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ISHBOSHETH

(Heb. ʾîš-bōšeṯ)

The youngest son of Saul, king of Israel after Saul’s death. According to 2 Sam. 2:8-10 after the “men of Judah” anoint David king over the house of Judah at Hebron, Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, takes Ishbosheth to Mahanaim and makes him king over Israel. Ishbosheth’s reign as rival king lasts two years, during which time Abner, following a quarrel with Ishbosheth over Saul’s concubine, switches his loyalty to David (2 Sam. 3:6-11). Ishbosheth is murdered by his own men, Rechab and Baanach, while resting in his bedchamber (2 Sam. 4:5-11).

The name Ishbosheth has been the object of dispute among modern scholars. That form appears throughout the MT of Samuel. 1 Chronicles, however, uses the name Esh-baal (“man of Baal”; 1 Chr. 8:33; 9:39). The same phenomenon is reflected in the LXX, where Gk. Iebosthe occurs in Kingdoms, but Asabal in 1 Chr. 8:33 and Isbaal in 9:39. It is generally accepted among modern scholars that the theophoric element “bosheth” or “shame” is a euphemistic replacement for the original element “baal” or “lord,” a reference to the Canaanite deity Baal. Perhaps the theophoric element “baal” was at one time an acceptable epithet for Yahweh but was later seen as offensive and therefore had to be eradicated. This shift of the theophoric element in personal names is not an isolated phenomenon in the OT.

It has, however, been suggested, on the basis of Akkadian onomastic parallels, that the theophoric element “bosheth” is genuine. Accordingly, that element reflects an honorific divine-feature epithet meaning “dignity, pride, vigor” and came to represent a type of “protective spirit.” On the day of his coronation, the king may have been given the name Ishbosheth in place of his original name.

Bibliography. P. K. McCarter, Jr., II Samuel. AB 9 (Garden City, 1986).

Arnold Betz

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ISHBOSHETH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)