Ish-Bosheth

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Ish-bosheth ( Ĭsh'Bô'Sheth or Ĭsh'Bo-Sheth ), Man Of Shame. Son and successor of Saul, who was persuaded by Abner to go up to Mahanaim and assume the government while David reigned at Hebron,  2 Samuel 2:8;  2 Samuel 2:11; and all Israel except Judah acknowledged him as kins. A severe battle soon after occurred at Gibeon, between the army of David, under Joab, and the army of Ish-bosheth, under Abner, in which the latter was utterly defeated. Abner was killed afterward by Joab. Ish-bosheth, thus deprived of his strongest supporter, was assassinated at noonday upon his bed, after a brief reign of two years.  2 Samuel 4:5-7.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Samuel 24-4 1 Chronicles 8:33 9:39 2 Samuel 2:9 2 Samuel 4:5-7

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Samuel 2:8 2 Samuel 4:1-7 1 Chronicles 8:33Saul

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

[many Ish'-bosheth,' (Heb. Ish-bo'sheth, אַישׁאּבּשֶׁת , Man Of Shame, i.e. Bashful, otherwise Disgraceful; Sept. Ι᾿Σβόσεθ v. R. Ι᾿Εβοσθέ , Joseph. Ι᾿Έβοσθος , Vulg. Isboseth), the youngest of Saul's four sons, and his legitimate successor, being the only one who survived him (2 Samuel 2-4).. His name appears ( 1 Chronicles 8:35;  1 Chronicles 9:39) to have been originally. Eshbaal אַשׂאּבִּעִל , "the man of Baal." Whether this indicates that Baal was used as equivalent to Jehovah, or that the reverence for Baal still lingered in Israelitish families, is uncertain; but it can hardly be doubted that the name (Ish-bosheth, "the man of shame") by which he is commonly known must have been substituted for the original word, with a view of removing the scandalous sound of Baal from the name of an Israelitish king see Ewald, Isr. Gesch. 2, 383), and superseding it by the contemptuous word (Bosheth. — "shame") which was sometimes used as its equivalent in later times ( Jeremiah 3:24;  Jeremiah 11:13;  Hosea 9:10). A similar process appears in the alteration of Jerubbaal ( Judges 8:35) into Jerubbesheth ( 2 Samuel 11:21); Meri-baal ( 2 Samuel 4:4) into Mephibosheth ( 1 Chronicles 8:34;  1 Chronicles 9:40). The last three cases all occur in Saul's family. (See Saul).

He is thought by some to be the same with Ishui ( יַשְׁוַי , 1 14:49), these two names having considerable resemblance; but this is forbidden by  1 Samuel 31:2, comp. with  1 Chronicles 8:33. (See Abinadab).

He appears to have been forty years of age at the time of the battle of Gilboa (B.C. 1053), in which he was not himself present, but in which his father and three older brothers perished; and therefore, according to the law of Oriental, though not of European succession, he ascended the throne, as the oldest of the royal family, rather than Mephibosheth, son of his elder brother Jonathan, who was a child of five years old. Too feeble of himself to seize the scepter which had just fallen from the hands of Saul, he was immediately taken under the care of Abner, his powerful kinsman, who brought him to the ancient sanctuary of Mahanaim, on the east of the Jordan, beyond the reach of the victorious Philistines, and he was there recognized as king by ten of the twelve tribes ( 2 Samuel 2:8-9). There was a momentary doubt even in those remote tribes whether they should not close with the offer of David to be their king ( 2 Samuel 2:7;  2 Samuel 3:17). But this was overruled in favor of Ish-bosheth by Abner ( 2 Samuel 3:17), who then for five years slowly but effectually restored the dominion of the house of Saul over the trans-Jordanic territory, the plain of Esdraelon, the central mountains of Ephraim, the frontier tribe of Benjamin, and eventually "over all Israel" (except the tribe of Judah,  2 Samuel 3:9). In  2 Samuel 2:10 Ish-bosheth is said to have reigned two years, which some understand as the whole amount of his reign. As David reigned seven and a half years over Judah before he became king of all Israel upon the death of Ish-bosheth, it is conceived by the Jewish chronologer (Seder Olam Rabba, p. 37), as well as by Kimchi and others, that there was a vacancy of five years in the throne of Israel. ‘ It is not, however, agreed by those who entertain this opinion whether this vacancy took place before or after the reign of Ish-bosheth. Some think it was before, it being then a matter of dispute whether he or Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, should be made king; but others hold that after his death five years elapsed before David was generally recognized as king of all Israel. If the reign of Ish-bosheth be limited to two years, the latter is doubtless the best way of accounting for the other five, since no ground of delay in the succession of Ish-bosheth is suggested in Scripture itself; for the claim of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, which some have produced, being that of a lame boy five years old, whose father never reigned, against a king's son forty years-of age, would have been deemed of little weight in Israel. Besides, our notions of Abner do not allow us to suppose that under him the question of the succession could have remained five years in abeyance. But it is the more usual, and perhaps the better course, to settle this question by supposing that the reigns of David over Judah, and of Ish-bosheth over Israel, were nearly contemporaneous, namely, about seven years each; and that the two years named are only the first of this period, being mentioned as those from which to date the commencement of the ensuing events - namely, the wars between the house of Saul and that of David. This appears to be the view taken by Josephus (Ant. 7, 1, 3; comp. 2, 1).

Ish-bosheth thus reigned seven, or, as some will have it, two years-if a power so uncertain as his can be called a reign. Even the semblance of authority which he possessed he owed to the will and influence of Abner, who kept the real control of affairs in his own hands. The wars and negotiations with David were entirely carried on by Abner ( 2 Samuel 2:11;  2 Samuel 3:6;  2 Samuel 3:12). After various skirmishes between the forces of the rival kings, a pitched battle was fought, in which the army of David under Joab was completely victorious. After this the interest of David continually waxed stronger, while that of Ish-bosheth declined ( 2 Samuel 3:1). At length Ish-bosheth accused Abner (whether rightly or wrongly does not appear) of an attempt on his father's concubine, Rizpah, which, according to Oriental usage, amounted to treason ( 2 Samuel 3:7; comp.  1 Kings 2:13;  2 Samuel 16:21;  2 Samuel 20:3). Although accustomed to tremble before Abner, even Ish-bosheth's temper was roused to resentment by the discovery that Abner had thus invaded the harem of his late father Saul, which was in a peculiar manner sacred under his care as a son and a king. By this act Abner exposed the king to ‘ public contempt, if it did not indeed leave himself open to the suspicion of intending to advance a claim to the crown on his own behalf Abner resented this suspicion in a burst of passion, which vented itself in a solemn vow to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul to the house of David, a purpose which from this time he appears steadily to have kept in view. Ish- bosheth was too much cowed to answer; and when, shortly afterwards, through Abner's negotiation, David demanded the restoration of his former wife, Michal, he at once tore his sister from her reluctant husband, and committed her to Abner's charge ( 2 Samuel 3:14-15). It is, perhaps, right to attribute this act to his weakness; although, as David allows that he was a righteous man ( 2 Samuel 4:10), it may have been owing to his sense of justice. This trust seems to have given Abner a convenient opportunity to enter into negotiations with David; but in the midst of them he himself fell a victim to the resentment of Joab for the death of Abishai. The death of Abner deprived the house of Saul of their last remaining support. (See Abner).

When Ish-bosheth heard of it, "his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled" ( 2 Samuel 4:1). In this extremity of weakness he fell a victim, probably, to a revenge for a crime of his father. The guard of Ish-bosheth, as of Saul, was taken from their own royal tribe of Benjamin ( 1 Chronicles 12:29). But among the sons of Benjamin were reckoned the descendants of the old Canaanitish inhabitants of Beeroth, one of the cities in league with Gibeon ( 2 Samuel 4:2-3). Two of those Beerothites, Baana and Rechab, in remembrance, it has been conjectured, of Saul's slaughter of their kinsmen the Gibeonites, determined to take advantage of the helplessness of the royal house to destroy the only ‘ representative that was left, excepting the child Mephibosheth ( 2 Samuel 4:4). They were "chiefs of the marauding troops" which used from time to time to attack the territory of Judah (comp.  2 Samuel 4:2;  2 Samuel 3:22, where the same word גְּדוּד is used; Vulg. princim es latronum). They knew the habits of the king and court, and acted accordingly. In the stillness of ail Eastern noon they entered the palace, as if to carry off the wheat which was piled up near the entrance. The female slave,' who, as usual in Eastern houses, kept the door, and was herself sifting the wheat, had, in the heat of the day, fallen asleep at her task ( 2 Samuel 4:5-6, in Sept. and Vulg.). They stole in, and passed into the royal bedchamber, where Ish-bosheth was asleep on his couch during his midday siesta. They stabbed him in the stomach, cut off his head, made their escape, all that afternoon, all that night, down the valley of the Jordan (Arabah, A.V. "plain;"  2 Samuel 4:7), and presented the head to David as a welcome present. B.C. 1046. They met with a stern reception from the monarch, who-as both right feeling and good policy required- testified the utmost horror and concern. He rebuked them for the cold- blooded murder of an innocent man, and ordered them to be executed; their hands and feet were cut off, and their bodies suspended over the tank at Hebron. The head of Ish-bosheth was carefully buried in the sepulchre of his great kinsman Abner, at the same place ( 2 Samuel 4:9-12). (See David). I'shi (Heb. Yishi', יַשְׁעַי , Salutary; Sept. Ι᾿Εσεί , ῎Ες , Ι᾿Εσεϊ v ), the name of four men.

1. The son of Appaim, and father of Sheshan, the eighth in descent from Judah ( 1 Chronicles 2:31). B.C. prob. post 1612.

2. The father of Zoheth and Ben-zoheth, a descendant of Judah, but through what line does not appear ( 1 Chronicles 4:20). The name is possibly a corruption for the ISMIBAH of  1 Chronicles 4:17. B.C. perh. cir. 1017.

