Mephibosheth (Biblical Hebrew: מְפִיבֹשֶׁת, Məfīḇōšeṯ, also called Meribaal, מְרִיב־בַּעַל, Mərīḇ-Baʻal), or Miphibosheth, was the son of Jonathan—and, thus, a grandson of Saul—mentioned in the Biblical Books of Samuel [1] [2] and Chronicles.
Mephibosheth (Biblical Hebrew: מְפִיבֹשֶׁת, Məfīḇōšeṯ, also called Meribaal, מְרִיב־בַּעַל, Mərīḇ-Baʻal), or Miphibosheth, was the son of Jonathan—and, thus, a grandson of Saul—mentioned in the Biblical Books of Samuel [1] [2] and Chronicles.
Mephibosheth was five years old when both his father and grandfather died at the Battle of Mount Gilboa. After the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, Mephibosheth's nurse took him and fled in panic. (2 Samuel 4:4) In her haste, [3] the child fell, or was dropped while fleeing. [4] After that, he was unable to walk. [5]
After the accident, Mephibosheth was carried with the rest of his family beyond the Jordan to the mountains of Gilead, where he found refuge in the house of Makhir ben Ammiel, a powerful Gadite or Manassite headman at Lo-debar, not far from Mahanaim, which during the reign of his uncle Ishbosheth was the headquarters of his family. [6]
Some years later, after his accession to the kingship of the United Monarchy, King David sought "someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God" [7] and Mephibosheth was brought to him. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says the mention of Mephibosheth's disability may have been added to show that he was not a military or political threat to David. [8]
David restored Saul's inheritance to Mephibosheth and permitted him to live within his palace in Jerusalem.
According to 2 Samuel 9:12, 1 Chron 8:34 and 1 Chron 9:40 he had a son called Micah.
He is called Mephibosheth, meaning "from the mouth of shame", in the Books of Samuel while the Books of Chronicles (8:34 and 9:40) call him Meribbaal. [9] Arnold Gottfried Betz and David Noel Freedman argue that Memphibaal, a name preserved in the Lucianic recension may actually be the original name of Jonathan's son, while Meribbaal may originally refer to one of Saul's sons. [9]
There is some scholarly agreement that Mephibosheth replaced Meribbaal (or Memphibaal) in order to conceal the theophoric name "baal", a reference to a Canaanite deity, which became taboo. [3]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God's law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel. Historians of the Ancient Near East agree that David probably lived c. 1000 BCE, but little more is known about him as a historical figure.
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Lo-debar was a town in the Old Testament in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok river in ancient Israel. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Machir, a contemporary of David..
Jonathan is a figure in the Book of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, he is the eldest son of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel, and a close friend of David. He is described as having great strength and swiftness and excelling in archery and slinging.
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1 Samuel 20 is the twentieth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's escape from Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
1 Samuel 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's escape from Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
1 Samuel 31 is the thirty-first chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
2 Samuel 9 is the ninth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon'.
2 Samuel 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon'.
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