Merab
MERAB
The eldest daughter of king Saul, was promised to David in marriage, in reward for his victory over Goliath; but was given to Adriel, son of Barzillai the Meholathite, 1Sa 14:49 18:17,19. Merab had five sons by him, who were delivered to the Gibeonites, and hanged before the Lord, 2Sa 21:8,9 . The text intimates that the five men delivered to the Gibeonites were sons of Michal; but see ADRIEL.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Merab
(Hebrews Merlab’, , increase; Sept. and ; Josephus , Ant. 6:6, 5), the eldest of the two daughters of king Saul (doubtless by his wife Ahinoam), and possibly the eldest child (1Sa 14:49). She first appears (BC. cir. 1062) after the victory over Goliath and the Philistines, when David had become an inmate in Saul’s house (1Sa 18:2), and immediately after the commencement of his friendship with Jonathan. In accordance with the promise which he made before the engagement with Goliath (1Sa 17:25), Saul betrothed Merab to David (1Sa 18:17), but it is evidently implied that one object of thus rewarding his valor was to incite him to further feats, which might at last lead to his death by the Philistines. David’s hesitation looks as if he did not much value the honor, although his language in 1Sa 18:18 may be only an Oriental form of self-depreciation (comp. 1Sa 18:23; 1Sa 25:42; 2Sa 9:8); at any rate before the marriage Merab’s younger sister Michal had displayed her attachment for David, and Merab was then married to Adriel the Meholathite, who seems to have been one of the wealthy sheiks of the eastern part of Palestine, with whom the house of Saul always maintained an alliance. To Adriei she bore five sons, who formed five of the seven members of the house of Saul who were given up to the Gibeonites by David, and by them impaled as a propitiation to Jehovah on the sacred hill of Gibeah (2Sa 21:8). SEE RIZPAH.
The Authorized Version of this passage is an accommodation, rendering , she brought up, although it has she bare for the same Hebrew word in the previous part of the verse. The Hebrew text has the five sons of Michal, daughter of Saul, which she bare to Adriel, and this is followed in the Sept. and Vulgate. The Targum explains the discrepancy thus: The five sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul’s daughter, brought up) which she bare, etc. The Peshito substitutes Merab (in the present state of the text Nodob) for Michal. J. H. Michaelis, in his Hebrew Bible (2Sa 21:10), suggests that there were two daughters of Saul named Michal, as there were two Elishamas and two Eliphalets among David’s sons. Probably the most feasible solution of the difficulty is that Michal is the mistake of a transcriber for Merab; but, if so, it is manifest from the agreement of the versions and of Josephus (Ant vii. 4,30) with the present text, that the error is one of very ancient date. SEE MICHAL.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Merab
increase, the eldest of Saul’s two daughters (1 Sam. 14:49). She was betrothed to David after his victory over Goliath, but does not See m to have entered heartily into this arrangement (18:2, 17, 19). She was at length, however, married to Adriel of Abel-Meholah, a town in the Jordan valley, about 10 miles south of Bethshean, with whom the house of Saul maintained alliance. She had five sons, who were all put to death by the Gibeonites on the hill of Gibeah (2 Sam. 21:8).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Merab
Saul’s oldest daughter (1Sa 14:49). According to promise to the conqueror of Goliath, Saul betrothed Merab to David (1Sa 17:25; 1Sa 18:17), but with the secret design of inciting him thereby to expose himself to be slain by the Philistines. At the time when Merab should have been given to him Saul gave her to Adriel the Meholathite. Her five sons subsequently were crucified to Jehovah by the Gibeonites among the seven, for Saul’s bloodthirsty zeal against them (2Sa 21:9). See Exo 34:7; how Saul’s sin recoiled on himself and his! “Michal” is a copyist’s error for Merab (2Sa 21:8); reading “Michal” we must understand “brought up,” not gave birth to (compare Rth 4:16-17). (See MICHAL.)