3. Father (progenitor) of several (four only are named) Simeonites who invaded Mt. Seir and dispossessed the Amalekites ( 1 Chronicles 4:42). B.C. ante 726.

4. One of the chiefs of Manasseh East, of famous valor ( 1 Chronicles 5:24). B.C. cir. 720.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ish - bō´sheth ( אישׁ־בּשׁת , 'ı̄sh - bōsheth , "man of shame"' Ἰεσβοσθέ , Iesbosthé ): Called אשׁבּעל , 'eshba‛al , "man of Baal" (  1 Chronicles 8:33 ), and ישׁוי , yishwı̄ , "man of Yahweh" (?), perhaps for אישׁיו , 'ı̄sheyō ( 1 Samuel 14:49 ). Compare Eshbaal and Ishvi (the King James Version "Ishui"). We probably have the right meaning of the name in Eshbaal and Ishvi, the words Baal and Yahweh being frequently interchanged. The change to Ish-bosheth, "man of shame," in 2 Samuel, where the story of his shameful murder is related, may be better explained as reference to this (see Mephibosheth , whose name was also changed from Merib-baal for similar reasons), than to find here a suggestion of Baal-worship, but see HPN , 121, where the change is explained as a correction of the scribes, in consequence of prophetic protests.

One of the sons of Saul ( 1 Chronicles 8:33;  1 Chronicles 9:39;  1 Samuel 14:49 ) who, when his father and brothers were slain in the battle of Gilboa ( 1 Samuel 31:1 ), was proclaimed king over Israel by Abner, the captain of Saul's host, at Mahanaim ( 2 Samuel 2:8 ). Ishbosheth was 40 years old at this time and reigned over Israel 2 years ( 2 Samuel 2:10 ). Judah, however, proclaimed David its king. The consequence was war ( 2 Samuel 2:12 ). The house of David prevailed against the house of Saul ( 2 Samuel 3:1 ), but the war did not come to a close until Abner, angry on account of the rebuke he suffered from Ish-Bosheth for his unlawful intimacy with Rizpah, Saul's concubine, joined David ( 2 Samuel 3:6 ). David's condition to return to him Michal, his wife before peace could be made, was fulfilled by Ish-Bosheth ( 2 Samuel 3:14 f), but it was not until after Abner's death that Ish-Bosheth seems to have given up hopes of retaining his power (  2 Samuel 4:1 ). The shameful murder of Ish-Bosheth by his own captains is recorded in  2 Samuel 4:5 . David punished the murderers who had expected reward and buried Ish-Bosheth in the grave of Abner at Hebron ( 2 Samuel 4:12 f).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ish´-Bosheth (man of shame), a son of King Saul, and the only one who survived him. In , and , this name is given as Eshbaal. Baal was the name of an idol, accounted abominable by the Hebrews, and which scrupulous persons avoided pronouncing, using the word bosheth, 'shame' or 'vanity,' instead. This explains why the name Eshbaal is substituted for Ish-bosheth, Jerubbaal for Jerub-besheth (comp. with ), and Merib-baal for Mephibosheth (comp. with and ). Ish-bosheth was not present in the disastrous battle at Gilboa, in which his father and brothers perished; and, too feeble of himself to seize the scepter which had fallen from the hands of Saul, he owed the crown entirely to his uncle Abner, who conducted him to Mahanaim, beyond the Jordan, where he was recognized as king by ten of the twelve tribes. He reigned seven, or, as some will have it, two years—if a power so uncertain as his can be called a reign. Even the semblance of authority which he possessed he owed to the will and influence of Abner, who himself kept the real substance in his own hands. A sharp quarrel between them led at last to the ruin of Ish-bosheth. Although accustomed to tremble before Abner, even his meek temper was roused to resentment by the discovery that Abner had invaded the harem of his late father Saul, which was in a peculiar manner sacred under his care as a son and a king. By this act Abner exposed the king to public contempt; if it did not indeed leave himself open to the suspicion of intending to advance a claim to the crown on his own behalf. Abner highly resented the rebuke of Ish-bosheth, and from that time contemplated uniting all the tribes under the scepter of David. Ish-bosheth, however, reverted to his ordinary timidity of character. At the first demand of David, he restored to him his sister Michal, who had been given in marriage to the son of Jesse by Saul, and had afterwards been taken from him and bestowed upon another. It is, perhaps, right to attribute this act to his weakness; although, as David allows that he was a righteous man, it may have been owing to his sense of justice. On the death of Abner Ish-bosheth lost all heart and hope, and perished miserably, being murdered in his own palace, while he took his mid-day sleep, by two of his officers, Baanah and Rechab. They sped with his head to David, expecting a great reward for their deed; but the monarch—as both right feeling and good policy required—testified the utmost horror and concern. He slew the murderers, and placed the head of Ish-bosheth with due respect in the sepulcher of Abner, B.C. 1048 (;; 2 Samuel 4).