Merab

Daughter of Saul, (1 Sam. 14. 49.) Her name is taken from Rabah, mistress.

Me´rab (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.

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.\par

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.

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.)

Merab (mç’răb), increase. The eldest daughter of Saul, 1Sa 14:49, promised to David, but given to Adriel in marriage. 1Sa 18:17; 1Sa 18:19.

[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.

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By: Joseph Jacobs, M. Seligsohn

The elder of Saul's two daughters (I Sam. xiv. 49; xviii. 17, 19). Saul formally offered Merab's hand to David with the condition that the latter should distinguish himself in the warwith the Philistines. David did so, but Saul broke his promise by giving Merab to Adriel the Meholathite (ib. xviii. 19).

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.

mē´rab (מרב, mērabh “increase”; Μερόβ, Merób): 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 Yāladh, 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.