Dictionary
Fausset's Bible Dictionary -
Ishbosheth
("man of shame"); substituted for his original name Esh-baal (1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39) in contempt of Baal, from some connection of the family with whom he had been named; so Jerub-baal, Jerub-besheth (Judges 8:35; Hosea 9:10). (See ABNER; DAVID.) Youngest of Saul's four sons, and his successor according to eastern usage, though Mephibosheth (whose name was similarly changed from Meribbaal), son of his oldest brother Jonathan, was alive. At Mahanaim, the ancient sanctuary E. of Jordan, beyond the reach of the Philistine conquerors, he was raised to the throne by Abner his valiant kinsman (2 Samuel 2:8). This was after a five years' interregnum during which the Philistines and David had the country divided between them; for David had reigned according to 2 Samuel 2:10-11 "seven years and six months" over Judah in the old capital Hebron, while Ishbosheth reigned only "two years."
Even northern and eastern Israel, but for Abner, was inclined to have accepted David (2 Samuel 2:7; 2 Samuel 3:17). Ishbosheth was 35 at the battle of Gilboa, and 40 when, by Abner's influence, after a five years' effort he ascended the throne "over all Israel" except Judah. His charge against Abner of connection with his father Saul's concubine Rizpah was, in eastern usage, tantamount to a charge of treasonously aspiring to the throne (2 Samuel 3:7; compare 1 Kings 2:13-22). Abner in a passion vowed to transfer the kingdom to David. Ishbosheth did not dare to answer; and when David, sending the message to Ishbosheth direct, required him to restore his former wife Michal, Ishbosheth, constrained by Abner, forced his sister to leave her weeping husband Phaltiel and accompany Abner to David (2 Samuel 3:13-16), for her restoration was demanded by David as the first preliminary in treating with Abner.
Abner's death deprived Ishbosheth of the last prop of his throne; "his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled" (2 Samuel 4:1). Two sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, formerly a Canaanite city leagued with Gibeon (Joshua 9:17), Baana and Rechab, captains of marauding "bands" which used to make raids on Judah (2 Samuel 3:22; 2 Samuel 4:2), took this opportunity of revenging Saul's slaughter of their kinsmen the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21) on Ishbosheth. Pretending to fetch wheat from the inner court for their men, in the still noon when Ishbosheth was taking his midday sleep on his bed, they smote and took away his head, making their escape all that night through the valley of the Jordan.
Presenting it to David, as though it would be a welcome gift because Saul the father had been David's "enemy who sought his life," and suppressing mention of their own murderous treachery, they with hypocritical profanation of God's name said: "Behold ... the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his seed." But David reproached them with their wicked murder of "a righteous person in his own house upon his bed," and commanded his young men to slay them, and to hang up over the pool in Hebron their severed hands and feet. The head of Ishbosheth was duly buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible -
Ishbosheth
ISHBOSHETH. 1. The fourth son of Saul; on the death of his father and three brothers on Mt. Gilboa, he contested the throne of Israel with David for seven years. Driven by David over the Jordan, he took up his headquarters at Mahanaim, where, after having been deserted by Abner, he was murdered by two of his captains. His name is given in 1 Chronicles 8:33 ; 1 Chronicles 9:39 as Esh-baal . The same variation meets us in the name of Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth or Meribbaal and in the case of Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth ; similarly, we have Beeliada and Eliada . In 1 Samuel 14:49 Ishbaal has become Ishvi , which in its turn is a corruption for Ishiah , or ‘man of Jahweh.’ The change of Ish-baal , ‘man of Baal,’ into Ishbosheth , ‘man of the shameful thing,’ is ordinarily accounted for on the supposition ‘that the later religion wished to avoid the now odious term Baal.’ The theory, however, is met by the difficulty that it is in the Chronicler that the form compounded with Baal occurs. Hence it has been suggested that Bosheth is the fossilized name of a Babylonian deity Bast, for which theory, however, little support is forthcoming. 2. Ishbosheth or Ishbaal is probably the true reading for Jashobeam in 1 Chronicles 11:11 etc., which is corrupted to Josheb-basshebeth in 2 Samuel 23:8 .
W. F. Cobb.
Hitchcock's Bible Names -
Ishbosheth
A man of shame
The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary -
Ishbosheth
The son of Saul; (2 Samuel 2:8) a man of shame; from Ish, a man; and bosh, shame.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary -
Ishbosheth
a son of King Saul, and his successor in the throne. He was acknowledged king by a part of the tribes of Israel, A.M. 2949, while David reigned at Hebron, over the tribe of Judah, 2 Samuel 2:8-9 , &c; 3. He reigned two years in peace, but the remaining eight years were spent in perpetual wars between his troops and those of David, till in the end he perished, and with him ended the royal dignity of the house of Saul.