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Merab
MERAB.The elder daughter of Saul, promised to the slayer of Goliath (1Sa 17:25), and then to David personally as a reward for prowess against the Philistines (1Sa 18:17), but given as wife to Adriel the Meholathite. In 2Sa 21:8 Michal, whose sons are said to have been given over to satisfy the Gibeonites, is probably a scribal error for Merab.
W. F. Boyd.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Merab
Daughter of Saul, (1Sa 14:49) Her name is taken from Rabah, mistress.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Merab
merab (, merabh increase; , Merob): The elder daughter of Saul (1Sa 14:49), promised, though not by name, to the man who should slay the Philistine Goliath (1Sa 17:25). David did this and was afterward taken by Saul to court (1Sa 18:2), where he was detained in great honor. Merab was not, however, given to him as quickly as the incident would lead one to expect, and the sequel showed some unwillingness on the part of some persons in the contract to complete the promise. The adulation of the crowd who met David on his return from Philistine warfare and gave him a more favorable ascription than to Saul (1Sa 18:6-16) awoke the angry jealousy of Saul. He eyed David from that day and forward (1Sa 18:9). Twice David had to avoid the evil spirit in Saul (1Sa 18:11). Saul also feared David (1Sa 18:12), and this led him to incite the youth to more dangerous deeds of valor against the Philistines by a renewed promise of Merab. He will have David’s life, but rather by the hand of the Philistines than his own (1Sa 18:17). Merab was to be the bait. But now another element complicated matters – Michal’s love for David (1Sa 18:20), which may have been the retarding factor from the first. At any rate Merab is finally given to Adriel the Meholathite (1Sa 18:19). The passage in 2Sa 21:8 doubtless contains an error – Michal’s name occurring for that of her sister Merab – though the Septuagint, Josephus, and a consistent Hebrew text all perpetuate it, as well as the concise meaning of the Hebrew word Yaladh, which is a physiological word for bearing children, and cannot be translated brought up. A Targum explanation reads: The 5 sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul’s daughter brought up) which she bare, etc. Another suggestion reads the word sister after Michal in the possessive case, leaving the text otherwise as it stands. It is possible that Merab died comparatively young, and that her children were left in the care of their aunt, especially when it is said she herself had none (2Sa 6:23). The simplest explanation is to assume a scribal error, with the suggestion referred to as a possible explanation of it. The lonely Michal (2Sa 6:20-23) became so identified with her (deceased) sister’s children that they became, in a sense, hers.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Merab
Merab (Increase) eldest daughter of king Saul, who was promised in marriage to David; but when the time fixed for their union approached, she was, to the surprise of all Israel bestowed in marriage upon an unknown personage named Adriel (1Sa 14:49; 1Sa 18:17-19). By him she had six sons, who were among those of the house of Saul that were given up to the Gibeonites, who put them to death in expiation for the wrongs they had sustained from their grandfather.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Merab
[Mer’ab]
Eldest daughter of Saul: she was promised to David, but was given to Adriel the Meholathite. 1Sa 14:49; 1Sa 18:17; 1Sa 18:19. See ADRIEL.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Merab
H4764
Daughter of King Saul
1Sa 14:49
Betrothed to David by Saul
1Sa 18:17-18
Given to Adriel to wife
1Sa 18:19
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Merab
Merab (m’rb), increase. The eldest daughter of Saul, 1Sa 14:49, promised to David, but given to Adriel in marriage. 1Sa 18:17; 1Sa 18:19.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Merab
Me’rab. (increase). Eldest daughter of King Saul. 1Sa 14:49. In accordance with the promise which he made, before the engagement with Goliath, 1Sa 17:25, Saul betrothed Merab to David. 1Sa 18:17. Before the marriage, Merab’s younger sister, Michal, had displayed her attachment for David, and Merab was, then, married to Adriel, the Meholathite, to whom she bore five sons. 2Sa 21:8.