Hebrew word · H4648

מְפִיבֹשֶׁת

mefivoshet

Mephibosheth

A personal name. The second part, bōshet, means 'shame'. In 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 9:40 Jonathan's son is called Merib-baal / Meri-baal, which probably means 'Baal (= the Lord) is my advocate' or 'hero of the Lord'. Ishbosheth/Eshbaal is another example (2 Samuel 2:8; 1 Chronicles 8:33).

Appears 18 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.4.4;

son of: Jonathan (H3083H);

father of: Micah (H4318H); also called Merib-baal at 1Ch.8.34; 9.40;

§ Mephibosheth = "exterminating the idol"

1) grandson of Saul and son of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine; he and his brother Armoni were among the 7 victims surrendered by David to the Gibeonites to avert a famine

2) son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul

2a) also 'Merib-baal'

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 2 Samuel 21:7

Range of meaning

A personal name. The second part, bōshet, means 'shame'. In 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 9:40 Jonathan's son is called Merib-baal / Meri-baal, which probably means 'Baal (= the Lord) is my advocate' or 'hero of the Lord'. 'Baal' ('lord, master') could once be used of Israel's God, as in the name Bealiah, 'Yahweh is lord' (1 Chronicles 12:5). Later scribes avoided it because of its links to the Canaanite god, and they sometimes replaced it with bōshet ('shame'). Ishbosheth/Eshbaal is another example (2 Samuel 2:8; 1 Chronicles 8:33).

Against the English

English simply transliterates the name. Readers do not see that it contains a scribal comment, 'shame' put in place of 'baal'. Nor do they see that the name of Saul's son in v. 8 is exactly the same.

Used elsewhere in the period

Chronicles keeps the earlier '-baal' forms. Some Greek manuscripts of Samuel (the Lucianic group) are generally reported to have a '-baal' form as well, though this rests on scholarly reports of those manuscripts. Hosea 9:10 and Jeremiah 3:24; 11:13 use bōshet as a mocking substitute for Baal, which supports this explanation.

From the study of 2 Samuel 9:6

Range of meaning

A personal name. The second element, bōšet, means 'shame'. The first element is unclear. Chronicles gives the name as Merib-baal / Meri-baal (1 Chr 8:34; 9:40), which probably meant something like 'the Lord (baʿal, "master") contends / is advocate' or 'hero of the Lord'.

Against the English

English Bibles simply carry the form over, so readers never learn that 'shame' is built into the name, or that it probably stands in for an earlier 'baal'.

How it drifted

The name was probably altered in transmission, once ‘baal’ came to mean only the Canaanite god Baal and not just ‘master/lord’ (compare Hos 2:16).

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pattern appears in Ish-bosheth for Eshbaal (2 Sam 2:8 vs. 1 Chr 8:33) and Jerubbesheth for Jerubbaal (2 Sam 11:21 vs. Judg 6:32). Jer 3:24 and Hos 9:10 call Baal 'the Shame'. The Greek Old Testament spells the name Memphibosthe.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 18

  1. 2 Samuel 4:4 מְפִיבֹֽשֶׁת׃ [was] Mephibosheth

    And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

  2. 2 Samuel 9:6 מְפִיבֹ֨שֶׁת מְפִיבֹ֔שֶׁת Mephibosheth, O Mephibosheth

    And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.

    Here: Jonathan's son, lame in both feet since he was five (2 Sam 4:4). The '-bosheth' ("shame") part of the name very likely replaced an original '-baal'. Chronicles calls him Merib-baal.

  3. 2 Samuel 9:10 וּמְפִיבֹ֙שֶׁת֙ and Mephibosheth

    You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

  4. 2 Samuel 9:11 וּמְפִיבֹ֗שֶׁת and Mephibosheth

    And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s own sons.

  5. 2 Samuel 9:12 וְלִמְפִיבֹ֥שֶׁת לִמְפִיבֹֽשֶׁת׃ and [belonged] to Mephibosheth, of Mephibosheth

    And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.

  6. 2 Samuel 9:13 וּמְפִיבֹ֗שֶׁת and Mephibosheth

    So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.

  7. 2 Samuel 16:1 מְפִי־ בֹ֖שֶׁת Mephi-, -bosheth

    When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

    Here: First element of the name of Jonathan's lame son, Saul's grandsonm, whom David had taken to eat at his table (ch. 9).

  8. 2 Samuel 16:4 לִמְפִי־ בֹ֑שֶׁת [belonged] to Mephi-, -bosheth

    So the king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” “I humbly bow before you,” said Ziba. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king!”

  9. 2 Samuel 19:24 וּמְפִבֹ֙שֶׁת֙ and Mephibosheth

    Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he returned safely.

  10. 2 Samuel 19:25 מְפִיבֹֽשֶׁת׃ O Mephibosheth

    And he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, who asked him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?”

  11. 2 Samuel 19:30 מְפִיבֹ֙שֶׁת֙ Mephibosheth

    And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!”

  12. 2 Samuel 21:7 מְפִי־ בֹ֖שֶׁת Mephi-, -bosheth

    Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

    Here: In this verse the Hebrew text writes the name as two parts joined by a hyphen-like mark. The meaning of 'mephi' is uncertain. It may mean 'from the mouth of', or it may be a distorted form of an older element.

  13. 2 Samuel 21:8 מְפִבֹ֑שֶׁת Mephibosheth

    But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.