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary -
Ishbosheth
Son and successor of Saul. Abner, Saul's kinsman and general so managed that Ishbosheth was acknowledged king at Mahanaim by the greater part of Israel, while David reigned at Hebron over Judah. He was forty-four years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned two years peaceably; after which he was involved in a long and unsuccessful war against David. Being abandoned by Abner, whom he had provoked, he became more and more feeble, and was at last assassinated, 2 Samuel 2:8-11 3:1-4:12 . See ESHBAAL .
Sentence search
Eshbaal - 1 Chronicles 8:33 , the fourth son of Saul, generally called
Ishbosheth. See
Ishbosheth
Abner - ...
After Saul’s death, Abner appointed Saul’s son
Ishbosheth as king in opposition to David (2 Samuel 2:8). Meanwhile
Ishbosheth became increasingly jealous of Abner, who was the real power supporting him. When
Ishbosheth accused Abner of wanting the throne for himself, Abner deserted
Ishbosheth and joined David (2 Samuel 3:7-11). ...
Abner then set to work to win allegiance to David from all the previous supporters of
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 3:17-21). Without the leadership of Abner,
Ishbosheth’s ‘kingdom’ quickly collapsed (2 Samuel 4; 2 Samuel 5:1)
Beeliada - A son of David, 1 Chronicles 14:7 , changed in conformity with later usage (see
Ishbosheth) into Eliada (‘El knows’) in 2 Samuel 5:16
Ishbosheth - This was after a five years' interregnum during which the Philistines and David had the country divided between them; for David had reigned according to 2 Samuel 2:10-11 "seven years and six months" over Judah in the old capital Hebron, while
Ishbosheth reigned only "two years.
Ishbosheth was 35 at the battle of Gilboa, and 40 when, by Abner's influence, after a five years' effort he ascended the throne "over all Israel" except Judah.
Ishbosheth did not dare to answer; and when David, sending the message to
Ishbosheth direct, required him to restore his former wife Michal,
Ishbosheth, constrained by Abner, forced his sister to leave her weeping husband Phaltiel and accompany Abner to David (2 Samuel 3:13-16), for her restoration was demanded by David as the first preliminary in treating with Abner. ...
Abner's death deprived
Ishbosheth of the last prop of his throne; "his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled" (2 Samuel 4:1). Two sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, formerly a Canaanite city leagued with Gibeon (Joshua 9:17), Baana and Rechab, captains of marauding "bands" which used to make raids on Judah (2 Samuel 3:22; 2 Samuel 4:2), took this opportunity of revenging Saul's slaughter of their kinsmen the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21) on
Ishbosheth. Pretending to fetch wheat from the inner court for their men, in the still noon when
Ishbosheth was taking his midday sleep on his bed, they smote and took away his head, making their escape all that night through the valley of the Jordan. The head of
Ishbosheth was duly buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron
Esh-Baal - ) Saul's youngest son (1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39); Bosheth ("shame") being substituted for Baal through the believing Israelites' contempt of idols,
Ishbosheth is its equivalent (Isaiah 44:9, etc
Ashurites - One of the tribes over whom
Ishbosheth ruled ( 2 Samuel 2:9 ). 2 Samuel 3:3 ; 2 Samuel 13:37 ), so that
Ishbosheth could not have exercised control over it
Jashobeam - There is reason to believe that his real name was
Ishbosheth , i
Eshbaal - or
Ishbosheth, the fourth son of Saul
Baanah - One of the murderers of
Ishbosheth ( 2 Samuel 4:5-12 )
Ashurites - Probably the same as the Asherites, of the tribe of Asher, who were among the subjects of
Ishbosheth
Ishbosheth -
Ishbosheth. ’ The change of Ish-baal , ‘man of Baal,’ into
Ishbosheth , ‘man of the shameful thing,’ is ordinarily accounted for on the supposition ‘that the later religion wished to avoid the now odious term Baal.
Ishbosheth or Ishbaal is probably the true reading for Jashobeam in 1 Chronicles 11:11 etc
Bannah - With his brother Rechab, he murdered
Ishbosheth; they were slain in turn by David, their hands and feet cut off, and their bodies hung over the pool at Hebron (2 Samuel 4:2-9)
Baanah - He and his brother Rechab assassinated
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 4:2 ), and were on this account slain by David, and their mutilated bodies suspended over the pool at Hebron (5,6,12)
Bithron - ” As David ruled Judah in Hebron and
Ishbosheth ruled Israel in Mahanaim, their armies clashed under generals Joab and Abner
Bahurim - David demanded
Ishbosheth, Saul's son, send back Michal, Saul's daughter and David's wife.
Ishbosheth took her from her husband Phaltiel, who followed her weeping to Bahurim until Abner, the general, forced him to return home (2 Samuel 3:16 )
Rizpah - This caused a breach between him and
Ishbosheth
Palti - Michal was later returned to David in consequence of Abner's defection from
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 3:15-16 )
Rizpah -
Ishbosheth suspected Abner of intercourse, with Rizpah at Mahanaim, which in Eastern ideas was tantamount to aspiring to succeed to Saul's throne (2 Samuel 3:7). (See ABNER;
Ishbosheth; GIBEONITES
Mahanaim - It was apparently a town of some strength; for
Ishbosheth lived there during his short reign, and David took refuge there during Absalom's rebellion, 2 Samuel 2:8 17:24,27
Ishbosheth - Abner, Saul's kinsman and general so managed that
Ishbosheth was acknowledged king at Mahanaim by the greater part of Israel, while David reigned at Hebron over Judah
Ashurites - Ruled by
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:9)
Beheading -
Ishbosheth was beheaded by his murderers that his head might be carried to David, 2 Samuel 4:7,8 ; as Goliath's head had been carried to Saul
ba'Anah -
Son of Rimmon, a Benjamite, who with his brother Rechab murdered
Ishbosheth For this they were killed by David; and their mutilated bodies hung up over the pool at Hebron
Mahanaim - It served as a refuge twice: for
Ishbosheth after Saul's death (2 Samuel 2:8-9 ), and for David when Absalom usurped the throne (2 Samuel 17:24-27 )
Mahanaim - Mahanaim was the seat of the kingdom of
Ishbosheth, after the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 2:9 ; 2 Samuel 2:12
Mahanaim - Here Saul's son
Ishbosheth reigned (2 Samuel 2:8,12 ), while David reigned at Hebron. Here also, after a troubled reign,
Ishbosheth was murdered by two of his own bodyguard (2 Samuel 4:5-7 ), who brought his head to David at Hebron, but were, instead of being rewarded, put to death by him for their cold-blooded murder
Hebron - A pool is still shown over which tradition says that David hung the murderers of
Ishbosheth, and the tomb of Abner and
Ishbosheth is also pointed out within an Arab house, and the mosque is known to conceal the noted cave of Machpelah, the burial-place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives except Rachel
Abner - After Saul's death, he made
Ishbosheth king; and for seven years supported the family of Saul, in opposition to David; but in most of his skirmishes came off with loss. While
Ishbosheth's and David's troops lay near each other, hard by Gibeon, Abner challenged Joab to select twelve of David's warriors to fight with an equal number of his. ...
Not long after, Abner, taking it highly amiss for
Ishbosheth to charge him with lewd behaviour toward Rizpah, Saul's concubine, vowed that he would quickly transfer the whole kingdom into the hands of David
Abner - At Saul's death he upheld the dynasty in
Ishbosheth's person, mainly owing to the paramount influence of the tribe Ephraim, which was jealous of Judah. While David reigned over Judah as God's anointed, at Hebron,
Ishbosheth professedly, but Abner really, reigned in Mahanaim beyond Jordan. In 2 Samuel 2:10
Ishbosheth is said to have reigned for two years, but David for seven. During these five years Israel gradually regained their country, and at length Abner proclaimed
Ishbosheth at Mahanaim beyond Jordan, for security against the Philistines: 2 Samuel 2:5-7 confirms this. This act, involving in oriental idea the suspicion of usurping the succession to the throne (so in the case of Absalom: 2 Samuel 16:21; 2 Samuel 20:3; 1 Kings 2:13-25; (See ABIATHAR, (See ADONIJAH, and (See ABISHAG), called forth a rebuke from even so feeble a person as the nominal king,
Ishbosheth
Jerubbaal - Besheth, "shame," is substituted for the idol in Jerubbesheth (to comply literally with Exodus 23:13; 2 Samuel 11:21), as in
Ishbosheth for Eshbaal (2 Samuel 2:8 ff; 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39)
Rizpah - Daughter of Aiah, concubine of Saul, seized by the ambitious Abner after he had placed
Ishbosheth (Ishbaal) on the throne
Sheba (1) - The division between Israel and Judah already had shown itself under
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:4-9), again at the close of Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 19:41-43), David felt the greatness of the crisis, "now shall Sheba do us more harm than did Absalom
Michal - This was accomplished, though the record does not make it clear whether directly from Ishbaal (
Ishbosheth) at the Instance of David, or through Abner ( 2 Samuel 3:14 f
Baana - A captain of
Ishbosheth's army after Saul died and Abner deserted to David and was killed by Joab. Baanah and his brother killed
Ishbosheth and reported it to David, who had them killed (2 Samuel 4:1 )
Rizpah - ...
Her marriage to Abner was the occasion of a quarrel between him and
Ishbosheth, which led to Abner's going over to the side of David (2 Samuel 3:17-21 )
Mahanaim - ...
