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1 Chronicles 8 · a question people ask

Are Eshbaal and Merib-baal the Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth of 2 Samuel?

In the text

The Bible text doesn't say. 1 Chronicles never uses the names Ishbosheth or Mephibosheth, and 2 Samuel never uses Eshbaal or Merib-baal. Here is what each book gives. Eshbaal is a son of Saul (8:33); in 2 Samuel, Abner "had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul" and made him king (2 Samuel 2:8-9). Merib-baal is "The son of Jonathan", and he "became the father of Micah" (8:34); in 2 Samuel, "Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet", and "His name was Mephibosheth" (2 Samuel 4:4), and "Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica" (2 Samuel 9:12). The lexicons put the names together. Strong's gives Eshbaal as "man of Baal" and "Eshbaal (or Ishbosheth), a son of Saul", and Ish-bosheth as "man of shame". Brown-Driver-Briggs has no entry of its own for Eshbaal but sends the reader to Ishbosheth, and its entry for Micah has "son of Meribaal (Mephibosheth)". Neither lexicon entry says why the names differ, and neither book explains it. Saul's sons are listed differently too: "Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua" (1 Samuel 14:49), "Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua" (1 Samuel 31:2), and here "Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal" (8:33).

The verses

“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal. Merib-baal became the father of Micah.”
1 Chronicles 8:33-34 · World English Bible
“Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.”
2 Samuel 2:8-9 · World English Bible
“Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came about Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.”
2 Samuel 4:4 · World English Bible
“Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. All who lived in Ziba’s house were servants to Mephibosheth.”
2 Samuel 9:12 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Chronicles 8

1 Chronicles 8: All these were of the sons of Benjamin

Benjamin's long list runs to Saul's family, and it doesn't stop at Gilboa. Before 1 Chronicles says "all his house died together" (10:6), it has already named Jonathan's son Merib-baal and a line after him (8:34-38), and it closes with archers who "had many sons, and grandsons" (8:40).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions