Merib-Baal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to the Old Testament, Merib-Baal is the son of Jonathan and grandson of King Saul .

In addition, a son Saul and Rizpa is named after ( 2 Sam 21.8  EU ). During a famine he was handed over by David with six (half) brothers to the Gibeonites and executed by them because Saul tried to destroy the Gibeonites.

etymology

The name Merib-Baal ( Hebrew מְרִיב בַּעַל merīv ba'al ) occurs in the Hebrew Bible only in 1 Chr 8.34  EU and 1 Chr 9.40  EU . Baal is the name of a deity. There are two possible explanations for the meaning of the first part of the name. If one derives merīv from the Hebrew verb root rīb “argue”, it means “Baal may argue” or “he who argue with Baal”. If you trace it back to the Aramaic word mar "Lord", you can translate "My Lord is Baal". In the Septuagint this name is rendered with μεριβααλ meribaal .

In all other places except those mentioned above, the name Mefi-Boscheth ( Hebrew מְפִיבֹשֶׁת məfîvošæt , in the Septuagint μεμφιβοσθε memphibosthe ). It means “from the mouth of shame” or “from the mouth (comes) shame”. According to a theory by Abraham Geiger , those names that could be associated with the alien deity Baal were subsequently changed. The second half of the name was replaced by Boscheth "shame". This is derived from the verb בושׁ “to be ashamed / ashamed”. The same phenomenon can also be seen with the names Esch-Baal (changed to Isch-Boschet ) and Jerubbaal, a second name of Gideon (changed to Jerubbehet).

biography

Since his uncle Ish-Baal is outlawed, the five-year-old is the heir to the throne of the Saul family after the king and his sons die in the battle of the Gilboa Mountains. When the news reaches the royal family, the nanny flees with the boy, but in a hurry lets him fall off his arm. Since then he has been paralyzed ( 2 Sam 4,4  EU ). He is carried to Lo-Dabar in the land of Gilead and housed in the house of Machir .

Years later, when the victorious David consolidated his kingdom, he remembers his old friend Jonathan, regardless of the discord that prevails between the two clans. He hears from Merib-Baal and has him and his little son Micha , ancestor of the house of Saul ( 1 Chr 8,34  EU ), brought to his court in Jerusalem. Merib-Baal has to fear the worst, but is given a permanent place on the royal table. He also gets back the personal belongings of the Saul family ( 2 Sam 9  EU ), which are subject to Ziba until then. David does this in memory of an oath he took to his friend Jonathan to spare his descendants ( 2 Sam 21.7  EU ).

When David flees Jerusalem , the remaining Merib-Baal is accused by Ziba of using the king's absence to reestablish the kingship of his own family ( 2 Sam 16.3  EU ). After David's return, questioned ( 2 Sam 19.25–30  EU ), he assures that he has remained loyal to the king, but that he has become the victim of Ziba's machinations due to his disability . Because of this dubious incident, Merib-Baal loses half of its ownership to Ziba.

Once again, David kept the promise made to Jonathan when he granted the blood revenge of the inhabitants of Gibeon due to a famine . At the time, King Saul wanted to exterminate this, contrary to his assurance, and now they are demanding seven of his male descendants to execute them in Gibeah , Saul's hometown ( 2 Sam 21  EU ). Saul's grandson Merib-Baal and his son Micha get away again.

In rabbinical literature

Regarding the name Mefiboschet, the Babylonian Talmud asks:

“His name is not Mefiboschet, but Ischboschet. And why was he called Mefiboschet? Because he shamed the face of David in matters of halacha. Therefore, David deserved that Kilab emerged from him . "

- Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, chapter 1, page 4a

The name Mefiboschet (מְפִיבֹשֶׁת mə fî v o š æt ) is used here with the verb "to shame" (מְבַיֵּישׁ məv ajje š ) and as an abbreviation ofבֹּשֶׁת פָּנִים bošæt p ānîm , German for 'shame of the face' .

Name variants

  • Merib-baal ; Meribbaal; Meribaal ;
  • Mefi-Boscheth ; Mephiboset; Mephiboseth; Mefiboseth; Mefiboset; Mefiboschet

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, Chapter 1, Page 4a , on sefaria.org.il (Hebrew and English).