Here Abner fixed the seat of
Ishbosheth's kingdom, being unable to wrest the towns of Ephraim or Benjamin from the Philistines (2 Samuel 2:8-9). Here
Ishbosheth was murdered (2 Samuel 4:5)
Jezreel - It is named as an important town in the short-lived kingdom of
Ishbosheth ( 2 Samuel 2:9 )
Michal - of Jordan and was under
Ishbosheth's rule. Thence she was brought to David by Abner, as the king made her restoration the one condition of a league and demanded her from
Ishbosheth; so in spite of the tears of Phaltiel, who followed behind to Bahurim on the road up from the Jordan valley to Olivet, and was thence turned back by Abner, David's messenger; and the 20 men with Abner, whose puppet
Ishbosheth was, escorted her
Baal (1) - Under the influence of such prophecies the Israelites abandoned the use of Baal for Jahweh , and in later times developed so great an antipathy to this word that later revisers substituted bôsheth (‘shameful thing’), not only wherever Ba’al occurred for the Canaanitish deities ( Hosea 9:10 , Jeremiah 3:24 ; Jeremiah 11:13 ), but also, forgetful of its former application to Jahweh, in some of the above names (see
Ishbosheth), supposing them to allude to local gods
Rechab, Rechabites - Rechab and his brother Baanah, two guerilla captains, treacherously murdered
Ishbosheth, their king, and met with the due reward of their deed at David’s hands ( 2 Samuel 4:1-12 )
Joab - ...
Above all, Joab was a skilled general ; this is seen by the number of victories he gained, namely, over the army of
Ishbosheth under the leadership of Abner ( 2 Samuel 2:12-32 ); over the Jebusites ( 1 Chronicles 11:6-9 ); over the Syrians and Ammonites ( 2 Samuel 10:1-19 ; 2 Samuel 11:1 ; 2 Samuel 12:26-29 ); over Absalom ( 2 Samuel 18:5-17 ); over Sheba ( 2 Samuel 20:4-22 )
Uriah - A foreigner (as other of David's officers, Ittai of Gath,
Ishbosheth the Canaanite, Zelek the Ammonite, 2 Samuel 23:37); a Hittite
Mill - The grinding of corn at so early an hour throws light on a passage of considerable obscurity: "And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of
Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon; and they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him under the fifth rib; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped," 2 Samuel 4:5-7 . Rechab and Baanah, therefore, came in the heat of the day, when they knew that
Ishbosheth, their master, would be resting on his bed; and as it was necessary, for the reason just given, to have the corn the day before it was needed, their coming at that time, though it might be a little earlier than usual, created no suspicion, and attracted no notice
Mephibosheth - (See
Ishbosheth; JERUBBAAL. He had been for a considerable time living in obscurity with Machir in Lodebar beyond Jordan, near Mahanaim, his uncle
Ishbosheth's seat of government, when David through Ziba heard of him, and for the sake of Jonathan, and his promise respecting Jonathan's seed (1 Samuel 20:15; 1 Samuel 20:42), restored to him all the land of Saul and admitted him to eat bread at his table at Jerusalem continually
Rehoboam - In his reign Ephraim's gathering jealousy of a rival (Judges 8:1; Judges 12:1) came to a crisis, the steps to which were the severance of Israel under
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2) from Judah under David; the removal of the political capital from Shechem, and the seat of national worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem; and finally Solomon's heavy taxation for great national and monarchical buildings, and Rehoboam's injudicious reply to the petition for lightening the burden
David - This led to war with Israel under Saul's son
Ishbosheth. After much intrigue,
Ishbosheth's commanders assassinated him
Jonathan - About 30 when first introduced, commanding a thousand at Gibeah (1 Samuel 13:2; compare 2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 2:10, which shows that
Ishbosheth his younger brother was 40 at Saul's death)
Benjamin - Also Baanah and Rechab, captains of marauding bands and murderers of
Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 4). After Saul's and then
Ishbosheth's death, Benjamin sent 3,000 men to Hebron to confirm the kingdom to David (1 Chronicles 12:23; 1 Chronicles 12:29; 2 Samuel 5:3), Abner having declared for him
Saul -
Ishbosheth his youngest son (1 Chronicles 8:33) was 40 at his death (2 Samuel 2:10), and as he is not mentioned among Saul's sons in 1 Samuel 14:49 he perhaps was born after Saul's accession
David - In spite of his evident desire to make peace with the followers of Saul ( 2 Samuel 9:1-13 ), it was but natural that a vigorous attempt should be made to uphold the dynasty of the late king, at all events in Israel, as distinct from Judah (see
Ishbosheth)
Jews - After about seven years' struggling between the eleven tribes that clave to
Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and the tribe of Judah, which erected themselves into a kingdom under David, David became sole monarch