 7:22; so he is here called by way of distinction from Barzillai the Gileadite, 2Sa 19:31.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. the five sons of Michal thedaughter of Saul, whom she brought up for AdrielMerab,Michal’s sister, was the wife of Adriel; but Michal adopted andbrought up the boys under her care.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,…. Saul’s concubine, 2Sa 3:7;
whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; of whom we read nowhere else; after the name of the latter, it is probable, Jonathan’s son was called, before mentioned:
and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; Michal had no children to the day of her death, nor was she the wife of Adriel, but Merab her sister, 1Sa 18:19; wherefore these sons were not whom she “bare”, as the word used signifies, but, as we rightly render it, whom she “brought up” or educated, so the Targum, her sister being dead; and so the Jews say k, Merab brought them forth, and Michal brought them up, therefore they were called by her name; or the words may be supplied thus, “and the five sons [of the sister of Michal]”, and, as in
2Sa 21:19, is supplied, “[the brother of] Goliath”. Barzillai is here called the Meholathite, to distinguish him from Barzillai the Gileadite, spoken of in a former chapter, see 2Sa 17:27.
k T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) Took the two sons of Rizpah.The suggestion that David took advantage of this opportunity to strengthen himself further against the house of Saul is utterly set aside by two considerations: (1) David could not lawfully refuse the demand of the Gibeonites, since the Law absolutely required that blood-guiltiness should be expiated by the blood of the offender (Num. 35:33), which, in this case, became that of his representatives; and (2) Davids choice of victims was directly opposed to such a supposition. He spared, for Jonathans sake, the only descendants of Saul in the male line, who only could have advanced any claim to the throne, and took (1) the two sons of Rizpah, a concubine of Saul, with whom Abner had committed adultery (2Sa. 3:7), and (2) five sons of Sauls eldest daughter Merab, who had been promised in marriage to David himself, and then given to another (1Sa. 18:17-19). The text has Michal instead of Merab; but this must be an error of the scribe, since it was Merab, not Michal, who was married to Adriel the Meholathite (1Sa. 18:19), and Michal was childless (2Sa. 6:23). The English phrase brought up for is taken from the Chaldee; the Hebrew, as noted in the margin, is bare to.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Rizpah A concubine of Saul. 2Sa 3:7.
Michal Rather, Merab. See 1Sa 18:19. The insertion of Michal for Merab was, probably, the mistake of an early copyist.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 21:8. And the five sons of Michal Or, Merab. From the parallel passage, 1Sa 18:19 it appears that Merab, not Michal, was married to Adriel; and therefore, as Houbigant has very fully shewn, we should read Merab in this place, instead of Michal.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Sa 21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
Ver. 8. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah. ] By God’s warrant and direction doubtless, who can, at his pleasure, dispense with his own laws.
And the five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Michal. Some codices, cited in the Massorah, with Septuagint and Syriac, read “Merab”, as in 1Sa 18:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sons
CF. 2Sa 6:23. The “five sons” were children of Michal’s sister Merab, wife of Adriel, “whom she brought up for Adriel”. 1Sa 18:19.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Rizpah: 2Sa 3:7
and the five sons: This Adriel did not marry Michal, Saul’s younger daughter, but Merab, 1Sa 18:19, Michael being married to David, and afterwards to Phaltiel; though it is here said she bore (yaledah) not brought up, as falsely rendered, five sons to Adriel. Two of Dr. Kennicott’s manuscripts, however, have Merab, instead of Michal; the Syriac and Arabic have Nadab; and the Chaldee renders the passage thus: “And the five sons of Merab which Michal the daughter of Saul brought up, which she brought forth to Adriel the son of Barzillai.”
Michal: or, Michal’s sister, 1Sa 18:19
brought up for: Heb. bare to
Reciprocal: 1Sa 20:16 – Let the Lord 2Sa 21:10 – Rizpah Psa 109:14 – Let the Jon 1:15 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of {f} Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
(f) Here Michal is named for Merab Adriel’s wife, as it appears in 1Sa 18:19 for Michal was the wife of Paltiel, 1Sa 25:44 and never had a child 2Sa 6:23.