Merab (Heb. Mêrab, perhaps “increase”). She is the eldest daughter of Saul (1Sa 14:49), promised as wife to David (18:17) but given to Adriel (v 19). The 5 sons of Merab and Adriel were among those who were handed over to the Gibeonites by David to be killed because of Saul’s massacre of some of that people (2Sa 21:8). The “Mical” of v 8 (KJV) should be read “Merab” in harmony with 2 Hebrew manuscripts, the Lucian recension of the LXX, and the Syriac; Michal never had children (6:23).
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
the eldest of the two daughters of King Saul, 1 Samuel 14, 49. Saul promised her as a wife to David, when the war with the Philistines, if he was brave, thinking that David would die in the fight; however, despite David’s triumphs, she was given to another man, Adriel de Mejolá, 1 S 18, 17-19.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
(Heb., merav, perhaps increase). The eldest daughter of King Saul. Saul expected David to be killed by the Philistines so he promised Merab as his wife if he served him as a mighty man; however, in the end, he gave Merab to another man (1Sa 18:17-19).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(Increase). She is the eldest daughter of Saul (1Sa 14:49), who promised to give her in marriage to the one who defeated Goliath. She did not keep her word immediately after David’s victory, but she asked him to fight “the battles of Jehovah” against the Philistines. † œWhen the time came when M… was to be given to David, she was given as wife to Adriel the Meholatite †, with whom she had five sons who would later be hanged at the request of the Gibeonites after the death of Saul (2Sa 21 : 8).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
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vet, = “increment”. She is the eldest daughter of Saul (1 Sam. 14:49). Her father promised to give her in marriage to David, and then turned back from her and gave her to Adriel the Meholatite (1 Samuel 18:17-19). David handed over her five sons to the Gibeonites, who hanged them in revenge for Saul’s slaughter among them (2 Sam. 21:8).
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
(from a root meaning: †œto become many† ).
The older of the two daughters of King Saul. (1Sa 14:49) Saul promised to give one of his daughters in marriage to the man who defeated Goliath (1Sa 17:25), and this was possibly why he offered his daughter Merab to David . After his confrontation with Goliath, David demonstrated his prudence and efficiency in fighting against the Philistines to such an extent that Saul “feared him” while the people of Israel and Judah loved him. (1Sa 18:15, 16) When Saul offered to give David his daughter Merab as his wife, he urged David to continue to show courage, though really he thought: “Let not my hand come to be upon him, but let it come to be on him.” the hand of the Philistines was upon him† , for he hoped that David would die in battle. David humbly hesitated to accept the offer to be the king’s son-in-law. Ultimately Saul did not keep his promise to him, and Merab did not marry David. The account says that the youngest daughter, Michal, “was in love with David,” which may imply that Merab was not. At any rate, she † “came to pass that when it was the time that Merab, the daughter of Saul, was to be given to David, she herself had already been given as a wife to Adriel the Meholathite †. (1Sa 18:17-20.)
Merab and Adriel had five children. However, David later handed over these sons and two other members of Saul’s household to the Gibeonites, who put all seven of them to death. He did this as atonement for Saul’s attempt to annihilate the Gibeonites. (2Sa 21:1-10.)
Merab’s sister raises her children for him. According to the Masoretic Hebrew text, 2 Samuel 21:8 speaks of “the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she had borne to Adriel.” However, 2 Samuel 6:23 says that Michal died childless. Some scribes seem to have attempted to resolve this difficulty by substituting Michal for Merab’s name in 2 Samuel 21:8, for the Greek Septuagint (Lagarde edition) and two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab” in this verse. However, the traditional explanation of 2 Samuel 21:8, according to the reading of almost all remaining Hebrew manuscripts, is as follows:
Merab, Michal’s sister, was Adriel’s wife and bore him the five children in question. But due to Merab’s untimely death, her sister Michal, rejected by David and childless, took it upon herself to raise the five boys. Therefore, they were spoken of as if they were children of Michal, and not of Merab. In harmony with this view of 2 Samuel 21:8, the Exegetical and Explanatory Commentary on the Bible (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, CBP, 1981, vol. 1, p. 264) says that “Merab, sister of Michal, was the wife of Adriel; but Michal fathered and raised the boys under her † her care. The Scío version of Saint Michael says in a note that Michal † œcould have adopted his sister’s children † from him. (See also WW Rand’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible, 1890, p. 22.) The Targums say: “The five sons of Merab (whom Saul’s daughter Michal brought up) whom she brought forth.” It is possible that other factors influenced the writing of this text that the Scriptures do not reveal.
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
Eldest daughter of Saul (1 Sam. 14.49), who promised her to David but, instead, gave her in marriage to Adriel meholatita (1 Sam. 18.17-20), an incident that LXX omit. Many scholars substitute Merab for Michal in 2 Sam. 21.8 (thus °vrv2), since they consider it an ancient error of the writer, and affirm that after his death his sons were hanged as revenge for Saul’s slaughter of Gibeonites, which constituted a violation of Israel’s covenant (Jos. 9) .
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Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary